Lack of star names concern for A-League
Roar Guru By John Davidson, 29 Jun 2012 John Davidson is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- A-League, Carlos Hernandez, football, Harry Kewell, marcos flores, Marquee Players
Harry Kewell can't believe it either (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
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No Kewell, no Hernandez, no Flores, no Amini, no Balbalj, no Jeffers, no worries? Season 8 may well have just received a huge wave of excitement with the arrival of the Western Sydney Wanderers.
But a marquee-less A-League devoid of big names and some of our brightest young stars won’t keep the crowds growing.
Mike Tuckerman: Kewell departure is a blow to the A-League
Don’t get me wrong, 2011/2012 was great and I am looking forward to the next edition.
Season 7 started with a bang with the return home of Socceroos heroes Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton. One joined Melbourne Victory, the other Sydney FC, and despite a lot off-field drama with Gold Coast United (which received the axe from the competition) and the Newcastle Jets, attendance figures and TV audiences for the A-League grew.
A little bit of bling was back, the move to launch the season after the NRL and ARL finals were over was a beauty, and the competition had real momentum again.
The standard of football on the field was also fantastic, and with a strong Mariners, a revitalised Perth Glory and a record-breaking Roar, things were looking good. But three months out from the start of the season, and the glow from the Wanderers aside, there has been little else to get excited about.
The Jets have let all their experienced names go, Kewell has returned to the UK for family reasons (which is completely understandable), Carlos Hernandez has departed and while Marcos Flores still loves the A-League, he doesn’t look like returning any time soon.
Sydney FC has said it won’t be making a Dwight Yorke-like buy, as much as coach Ian Crook wants to, and the FFA have told Tony Popovic the Wanderers’ won’t be either.
The Mariners have their squad pretty much settled, the same as the Roar and most other clubs.
The mood around the league is a bit dour, especially on marquees, as the feeling exists that they aren’t worth the money and effort. Financially it seems everyone is struggling, with some home-grown austerity measures introduced, as stability and keeping costs down is key.
To top it off, the A-League remains a keen feeder competition to bigger leagues overseas. Already we have seen Musti Amini and Eli Babali leave for Europe, and surely Terry Antonis will follow them soon.
Less foreign players means more opportunity for our best and brightest young talent but they are heading overseas chasing their dreams in droves, which you can’t blame them for.
Sure there have been some terrible marquees in the history of the A-League – see Brian Deane and Mario Jardel – but there have some great buys as well. Dwight Yorke, Juninho, Paul Ifill were fantastic, Robbie Fowler pulled in the crowds while the likes of Emerton and Mile Sterjovksi have had an impact, to name just a few.
There are many foreign signings – Hernandez, Flores, Berisha, van Dijk, Rodriguez etc – who might not have been huge names before they came to Australia but they lit up the A-League and boosted the competition as a whole.
Football agent Lou Sticca was behind Yorke’s season with Sydney FC and says the success of the Manchester United striker’s stint proves that marquees can work.
“The A-League needs sizzle and marquees, they have got to be the right ones, can deliver,” he says.
Sticca believes it is still early days for season 8 and he remains hopeful we will see some names join the competition in time. Fellow player agent Leo Karis agrees it is a tough balancing act.
“Fiscal responsibility vs [the] marquee wow factor,” he says. Karis believes the Wanderers should invest in a marquee star.
The best marquees not only have a big profile and bring extra media attention, they bring more bums on seats and play exception football. There are few that have done all four of those things, Yorke being the prime example at one who did.
Others might not have dominated the league – like Liverpool legend Fowler – but gave the competition a brighter spotlight and boosted crowds. Flores, Berisha and Hernandez didn’t have huge profiles but lifted the league with their brilliant play and ended up creating more media attention and energized attendances.
If the A-League wants to continue to grow, in both crowds and attention, then it needs the right marquees. The hardcore fanbase will continue to attend regardless but without some big-name foreign injection the casual fan, Eurosnob, NSL supporter and non-Australian football lover will keep giving the A-League the cold shoulder.
To become bigger and better, like its counterparts in China and the US, it needs marquees. It’s a risky approach, and selecting the wrong marquee can have negative side-effects, but it’s worth the risk to the get the perfect one on board.
- Explore:
- A-League, Carlos Hernandez, football, Harry Kewell, marcos flores, Marquee Players
June 29th 2012 @ 1:08am
Dinoweb said | June 29th 2012 @ 1:08am | Report comment
As a long term football fan, I have, and will continue to go to a game to see a marquee player. I have travelled to Brisbane especially to watch Dwight Yorke, Robbie Fowler, Mark Bosnich, Harry Kewell, and John Aloisi, and always loved that Craig Moore played for Roar. But I only go to see a specific player once.
Maybe I’m a bit older and more cynical, but players come and go. I support my team, and the players really are just a little bit incidental to that. This years home game star might very well be next years nemisis. Robbie Kruse and Sergio van Dyke spring to mind.
Things that are more important to me are who Roar are playing. I will usually try to see at least one Sydney FC game (don’t know that Wanderers will have the same pull), and one MV game every season.
Big games are also a draw. GF replays not so much, but certainly for the past couple of years I’ve attended most 1v2 matches, or in other years games that put Brisbane into or out of a finals spot.
While being a bit of a football tragic myself, the standard of play has never really stopped me from going, but my family has attended many more games with me in the past two years because of the Roar’s exciting brand of football.
Until football can draw the type of money currently floating around in the AFL, finding and keeping quality players will always be a bit of a struggle. In the meantime, the A-League will be better served by teams playing more entertaining football, not signing name players who may or may not help your team do well.
June 29th 2012 @ 9:15am
gawa said | June 29th 2012 @ 9:15am | Report comment
I understand that there are some people who are not really that interested in actually spending their money and time on attending football matches. These people may well decide to attend one or at a stretch two A League games a season if there was some big slightly over the hill player who once played for a big club.
But really we have not got the money to waste on these players or indeed these types of fans.
Having real quality coaches and hungry players is the future for the A League for the considerable future.
June 29th 2012 @ 9:21am
graham said | June 29th 2012 @ 9:21am | Report comment
I did a thought experiment, replace the weekest two players in an a league clubs starting 11 with two players in the same position from a premier league club. Most clubs then look at least as good as an serie b club or a championship club. The judicious import of marquees could make the a league an exceptional competition
June 29th 2012 @ 9:55am
Christo the Daddyo said | June 29th 2012 @ 9:55am | Report comment
While the idea of marquee players is great – their skill level and experience is attractive to watch and benefits the lesser players around them, there is the financial reality that most (all?) clubs are losing money hand over fist.
The FFA, A-League and the individual clubs need to do everything they can to build the league up into a fiscally responsible and sustainable model.
And I think statements like: “But three months out from the start of the season, and the glow from the Wanderers aside, there has been little else to get excited about” aren’t helping anyone. We can’t get a Kewell and Emerton announcement every year…
June 29th 2012 @ 10:06am
Rolling Along said | June 29th 2012 @ 10:06am | Report comment
You said it yourself: “Flores, Berisha and Hernandez didn’t have huge profiles but lifted the league with their brilliant play and ended up creating more media attention and energized attendances.” I would argue that these players have been far more valuable to their respective clubs than most of the big-name, big-money ‘marquees’ that have made their way to the A-League. The value comes from sustained performances that turn them into crowd favourites, not from the big splash a Kewell, Fowler or Emerton makes when they first sign (which quickly fades once people realise that they’re not the dominant player everyone expected them to be, often not even the best player at their own club).
Guys like Hernandez, Archie Thompson, Smeltz, Cassio, Van Dijk, etc etc, have become ‘big names’ in this league in their own right. They have profile and recognition well beyond the rusted on A-League fanbase. It’s a sign that the league is doing well that these sorts of players often outshine the big name ex-Premier League players, ‘returning Socceroos’, etc. It’s the mark of a very healthy football culture that fans expect quality performances, not just a famous face. Clubs are getting much smarter in recruitment as they realise that a big name marquee will only provide a short-term boost unless they can sustain the sorts of performances that make the likes of Hernandez, Broich and Flores so popular. There’s nothing wrong with signing well-known players on expensive contracts, but clubs are quite rightly much more cautious about the actual benefits of this strategy than they have been in the past.
And what’s wrong with young players moving on? It’s happened right from the start of the league, and guess what – every year a new crop of talented and exciting youngsters emerges. Perhaps as the league keeps improving more and more will choose to remain in Australia, but for the time being I think we should just feel privileged to be able to watch the first few seasons of senior football from guys with a bright future ahead of them.
June 29th 2012 @ 11:26am
MG said | June 29th 2012 @ 11:26am | Report comment
Spot on.
Flores also was a great ambassador for the club off the field also. Very approachable guy, always made time for the young fans.
June 29th 2012 @ 2:12pm
Griffo said | June 29th 2012 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
Was thinking along your first two paragraphs myself: reading between the lines for the J-League and fans know an aging European star on a retirement pay-cheque quicker than their own clubs do. We know how far along the J-League is compared to the A-League.
Having big names alone served its purpose early on, but we are already looking beyond the reputation and looking for the quality they bring to a team and the league as a whole, and clubs are also looking at this as well which bodes well for the future. Better the experience for clubs and technical staff in analysing a player like a Flores and what the end result was than just crossing fingers on reputation alone.
June 29th 2012 @ 10:17am
tonysalerno said | June 29th 2012 @ 10:17am | Report comment
I think it’s a big concern for the A-league. Kewell’s departure has left a whole in the marquee signing of the A-league. The removal of assigning of his calibre and the other players mentioned may hurt the A-league on and off the field. On the field the lack of big names may hurt the league’s ability to recruit while off the field A-league ratings will fall. ( i understand naturally ratings will rise with the new western sydney franchise but the lack of big names will not see the ratings reach their full potential.)
It’s good to see the torch being passed and young players being blooded but has all happened far too soon…
June 29th 2012 @ 11:41am
Roarsome said | June 29th 2012 @ 11:41am | Report comment
I don’t know why Kewell’s departure is creating so much fuss. Did any of you watch him play? He had 2 maybe 3 good games. Nothing spectacular compared with the rest of the league.
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June 29th 2012 @ 11:44am
Ben of Phnom Penh said | June 29th 2012 @ 11:44am | Report comment
There seems to be some confusion in the article between “big name player” and “talented player who was discovered in the A-League”.
Players like Amini, Leckie, Rojas have made a name for themselves in the A-League and have/will use that as a launching pad for their career. It is part of the development process and their departure to greener pastures is part of the role and function of the A-League and something that should be applauded. The same goes to a lesser extent to players like Flores. Hence the challenge, nay anticipation, is less about their departure and more about watching the next exciting package working its way through the ranks.
June 29th 2012 @ 12:00pm
wisey_9 said | June 29th 2012 @ 12:00pm | Report comment
I don’t think the Guest Player spots are being used as well as they could be. There is a lot of risk in paying a massive sum for a Marquee and them end up being crocked (Juninho) or just plain rubbish (Jardel).
My suggestion would be to bring in these name players in on a pay-as-you-play Guest Player registration. Clarence Seedorf has just left Milan and is interested in playing in Asia or the US. Imagine Sydney FC bringing him in on a 8 week guest stint over the Christmas/New Year period. Crowds would flock to see him play, he can clearly still play at an exceptional level, and if he were to injure himself, the financial impact would be negligible.
Sponsors could also be brought in as partners on these sort of deals – it would be a marketers dream!
“Samsung and Sydney FC have teamed up to bring Michael Owen out to Australia this December… Merry Christmas Sydney! From everyone here at Samsung.”
June 29th 2012 @ 12:13pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | June 29th 2012 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
I’ve been enjoying your articles, John, but I’m afraid you are way off the mark with this piece of analysis, which suggests you don’t closely follow the HAL.
If you attend HAL matches week-in-week-out you would never have made comment about: “No Kewell, no Hernandez, no Flores, no Amini, no Balbalj, no Jeffers ..”
Apart from H, do you honestly think any of the other players used to pull in casual fans regularly? Carlos was at MVFC for 5 years and, no matter how I work the figures, I can’t see any correlation between Carlos playing in the HAL & match attendance.
Do you think people would recognise Babalj or Jeffers in the street? What exactly did Jeffers do? I saw NUJ a couple of times last season – I wouldn’t know if he played or didn’t.
Amini played a total of 933 minutes for CCM last season – approximately 1/3 of total CCM match time.
There is ZERO evidence that any “big name” will consistently generate above average crowds.
You suggest: “.. without some big-name foreign injection the .. Eurosnob, NSL supporter .. will keep giving the A-League the cold shoulder.”
Can you kindly name one – just ONE – “big name footballer”, who would be willing to play for $1m p.a., and would entice the Eurosnob & NSL supporter to attend 13 HAL home matches?
The best value o/s players have been: Carlos, Fred, Broich, Berisha, Zwaanswijk, Ifill, etc. None of these players pull in casual fans to HAL matches. But they improve the technical quality of the HAL and that’s what will get football fans to attend.
July 1st 2012 @ 8:08am
Kasey said | July 1st 2012 @ 8:08am | Report comment
I go to games to support my club, do I care if there are ‘big names’ drawing in the barely interested? Not really. My level of entrainment is very rarely affected by the presence of what the uninitiated would call a big name. My level of entertainment is derived from my team playing well and hopefully beating the other mob. Its why I think the excuse of, the crowd was low because the opposition are ‘a low drawing attraction’ is garbage. Are you there to see your team or the opposition?