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Looking at the 2010/2011 A-League season, there was a number of stand-out reasons for the ongoing success of the competition, both positive and negative. Five things we learned from this season of the A-League:
Ange Postecoglou is turning into one of the best advocates for the game in Australia
The past 12 months have been good for Ange. His managerial exploits have been well documented and he has deserved all the plaudits he has received.
What has been of greater benefit for the football community is that with his increased profile and standing in the media, Ange has also become one of the best ambassadors for the game.
With the on-field efforts of the Roar allowing Ange to walk-the-walk, his ability to talk-the-talk in a forthright and sincere manner on matters not just related to his club but the broader state of the game is a valuable asset for the administrators of football in Australia. See any of his appearances on shows like the ABC’s Offsiders for evidence of these skills.
Although he has set himself some very high standards to meet next season, hopefully all the other A-League managers will also lift their standards both on and off the pitch.
The product on the field has improved
It isn’t often that a grand final ends with all the commentators and pundits saying that the football played this season has been some of the best ever played in this country.
Off the field, the A-League has some serious issues which need to be addressed, but at least the on field product isn’t the problem as it may have been in the past.
Good football being played on the park has the double benefit of appealing to existing fans of football and bringing in new fans to watch attractive exciting football.
As I have written about in the past, the vast majority of a crowd at a football game will have a casual relationship with the club so the product has to be good to get people off their couches and to the stadiums a few times a year.
The beautiful game played with style will also help make the product more attractive to advertisers and broadcasters which at this particular point in time is very important.
Such improvements would not be possible without improvements in the approaches of clubs in relation to recruitment, training and technical direction. This should provide some optimism that the clubs are doing something right.
If a week is a long time in football, just imagine what can be achieved before the start of the next season
Many A-League fans are lamenting the six month gap before the start of the next season. It will be a number of years before football is strong enough to have a longer season and a smaller gap between the first round and the grand final.
Rather than lament the long winter, the next several months present an opportunity for the A League to make a connection with the existing fans and get some new ones. Engage with the community; build on the momentum generated by the grand final.
On fields all around the country, pre-season training is already underway. Bodies of all shapes, sizes and ages are once again readying themselves for the upcoming season.
What better way to connect with the community than sending out A-League players and coaches not only to their local areas but to other regions that don’t have a club to call their own.
Kids get a kick out of meeting players, but running sessions for those middle-aged guys and girls will help them to engage more with the clubs and the league overall.
Players shell out hundreds of dollars to register and play for their club and providing them with a connection to the top level of competition in this country will make the pain of handing over the money a little bit easier (A-League clubs wanting to help out a Canberra based club, feel free to get in touch via The Roar).
These next six months can also be used to work out a new marketing campaign. We may not need a rock anthem as our theme song but how about a re-imagining of New Order’s classic ‘World in Motion’ with cameos by players and managers doing the John Barnes rap – I’ll claim copyright on that idea.
Whatever the A-League does over the next few months we aren’t going to get onto the back pages of the papers, but this is not what we should be aiming to do. There should be a focus on the grassroots and making a whole hearted effort to build some more bridges.
Downsizing and consolidation aren’t ugly words
Businesses have done it. Government’s have done it. And sporting leagues around the world have done it.
The FFA’s decision to shrink in order to grow from a refocused core is a decision that would not have been taken lightly. There is plenty of evidence to show that when a code expands into areas too quickly and is burned, they can be reluctant to go back into these areas.
But what the long term future of the game needs now is a period of consolidation after too much expansion too quickly. It will be a painful process, but hopefully lessons have been learnt and the game will go onto to bigger and better things.
The administrators of the game are human
Australia was never going to get the World Cup. The A-League expanded too far too quickly. Having the finances of the league leveraged to crowd numbers and relying on wealthy individuals to stick with clubs and suffer losses would create issues.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and sometimes critics and frustrated supporters can forget how wonderful it is.
Off field issues will continue to dominate the debate until the start of the next season, but what should be remembered in that debate is that the administrators of football are trying to make what they see as the best decisions for the game in this country.
Choosing to go down one road over another will mean some people will be upset. What won’t help matters are over-the-top reactions and sensationalist commentary declaring the game is in its death throes.
Faced with some very difficult decisions, administrators are acting on available information and whilst it is right that their decisions are held up to scrutiny, expecting perfection is setting the standard too high. Mistakes have been (and will be made) but it is on the response to the mistakes that judgement should be based.
The progress the game has made in the last few years is staggering and for that fans should be thankful. There was always going to be some bumps along the way as well as some big potholes.
But football is a resilient animal and has come back from far worse in the past.
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