By Davidde Corran
January 17th 2010 @ 2:53am
Five things I’d like to see change in the A-League
Sydney FC's Steve Corica (left) is tackled by Matthew Crowell of the Central Coast Mariners FC in their round 19 match in Sydney on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
I was lucky enough to get back to Australia for the festive season and, while I’ve just returned to Europe, my time home got me thinking about the changes our game is going through.
It was interesting to see how Australian football has developed over the last seven or so months, and to compare things with how they were this time last year.
The profile of the game has certainly lifted. Not to the extent it did after the Socceroos 2006 World Cup run in Germany, but when Brisbane Roar’s player movements are being reported in Melbourne radio news bulletins things are going in the right direction (even if the Roar aren’t).
Unfortunately, there have also been as many setbacks as there have been positives. I think it’s noteworthy that Australia’s only dedicated commercial sport radio station, Melbourne’s SEN, has decided to run with a “Summer of Cricket” as its focus during the AFL’s off-season. It could very well be that football’s next battle won’t be with the AFL or NRL but with cricket, so this is an opportunity lost. The 43,000 who turned up for a domestic Twenty20 match at the MCG on Saturday certainly justified SEN’s decision.
The much talked about player exodus, financial instability of all but a couple clubs and the disgraceful pitches being dished up each week are also concerns.
However, we have a decent foundation to build on, and with that in mind I’ve come up with a list of five things I’d like to see change within Australian football by the time I next set foot on Australian soil.
I had to leave quite a few things out (Wellingotn Phoenix’s future and the lack of decent playing fields being offered up), but if we make decent headway on these areas it would have been a good year for the game.
I also didn’t mention things like Australia’s World Cup campaigns and hosting bids as they are things which are mostly out of our control now.
1 – Increased media profile.
We’ve come far, but Football Federation Australia and the A-League are still too far behind.
Poor advertising campaigns and severe restrictions on access for the media to players and team officials after games is limiting the “cut-through” our domestic league is getting. It might no longer be so for the Socceroos but it is still a problem for the A-League.
A new TV rights deal is still years away but we need to see some positive steps being taken now in terms of the league’s presence on free-to-air television.
2 – Improved training pitches and facilities.
While the argument that there’s no point worrying about training pitches when the playing fields are as bad as what we saw at Etihad Stadium on Saturday still remains, the training facilities are often even worse.
I’ll never forget the first game Melbourne Victory played in the W-League in 2008. It was against the Central Coast Mariners at Etihad Stadium. Afterward, Victory captain Tal Karp explained to me that the reason everyone kept misplacing their passes was because they’d never played on such soft grass.
The Victory women had been training on a baseball pitch and were used to hard and dry ground where the ball doesn’t hold up. It’s a problem the men suffer from as well.
It’s not just for skills practice either but playing on these hard surfaces are hardly ideal for injury prevention. It’s ridiculous that until a few months ago Melbourne Victory trained on a public ground that I used to have a kick on with my friends when I lived in Richmond.
3 – A Professional Referee Association.
This is as much an international problem as it is a local one. It’s ridiculous that with over 2,000 FIFA referees there is no professional association to represent them like players and managers have.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a disgrace and one that needs to change, and what better place to start than in Australia? We never hear from the referees here and they have no outlet to have a say. All we see is their mistakes and their quickly forgotten successes.
The referees should be having a say in their image and their development, and this is the only way for that to happen.
4 – A dedicated forum between fans and their club and also the A-League.
Back when I was helping to produce The Local Game on SBS Radio every week, we did a fan forum where a senior employee from Football Federation Australia was invited on to the program along with members of Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory’s supporter groups.
These fans had a lot to say and felt aggrieved by the way they had been treated in the past by the game’s governing body and in some cases the very clubs they support. This shouldn’t be the case and FFA and the clubs should have semi-regular supporter forums where these issues can be tackled.
5 – Asian Marquee.
For me, this is crucial. Australia needs to continue to engage with Asia and take advantage of the talent at our doorstep.
Furthermore, an Asian marquee, which has been endorsed by the Players Football Association, would be a compromise between those who want to see a liberalisation of the A-League’s anachronistic salary cap and those who fear it will send clubs bankrupt.
As Australians would also count as Asian players, it could be used to keep players like Shane Smeltz and Archie Thompson in the country.
Feel free to share your own ideas.
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(34)
moo cow said | January 17th 2010 @ 5:59am | Report comment
This just in, Socceroos to face Croatia in friendly: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/sport/3235312/All-Whites-lose-Croatia-warm-up-to-Socceroos
Davo said | January 17th 2010 @ 8:38am | Report comment
All sound great, particularly an asian marquee player. Indeed I think we need to go a step beyond. I would love A-League clubs to form stronger relations with Asian clubs, or a strong Asian club in Korea or Japan. This club is where A-League players can play for the entire year, between their Australian club, and their sister club, say in Korea. This would work both ways, With Asian players comming to Australia for their off season. Many fans from asia keeping up on how their players are going in Australia, would help lift the profile of the game internationally. Training methods could be exchanged too.
Mysterious X said | January 17th 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment
I think the biggest problem with the A-league is coaches like Dave Mitchell can have such a poor season with an experienced side and have never made Finals before and keep his job after being pumped 6-2 by victory thats the problem with the HAL.
Fair enough for Roar and Adelaide because they have been trying to rebuild there sides and are developing young players. But most of the perth team is of a mature football age its just sad the coach should resign or the club should give Mitch the boot and hire a european coach.
Matt said | January 18th 2010 @ 1:42am | Report comment
With what? Aussie peso’s?
TheMagnificent11 said | January 17th 2010 @ 9:06am | Report comment
The Asian marquee idea sounds good in theory (it would increase Asian sponsorships and media coverage) but there is no way A-League clubs can match the salaries being offered in the Japan, Korea, China and the gulf. So you can rule out the best Japanese and Koreans. Furthermore, if say a Thai player is any good, he’ll will be eventually picked up a Japanese or Korean team (even if an A-League team discovered him first).
In fact, the whole marquee system is flawed. Clubs are allowed to make any player the marquee player just to exclude them from the salary cap. That goes against the spirit of the system. Clubs should have to get approval from the FFA to put a player on marquee status (like in the MLS). And having got that approval, the FFA should reward the club for finding a worthy candidate by paying part of that players salary (again, like the MLS pays part of David Beckham’s salary). The more criteria they meet, the more the FFA should assist. This system should apply to all levels of marquee players (including youth and any further marquee statuses like socceroo marquee and Asian marquee). With the FFA assisting with marquee salaries, we stand a better chance of attracting worthy marquee players.
As for the other 4 points in the article, I think they are spot on.
volante said | January 17th 2010 @ 10:17am | Report comment
it was my understanding that the FFA are already required to approve marquee players. I’m not sure how stringent they are but i remember the jets needing to put a case forward when they wanted to move griffiths from under the cap to the marquee position
AndyRoo said | January 17th 2010 @ 9:30am | Report comment
I don’t mind specific visa spots for Asian players but don’t think they need a Marquee spot. The only Asian players you would have to pay marquee style wages are Koreans, Japanese and West Asians. All of those are countries and leagues we can’t compete with in an economic sense and we would be fighting a wage war we would never win.
I also don’t like the FFA having to approve the Marquee. A club should know what’s best for it’s circumstances, why would the FFA do any better than the clubs at picking marquees. We would likely be forever locked into the formulae of ex premier league star. If a club finds the next 19 year old Lionel Messi and wants to make them their marquee they should be allowed to and not told “no, how about Nick Barmby instead”. I think the youth marquee and marquee spots are good ideas while our caps are so low but don’t really see the need for more exemptions, would just prefer a gradual raising off the cap in line with what the best performing teams can afford and letting them recruit based on what works for them.
Robbos said | January 17th 2010 @ 9:40am | Report comment
Andyroo, I think what he is saying is 1 int’l marquee eg Yorke or Fowler & a Asian marquee, Cullina or Thompson or a Endo. Remember we are now part of Asia.
AndyRoo said | January 17th 2010 @ 3:30pm | Report comment
Re reading it your definitely right. Can’t disagree with the Asian marquee then.
TheMagnificent11 said | January 17th 2010 @ 9:41am | Report comment
I don’t think the FFA approving marquee players would lead to a string of ex-EPL stars. I all depends on the criteria the FFA ask clubs to fulfil. I imagine the PFA would have to approve this set of criteria. I think the criteria should allow different options e.g. a marquee that is designed to put extra bums on seats or criteria for an up-and-coming player that will add to team performance. The FFA should outline how much each criteria item is worth in monetary value. The clubs would have to explain to the FFA which type of player they are going for and what criteria they believe the player meets (and thus how much money they want from the FFA).
Robbos said | January 17th 2010 @ 9:55am | Report comment
Davidde, your first 2 points are no brainers, this is a must, increase our media attention & increased grounds for both playing & training, football is still treated like 2nd class citzens here.
I agree with point 3, we now have good professional players, we need professional officials.
To me point 5 is also something we need to strive for, an Asian marquee to allow returning socceroos to come back to the A-League and also inviting Asian players to play in our leagues to increase the profile in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore.
Now point 4 is interesting, will the FFA listen to the fans via a forum, I would like to see something like this happen, but unfortunately, there are some with separate agendas running around in football in this country.
Australian Football said | January 17th 2010 @ 10:02am | Report comment
All points good in my opinion…
“5 – Asian Marquee”
David,
now that is an interesting concept and one that should be implemented immediately.
“It was interesting to see how Australian football has developed over the last seven or so months, and to compare things with how they were this time last year.”
David, well done with the above sentence… I just recently had a battle with a negative poster on the ROAR with the use of this description which you have used “Australian Football” for our game in Australia, a reference we should push more often…
I also personally would like to see the term “Soccer” dropped from our nickname and have it being only referred to as just “ROOS” or the Australian National Football Team…
I feel it is a necessary step forward after hearing a recent criticism from the Editor of the “Sydney Telegraph” saying why you insist us the football family like to have our game referred to as football and not soccer when you call the Australian National Football team, Socceroos… He is correct a contradiction in terms let it be known as just the ROOS…
“Kangaroos” is a name that would be bitterly contested with so many Rugby League advocates, so I would not like to go into battle with them over that, when a simple compromise like the use of just ROOS is sufficient for me… And personally for me Australia is enough…
I would like all the merchandise; scarfs beanies etc just carry the name Australia or ROOS… For when we play opposing national teams such as England, Scotland, and Brasil as their merchandise just carries their national name with pride…
When you look at the end of the field and see their scarfs held out high they either read England or Brasil or any other nation with immense pride… I then look at our end and see Socceroos and I cringe… I want to see the exact same emotion and pride for our national football team as our opponents have… I want to see “AUSTRALIA” displayed held up high with the same emotion and pride in South Africa 2010…
~~~~~~~
AF
AndyRoo said | January 17th 2010 @ 10:11am | Report comment
I use the ex EPL stars egample as they have the track record in regards to crowds. But even then it has to be a name player. It’s not that I don’t want good marquees but I think some clubs have done a good job others have made mistakes but I think they should have all learnt from each other about the results.
And the quality of marquees will improve regardless (I think SFC will do a lot better than John Aloisi with their next marquee). We have seen with the Heart having too wait so long to get their logo and name rubber stamped from the FFA (because one of the FFA staff is on holiday) and missing out releasing that story early last week when it would have filled a media void. Less FFA regulation is probably for the best, what if a player came available on the last day of the transfer window…… hold on Ronaldo we have to wait for Archie Fraser to get back in the office.
The only time I think the FFA should put in some money is if a team gets someone like Fowler who has put bums on seats at away games. All the other teams have benefited from that. Perhaps a revenue plan where clubs keep 100% of their membership money but share the other gate money might be something to look into. Award teams for being crowd pullers away from home some how.
I also don’t believe in more FFA involvement for the simple reason their poor scheduling has cost us as many fans as better marquees would have brought.
The marquee factor eventually fades so I can think of much cheaper ways to raise crowds and look after fans.
Brisbane Roar frequently have gone 3 weeks without a home game. Last nights game was exactly 1 month after the Fury game. One month without a home game is rubbish scheduling.
The 8 pm slot is also poor but obviously happens because of whatever deal the FFA have done with fox. Play games at 7:00 pm or 7:15 and you can add at least 1.5k to crowds.
A regular time slot for all teams would be good, it’s worked great for Adelaide. Perth and the Jets could spend a couple of million on a foreign marquee for a season or they could just not play during the middle of a hot Sunday. Result crowd wise would be the same.
Starting the season in October would also help.
So yes I agree with getting better marquees and more Asian players. I want bigger crowds in Australia and more presence overseas. I would love to have the best Thai, Indonesian and Singapore players in the A league and creating news back home. I just don’t think a micro managed approach from the FFA is the answer. The FFA has had a poor year. The 12th team announcement and timing with the games hosted in Canberra was botched, the poor scheduling and the frustration of them sitting on their hands while a bunch of A league players look to leave mid season (could have been averted very easily). Their doing a poor job and don’t need extra things to stuff up.
TheMagnificent11 said | January 17th 2010 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
Yes AnyRoo, the FFA would have to pick up their act administratively to ensure a marquee approval system works smoothly. But this is not a pipe dream, it is very possible. My point on the marquee approval system is that the FFA help the clubs out financially to get the best players possible. Now, if the FFA is going to help, they are going to want value for money. This is where the criteria and approval comes in. Furthermore, the process must be transparent so the amounts handed out are fair and can be justified. Thus why each criteria must have a monetary value attached to so clubs no how much they can apply for and this can help them promise appropriate amounts to prospective players. So perhaps clubs should be able to still put anyone on marquee status, but if they want FFA money, they should have to apply. This way a club can sign someone before the transfer deadline, then put the application in and then get the amount refunded by the FFA when they finally approve it.
As for fixture scheduling, your totally right. This season has been very poorly scheduled. A team should never have to play 3 consecutive away games.
hazza said | January 17th 2010 @ 2:18pm | Report comment
No doubt about it the FFA have stuffed up big time. Starting the league in August was the biggest mistake . Its not only affected the crowds and media space for the game but we have this ridiculous situation where players want to leave clubs at the business end of the the season to secure spots for the national team. Starting the league in October would have been a better option. Scheduling has been shocking this year. Watching teams slug it out at 3.00pm on a hot summers day is not the best way to attract fans to the game. My team Victory have a schedule where we play a game in Melbourne every third week. Ridiculous situation. If FOXTEL cant schedule games to suit supporters then it is time for FOXTEL to sell 1 or 2 games to a FTA station. Problem solved.
Australian Football said | January 17th 2010 @ 2:54pm | Report comment
Yes 3pm kick-offs are absolutely crazy—-midweek games have been a success even on the Gold Coast—–they increased their Saturday gate by a 1k on a Wednesday night.. There should be more weekend games to cut the congestion on Fox TV—-or sell a game to FTA—-good suggestion hazza..
cab711 said | January 17th 2010 @ 3:23pm | Report comment
Just fix those paddocks, they are shocking. I hope they get a discount if its in that state. Yesterdays game of Mel v Perth was deplorable. This is unacceptable, how are teams expected to play a clean passing game with sub-standard pitches.
Victer said | January 17th 2010 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
More deregulation in terms of foreign players, especially since the competition will move to 12 teams. the clubs also to look for better coaching overseas as well.
Midfielder said | January 17th 2010 @ 7:53pm | Report comment
Davidde
Good and well balanced article and agree all your points…
Would add just a little that FFA appoint a rep in Asia & South America to report to all A-Leagues clubs various players who would not mind coming to Australia … write a report on them …
TBH I don’t think the clubs have either the money or the knowledge to undertake this move…
heckers69 said | January 18th 2010 @ 12:32am | Report comment
Are you kidding socceroos os part of australia;s football history and should never ever be changed.
I would like the idea of an asian marquee(but they cant be from aus), an aussie marquee and an international marquee.
Pro refs for sure
there needs to be an a-league highlights show or something on free to air tv apart from just the news regular people dont know about it. but they all know about the cricket and the R LEAGUE because its on free to air tv
Chook said | January 18th 2010 @ 10:28am | Report comment
I like the Asian marquee player idea.
My top five.
1- FFA Cup ( similar to the English FA Cup)
2- better ticketing prices
3 -some free to air games of high light package.
4- more emphasis in the ACL
5 – more preseason exhibition, LA Galaxy, Celtic, Fulham. Im sure AC Milan v Melbourne Victory would be a sell out.
Al said | January 18th 2010 @ 10:36am | Report comment
The FFA will never go for an FA Cup styled competition simply because of the ethnic makeup of the teams that will be involved from outside the A-League. I can’t see a Preston Lions vs South Melbourne or Bonnyrigg vs Sydney United tie ever getting the go ahead in a competition involving A-League teams.
Towser said | January 18th 2010 @ 11:02am | Report comment
On one hand I agree, having seen the anti-football sentiment generated in the media by so called riots throughout the entire NSL period & before.
However their is a true need for the FFA to adopt a “wholistic ” approach to football & that means somehow including the old NSL “ethnic clubs. Not to embrace them in some way is to deny the fact that without them the Socceroos would never have become what they are today. Indeed football would not be in the position today without their contribution.
It cannot be an FA cup clone. That cup developed over 150 years of tradition,plus the social make up & fabric of Australia is vastly different from Englands. Pit Peterborough against Liverpool & you are pitting hundreds of years of community pride against a larger adversary. Its not just a football match involved there.
But a cup “Aussie style” involving these clubs is a way to interconnect football nationally.
The FFA may have to take the risk.
Lets face it long term you cant keep alienating the top of the pyramid from its lower levels, or else it will crumble.
Chook said | January 18th 2010 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
i think if you can overcome a FFA cup competition by simply putting a 1 year – 5 year ban on teams. But a a local level this ethnic clash already exists. I guess I was thinking of trying to include clubs into the A- league. At the moment there seems to be a distinct disconection between the A- League and every body else. Maybe a FA Cup style wotn work but there needs to be a competition that is simlar. I just would hope the FFA considers some sort of similar competition. Maybe it wont work but it is worth a try.
Killer_Tomatoes said | January 18th 2010 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
Clearly Peterborough playing Liverpool and Melbourne Croatia playing Victory are not the same thing, I know which one would mean more to me, and that’s all that counts as far as I’m concerned. Liverpool can have their European Nights, the Posh can have their 100+ years. I’ll be happy enough with MVFC v MCFC at Somers St
AndyRoo said | January 18th 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Would need some adjusting of the format though. WA State league team vs QLD State League team would be a money loser.
Has to be kept too a state basis until late in proceedings.
Chook said | January 18th 2010 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
I agree
20 teams into the finals
10 -A League get auto entry
the 10 non A League in the play 2 x NSW, 2 x VIC , 1 XQLD , 1 x SA , 1 x WA , 1 x canberra ,1 x NZ or a wild card place for another state position . Some thing like that. Needs soem work and im sure there are plenty of pitfalls.
Killer_Tomatoes said | January 18th 2010 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
Agreed, it has to be realistic, so local sides would play each other first, maybe get to the last 12 (eg. 1 from WA, Tasmania, Canberra and Northern Territory, 2 from Victoria, NSW, SA and QLD) and then add the A-League teams and any club can play anyone, so Melbourne Victory could potentially draw Adelaide City or Adelaide United. If one of the club who gains entry to this round, say Floreat Athena, can’t afford to pay for the whole trip to Melbourne or Townsville for a game or something, then the FFA subsidise the sides trip so we don’t have teams pulling out due to financial issues.
AndyRoo said | January 18th 2010 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
You could also do a champions league style format. That would have the advantage of x games for A league teams in winter to keep the players fit for ACL duty and trial new players in a semi competitive setting. It’s not the most inclusive format though but at least every state league is represented and then they go back to their own state with everyone having seen them play against A league teams. So a kid can play for his local team Rochedale against Brisbane Strikers and then later see Brisbane Strikers play against Bne Roar. Then later he sees Bne Roar beat MV and then Bne Roar play Uruwa Reds, and then after beating Uruwa they play Manchester United
Group A
Perth Glory
Adelaide United
SA Champ
WA Champ
NT Champ
Group B
MV
Hearts
Vic Champ
Tassie Champ
ACT Champ
Group C
Fury
GCU
Roar
QLD SL Champ
QLD Bne Champ
Group D
SFC
Rovers
NSW Champ
Jets
CCM
Rellum said | January 18th 2010 @ 8:10pm | Report comment
Would that be unfair to the NSW Champs, they get to play 4 A-League Teams and no other state league teams?
Chook said | January 18th 2010 @ 10:29am | Report comment
maybe a south american marquee player?
pete said | January 19th 2010 @ 1:30pm | Report comment
One marquee player per club is enough. I don’t think you can justifly another marquee player from where ever at this stage.
The top Japanese, Korean, Chinese or Middle Eastern players earn much more where they are than they could here. For example: I read Endo at Gamba Osaka earns $4 Million per season there. Would he even consider a move here when the top earners get only $1 Million… I doubt it.
Ghost said | January 19th 2010 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
I’m for the second (Asian) marquee idea – so you’d have one ‘open’ and one ‘Asian’ marquee per team. Like some I would exclude Australians from the Asian marquee spot – but not from the open one.
Most important to me though is the enhancement of the junior marquee system. I think each club should be allowed say $400K over the normal cap (which can be spent on one player or spread amongst a couple if desired) for Socceroo-eligible under 23’s. The aim would be to retain those younger stars in Australia for a couple more years before they go somewhere decent, and avoid them going to places like the Romanian league or something at an age when they can’t cope well with a shit experience.
So thats my #1
2 = replace A-League finals with a post-season FFA Cup (6x top A-League ladder places + 6x State Premier League champs playing with an ACL spot as the prize). To my mind its a good half-way point between the Aussie love of a ‘finals-type’ series and the football love of a Cup competition, and an appropriate way to link in the state leagues.
3 = scheduling. much discussed above but it makes a big difference. on the positive the summer and mid-week rounds were good ideas and need to be kept/expanded
4 = find some accomodation with Fox to get some FTA, even if just decent extended highlights and a discussion panel or maybe one ‘game of the week’ onto an FTA platform. Other press will naturally flow from that.
5 = focus on training. as I’ve written elsewhere I don;t think we get full potential from the A-League because we are not world standard in training. Without doing anything else I think there’s a 10-20% gain to be had just in this aspect. While there’s more to be done, just compare Sydney FC last year and this year for some proof of what someone with a good training system and mentality can get as an improvement.
Thing Fish said | January 21st 2010 @ 7:40am | Report comment
“I think it’s noteworthy that Australia’s only dedicated commercial sport radio station, Melbourne’s SEN, has decided to run with a “Summer of Cricket” as its focus during the AFL’s off-season.”
i’ve no problem with this so long as it’s Twenty20 that is the focus. if SEN is covering all forms of he game then that’s sad. as if test and OD cricket don’t already get very very generous support from conservative media outlets such as murdoch and fairfax papers, abc radio and channel 9. but this is a country in which a tv station resurected a once-dead and awfully bland saturday night tv entertainment show so nothing would be of surprise.
in 2006/07 the a-league was summer’s new alternative that would shake and stir things up a bit. this mantle is now held by twenty20. it’s unlikely T2 will prove a fuck-up like the a-league has.
the a-league and ffa hasn’t put enough brains or brawn into promoting a-league but lazily relied on post-2006 wc momentum to push things along. there’s been a sense of ‘manifest destiny’ in the australian football-soccer community for a long time but NOTHING happens without hard work. and now the ffa has distracted itself with the 2018 and 2020 wc bids.
it doesn’t help that the head of the a-league reckons lack of fta tv has no impact on the a-league’s popularity. such a view necessitates instant removal. nothing good ever cam out of st.kilda.