Several weeks ago, while scrolling through a raucous Twitter debate surrounding the quality of the A-League, I stumbled across a suggestion from a notable football identity which left me aghast.
His proposal, designed to “improve” the competition and save it from international “embarrassment”, was to completely remove the existent salary cap in the A-League.
It was this man’s assertion that such a measure was necessary in order to allow Australian clubs to become more competitive when battling it out in the Asian Champions League.
Immediately taken aback, I retorted with an outline of some of the detrimental effects this move would have on the local game.
Initially, I assumed it was a lone voice advocating such change. However, in the weeks since, I have heard numerous football fans from various quarters calling for similar transformations.
While, in the broad scheme of things, the range of advocates for scrapping the A-League salary cap is seemingly minute, the airing of the suggestions did spark greater appreciation within me for the current system.
In modern football, all over the world, money has become an overbearing factor for what takes place on the pitch. One must only glance across to the top leagues of Europe to see this effect in full swing.
Of course, this influence is well known, and hardly disputed.
In England over the past decade, for instance, football fans have witnessed clubs virtually purchase titles after being taken over by mega-rich billionaires. In leagues such as these, salary caps are almost non-existent.
Fortunately, in Australia, such a conundrum has been avoided through ensuring sides stick to a stipulated budget.
Even better, clubs are still provided the capability of attracting up to three “marquee” players whose salary is exempt from the salary cap. This has proven enough to boost the on-field quality, yet avoid introducing unfair advantages.
What this has effectively meant is the A-League has remained an intriguing and even competition throughout its eight-year existence.
Since 2005, seven different teams have been crowned as either champions or premiers. In fact, the only sides out of the current crop to not feature in an A-League grand final are Wellington and Melbourne Heart.
Without the salary cap, it is extremely likely the more-profitable sides will dominate.
If that is not enough, given the continued fledgling state of the clubs within the competition – with sides often struggling to turn a profit whatsoever – fears for the survival of some sides would be very real.
Moreover, the idea that greater expenditure is the only way for Australian clubs to achieve success in Asia seems far-fetched.
Aside from the fact several A-League sides have performed admirably in the regional Champions League, including Adelaide reaching the final in 2008 and Central Coast progressing to the Round of 16 this year, a change in attitude is likely to bring about more benefits than the lifting of the salary cap would.
Ever since then-Melbourne Victory skipper Kevin Muscat declared “playing in Asia is not all that enjoyable” during his side’s 2010 campaign, it has been difficult to shake the perception that failure to progress out of the group stage is borne out of A-League teams not taking the competition seriously.
Of course, the football played by top A-League sides in recent years has, at times, been phenomenal, and there appears to be little excuse for local clubs not to be claiming results on the international stage.
As such, the calls – albeit minor – to scrap the salary cap are unfounded, and do not take into account the negative effect such changes would have on the domestic competition.
So, to the Football Federation of Australia, as well as the administrators of the A-League, here is something I do not say to you very often: thank you, and please do not ever consider loosening the salary cap to the sort of levels seen in parts of Europe.
xXSwansea&MKdonslovrXx
Guest
i <3 the a-league it is my underlying passion. I was a massive Gold Coast United Fan.... Can you tell me when they're coming back....? yours sincerely xXSwansea&MKdonslovrXx
Norfolk
Roar Rookie
Strange that there is no mention that in England, Spain & Germany it is accepted that some form a salary cap has to come in soon. No on referencing the new UEFA restrictions? I don't think money is holding back A League clubs in the ACL, the travel and times of games stuff them more because no matter how much money they spend they still have to field 8 Australians.
my left foot
Guest
I was going to post pretty much what you said Ben, now there's no need it was so concise.
Ballymore
Guest
There is a way to improve ACL performance while protecting the contrived equality of HAL. ACL entrants (WSW, CCM & MV this year) get salary cap concessions. This could be extra players, a larger wage bill, an Asian marquee etc. Note - ACL currently enforces a 3+1 rule so allowing extra foreigner players may not help.
TIMBER TIM
Guest
Glad we have a salary cap but to say that the Sydney and Melbourne markets are being hindered isn't true either. Even in a salary cap league the quality of marquee players that Sydney and Melbourne can attract would be greater then the other capital cities so the big market teams if they do their homework correctly will always have a competitive advantage. We should be thankful that the A-league hasn't introduce a draft system if you want to see a true equalistation of the league. I just glad that we compete in a league where every fan can go into every season believing their side has a chance to win silverware. Not be oh I hope we finish in the top 10 this year or I hope we don't get relegated.
Australian Rules
Guest
nick, the main difference between soccer in USA/AUS and Europe, is that soccer is absolutely entrenched as the number 1 sport in Europe...at every level.
nordster
Guest
"You propose that in order to “engage the whole football pyramid of Oz football”, you need super rich ALeague clubs vs poorer state-based ones." And everything in between....the Oz model so far is just super rich (relative to the base) HAL/AFL/NRL and a disconnected base of the pyramid....smaller and even some mid tier regional areas need not apply to the top division effectively....priced out. In order to fully integrate club football....yes, the richer clubs do need to play the poorer ones. Which is preferable to the cartel we have in Oz sport now....protects established big clubs at the expense of a sporting league based on a competitive means of access...promotion on the pitch.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
"if you allow toddler to eat what it wants, it’ll O.D on sugar within a year." AR, you have just compared the yanks and aussies to kids, which is a comparison European often makes too ;) (as they are the 2 countries which use salary caps the most.) Maybe there is really a cultural aspect about the salary cap rather than just the sport played or country itself after all? What seems to work 'fairly' well in all other countries might not be adapted to North America and Oz. Or maybe they just don't know how to use it well, within their means, hence the need for 'a cap' (at least less than other nations which aren't perfect either )
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Not a bad analogy, AR. The cap has its role and certainly the open flagrancy of the English system isn't going to work in the economic and demographic environment that the A-League finds itself in. It would be good if we could eventually move to a Bundesliga model however there are a number of preconditions that need to be met before we can consider this. Nordster is correct in that the cap does hold back some of the clubs, however the general assessment at this stage is that the benefits of removing the cap are far outweighed by the costs.
The Auteur
Guest
The smarter clubs who want to get ahead realise you don't cheap out on the manager. A good manager in this league goes further than what any marquee or talent poaching (looking at you Sydney FC) can do on the field. ACL is a different story, and if the FFA want HAL clubs to be successful then finding a way retain our best talent (more $$$) is a must.
Titus
Guest
On the other hand, enforcing a restriction on the quality of the league, particularly imports, could have the same effect. The teams that have no chance of winning anything in the EPL still draw good crowds because a) the quality is quite good having been lifted by the money that the top end brings in and b) that is your club. CCM would/should always draw the core of their support whether they are winning or losing, having a higher quality league may actually improve CCM crowds even if they are losing. Really, at this stage, the league needs a cap but the cap needs to keep lifting until one day the smaller teams won't be able to fill it and will need to focus on development of talent. The a-league captures only a fraction of football followers at this stage and only an improvement in quality will draw more of them in.
Australian Rules
Guest
I'm all for money in football, but if you allow toddler to eat what it wants, it'll O.D on sugar within a year. You propose that in order to "engage the whole football pyramid of Oz football", you need super rich ALeague clubs vs poorer state-based ones. I believe the opposite. An FFA Cup will *only* work with an enforced salary cap because it limits the gulf separating the big and the small.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Celtic?
nordster
Guest
Innovation like calves blood and salary cap rorting? The same incentives to develop and find unpolished gems exist all over the world in uncapped leagues. Unless we think here in our capped league we are doing that much better than elsewhere. It could be argued that ffa forcing small clubs to spend 85pc of the salary cap is redirecting money that could have been spent on development or facilities.
Assistant Orange Peeler
Guest
The standards across the Asian leagues have also improved immensely.
nordster
Guest
But the open competition model works well in places other than the EPL. It doesnt need to have the exact same market parameters as England to function well. As for Man City, well their fans would disagree for the most part. Lemme guess....you're a Guardian reader? Money is bad in football, etc etc.... If we want to stay a competition with 10 teams, then sure things stay as is. If we want to engage the whole football pyramid of Oz football with the top tier, the model used around the football world would be better suited. Which will absolutely mean some clubs are more financially capable than others....welcome to reality...
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
The salary cap means that the better financed clubs must improve their squads through superior medical, training and development regimes as well as through better recruitment. It increases the incentive for clubs to find unpolished gems amongst the various domestic football tiers and to give them a good polish. Without the cap the monied clubs have no incentive to do this. They simply buy the better players off less wealthy clubs. These less wealthy clubs don't have the resources to search the talent pool as thoroughly as the monied clubs, so more talent slips through the cracks. If the A-League is to play an elevated role in the development of Australian footballers then the cap needs to remain. If we want a couple of super-clubs at the expense of development then by all means, remove the cap.
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
I'm niether pro salary-cap nor against the salary cap. In saying that, I do believe that the salary-cap does reward mediocrity. Clubs and their owners know thag they can do the bare minimum and still be able to challenge their rivals who run a much more professional outfit (both on and off the pitch). So while such restrictions are in place, there really isn't the need for them to change the way they run things. On the otherhand, I can see some clubs/owners could run the risk of destroying their clubs with ill advise practices in the name of glory and success. So either path there are pros and cons.
Australian Rules
Guest
"Are u saying EPL clubs are soulless?" I gave City as an example...and yes, it's soulless. Ask most Man U fans if the Glazers were a "good" thing for the club. Again, what works for the EPL (in a football obsessed country of 60M and literally hundreds of established clubs), will not work for Australia's fledgling competition with 10 teams.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Never been a fan of salary caps but after having read most comments I agree its probably what is needed here at the moment. Having said that, I do think $2.5M is just too low. Imo it should be at a level high enough for clubs who do have the money to be able attract/keep very good players but not too high so we wouldn't see silly things like we have seen in Europe. I think the idea of evening up the comp is a bit of a myth too: rich clubs buy marquee players, others don't/cant anyway. Also what might work in other sports like afl or nrl may not suit football in the same way: good to very good afl or nrl players will always stay here as there is no market abroad (afl) or the top comp is here (nrl). In football, if you have a $2.5M salary cap it means you wont be able to keep the few good players who know they will easily make more money in an average club of a mid-table club in Europe/Asia. So basically rich clubs have marquee at $1M then a few guys at 300-500 then the rest of players are on $50 to $150. Its fair to say that most players who accept to be paid this aren't going to play the type of football that non football fans are going to love. So yes am happy to keep a salary cap right now but it has to be more of a 'safety cap' really, i.e. $4-5M, something still reasonable but high enough to keep players interested.