Football has reached new heights in mainstream Australia with a great win at the Asian Cup.
While there’s still a long way to go for the game, if run properly the sky is the limit.
Frank Lowy, David Gallop and co. are doing a great job overall, but they must also know that this is the time for the game to prosper, and they must leverage the great momentum that has been built. As such, we must identify and fix the issues that are still around the game.
Football has been its own worst enemy many times and will only ever be as strong as its weakest link. So while football has a great platform, there’s still a whole lot of work to be done.
Things that need to be sorted out sooner rather than later
Banish Nathan Tinkler from the Jets, take back the license and run the Jets like a proper football club again. Their fans, the region and the A-League needs it.
Ditto the Mariners. If Mike Charlesworth doesn’t improve his ownership issues in the next 12 months, something should be done. The coast deserves better.
FFA and the AFC needs to sort out the long term future of the Phoenix in the A-League. Are they in or out? This will also determine how many new clubs we’ll need in future.
Bring in the 4+1 visa player rule. It’s time for our clubs to come into line with the Asian continent and guarantee every club has at least one player from Asia. As we saw at the Asian Cup, this should also help A-League clubs to tap in to and attract a different supporter base.
Play all future FFA Cup games at suburban grounds only. This is the beauty and the main advantage of this domestic cup competition, taking the game back to the grassroots, which is where the game’s biggest strength is.
Within five years
Expand to 12 teams.
Bring forward the start of the season to August/September, as it was in the first few seasons, to allow for international breaks and more games with more teams.
Increase squad sizes to 25-30 players from the current 23, keeping visa spots at five
Sign a bigger and better TV deal.
Allow all clubs to sign two marquee players, regardless of where they come from.
Establish junior academies, teams from under u6’s to seniors at every A-League club
Make the best six referees full time to help improve the overall standard.
Lobby governments for better facilities at state and A-League level. Adelaide is crying out for a 30,000-seat football stadium (Hindmarsh Stadium upgrade perhaps), while the Wanderers also badly need an upgrade of their current stadium. Also, every state should have at least one or two TV compliant grounds to host FFA Cup games, instead of having to play at terrible grounds with poor lighting and running tracks around the pitch. I’m sure all states have grounds that would be already halfway there right now!
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Football never sleeps, it is a 12-month a year sport. It has great momentum at the moment. And while there’s plenty of work to do for its administrators, if things are done correctly great times are ahead.
