That’s the fascinating contradiction that’s emerged as the AFL and FFA push to develop knockout competitions in 2011. Despite their expansive pushes in recent times, it’s an acceptance from both that they need to nourish and promote viable national competitions below their premier leagues for the greater health of the code – a lesson all codes need to embrace.
The AFL’s “Leagues Championship Cup” will begin in 2011 involving three clubs from the main state leagues in the VFL, SANFL and WAFL, two clubs from NSW and Queensland, one team each from Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania, and the AFL’s newest club, Greater Western Sydney Giants.
The first rounds of the knockout tournament will begin in March and conclude in May, staged as curtain raisers to AFL matches with Foxtel set to land the television rights to the new competition.
Slightly hurt by the SANFL’s shortsighted snub, which will see leading South Aussie clubs such as Central District boycott due to concerns about the impact on their SANFL campaigns, the competition has nonetheless generated some excitement in the game’s ranks and will be a popular addition to the AFL calendar.
A knockout competition involving state league teams is also high on the agenda at FFA offices, although there is no start date let alone template in place for the proposed competition that, we assume, will involve A-League as well as state league clubs.
As a result, the “FFA Cup”, as fans have dubbed it, will have a greater connection to the top tier of the code; uniting old soccer and new football, former NSL clubs with their A-League successors. While the AFL’s competition is a chance to elevate state leagues’ status, the FFA’s serves a more desperate need to close the huge cultural gap that exists between the A-League and state leagues.
The motivations may be different, but for both codes there are the real benefits of creating what is in-effect a new national second tier.
Firstly, it bridge the gap between the premier leagues (AFL, A-League) and the state leagues, so players and personnel in the second tier have a far greater shop window to display their talents while speeding up their development with more competitive matches.
Travelling interstate for competitive matches will teach youngsters how to cope away from home, while the bigger audience will better prepare them for careers in the premier leagues. As a result, you can bet more James Podsiadlys will emerge from state leagues at a much faster rate.
Secondly, the comps will, in theory, increase interest and television coverage for the codes while uniting grassroots support across the country. Despite some concerns (SANFL clubs), there is enormous potential for state league clubs to expand on their brand; giving sponsors far greater exposure than they could ever achieve in their respective states, which will only help their commercial well-being at a time when many are struggling financially.
This is particularly important for the FFA; to strengthen state league clubs for a possible national move if it decides to expand the game with a second division, with promotion/relegation to and from the A-League.
A second tier on the national front, if done properly, has the potential to not only save but significantly bolster state league teams and competitions. It is equally as important for the codes themselves.
Rugby is an example of a code hamstrung by the lack of a national second tier.
Beyond Super rugby and Wallabies Tests, rugby is barely visible on the national sporting front. And considering Super rugby is spread across Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, with limited Australian matches compared to the AFL, NRL and co, the lack of a national Australian competition – the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship or the like – has created a huge gap between state competitions and Super rugby.
Not only does this hurt in terms of player development and promotion, there are fewer opportunities for rugby to generate interest in the national media – a factor that has significantly hurt the code relative to its winter rivals.
But the defunct ARC should also serve as a warning to these new competitions. Scrapped by Australian Rugby Union (ARU) following a $4.7 million loss in its first and only season, the ARC struggled as a result of more than just bickering from within the rugby community.
The ARU was forced to pay the ABC to broadcast the competition, crowds were considered poor at an average of 2881, and it attracted little in the way of major sponsorship.
The big lesson here is that commercial expectations need to be kept in check. They will be, after all, brand new second tier competitions played in the shadows of the top tiers, with fixtures spread sparsely across the calendar and with, possibly, little in the way of significant mainstream interest.
Both competitions will be thrust into an already overcrowded market – a market unaccustomed to such competitions run on the national scene and concurrently with the premier leagues. The comps will, after all, need to be sold well to the sporting public: what they are about and why fans should care.
As second tier comps, television deals won’t be excessive, interest will be difficult to gauge, and major sponsors could be hard to attract. In fact, by creating these competitions, the AFL and FFA could merely be taking sponsorship dollars from their current leagues. At least the AFL looks to have a television deal in its pocket and the cheaper option of staging games as curtain raisers, reducing costs.
But it will be hard road for both competitions, and hopefully the AFL and FFA have patience and low expectations so that the cups aren’t doomed from the start.
After all, while governing bodies like to see immediate results and benefits, the reality is the goals for the competitions are long-term ones – stronger state leagues, resulting in better players emerging from the feeder comps, with a greater connection between the top and lower tiers.
The codes are learning that expansion alone can only be sustained if there is strong supporting tiers below the premier competitions and new franchises; with healthy feeder clubs developing players, personnel and fostering grassroots/community supporter bases.
The cup competitions will have great worth, even if crowds, interest, television contracts and ratings don’t suggest so initially. The key will be to limit the financial losses early on and stick with the comps, focussing on the long-term goals.
Can the competitions get off the ground and prosper or are they doomed to suffer the same fate as the ARC?
You sense watching the competitions develop over the years will be as fascinating as following the actual sporting contests.
John
Guest
Aussie rules' "League Champions Cup" is much more like the UEFA or AFC Champions League than the FA Cup.
AL
Guest
Does the NRL state of origin still have that passion/intrest? Despite NSW & QLD media hyping the life out of it.
AL
Guest
Hi Football United, good points. My biggest fear is the media jumoing on the "ethnic is back" attack on football. I like the idea of a true knock out comp. But the AFL will attack what they can not every dream of achieving.
AL
Guest
Sorry, the AFL is simply creating a second tier. Not a true knock out comp. A second division comp with a glorified marketing name.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
This is what knock-out cup competitions are all about in Football ... a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a group of amateur footballers, who will be able to tell a story that Hollywood could not replicate. Non-league football club, Crawley Town FC, has been handed a dream FA Cup 5th round tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/31/3125345.htm?site=sport§ion=football
Koops
Guest
Build a bigger stadium ?, although that may not fix this problem.
Westcoast929406
Guest
This article highlights the difficulty of WAFL supporters only getting in to Subi see their WAFL teams play before the main AFL game - Have no idea how they will solve it this season in the new comp. Link--- http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/wafl/8695101/royals-swans-face-super-league-lockout/.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
It's hardly surprising that a national cup in Australia could not be sustained back in 1888!
Danny_Mac
Roar Guru
Hmmm, I think the nationalisation of AFL may have kill off the concept though... in the pre-AFL days, the VFL was the premier comp, but it wasn't a national comp, the best players moved to Victoria to play because thats where the money was, but the SANFL WAFL et al were all on an equal standing to the VFL (theoretically). To use a football example, it is like how the best Scotish and Irish players all end up playing in England. If it was the British premeir league (ignoring the promotion/relegation system for now), and there were premeir league teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dublin and Belfast, these teams would effectively kill the local leagues (which already struggle, but thats another story), knocking them down a level or two from what they were pre expanded comp. Basically the AFL (and the NRL too) have switched to the American "franchise" model, with the draft (or total free market in the NRL) removing any regionalisation that may have existed previously... Now the "second divisions" are nothing more than reserve leagues for the big boys...
Megaman
Guest
Yeah, but FA Cup and the like have a continuous history. Australia's history with knockout cup competitions is all over the shop and none have ever lasted.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
This quote from wikipedia gives a brief description of the national football championships starting all the way back in 1888: "The ANFC ran the Championship of Australia, the first national club competition, which first ran in 1888 and saw clubs from different states compete on an even playing field. During this time, the Port Adelaide won a record four national club championships. Although clubs from other states were at times invited, the final was almost always between the premiers from the two strongest state competitions of the time, – South Australia and Victoria – and the majority of matches were played in Adelaide at the request of the SAFA/SAFL. By the 1960s, as VFL clubs increasingly recruited the best players from other states, they began to dominate the competition and the last match was played in 1976, with North Adelaide being the last non-Victorian winner in 1972. Between 1977 and 1987, the Australian Football Council (AFC) in conjunction with the VFL ran a night series, which invited clubs and representative sides from around the country to participate in the "National Football League" for the Wills Cup, however Victorian sides still dominated. With the lack of international competition, representative matches between state teams were regarded with great importance. Originating from the early intercolonial matches, these tests continued well after Federation of Australia in 1901 and the Australian Football Council co-ordinated regular interstate carnivals. In 1908, a Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival was held to celebrate 50 years of Australian rules football. The carnival included teams representing Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia and New Zealand.[34] Again, due primarily to the VFL recruiting the best players, Victoria dominated interstate matches for three quarters of a century. Representative football was kept alive longer than the national club competition with the introduction of State of origin rules in 1977. "
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
This wikipedia article shows how the night series ran from 1977 to 1987, not only with WAFL/SANFL clubs, but also with state teams involved from Tassie, ACT, NSW and Queensland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Football_League_pre-season_competition#1977-1987:_Night_Series
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
In those days when WAFL and SANFL clubs played in the Tuesday night comp - I can remember clubs like Port Adelaide winning games. Also, going back a decade earlier, when the premiers of the VFL/WAFL/SANFL played each other post-season, there were regular victories to the WAFL and SANFL clubs (this was all pre-national league where the WAFL and SANFL were very close to the standard of the VFL, who were yet to recruit WA/SA players in large numbers).
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
I think 99.9% is generous. It would be more like 99.99999%. It's a bit like asking you little athletics champ to win a gold medal at the Olympics - zero chance.
Rob McLean
Guest
By the way I follow Swan Districts (where my dad played some trials) and Williamstown (where I was born), so I will still have some interest in this competition. As for Centrals not being in the competition, I am disappointed they aren't there. I previously wrote a piece that featured here explaining why I thought the CDFC must be involved. http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/10/29/why-centrals-must-play-in-the-second-tier-comp/ However, apart from the inherent suspicion SANFL clubs and fans have of AFL motives, the CDFC believed the figures don't stack up for them. If the admin thinks that's the truth, I'm willing to accept that. A question I asked in that piece still stands though, as this comp has been cooked up to fill a Foxtel scheduling gap due to there being an odd number of teams, will it continue in 2012 when there are 18? I hope it does.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
from an AFL perspective I don't care what the FFA may or may not do or what the English do with the FA cup. From an Australian Football perspective, there's been things over the years that skimmed the surface. Premiers across the leagues playing each other back in the '70s (WAFL, SANFL, VFL), the Joan Kirner era Victorian 'Premiers Cup' and even the 1980s night series which for a time included clubs from the WAFL and SANFL like Claremont, Glenelg and was it Swan Districts that rather severely 'tanked' their side at the selection table once upon a time and gave Richmond a free run. At any rate - - it's nice to see the AFL re-visiting some of the ideals that in the past were perhaps a bit too hard to hold together in the long run.
Twatter
Guest
First of all good luck to the A.F.L. in what their trying to do. But now on to my code Football i think their is far to much of an emphasis on European Football in Australia and taking bits and pieces and bringing them back here for the convenience of (certainly not mine) but the footballing media to dream up a F.A cup style sytstems. That where in fact struglling in the Asian Champions League with A League clubs and now people want to introduce an F.A. cup style knockout tournament, to my summation that will have A League clubs playing roughly 40 -45 games ( including midweek games) of Football a year thats a little less than some European Football clubs. These ideas sound grand and romantic but at this point in time we haven't got our own model and scheduling right for the A League and the Asian Champions League. My pesonal beleif is the F.F.A. have charged into everything they've done over the past 6-7 years and it potentialy may come back to bite them. Lets just sit back take a deep breath get everything structualy organised in Australia and Asia ,and an F.A Cup style system is something we've know about for decades and it's something we can introduce in 5-10 years time we just seem to be racing into everything and any new idea. We must be patient in Football we must reflect also on the positives that the F.F.A. have created. If i was to say to anybody ten years ago we would qualify for two consecutive world cups, have a national domestic league ( thats inclusive not exclusive) bid for the world cup hosting rights, be part of the Asian Football Confederation and play nations like Iran , Jordan ,Japan, Qatar, China i would have been sectioned. Lets just relax their's an Old Chinese saying ( the ox is slow but the earth is patient).
Timmuh
Roar Guru
That will be the big problem for the Australian Football version. The gap between the SANFL and other state leagues means that even the weaker SANFL clubs would start big favourites if held on neutral territory. As it is, travel will be a factor that may allow a VFL or WAFL side to win if drawn well. Except 100+ point drubbings when Clarence(Tas representative) or East Coast(NSW representative) play a VFL, SANFL or WAFL team anywhere. If outclassed in Association Football you can park the bus and hope for a counter(to a certain degree, any Tas club - probably even a rep team - playing a VPL side would go down by >10 goals parked bus or not), and you might get lucky. In Australian Football, all you can do flood and limit the damage.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"The FA Cup is nothing like the Champions League" .... well, of course not! The UCL is the elite tournament for club football in the UEFA Confederation - only "the best of the best" from the previous season get to participate in the UCL. By contrast, every single registered football team in England - from the local pub teams to the EPL teams - get to participate in the FA Cup. The FA Cup is all about "the romance" of sport; the UCL is simply about identifying the best club football team in Europe.
Hooplah
Guest
They will both fail. This is not the first shot for both codes at creating similar concepts. They do not even resound in Europe anymore. The FA Cup is nothing like the Champions League.