The conclusion of season 12 of the A-league is almost upon us, and it looks like it’ll be a four-horse race to win the toilet seat, with Sydney FC, the Victory, Wanderers and Brisbane looking the teams most capable.
The Sky Blues are heavy favourites, after wrapping up the Premiers Plate early. City and Perth have a sniff, but they’re starting from a long way back.
On field, it’s been a mixed bag this season, which started with a bang, with Tim Cahill and co. lighting up the Melbourne derby in Round 1 with an absolute screamer.
But since then, most of the clubs, with the exception of Sydney and to a lesser extent Victory, struggled to find form and consistency.
Cahill and City rally dropped the ball after lifting the FFA Cup, and unfortunately the ongoing soap opera at FFA HQ has taken over the tabloids and hogged what little space the game gets in the media.
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Unsurprisingly, the numbers have remained strong, with crowds on par with last season, and TV ratings slightly up. The league has a rusted-on core of fans, which is great to see, but that has to grow.
Expansion, a national second division to eventually allow for promotion-relegation, allowing for a proper football economy and transfer system in the domestic game, the W-League, youth development and growing football’s infrastructure should no longer just be talking points. It’s now time for action on all these points, but the sport’s chiefs are too busy worrying about their level of control, and politics in the boardroom.
Make no mistake, the current wrangles are all over power and money, with plenty at stake. The game is at a crucial juncture in its lifecycle, and the next decisions are crucial, especially at the top level.
For even the most diehard fans (myself included) the current impasse has heavily influenced interest in the competition. As I mentioned earlier, this season started with a bang, but once again self-interest and self-preservation have taken over at board level, and the current issues have single-handedly taken the focus off the pitch, not just in the media but also in the terraces.
Unfortunately, I have seen this movie before, and it’s a terrible ending every time, with the game itself ultimately being the biggest loser.
So I say to the FFA, sort your stuff out ASAP. Be inclusive, the days of dictatorships are behind us, if we want the game to grow and move forward we need all facets of the game – A-League clubs, the NPL, state federations, women’s football, futsal and beach football, referees and the players union – all pulling in the same direction. And this needs to happen sooner rather than later, otherwise they risk alienating supporters, who won’t stick around forever with all the current issues at play.
Our game has always had the numbers, and they are its greatest strength, but it’s never quite managed to turn that into a huge positive for the sport.
Quite the contrary, it’s actually worked against the game time and time again, with too many people putting their own needs before the needs of the game. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself yet again.
Evan Askew
Guest
@ Punter. Brisbane ROar was a basketcase going into that magnificent run by Ange Postecoglou. The crowds for the first half of that season well and trul'y sucked. But they got better in the second half of the season and had it not being for the 2011 floods would have being even better. The football played under Ange and the results it bought probably saved the club to be honest.
j binnie
Guest
asanchez - Relating to your "across the code" thoughts ,by sheer accident I caught a little cameo on TV last night based on the FFA Cup. It was shown after the Asian championship game and I thought it a "pearl" of good marketing. It featured a "tie' between two Brisbane district teams, Jimboomba United and Bardon Latrobe and for readers who don't know, Jimboomba is a small farming community to the south of Brisbane and Bardon Latrobe is an amalgamation of 2 of the oldest clubs in the state.Some of the filming and comments from interested parties was top class,the Jimbooma coach telling us his team was made up of locals some of whom have played at the club for 20 years. He said the FFA Cup was a godsend to clubs like his for they lived with the hope that they would one day draw Melbourne Victory to their home ground for a tie.(FFA TAKE NOTE). The Bardon coach was more circumspect and serious and told us how his team was concentrating on playing Guardiola's tic - a- tac football a la Barcelona FC. Great stuff. Jimboomba won 5-0 so, it's eternal hope for the farm lads and back to the drawing board for the city slickers. Great televison. grassroots football in all it's glory., Cheers jb.
punter
Guest
Hello Brisbane Roar fans, I've been to every home SFC game this season & I've taken friends & family. SFC has had a wonderful year & will top it off this weekend by being the most successful home & away team in the A-League history. Hopefully we will also take the championship & be crowned the most successful single season team in A-League history. This is an excellent team. So, I've done my bit & so has SFC, it's those football fans in Sydney who has missed out, these are the people who I feel sorry for. Is the marketing FFA or SFC's fault I do not know, but it's been a very poor sell. Now, I have no doubt that there are problems at FFA HQ, they lack complete vision, but the A-League is very stable. Looking forward to some changes going forward. But saying all this, I've enjoyed this season very much, the only boring bit is that there is no team able to go with SFC, we have no real rivals this year. Ali was made greater because of Frazier, Federer because of Nadal. I was just noticing most of the biggest complaints of this A-League season coming from non Sydney FC fans. BTW, having a look at BR crowds during the golden era, didn't see too big a crowds either.
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
"The AFL average so far this season is 37.3k. The 2016 average was 31.9k." So don't tell me, you found that reliable information, in the Herald Sun? Oh hello!
AR
Guest
A Round 3 comparison shows: 2017 - 37.3k 2016 - 37.7k It's a shocking slump - enough to wake up Gil McLachlan in a cold sweat.
AR
Guest
This is the same guy who argued passionately that hockey was more popular in India than cricket.
Basil
Guest
Must be nice to be a genius, Nemesis.
asanchez
Roar Guru
Hi guys, Thanks for all your comments. Some have mentioned a second division structure on here, and for me it could all start as a semi professional competition, just as the clubs are now. Sponsors could come on board, and they could cover the airfares and accomodation for the players, and the second division could then start. A smaller salary cap could be implemented, lets call it $1m per team over 25 players (remember these would be part time wages - average $40k wage). Small TV rights could be negotiated (sush as 1 game per week, finals and GF) for a little bit of extra cash if any. I personally know some teams in the NPL today that have yearly wage budgets around $200k-$250k in the seniors, and if clubs were given a chance at a national second division, they could go and secure more sponsors at a higher rate, they would also get a spike in membership and attendances. Then potentially in 5 years time, if finances allow it, it could move into a professional setup. So it's not exactly pie in the sky stuff, it could work. The fact that the NPL clubs have started their own association on, tells you their intensions.
Nemesis
Guest
Give them a chance. When was the Plan released? 1-2 years ago if I recall correctly? It's a 20 year plan. Let's wait at least 5 years before we judge if we're at least heading in the right direction.
FootOverHand
Guest
But it is very vague If their talk is cheap, then we must evaluate them on their actions and I find them wanting to be honest.
Nemesis
Guest
Every business factors in Churn. The idea is to have strategies to put you in a better position than you would have been if you didn't have that strategy.
Nemesis
Guest
That's just the overview of The Plan - the overall signposts to lead us on the right path. The detail will be in the hands of the FFA, or will be a work in progress. Pretty standard for any Business looking to forge a new path into the future.
FootOverHand
Guest
The whole of football plan is rather vague. http://www.wholeoffootballplan.com.au/
FootOverHand
Guest
Also we could always get a generous Chinese business man to fund it, like Portugal.
FootOverHand
Guest
FFA only take $12.50 , $12. something anyway per registration, the rest is up to the club. I'm not in the least nostalgic about the NSL, I had no affinity to the cultures that were represented, the broader based HAL clubs were needed. When people talk about a second division it doesn't have to come from the NSL, a Tasmanian team like what has been bidding for the HAL expansion could be one of them, as long as they will be professional and meet an open and viable criteria, there is no reason that they shouldn't be considered.
soni
Guest
Breaking News: Donald Trump supports a "bid" for the USA to co-host the WC 2026 together with Canada and Mexico. It's pretty much a done deal... I've always known, he's a puppet of the Roman royals. Now they gave him the orders to support Football and so he does ;)
Caltex & SBS support Australian Football
Guest
"We need Lyall Gorman." Good call RF! Now that the TV deal has been done and dusted for 6 years, is there any real reason Gallop, has to continue as our CEO. I say bring back Lyall Gorman, to lead the FFA from here on end. Gorman, is a real communicator and has been successful every where he goes. Cronulla Shark (NRL) were a basket case, and hadn't won a championship in the long history, he took over there and brought instance success. And we all know how well he performed in Football when he was with us. Time for Gorman, to come back to the fold as the CEO of the FFA.
Waz
Guest
No, boosting attendances is measureable. If we had x number of fans last year then boosting it is x + something. Agree on the core group of fans needing attention. Alarmingly it's parts of this group that seems to feel disenfranchised at the moment
AR
Guest
"PS: Apparently, after just 3 rounds the AFL crowd average has fallen below last season." That's not remotely true. The AFL average so far this season is 37.3k. The 2016 average was 31.9k.
Lionheart
Guest
Thanks Ken. Good post. I'm taking you at face value by assuming you have a grip on these issues at club level.