The FFA has today set out their ‘Whole of Football Plan’, which aims to set goals for the growth of the game in Australia over the next 20 years.
Embarking on a lengthy consultation process with the stakeholders and fans, the FFA today revealed what would be their key objectives and benchmarks for the next two decades.
With over 20,000 respondents to the survey, and a set of public forums designed for fans to have their say, the FFA have set an ambitious target of an Australia-wide football community of 15 million by 2025, including a million members of A-League clubs.
The full list of objectives was revealed in the statement.
– A 15 million strong Football community by 2035, including 1 million club members
– A distinctive Australian style of playing that puts our National Teams in contention for all FIFA and AFC championships
– Hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the driver of women’s Football participation and professionalism
– National competitions that attract 75% of participants to support a Top Tier club
– A combined pool of 3,000 elite male and female players from 12 to 19 vying for future national selection and professional contracts
– Academies that provide world-class coaching so that no Australian youth needs to go overseas to find elite development
– A redistribution of resources to community Football
– Lower cost and higher quality coach education from the grassroots to professional tier
– Making schools and social Football the focus of an “Anytime, Anyhow, Anywhere” approach to playing the game
– Sourcing Football facilities that accommodate the increasing urban density of Australian society
– Redefining the role of referees as game facilitators, not just as arbitrators of the Laws of the Game
Some of the more vague and perhaps more interesting objectives include the ‘redistribution of resources to community football’, and the plan to implement ‘A distinctive Australian style of playing that puts our National Teams in contention for all FIFA and AFC championships’.
There’s also no doubt that the organising body are setting ambitious number targets.
Football Federation Australia Chairman Frank Lowy said he was confident a unified approach to the goals of the game would benefit each stakeholder around the country.
“Ten years ago at the outset of Football’s new beginning, publishing a Whole of Football Plan for the decades ahead would have appeared premature and overly optimistic,” said Lowy.
“We first had to rebuild the foundations and restore credibility to our game.
“Today, much hard work has brought us to the point where we have the unity and sense of destiny that means the time is right to think big. There are millions whose lives are enriched by Football and we owe it to them to fulfill the game’s great promise.”
FFA CEO David Gallop remained steadfast in his goal that football would become the biggest and most popular sport in the country.
“Football is on a mission to become the largest and most popular sport in Australia,” said Gallop.
“It’s a bold idea, but now is the time for the Australian Football community to bring it to life.
“The Whole of Football Plan gives everyone in Football a long-term view of what the game needs to do in order to fulfill its potential and reach its destiny.”
Tom Findlay
Guest
There has to be something wrong with Australian football. Without doubt, I was one of the most talented players in Sydney as a youngster. Yet no coach could see the fabulous attributes I had. We really need to train coaches better in selecting football talent in Australia.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Middy Not sure if you've heard anything about this? Nice to be wanted ... Interesting times. "Seven Network has signalled its intention to go after the A-League broadcast rights and is looking to upsell existing competition sponsors into its broadcasts, according to Seven West Media chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette." Full story: http://www.sponsorshipnews.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&stream=1-1&selkey=44684&hlc=2&hlw=
Justin Mahon
Guest
I inadvertently made my substantive comments in another thread by mistake - however I will add this. Where was everybody when the last two strategic plans were published by the FFA? I know they made a lot of fuss about this one, however, I thought both of those previous documents had much to commend the governing body also - particularly in light of their strategy having been largely delivered upon over the intervening period. Another reason I make this point is because many of the comments I saw on Twitter yesterday seemed to be attributing to the FFA some 'Road to Damascus' insight the rest of us understood years ago - in contexts in which the FFA had clearly made these points long before in previous plans. I know social media is for sounding off in some senses, but football fans in Australia would do well to stay abreast of these key corporate documents and frame their views, over time, accordingly.
cm
Guest
We have the player numbers. We need to ensure that the game in Australia as a whole develops them so that they can compete on the world stage, be it in contintental or world trophies for club or country. A league designed to make every team competitive - and thus, entertaining to joe public - by restricting what they can do and lifting others up is not going to help this development. How many players have been stunted by being drafted into poor teams? How many clubs require massive injections of cash to keep them competitive and how does that help player development? Other codes don't have to worry as much about this side of things. On top of this, one of the attractions of football is that giant killing is possible anyway, without assistance.
SVB
Guest
Look at this way Albatross. What did more people take notice of: WSW winning the ACL by drawing 0-0 with Al Hilal in Riyadh, or the 5-4 game in which SFC beat CCM a few years ago. More people will start to come to watch the league if they realise the quality is there and we are able to match it with the best Asian teams. The entertainment is in the tension of playing these close and competitive matches against these top Asian sides, and knowing that what you are watching is a decent standard. My point is we need to focus more on development and be able to consistently compete to achieve this. Hence the comment about letting the bigger clubs grow bigger to be able to have more resources to achieve this. Yes, we could create some WWF style, manufactured a-league with lots of goals, new rule changes and music blaring everywhere. But do you honestly think that will attract football followers to the league here or be good for the health of the game?
albatross
Roar Pro
And just imagine if they get distaff aspect right.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Middy, the figure that really stood out for me was: "22% of junior participants are fans of an A-League club". Now, at 1st glance this is a low figure. But, then when you scratch the surface & dig deeper into the figure you realise what an achievement this is to get 22% buy-in from kids, given the A-League is only 10 years old. Additionally, MCY and WSW are only 5 and 3 years old respectively. Furthermore, think back to the NSL era. When I was at school, I'd be surprised if even 1-2% of kids who played football at my school were fans of an NSL club. Even later at Uni when I was playing State League senior football. I don't think even 1 player followed the NSL. I reckon the ALeague buy-in from adults is even lower. So, the kids of today are the ones who will drive the 20 yr plan.
albatross
Roar Pro
SVB : Bingo cm. But what is point of playing football in front of paying spectators at the ground and watching on tv if you are not going to entertain the audience in some way? I appreciate the likes of Barcelona and MUFC can get by on tribalism but we don't have that luxury.
Midfielder
Guest
Agree Jack
Midfielder
Guest
OK my life maybe sad but I read the 112 page report and then when back over some parts of it.... while it does not detail specific plans what it does do is say were we are and how we want to grow. The stand out figure for me is is the conversation rate of players to fans currently in Australia its 19% in Football for the A-League with 74% average in other major codes... it makes sense to me from my personal experiences... the challenge is how to increase this rate but even a minor increase to say 38% would change the sporting landscape in Australia especially if the player base keeps expanding as the report indicates it will.
SVB
Guest
Bingo cm.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Albatross Very valid point about 'knowing the enemy'.. IF I were David Gallop or aspired to be a future football administrator. But, I have no such ambition. I am purely a football fan, now that my playing days are behind me. I have no incentive to "know the enemy" because, even if I do a SWOT assessment of the enemy, unless I'm in a position of power at the administrative level of football I have no power to do anything about it.
Mike
Roar Guru
I think the biggest problem for Wellington right now is what they bring to the table, eg, attendances, viewers, broadcast value, etc. I have no problem with them in the league, but from the FFA's point of view, it might strengthen the next broadcast agreement if it was an Aussie team instead. :S
RBBAnonymous
Guest
Just so you know the next tv deal each team is projected to get 5-6m right now. Investing in an A2 competition would be a mixture of NPL clubs and new clubs. By investing in 2nd tier we are doing a few things. Ensuring that we can finally have a professional 2nd tier, even if we dont have pro/rel for the moment. This will ensure a more realistic pathway for some players. Ensuring that the gap between NPL and A-league becomes manageable. By investing in an A2 with proper funding ie similar funding to the A-league when it first started we can build a proper watchable league on tv. It might be SBS, Telstra, BT Telecom, BeinSports, a website subscription. There is always someone looking for content. The product and players will invariably improve because of FT professionalism and we are starting produce more players even now and we will need teams at this level. Its amazing what happens when money gets invested in a sport, you only have to look at the A-league.
Lionheart
Guest
Wellington? While I hear you, this is a 20 year plan for Australian football so I think you're looking in the wrong place..
Lionheart
Guest
The plan does give three models or options Waz, for national and state bodies, but it doesn't select one. I only went through their fancy presentation style brief, and it looks good. Very ambitious, so it should be.
albatross
Roar Pro
I guarantee I won’t read it. As Sun Tzu said 知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆 "Know your enemy and know yourself, find naught in fear for 100 battles. Know yourself but not your enemy, find level of loss and victory. Know thy enemy but not yourself, wallow in defeat every time."
albatross
Roar Pro
I would make sure that funding was through the next tv deal. In case you hadn't noticed the commercial FTAs are in deep poo revenue wise and the current government is working out ways to defund the ABC and SBS. That leaves Foxtel essentially of the current crop and they can't be all that rapt in the ratings. Of course there may be new players looking for content to stream but whether that will work with our last century internet infrastructure is moot.
Slim
Guest
The in-depth view of expansion with possible time frames and future promo-relegation is what I found most interesting. Gallop, you struck again baby.
cm
Guest
I might be wrong but I assume what svb means is they can manipulate their leagues through drafts and salary caps to maintain an even playing field without having to worry about the effect on player development, and how we perform at an international level for both clubs and country.