Continually improving the A-League is a must for football to even experience greater heights.
After nine seasons, and on the back of a few seasons where the league seemed to be struggling financially, football has really picked up and started to take off.
However, for football fans to experience further growth I feel a number of changes must be made to the current structure of the A-League.
1. Changes to the marquee structure
With half of the clubs this year expected to record a profit or break even, this is the right time to introduce a new marquee structure. We should keep an international marquee spot open, an Australian spot open and add another marquee spot for a player from an Asian Confederation country.
Many ask why, however when you think of the revenue streams, the television rights and the possibility to attract new overseas fans it makes perfect sense. Imagine the impact that having a player of Shinji Ono’s quality across the league in five out of the 10 clubs would have in terms of exposure across Asia.
2. Addition of two new teams before 2018
For us to be taken seriously, our competition must evolve to a competition which features at least 14 clubs, however 16 would be desired before 2020 by many people. What cities will represent these two new clubs is open to discussion, however I feel that Canberra and Wollongong should not be overlooked.
Both have recorded excellent crowds during a number of preseason matches and both cities have a decent football following. If they are modelled in a similar structure as the Wanderers and are engaged to the surrounding communities, there are no reasons why they can’t add an extra substance to the league.
However, question marks still hover. WIN Stadium is well out-dated to host a professional sports club without major renovation and Wollongong need the addition of a new grandstand or a completely new stadium. With current media speculation indicating Parramatta Stadium inadequate to host further ACL games next year, Wollongong would be totally out of the equation.
It is something the FFA must address with local and state governments before going ahead with a club from Wollongong.
3. A-League training facilities and junior academies
All professional A-League clubs should be looking within the next five to 10 years to establish permanent training facilities where their youth teams, women’s teams and first teams will train, eat and train again throughout the week. These training facilities should also include a model for a junior academy which will be similar to a conveyor belt for the production of young and structured future footballers for A-League clubs.
The development of junior academies also opens up new revenue streams through the sale of players, as seen through the sale of Daniel De Silva for $2.5 million to AS Roma. Imagine seeing reports in 10 to 15 years with speculation linking an Aussie kid to Barcelona or Real Madrid for $15 million.
4. Salary cap
The salary cap does more to punish clubs than reward and should be removed, along with the marquee system, however the FFA have stuck with their guns. If you look at the Besart Berisha situation, the Melbourne Victory situation (with them being the most successful club in the competition financially), the achievements of the Wanderers and the appeal of Sydney FC, the salary cap must be completely re-structured in the next five years.
It would allow the competition’s bigger clubs such as to sign even better players. Allowing these clubs to spend more on their squads will increase interest throughout, drive up TV right deals and increase gate revenue home and away for all clubs. One way the salary cap could be restructured would be having a minimum amount, for example $2.5 million, for the smaller clubs while having a maximum of $10 to $15 million for the bigger clubs.
If you look at it in perspective, the bigger clubs spend in excess of their salary cap of $2.55 million already by using the international marquee spots, the junior marquee spots and the Australia marquee spots, which is easily an extra $1.5 to $2.5 million compared to the smaller clubs that don’t even sign one marquee player.
5. Introduction of transfer fees
I believe the FFA should introduce a transfer system similar to Europe where the smaller clubs are rewarded financially through the sale of their players. However, going into detail for this point isn’t necessary as most already understand what I mean.
6. Price Money
The FFA recently changed the rules and price money is no longer split from other competitions such as the ACL between the clubs. However, clubs should also be granted a higher percentage of the TV rights deal the higher up you finish. Currently each club receives a grant of $2.55 million a year from the FFA through TV rights, which equates to $25.5 million across the league annually.
However, with the TV deal coming up shortly I believe we’ll see a significant increase and the grant provided by the FFA to A-League clubs will go up to about $40m to $50m annually. Awarding each club an even $5 million would be stupid. This would be the perfect time to introduce differences in grants with the first team receiving 20 to 25 per cent, which would be around $10 to $15million a year, with the last team receiving only $3 million.
These are six changes which I feel would even further improve the league.
Leonardo
Roar Guru
The salary cap will do me. It rewards all clubs with a reasonable chance of winning something and engages with the maximum number of fans to take a stronger interest in the league and support their club. In 9 seasons of the A-League, 8 of the 10 teams have featured in the premiership plate or have been Golden Toilet Seat grand finalists. What other league in the world would you have 80% of teams challenging for silverware with a realistic chance of winning something every year?
bergkamp
Guest
Plastic bandwagoners who have bought over 100k memberships and have averaged 20k in attendance. This is a disgrace, the league should be watched by the 2k dedicated club members and shown by channel 7 at 1 in the morning.
bitza
Guest
Keep the salary cap but reward teams with more money for finishing higher being champions. This will allow big clubs to buy the aus/international/asian marquee players and reward the owners financially for winning. imaging if CCM one the league and signed a Marquee with the winnings. Marquee players benefit everyone in the league. Just Like Del Piero did.
bitza
Guest
Keep the salary cap but reward teams with more money for finishing higher being champions. This will allow big clubs to buy the aus/international/asian marquee players and reward the owners financially for winning. imaging if CCM one the league and signed a Marquee with the winnings. Marquee players benefit everyone in the league. Just Like Del Piero did.
David
Guest
I dont understand the need to flood the market with more and more clubs.. I do think we need a few more but anything more then 12 would be silly at this time. The A League and its fans need to look at over seas clubs and leagues. In Scotland (where football is far more popular then back here) their league is only 12 teams.. This works well for them, so why wouldn't capping our league at that work for us? Yes I feel we eventually need a promotion/relegation system eventually so more will be introduced into our league system, but there is no need until this happens or steps to make this happen get underway.
Ryan Mooney
Guest
I for one don't want a "complete restructure" however a 2.5 million dollar salary cap, 2 marquees. and semi professional referees in a professional league is pretty poor in my opinion. I like the upgrading the salary cap idea ... however a more viable cap would be 7.5million. however remove the "Marquee" concept, and let clubs fit the players into the cap. at the moment there is a maximum 'non marquee' wage of about 240,000 a year... scrap that, let clubs pay the wages, let the clubs control their own wages. Making the referee's 'full time' will once again upgrade the quality of football.. and not leave fans angry at referee decisions, taking away from the football (so we hope) maybe an extra million dollars in prize money to reward success, but thats it. as long as FFA is thinking about the financial stability of the league i can't complain. Being a roar fan i'm angry that there is a maximum non marquee wage... hence why we had to let berisha go.
David Schulze
Guest
You can;t scrap the salary cap, the smaller clubs would be dead in 3-4 years. The whole idea behind the league is too have a more even comp, and not put clubs out of business. The current model has shown itself to be very successful and FA should stick to its guns I agree with most of of your other comments, however priority fo expansion should Be QLD, SA and Perth to get Derby's going. NSW with 4 teams is already over whelming rest of comp.
mattq
Guest
"However, question marks still hover. WIN Stadium is well out-dated to host a professional sports club without major renovation and Wollongong need the addition of a new grandstand or a completely new stadium. With current media speculation indicating Parramatta Stadium inadequate to host further ACL games next year, Wollongong would be totally out of the equation." And above post.... WTF are you talking about? Have you ever been to WIN? it's a brilliant stadium for watching football (both codes). Yes there is a parking problem but this is Wollongong not Sydney. FFS why do people write opinions without first ensuring they can back it up with a detailed knowledge of the topic. Are you expecting a regional hub like Wollongong to have a worldclass stadium with a retractable roof? With the Dragons playing 4 games a year? Illogical opinion.
Batou
Guest
Yep, one size does not fit all.
Batou
Guest
Does anyone proof read these articles?? "Price Money" ?? As for the content, well I agree with transfer fees, not just within the A-League but more importantly from state league clubs to A-League clubs which I believe is currently governed by a system that doesn't allow the state league clubs to be fairly rewarded. Other than that... The worst idea though is to split TV rights revenue up unequally. This is what has turned Spanish football into a two horse race (with the odd cameo from others who then get pulled apart quick smart).
Don't do it
Guest
This post explains your disdain for a salary cap. You have no grasp of the economic realities of a regional club in Australian sport that have a limited population base to a) draw fans from b) generate corporate sponsorship and revenue. You say one of their problems is the Mariners haven't signed a marquee player? The "owner" needs to put in a sizeable investment?? The owner doesn't have the money to do this, the Mariners have NEVER been able to sign an international marquee and when your salary ceiling is removed and Victory and Sydney FC just blow wages right out of the water for everyone, they will then have ZERO chance of ever signing a marquee. And just declaring that a region like that should easily draw over 10,000 a game? On a population of 300k and in a world where the round ball game is only 1 out of 4 codes they are probably near their true potential maximum given their relatively long periods of success. Look at it through that lense and consider Wellington, also around 300k, similar market limitations vs. another ultra-dominant code, but this time limited on-field success = average attendance 7k. Makes a lot of sense. And yet part of your overall solution is to add 2 more regional clubs to just be Cannon-fodder for your free spending capital city behemoths? In Australia's uniquely competitive football environment, when people lose interest, they watch any different code that will interest them. This is a great way to torpedo interest in the A-League.
Paul
Guest
When the mooted European Super League sees the light of day, forget any possibility of equality.
Paul
Guest
But those clubs may have had several generations of rusted on supporters. 10 year old A-League teams do not have this luxury. If you're only as strong as your weakest link, then the A-League can only be as strong as its smallest club. With no promotion and relegation, a salary cap helps shake the table up. And finally, it means supporters don't just have to accept that their club will always come short against a big team. That the Mariners won a Grand Final two seasons ago speaks volumes of the benefit of having the salary cap - even other codes with salary caps would never have the competition's smallest club walking away with the biggest prize. What's good for Europe isn't always good for Australia.
Amir
Roar Rookie
Wouldn't kill off anyone mate. Clubs like Mariners and Perth would get rewarded for putting in the hard yards. To be completely honest Perth has being run like shambles and are now starting to get their act together by the look of things. Mariners on the other hand seem to have completed a 360 and appear to be in shambles. The Mariners haven't signed a marquee player and haven't really done much to improve the match day experience for fans. For a region such as the Central Coast they should be easily attracting over 10,000 fans to each game with Sell out's for games against WSW, Sydney FC and especially Newcastle. No marquee, no real drive to attract top talent and continuous rumors that they're in financial trouble with a possible relocation. How about the owner/s actually put up an sizable investment and effort to attract top talent and you'd see average crowd figure return to what they used to be and even higher.
Amir
Roar Rookie
Season is going to be the best ever, but in the future would you want it to be remain with 10 teams, player salaries capped, playing at shared grounds which are too large or too small and for our league to keep following a similar model to the NRL which revolves around securing the largest possible T.V. deal, while screwing over fans, having clubs play in a number of different regions and having 3-4 home grounds or would you want A-League clubs to follow a more professional culture and structure and truly establish themselves within Australia's culture? Don't get me wrong the other sports in Australia all have a place but football is going to be a medium which will allow foreigners to invest in Australia and establish businesses in Australia similar to how football is treated by companies throughout the world in a decade or two. Trust me! Also as our results indicate, we need to improve our football system... we just don't have young players falling off a conveying belt available to step up and play A-League football, let alone our national team.
Amir
Roar Rookie
Hey Adrian, Yep you're right. US$48million in revenue for the Seattle Sounders last year with a net worth of US$175. That is still three times our highest club Melbourne Victory (Chivas their lowest, have the same revenue as Melbourne Victory). However I am also against A-League clubs spending $6-7m on one player while having the majority of their squad on $100k or so. If your prediction about our economy is right and it does increase significantly I can see football really getting ahead of NRL in this country and being considered as a respectful league around the world.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
"TV deal only 200 million euro each year". where did you see this adrian? The Ligue 1 TV deal recently signed for 2016-2020 is worth nearly 750M euros/year, i.e. aud 1billion. Plus I don't see the correlation between match attendance and salary caps. Salary caps may work in the new world I think old Europe is doing ok without it. Not saying its not good, in fact the more I think about it the more I realiser it has many advantages, but I don't think Europe football leagues are looking down under to 'fix' their issues.
marcel
Guest
This article reads like one of those pointless off season space fillers. Meanwhile if you look out the window the season has started and at this stage it's seems like a cracker to me...inspite of its supposed flaws.
Adrian none
Roar Rookie
attendances aren't the whole story, but they are , along with TV deal....and to get average attendance as high as France and Italy, would be major indicator where the league is now, and in future i be happy to swap my euro wage each month for double in Aud :)
Adrian none
Roar Rookie
no team in MLS has over 100 million in revenue each year, if you have those stats please can you post them here, as i see 50 million tops ...maybe you thinking of value to buy team? in 10-15 year time , Australia economy will be bigger then Italy, and maybe same size as UK and France ..this changes the way