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A few months ago, David Gallop made the bold statement that football was Australia’s number one summer sport, overtaking cricket and marking a significant cultural change in the country.
As much as I want football to be number one in the summer, this statement could not be further from the truth.
Australian cricket has been reinvigorated with the dominant performances of the Test team, and this has inevitably generated renewed interest in the Big Bash League.
One only needs to look at the TV ratings, both on Foxtel and free-to-air, to identify that cricket is the number one sport in Australia this summer.
While Mr Gallop now seems foolish for making such statements, Mr James Sutherland and the Cricket Australia board could not be happier with how the summer of 2013/4 has gone.
This brings us to another issue; the current state of the A-League.
12 months ago, Australian Football, domestically speaking, had never been in a better place. Increased crowds, marquee signings and great fan driven atmosphere.
While crowds and TV ratings are up on last year, and football made great inroads by finally being shown on free-to-air tv, one cannot help but feel that some of the momentum has been lost, particularly when it comes to playing standard.
In fact, the playing standard has dropped since last season.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why; but ageing players and marquees, loss of good coaches (Graham Arnold and Ange Postecoglou) and some questionable recruitment are some contributing factors.
It is important to note the ingredients are there for the A-League to be really successful. And not all is doom and gloom, there are many good things for the league.
However what needs to be addressed is the playing standard.
There is enough interest in football in this country to drive the A-League ratings up there with the Big Bash, and to drive crowds to a very respectable position within the Australian sporting landscape; accounting for both winter and summer codes.
However, it is difficult for many fans to become enthusiastic about the A-League with many matches characterised by sloppy play and school boy errors.
A-League enthusiasts need to be realistic and think with a rational mind; instead of attacking any person who is not interested in the A-League.
If the A-League improves its playing standard, I am confident many of these so called ‘Eurosnobs’ will be more willing to become active consumers of the A-League.
With brilliant fan atmosphere, great time slots and TV coverage, the playing standard is the biggest thing holding the league back.
While we shouldn’t expect playing quality to the level of the English Premier League or Bundesliga, fluent play and flowing football is is what is desired, and really seems to be lacking this season.
That is the biggest challenge for Mr Gallop and all the executives of each of the A-League clubs. But how can this be done?
Part of the answer lies in Japan.
Over 20 years ago, Japan’s domestic professional league was non-existent, nor was interest in the game. Japan was baseball, and Japanese football was poor on the domestic and international level.
Fast forward 20 years and Japan is the best football nation in Asia, with the most technical and skillful domestic league.
Japan has become a production line for world class footballers who ply their trade in Europe’s best leagues.
Japan, over two decades, has transformed itself into a football powerhouse.
Although they have the benefit of a greater population and have hosted a World Cup, Australia must follow Japan’s model.
But how did they do it?
When growing the game, Japan placed great emphasis and waves of resources into youth acadamies and coaching.
Clubs were established with strong youth academies, and recruitment began across schools around the country.
Children would be exposed to professional style training and coaching from a young age, and by the time they reached a first team, had a specific playing style embedded into them.
As the years went on, the standard increased dramatically and Japan fell in love with the J-League.
Also, we must not forget imports such as Zico were brought in to grow the game.
While Australia should continue to lure strong import players, such as Alessandro Del Piero to the league, it’s the youth acadamies and coaching that FFA HQ really needs to focus on.
Ideally, every club should have a youth academy. While the Foxtel Youth League acts as a great reserves leagues, it is not sufficient.
A youth academy stretching to under 12s for example, with a technical director at each club overseeing the implementation of a common playing style across the board, will make for better, more technical A-League in the years to come.
Imagine a player who has been at a club since an early teenager. By the time they crack the first team, they truly understand the club, culture and playing style.
Fans can take pride in following the progression of players, and each of the A-League sides will feel even more like football clubs.
Further, this focus on home grown youth should be coupled with the import players cap being reduced from five to three.
This not only forces clubs to make use of their academy youth players, it also ensures that the quality of our imports are better; with less spots, clubs have to be more selective about players and this will ensure funds are not wasted on average journeymen who add nothing to the league.
However, it is ignorant if we fail to recognise the impact imports have had, and will continue to have in developing the technical and commercial side of the domestic league.
While resources are inevitably an issue, this is the way forward.
Messrs Lowy and Gallop need to focus on youth academies and coaching. The ingredients are there, and Mr Gallop was not wrong when he suggested that the sleeping giant of Australian sport had awoken.
However, for the A-League to be Austraia’s number one in the summer, the playing standard must improve.
As I said, most of us aren’t silly enough to expect the league will be to the level of the EPL. People just want fluent play and this has been lacking.
If such changes are made, in 20 years’ time the world will be talking about the rise of Australian football, just as they are talking about the rise of the Blue Samurai right now.
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