Five things I’d like to see change in the A-League

 
Davidde Corran Columnist

By , 17 Jan 2010 Davidde Corran is a Roar Expert

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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)

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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