A-League expansion must also improve quality
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By Mike Tuckerman, 14 May 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
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Liverpool's Robbie Fowler celebrates scoring the third goal against 1. FC Kosice during the UEFA Cup, first round, second match at Liverpool's Anfield stadium Tuesday Sept. 29, 1998. AP Photo/Adam Butle
The Federal Minister for Trade Simon Crean was in Shanghai last week, proclaiming his delight at the AFL’s plan to stage a one-off exhibition match in the city next year. But if the Australian Government wants to improve trading ties within the region, they’re better off spruiking the A-League.
Sydney FC have already forged commercial links with Shanghai Shenhua, while Melbourne Victory will attempt to defend the Lord Mayor’s Cup against Tianjin Teda in June.
Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has long established ties with China, and his desire to bring Chinese players to Gold Coast United is well known.
However, the AFL’s desire to tap into an Asian market is a sign that generating new revenue streams is crucial in an increasingly competitive scene.
The National Basketball League has been the highest profile casualty of the new squeeze, while the NRL’s cash-starved Cronulla Sharks are at death’s door unless they can increase gate takings.
None of this is news to Football Federation Australia.
Only recently the governing body took over the licences of A-League clubs Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar – the latter of whom are struggling to break even playing out of the costly Suncorp Stadium.
But even amidst the global credit crunch, there’s cause for optimism at FFA headquarters.
High-profile visits from the likes of Celtic, Wolves and Fulham give A-League clubs the chance to replenish coffers at the expense of the unloved Pre-Season Cup.
Newcastle Jets remain in contention for a place in the knock-out stages of the Asian Champions League – despite well-documented grievances over bonus payments.
And the arrival of Robbie Fowler at North Queensland Fury has generated the level of interest expected of a marquee signing, even if Perth Glory fail to sign the similarly high-profile Alvaro Recoba.
But despite the anticipation of what will be the most eagerly awaited campaign since the inaugural season, one caveat remains.
The standard of football must continue to improve if A-League clubs are to attract new fans through the gates.
That could be easier said than done.
The talent pool is now spread across two extra clubs, and a quick glance at both Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury shows several players lobbing up for their second stint in the A-League – having failed to make an impact the first time around.
Gold Coast United have attempted to redress the situation by luring former Hartlepool striker Joel Porter back from England’s third tier, and United supremo Miron Bleiberg was apoplectic when Hartlepool coach Chris Turner suggested that Porter was taking a step down.
But unless United can turn on the style, they too may struggle to fill the surrounds of their plush Skilled Stadium home.
Perhaps that’s why United are reputedly trying to lure disgruntled Brisbane Roar fans south with the offer of discount memberships to former Roar season-ticket holders.
It just goes to show how cut-throat the crowded sports market currently is.
While Gold Coast United may benefit from luring one-time Roar supporters to their fixtures, the A-League will ultimately lose out should established fans simply switch allegiances.
That’s why new fans need to be welcomed into the football family – and one of the best ways to do that is by selling the quality of the league.
The recruitment of players like Jason Culina and Robbie Fowler will help, while the National Youth League has already started to churn out the stars of tomorrow.
Yet with some Australian football fans still to be won over by the local game, it’s imperative that standards continue to rise.
Expansion may open new revenue streams for the A-League, but the quality of the league must grow exponentially along with the addition of any new teams.
Otherwise the A-League may become the equivalent of some of the bad Chinese dumplings so popular in my part of the world – tempting at first, but containing dubious filling.
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Kazama said | May 14th 2009 @ 8:20am | Report comment
I agree Mike. It’s a long held fear of mine that adding new teams will stretch the talent pool to the point that there will be a lot of ‘rejects’ running around, and as you say there are quite a few players on the rosters of the two new clubs who are having their second crack at it. Probably a few more will pop up to fill gaps at clubs like my own, Adelaide United, due to players heading overseas or joining other A-League clubs.
The reason I always worried was that it meant off the bat you had to find 40-odd players due to the new teams coming in, and that is before considering players moving overseas or being released because they aren’t up to it. I thought that this would mean a lot of ‘ordinary’ players will be featuring and thus bring the quality of the league down and drive away fans when we are trying to attract them. And you’re right – stealing fans from existing clubs still will only transfer the issue of findng new fans from one club to another.
Thankfully we were able to get the youth league up and running first, which has so far provided us with some real finds and hopefully it will continue to do so. Perhaps Wellington will finally get a youth team this season, and I expect that the Gold Coast and the Fury will have them as well.
I just hope that my fears are misplaced and that the league improves this season. So far the signs for some clubs – like Perth and Sydney – are good, while for others – Adelaide United, Central Coast and Brisbane – perhaps there is cause for concern.
whiskeymac said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:00am | Report comment
a lot of hope is placed on the NYL. hopefully it will be able to provide us with a constant stream of adequate to great players able to fill up some of the rosters. so long as clubs maintain a cash flow there’s always the opportunities, as many spruik, of recruiting from Asia and Africa for skillful bargains.
There are also the AIS and state schools, no?
on the aspect of some players havig a second go – it’s not necessarily a black and white issue either. there is a positive argument that whereas some players could not “cut it” there are others maybe that just need a different teamor coach/ approach/ get over injury. There are plenty of cases of players not making it in one team but flourishing in another.
Kazama said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:07am | Report comment
whiskeymac, yeah, there’s no big issue for me with some players getting a second chance even though my post doesn’t read like that. I guess what I meant to say was that relying on too many of them to come good is the risk.
Cpaaa said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:14am | Report comment
“Yet with some Australian football fans still to be won over by the local game, it’s imperative that standards continue to rise.”
that also means paychecks. even in these economic times footballers dont want pay-cuts (insert NCJU here) that want rises + bonus’s. Discussed not too long ago on SBS was the several marquee postions. Australian marquee, Socceroo marquee,international marquee youth and asian marquee.i would also like to see the option of an Oceania Marquee. This would give clubs more flexibility.Club owners like Palmer should be allowed to stretch their wallets to grab the best talent available. Visions of winning the league, the afc and the club world cup is only possible with the right recruitment and that means cash.
I still believe Australian coaches are not good enough. they need more experience not as players but coaching experience with other system in other countries. Will be interesting what Lavicka does with Sydney.
Our current competition allows a level playing field, good or bad. i say bad, i want to see a break away club, a club all aspire to beat. A talking point across the league. the Man U, Chealsea, Celtics/ Rangers,Barcelona /Madrid, Urawa Reds/ Gamba Osaka.
Who is Australias elite Football Club/s? Sydney thought they were, but the cap quickly sorted that out.
Midfielder said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:19am | Report comment
Mike
Another good article.. the AFL playing in China and as you said ……”The Federal Minister for Trade Simon Crean was in Shanghai last week, proclaiming his delight at the AFL’s plan to stage a one-off exhibition match in the city next year”"”"
I think it is good the AFL go to China… and try and expand there game but the more important point is the growing understanding that Asians are increasingly playing sport , further that business and off the record talks can be held at sporting events…
But your point about technical improvement is without doubt the key to the leagues growth… HOWEVER there is another important aspect to this… the general reporting of the technical play… I watched Les & Fozza discuss the Chelsea and Bacca match (the first one that was drawn). Fozza in particular and Les also .. but they discussed the lack of technical skill of Chelsea and questioned Guss to some degree… Now if one of the top 10 teams in the world playing under arguably one of the best coaches of his time in an away match, cannot play well enough to be praised then at what point could our fledgling little A-League get praise… SOOOOoooo I think some in the media need to become less negative, less aggressive, and help rather than saying they want it all now… because they should realise everyone is working on it and have been even before they began their crusade.
Redb said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
Mike,
“The Federal Minister for Trade Simon Crean was in Shanghai last week, proclaiming his delight at the AFL’s plan to stage a one-off exhibition match in the city next year. But if the Australian Government wants to improve trading ties within the region, they’re better off spruiking the A-League.”
It’s an AFL conspiracy to hurt the A League and FFA attempts at engaging with Asia. They have no right to move the game into any international sphere, that is world football’s right isn’t it?
The fact remains that the much lauded ACL experiment is in a little disarray with fans and clubs – there is little money in it for the clubs. Clubs like AU who were on the verge of being canonised by many futbol fans have been left a shredded carcass by infighting and poor management, again.
Maybe the AFL has showed it has a very smart, pro-active management team, the Federal Government clearly agrees. It’s not as though Australian football or Australian futbol can’t represent Australia as you jealously report.
Redb
whiskeymac said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:24am | Report comment
Cpaaa the danger for clubs getting beyond themselves can be seen in Leeds. How much debt are the vast majority of those clubs you mentioned in? Arsenal present the future for a clubs dynamics, not Chelseki. Manchester used to be a goodmodel until Glazier debt.
Maybe in time there will be some sort of Darwinistic evolution in the HAl where big clubs like Melbourne, Sydney and maybe Gold Coast grow above their peers. but the downside would be the age old argument that this would harm the league outside of those clubs – why support a team that will never win? Where the HAL is so young such a superficial approach to supporting a team must be a real consideration.
True Tah said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:33am | Report comment
Midfielder
re: the whole sport and business, I can recall Clive Palmer addressing the issue, that people often asked him if the reason why he was investing in GCU was to help his business. His response is that no, in fact, it is his business helping futbol (in this case GCU).
There is somewhat similar to England, where there has been private ownership of clubs for sometime – basically it was usually a case of a local wealthy businessman wanting to put something back into the community (in this case the futbol club) as opposed to a lucrative business opportunity.
Re: the whole salary cap, in a few years I suspect it will become extinct in the HAL, but not until all clubs have sound support bases, the fact that the Roar and Adelaide may not have this is a strong argument for the cap to retained for the time being. It will stop the likes of Sydney/Melbourne/Gold Coast from becoming the Celtic/Rangers/ManU/Barcelona/Madrid of Australian/Asian futbol, but at this stage, the FFA’s focus is on the strength of the comp as a whole and not the individual clubs.
Tifosi said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:38am | Report comment
midfielder,
The criticism of chelsea was more about the style of play rather than its ability to play.
Chelsea were brilliant at playing “catenaccio”. The problem was that it wasn’t pretty to watch.
I didnt see a lack of technical skill by Chelsea when they thumped Arsenal last weekend.
Onto the article:
Yes the standard of the A-league has to raise. It will happen but will take time.
# The new junior development program will help
# The National Youth League will help
# But the main way to help is to get better coaches here , to teach our local coaches.
Jade North said something interesting the other day, when he mentioned that training in the K-league was of a higher standard than A-league games.
Just goes to show how far we still have to go.
As for China, its a huge market to tap into. Problem for the AFL is that the NFL wants a piece of the action also. No prizes for guessing who has the resources to make bigger inroads.
Midfielder said | May 14th 2009 @ 9:38am | Report comment
Redb
What did Mike say wrong … where did he say the AFL should not go to China or put down the AFL in anyway or miss quote Simon Crean