The A-League is finally commanding large chunks of real-estate on the pages of our nation’s newspapers, but sadly it’s for all the wrong reasons.
Gold Coast’s billionaire owner had stirred the hornet’s nest with his unrelenting accusations and barbs directed at the FFA.
Whether we agree with Clive or not, his actions have brought to the fore, debate over the state of our domestic league, its health, its direction and its future.
Opinions from all corners have been voiced on what needs to be done to make sure we achieve a self-sustaining domestic league in this country, because at the end of the day, that’s what we all want – a domestic league that stands on its merits, one that is not at the mercy of wealthy billionaires or continually propped up by the FFA.
Since Clive’s outburst, social media, the print media, TV and radio, have been alive with calls for the FFA to direct more funds to struggling clubs, for TV rights to be shopped around, for more wealthy billionaires to be enticed into ownership.
Opinions on how to ensure the survival of the A-League are coming from every corner of the land. While this level of debate is healthy, the sad thing is, in my opinion at least, we are all missing the crucial point.
Our domestic league will never survive, no matter how many wealthy owners we entice into ownership, how much funding the government and the FFA release to clubs, if we do not develop the culture of the game among its supporters.
How many soccer AMs do we have here in Australia?
How many shows of the likes of AFL and NRL footy shows, that are football-based do we have? How many shows on radio?
How many commentators? How many sports journalists devoted to football?
The answer to all these questions is not many.
For me, developing media talent is as important as pouring money into clubs or spending it on marquis players. For our A-League to grow, the growth must be organic from the bottom-up, generated by the fans and fed by robust and healthy media representation.
And so, I believe strongly that the FFA should spend some of their money providing funding for media projects and the identification and development of media talent in the same way the Film Financing Corporations and many other peak bodies do in order to inspire and nurture the next generation in their field.
AFL and the rugby codes have their legends born over many generations, created as much by those who perform the deeds as by those who capture them.
These legends fire the imaginations of the supporters, urging them to become part of the sport.
The A-League needs to begin creating its history, its legends, its heroes, to inspire the fans and get them engaged, but it will never do that by leaving it to the few we have in the media – we need more, more people behind microphones, in front of cameras, writing stories, capturing heroics and sharing them.
The FFA could do it as simply as providing scholarships, funding TV program development, supporting bloggers and the list goes on.
A few months ago, a mate and I started a soccer program on local community radio in Victoria. Nothing big, just a humble one hour program that’s all about soccer.
We’re not receiving any coin, it’s all volunteer-based but we do it because we are passionate about the game and are willing to put in our time to make it grow.
The response from the community has been fantastic, especially one from the two Melbourne based A-League clubs.
Buoyed by the response, we contacted the FFA for help with media passes so we could cover the A-League and promote it, we have not heard anything from them.
Maybe we need to be billionaires?
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