It’s 10 years into the A-League’s short existence, but football still has a long way to go in Australia.
After almost 10 great seasons of ups and downs, the code can look back and see where it’s come from to what it is today, which is a remarkable turnaround.
The numbers don’t lie, the A-League attracts over 13,000 per game for 135 games per year, and has TV ratings on Fox of 70,000 people per game. It has another 100,000 per game for Friday nights on SBS.
The Socceroos are now Asian Cup champions, we had a smashing Asian Cup tournament on all levels here in January. Things are going well, but to keep growing it must now take it up another couple of notches and keep evolving.
Here’s my list of a few issues which the code faces today, and what I think we should do to rectify those issues, which if done right could take the A-League to the next level.
1. Ownership model
Almost all the clubs have had their own ownership issues in the last decade. The Jets and the Mariners have them at the moment.
The Melbourne Heart/City ownership issues have now been resolved by the City Group. In future, I think the FFA should have a rule in place that each club has to have a group of owners, maybe a minimum of three or four individuals, so clubs aren’t left at the whim of one person’s wealth!
Also, once a bigger and better TV deal is signed and all clubs are guaranteed more cash every year, the FFA should stipulate an expansion fee for all new clubs coming in. Prospective owners should have a $5-million guarantee in the bank, so that if a club goes belly up, the FFA has the funds to run that club until they can find another solution.
2. Marquee situation
I think it’s time for the FFA to drive the marquee concept. We’ve seen what true marquees like Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and Shinji Ono did for the game.
They drove up attendances, sponsorships, TV audiences, YouTube hits, and overall interest in the sport and the league.
Granted, our clubs can’t afford what MLS clubs are throwing around these days. Players like Kaka and Clint Dempsey are on yearly salaries of $6m-$7m in the US. But if from the next TV rights deal onwards, each club were given an extra $1m or $2m per year for a marquee player wage, that’d go a long way.
You can sign a very good player when you’re offering those sort of wages. I know it’s extra money spent, but in any business you need to spend money to make money. And this extra spend will in turn make more money for the sport in the years to come with future TV broadcasting deals.
3. Club academies/training facilities
We’ve had good progress on this in the last two years, and by 2016 all A-League clubs will have teams playing in their state NPL divisions.
So clubs will have an NPL team, a Youth League team and an A-League team which is great for development.
There’s also been some movement in terms of facilities, with Melbourne City unveiling their new $15-million training base last week. I believe Brisbane Roar will be moving into new training facilities and offices very soon, and Adelaide United have struck a deal with a local council in their northern suburbs to move to new training facilities.
And now that City have swanky new facilities, I expect Victory to be working on something behind the scenes.
4. Expansion
There’s been plenty of talk on this topic for a while now, about how many teams we should have in the A-League, to where these new clubs should come from.
New clubs from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, Perth, Adelaide, New Zealand, and even Singapore and Indonesia have been bandied around but nobody knows exactly what’ll happen. For me, we need two new clubs in the medium term, but I wouldn’t rush into it.
I’d go with one new club at a time. I think probably Wollongong should come in next, and then two-to-three years later we could look at a third Victorian club, either from suburban Melbourne or Geelong, or another club from Queensland.
I think expansion is too important to the A-League for it to go pear-shaped again, and one new club at a time seems reasonable to me. Now I know that wouldn’t please TV networks, as it doesn’t generate an extra game per week, but we have to look at the bigger picture.
5. Existing club issues
At the moment the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets have huge issues, which largely revolve around poor management and ownership. I think that Newcastle under Nathan Tinkler can turn things around, and we’ve seen brief moments of that already.
The player sackings were a farce, but I’ve liked a few of their new signings. Nigel Boogard is also a great pickup for next season and a potential captain.
The Mariners are in a smaller geographical area, but their owner Mike Charlesworth has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons way too many times this season.
They’ve already had so much success and with a new coach (Mike Mulvey perhaps) and a couple of new faces, things can turn around very quickly, and they can starting getting a few more bums on seats and less ridiculous statements from their current owners.
6. TV rights
Another much discussed topic is the next TV rights deal. There’s been rumours that the FFA aren’t happy with SBS, which is why they helped the ABC financially to take the Asian Cup rights. There are also rumours that they want out early from the current deal.
I’ve heard many arguments both for and against, and I’m no TV rights expert, but I’d expect the next deal to be a bigger deal than the current annual $36m-$40m.
In 2017 the A-League would’ve been around for 12 years, an established league, with many Socceroos playing in it, and the sport still has so much growth potential.
Waz
Guest
Roaries, trying to help a mate out with a good football cause. Apologies for hijacking this thread: There is a petition for change and a new rectangular stadium in Brisbane. To get attention the campaign needs e-signatures – will you help? The background: The Gold Coast – 1 team, 1 stadium costing $200m Townsville – 1 team, 1 perfectly good stadium, $100m allocated by the state to build a new one Brisbane – 5 teams (NRL, AFL, HAL, Reds, Cricket), potential for two more teams (HAL, NRL) and two stadiums and no more planned. Many believe Roar are poor relations at Lang Park after League, Union and Concerts and that’s understandable; it is a commercial entity so Roar take our place in the pecking order. I think we deserve better and the city of Brisbane deserves better. And I’m not alone, The Den are United on this. See the following story: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/second-class-tenants-roar-fans-demand-action So if you’re happy with the status quo do nothing but if you’re not, if you think this City and this club is deserving of something better (they’re going to spend $100m in Townsville on a new stadium to replace the good one they’ve already got – lets get real on this, Football is being taken for a mug!!) then sign the petition and share it with your mates! The petition is at: https://www.change.org/p/queensland-government-brisbane-city-council-build-a-second-rectangular-stadium-in-brisbane
Punter
Guest
I agree Towser, I have always agreed with your marquee ideas. Mid & Towser, yes the times they are a changing.
Midfielder
Guest
Tow Agree with what you say and in the end it comes down to revenue . Another interesting area is the growth of the MLS in the US almost a 26K average across 10 games for the opening week which is not bad.
Midfielder
Guest
Tow Also was blown away last Sunday when on Ch 9 "The Wide World of Sport" they have a new segment and as was commented is called a "Football segment"'' with Jason Culina and Michael Bridges discussing the A-League leading to international teams as 9 is broadcasting the International Cup.
aladdin sane
Guest
Agree regarding marquees impact on attendance. Spikes for a few weeks then reverts back to normal (I think del piero is the only exception in that in his first year, SFC 'away' attendances were very high). I loved watching Kewell play for MV, but I love watching them now much more - fluid attacking football across the front third, they have been delightful to watch this year, albeit a bit average at the back. The only thing I'd argue is that marquees would work provided they were huge names and probably with an EPL profile, as that is the only league with any cut-through in the general population. If we'd have landed Gerrard for instance, the extra media coverage alone would be worth it for the game as a whole. Doubt we'll ever have the funds to compete with MLS and Asia to attract these types though.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Keen for tonight. Hopefully someone passes the ball to Bulut.
NaBUru38
Guest
Team members vote every 3-4 years for board members. I't works like that in Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bundesliga and Latin America.
Towser
Guest
Punter & Mid, tipping points are often mentioned on here,so what's the real tipping point for football in Australia? Well the Channel 9 report & what punter just said about kids now able to follow football both here & overseas is a major factor. Mid I've noticed you've remarked on this grassroots/park football thing also. When I coached kids I noticed a massive difference between my upbringing in Sheffield and here.,where you were tied to either Wednesday or United from birth. Here locally although the kids were playing football they were following a RL or AFL club ,yet also followed an overseas football club or indeed a country. Hence the popularity of the overseas football clubs mentioned & others. So presuming the tipping point is reached what will change? IMO it will mean a local connect to your A-League club rather than an AFL or RL club, but because of the tradition of Australians following European football clubs which are & will always be bigger, that aspect will remain. That's why I keep plugging away at the marquee business. If we can't put the big clubs in our league,at least this way we can put a bit of them our way with a marquee. It comes down to one basic to me blindingly obvious fact,the football market is different in Australia from that in established football countries overseas,and very different from other sports here, on both counts because of the traditional overseas football following element.
Midfielder
Guest
Team to play Germany Socceroos squad for international friendly matches against Germany and FYR Macedonia Aziz Behich Nathan Burns Tim Cahill Jason Davidson Luke DeVere Tarek Elrich Adam Federici (gk) Ivan Franjic Chris Ikonomidis Mile Jedinak Tomi Juric Mitchell Langerak (gk) Mathew Leckie Massimo Luongo Matt McKay Mark Milligan Aaron Mooy Tommy Oar Mat Ryan (gk) Trent Sainsbury Matthew Spiranovic James Troisi Alex Wilkinson http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/socceroos-squad-face-germany#BYoctdodE5Rr46TZ.99
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Geelong is an interesting option given that it can expect substantial crowds for the Victory and City games. It also has the potential to take one or two home games a year to Tasmania to become their defacto team.
Punter
Guest
Thanks Mid. Love the comments too. Football has always been more popular participation, however, 15, 20 years ago, most kids played football & followed AFL or NRL, now kids play football & can follow football in this country as well as O/S due to the internet, hence why we see the popularity of Real Madrid & Liverpool when these teams come out.
Josh
Guest
I was at Merrylands for the fundraiser, I hope they organise another one. I'm sure whatever is planned for tonight will be worthy though, he did a hell of a lot for WSW support.
Midfielder
Guest
Were a look mate https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=886582498029781
AZ_RBB
Guest
Nato was one of the most prominent members of the RBB, probably best known for his inventive two stick banners and flying of over sized flags. He played a big part in liaising between the club and the terrace especially when it came to active support. The RBB held a remembrance football match over the weekend and I imagine we might see something tonight as well. The club posted a very touching tribute to him as well across their websites and social media.
mattq
Guest
who's nato?
Matt
Guest
The Geelong region is screaming out for another professional sport to be played here. With 200,000 plus people and more and more people from other areas moving here the culture of the town has changed. Old Geelong will always support the Cats but there a far more supporters of other teams and other Sports then people may think. I don’t have time to do a 3 hour round trip to watch Melbourne Victory or Melbourne Renegades but to drive 15 minutes to Simmonds stadium and be home by 10pm instead of 12am would see me making every game that a potential team would play. Melbourne teams have lots of supporters here in Geelong and I think the majority would jump ship to a new side, only thing is I’m not so sure the atmosphere of the passionate Victory sides would exist.
Midfielder
Guest
I am posting from my phone and don't know how to copy a youyube to a post but will post a channel 9 Melbourne report last week and its good news for much of what you have posted ... will post sometime tomorrow
asanchez
Roar Guru
Thanks Mid. I think 12 teams in the A-league is the best number, at least for the near future. To get to 14 clubs I think that'd be at least 10-15 years away. I can actually now see what the FFA could be doing in terms of future expansion, just as its being done in the MLS. Clubs like Orlando City, New York Cosmos and others, are clubs that have been around in their minor leagues for a while. So the idea for the A-league might not be to create any new clubs from scratch, but to elevate clubs from the state leagues which; a) have the potential to grow their supporter base and grow as a club b) have their finances in order and ready made sponsors c) have a home stadium ready to go, or at least a realistic plan of where their home games will be played d) they're coming in to add to the competition, not to drag it down or cannibalise it in any way This second tier could be supported by maybe the next TV deal, and if not then definetely the one after that. I think this is the path we should go down, which if done properly, promotion and relegation could be introduced within 10 years. So in essence, by 2025 we could have a 2-tier pyramid with 12 or 14 clubs in each division, with promotion and relegation between those divisions and a smashing FFA Cup competition. You could also look at promoting clubs from the state leagues into the semi-professional 2nd tier, which would be a lot easier to do, with much less costs involved.
Jeremy
Guest
I think a good model would be to offer fans and the general public memberships which carry the entitlement of having input into the running of the club. This would then be an extra contribution to the current owners rather than being a subsidy for current investment. Memberships with a greater value carrying greater entitlement to input could be offered depending upon how much money an individual is willing to contribute. Over time and as the club becomes more profitable, the number of members would increase and could receive more rights until effectively becoming shareholders without the club being listed on the stockmarket. FC Barcelona is run in like fashion: an organisation funded by its members who have the ability to determine decisions through voting.
Batou
Guest
Ahh, I get what you meant now. Yeah, I agree with that.