Following FFA chief executive David Gallop’s address in Sydney on Thursday, where he announced plans to develop a National Plan for the Whole of Football, it appears FFA are now ready to once again embrace old soccer.
The key goals, in short, are to connect the top tier of football with the grassroots, fix youth development and improve coaching standards, increase commercial opportunities and address the shortage of football facilities.
Over the next six months FFA will develop a document through dialogue with all stakeholders of football in Australia. Following the completion of the 2015 Asian Cup in January, the National Plan for the Whole of Football will be presented to the public.
While there are a number of factors that will determine whether the plan is a success, the main one is improving relations between new football and old soccer. Without that relationship, the plan will not reach its desired outcome.
In 2003 football in Australia embarked on a new adventure. As the National Soccer League crumbled amid the liquidation of Soccer Australia, Frank Lowy emerged with Football Federation Australia and his baby, the A-League, soon followed.
The adventure included a dark and sad necessity – a break away from old soccer.
The introduction of a new governing body and national competition meant a fresh start. Lowy wanted to build an empire, one that would attract and hold respect among the masses, and unfortunately that meant burning a few bridges.
It meant getting fans through the gates and sponsors on advertising boards, which also meant shaking off the negative perception football had developed in mainstream Australia.
Whether the tag was unfair or not, there can be no denying the world game needed a fresh direction. And so, to a degree, tradition and grassroots football took a step backwards.
Old soccer was left out, and although the Socceroos’ qualification for the 2006 World Cup briefly united the footballing community, there is still bitterness in the background. The A-League, despite its success, has constantly had the shadow of old soccer following its every move.
Now, it has a chance to come back into the spotlight. Overall Gallop’s speech should have filled fans with hope.
Not only are FFA ready to reconnect, they have realised it’s an imperative step to fulfilling football’s potential. FFA needed fresh air in 2003 to meet its first goal of bringing football into the mainstream. Now that’s been completed, the governing body needs the old air back in order to progress to the next level.
The FFA Cup, as well as David Gallop’s arrival as CEO, has provided the catalyst for FFA’s change of heart. Gallop told Fairfax Media that the FFA Cup was a “wow” moment.
He said the cup presented a “rare opportunity to unite everyone involved in the game, no matter how they fit in”.
“I think there’s now a mood of cooperation that – let’s be honest – perhaps wasn’t there a few years ago. The time has come to capitalise on that,” he added.
It was a subtle admission that FFA have failed to truly unite football. They made mistakes when shifting away from old soccer, taking a hard-line approach that they felt was for a greater good.
But with the announcement of the National Plan for the Whole of Football, it’s clear dialogue will begin shortly to determine the best way forward. FFA must engage and communicate extensively with all levels involved in the game.
As Gallop said in his speech, “without unity of purpose, we can’t make a difference”.
So the main obstacle is overcoming the past and arriving at a harmonised understanding. Fans often express the need for better coaching and pathways for young footballers, but none of that can be achieved without cooperation.
The FFA Cup and the introduction of the NPL is a fantastic start, but key to national plan’s success is getting everyone on board and on the same wavelength.
This is as close to an olive branch as old soccer will ever get from FFA. It’s important they embrace it. Mistakes were made, bad words exchanged, arguments left unresolved. But both parties need to swallow their pride and get together.
It may be late, but better late than never, right?
There are still hurdles to overcome, though. Fans were not happy with FFA’s active supporter policy, and they were similarly outraged with the National Club Identity Policy, which has caused dramas with Melbourne Knights. Stadium lighting protocol also created confusion during FFA Cup matches.
All is not roses, but hopefully these problems are ironed out and resolved quickly. If they’re not, a national plan will struggle to succeed.
Gallop has said that the plan “will not be an overnight fix” and will take longer than the four years initially targeted. He admitted the game’s governance structures “have been a work-in-progress” since the Crawford report in 2003.
It’s going to be a tough slog, but the first phase in developing the National Plan for the Whole of Football is for FFA to, in Gallop’s words, “listen to the game’s stakeholders”.
Gallop’s comments suggest FFA are willing to reconnect with old soccer. Hopefully they are genuine sentiments.
FFA have kicked off the ball, now it’s up to old soccer to come to the field. Both sides need to compromise, and egos have to be left behind.
This could be a momentous document in football fulfilling its undeniable potential, hopefully it signals the start of old soccer and new football finally getting hitched.
Leonardo
Roar Guru
The FFA have taken all the risks, provided the money and sponsors and shown a lot of courage by running the FFA Cup. It all could have gone pear shaped and caused the FFA and the A-League a lot of bad publicity. At the end of the day the FFA Cup and the FFA do have some problems, but those problems will be looked at under Gallops leadership and it should be better next time. For the major plan to be a success they need all parties to enter into the plans in good faith and the majority of clubs are doing that. I don't believe some clubs, like Melbourne Croatia have entered into the agreements in the right spirit and will continue to prove troublesome for the FFA unless they change their attitude to "new football".
Matthew Skellett
Guest
So ummm Mid was umm McGlinchey's contract among the pile of scrap paper then? ;-) Right on top of Bernie's ?
Kasey
Guest
That apparent up yours was nothing but a simple statement of physics. You couldn't have professional athletes play amateurs/semi-pro players in a collision sport like AFL or NRL. Somebody could die or be seriously harmed. Only in our sport where ball skill is the factor not so much the size of the player in the collision the FFA Cup is possible. I think Roy is being a bit mischievous by calling it an up yours.
Kasey
Guest
SA has the SA Amateur Soccer Federation(SAASF) AND the FFSA:( It's why we only get one FFA Cup slot. The participation rates are calculated on FFSA numbers only:(
Kasey
Guest
"Never have I felt more confident in our management ." 6 months ago I would have agreed without hint of reservation. I still have confidence in them, but I my total confidence was tempered by the roll out of the NCIP which in my eyes was a major mis-step. Overall I trust the FFA to get more right than they'll get wrong. This trust is based on the wonderful runs on the board they have with the A-League and FFA Cup competitions. This remains an exciting time to be a football fan. I am not a parent, but I imagine this period of time is similar to when a beloved child starts showing signs of adulthood. There will be missteps, but my baby 'football' he is growing up:)
JonJax
Guest
My reading of the Roy Masters post in Friday's legacy media is that it can be best summarized as "if the FFA sorts out it's under capitalization issue, then the oval ball sports are in deep shtook".
AZ_RBB
Guest
27,000 of the 38,000 publicly available tickets to the Sydney Derby have already been sold after less than a day of general sale. Should sell out comfortably. But still not sure if it's capable of pushing 60k as a regular season fixture, so as to justify a move to the Olympic Stadium.
Josh
Guest
As a WSW member it's hilarious seeing what my team has done to the sporting landscape, the codes who used to laugh are now on the run, Blacktown Council have signs that read 'Red and BlackTown', Parramatta decorates the streets in Wanderers colours - Liverpool wants the Wanderers based there permanently. It's crazy.
Bondy
Guest
Fuss Interesting read. "Of even more concern for the NRL was the rush for soccer tickets for the A League derby between Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers, which is still a month away." .. ( http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/whats-the-buzz-sydney-rugby-league-fans-too-blas-footy-finals-major-embarrassment/story-fndujljl-1227064854015) .....
Squizz
Guest
Church Leagues have been around in NSW for around 90 years. Johhny Warren, Ron Corry and Timmy Cahill all played in them.
Midfielder
Guest
Yep and baby laughing at contracts being torn up ... can't see the same 6 month penalties being offered ... BTW is this too cruel... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4abiHdQpc
Albert Ross
Guest
But it may not be PayTV as we know it... have a listen to what Daniel Geey has to say over at the latest Two Footed Tackle podcast http://www.twofootedtackle.com/
Timmy
Guest
Whilst I certainly believe that live streaming will become the way of the future, I think that it would be very risky to put all their eggs in that basket for the next rights deal. I think at the moment that technology is still too foreign for a large portion of the population. I think an ideal way to test that particular type of model would be to possibly offer a pay per view subscription alongside the current fox coverage to gauge interest in such a system. I think fox may be surprised at the response if they were to offer games on their website for say $10 live or $5 to watch a replay. Plenty of food for thought for Gallop and the FFA
The Bear
Guest
Yep, starting to understand it's place
MelbCro
Guest
And how do you know that they are? My opinion is based on a decade of actions by the FFA. What is yours based on? 30 minutes of rhetoric from Gallop.
MelbCro
Guest
@ Midfielder "The ground work for the NPL and the FFA Cup may have been developed under BB… but the hardest part was getting everyone on the one page all heading in the same direction. Gallop managed this after huge amounts of consultations with the stakeholders… Now he was to unite and get everyone moving in the right direction" Well that is just not true. There was little worthwhile consultation done from the FFA in regards to the implementation of the NPL. So to say that Gallop spearheaded a huge amount of consultation is pure fabrication.
Bondy
Guest
Midfielder Who'd a thought R Masters would be writing football articles a fortnight out from a NRL grand Final, interesting times. .....
MelbCro
Guest
I go by actions, not words. As we've seen with the NCIP, there is absolutely zero reason that I should have any faith in the FFA's sincerity.
Midfielder
Guest
Looking good Adelaide United: 6,118 Brisbane Roar: 10,024 Central Coast Mariners: 4,100 Melbourne City: 7,723 Melbourne Victory: 18,673 Newcastle Jets: 7,477 Perth Glory : 4,295 Sydney FC: 9,612 Wellington Phoenix: 2,846 Western Sydney Wanderers: 15,773 Total = 86,641 Total as of 11/10/2013 = 86,352 Total as of 1/4/2014 = 94,520
Josh
Guest
Damn you and your large capacity stadium. Lol