I have a theory. One for which I am prepared to be shot down in flames. It’s a line of thinking that others might find obvious and logical.
The recent extension of David Gallop’s tenure at the FFA has ruffled feathers. The Chief Executive’s essential failings appear to be a limited understanding of football culture and an unwillingness or reluctance to expand the game in order to grow it.
While easier than it sounds, the FFA continues to throw out well researched graphs, metrics and other data at the footballing populous, citing a lack of money and unconducive circumstances that have delayed expansion and growth.
The figures can’t be questioned, perhaps interpreted, yet numbers aren’t everything and what the FFA don’t truly understand is an aesthetic.
The key to growth is local, human and passionate; not numerical.
If they want proof, they should look at their own competition; the FFA Cup.
Whether it be smaller suburban grounds with only moderate lighting, souvlaki smoke drifting across the pitch enticing everyone to have another or local communities coming together to barrack for a team that is in their blood, the Cup is special.
(AFP PHOTO / Peter PARKS)
Sure it copped cynicism early on but it will grow and flourish in time and offers an immeasurable aesthetic that no set of numbers can convey.
It marries with the increasing popularity of the NPL competitions that are experiencing something of a resurgence in interest. The buzz at the recent launch of the NPL season at Ultra Football in Sydney, where Adam Peacock hosted a slick event, was obvious.
Listening to the players from recently promoted teams speak about their prospects, engaging in some reflection on the season just passed and chatting with some of the young boys I have been involved with in football now playing at the top level, made for a great day.
It is the connection that was present in the room and the feeling and emotions felt by all involved that lies at the heart of the FFA’s misconceptions about growing football in Australia.
There are many ways to support football and three distinct types of fans exist in this country, approaching the game from vastly different perspectives.
There is the A-League fan whose football diet is the local competition that was born in 2005-06. Many of this mind, particularly the younger fans, are unable to remember the glorious NSL Championship days. Others, without local team allegiance, merely yearned for a national competition that could be embraced by all Australians.
Secondly, there is my greengrocer Con. The man who still talks about Peter Katholos and is prone to burst into an Ol-ym-pic chant at any moment. Con exists across the country in different forms. Croatians, Italians, Maltese and Greek migrants built football in Australia and their passions burn as strongly as ever.
The interesting thing about Con, is that he is far more likely to be standing on a terrace at a suburban ground than soaking up the atmosphere at an A-League game. His type are inextricably connected to their team and will support them to the hilt, it just so happens that their team is in the NPL competition.
It is these two basic groups of supporters, if connected, that are key to growing the game.
There is one other group however, a group that will only play a role in the local game when its full development has taken place.
I speak, of course, of the Euro-snob; those snooty elitists who only watch the best of the best, the cream of the crop and not the substandard joke that is the A-League.
They have little role to play in Australian football right now but when the bandwagon has arrived, they will be leaping on board in their Liverpool, Man U and Messi kits with gay abandon. We will welcome them then.
As for now, there is plenty at stake and the two important groups outlined above are the avenues through which progress can take place. What David Gallop doesn’t understand and seems unwilling to learn is that a connection between the two is the key to taking football into a new place.
(AAP Image/Hamish Blair)
A youthful A-League fan with little or no awareness of the history of the NSL, sees the Wollongong Wolves, South Melbourne and Apia-Leichhardt as NPL teams only, unaware of the considerable support they still elicit and the proud history they possess.
The FFA Cup has gone some way to educating them of the wonderful fabric of the smaller foundational clubs across the nation yet a true connection to the top tier remains loose at best.
Contrastingly, many of those fans still embracing local community-based teams feel alienated from and disinterested in A-League clubs who, they believe, offer little in terms of personal connection and history.
This is a natural by-product of the establishment of a new league, with mostly start-up teams and little or no history of which to speak. Many stayed loyal to their community based clubs and while taking a passing interest, never truly embraced the A-League.
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Therein lies the challenge for administrators. Connecting the two groups, with A-League fans learning the contributions made by the traditional clubs, who in turn, become more invested in the national competition.
How could this be done? Well, Gallop could continue the small talk with state associations and waffle his way through the next few years, promising much and delivering nothing.
Alternatively, he could use his noggin for once and see the way a truly national structure with effective promotion and relegation would bring the game under a uniformed umbrella for the benefit of all.
The two competitions will never be united and working together to push Australian football forward until they are playing with, against and for each other. It is the source of the power of major international Leagues where individual players and teams step up flight by flight before reaching the pinnacle.
It is called development, where our entire football community watches each other participate and we all share in the successes and failures.
It is a reflection of the global nature of the game where thinking must be broad, visionary and not based purely on big money television deals and limited colonial parameters.
Once we get it right, we will gladly welcome the third group to add the cherry on the top.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Sydney FC have had record growth in memberships for 3 years in a row and are now up to 14,973, which is more than 6 of the NRL clubs. Wanderers have 18,234 members in Sydney.
Gethin Perry
Roar Rookie
Can't! Can! Can't! Can! Can't! Can! Can't! Can! Can't! Can! Can't! Can! Can't! Can! MUST! MUST! MUST!
rolly
Guest
bollocks.if what you say is true then the NRL is in the same boat so is the NRL on its death bed too. similar average crowds of 12,000 ish at the soccer 14,000 odd at the league . only a couple of NRL teams are actually profitable and its the pokies that leagues clubs have that keep them going if a team has a club with poker machines .its the TV money that keeps the NRl going .yes their tv ratings are good but the attendances at NRL games is and are declining every single year . the A league has never had FTA tv coverage on the main channels .its only this year its on one of the FTA digital channels one game . efnicks wont pay for pay tv so there is a big chunk of fans who never see the game on tv .out of site out of mind .most dont even know that one game a week is on channel one .there is no marketing of the A league by the FFA or channel ten. channel ten viewing figures are so low no ones watching ten anyways. .considering everything , the A league is doing very well the standard of football is very high .the lack of teams is a big problem .ten team comps are just too small . state leagues are doing great because there are more teams at state league level in soccer regions the future of football is in suburban stadiums of 25,000 seats not the big city stadiums of forty or eighty thousand seats and a 16 or 18 team comp is a must .the FFA has no idea .
Kangajets
Guest
I agree kris , you validate my point . Thank you and time has shown that Newcastle comes back stronger from relegation
BrainsTrust
Guest
I wouldn't have the inside information if I was. The number one thing that would really help the A-league would be banning EPL clubs from coming over where they take 20 million a pop out of local football fans and run off.
concerned supporter
Guest
Jim,you say, "The crowds ( or studio audience,as the Tv guys consider them ) haven’t turned out and are gradually trending lower with each season . Just ask the Sydney FC bean counters . Four of the ten franchises are on life support and if there were TV programs on their own right would have been cancelled long ago . The standard of football is pretty good , certainly the best of any competition in the land . But that’s not the point , people are not stupid . They know when something is real and has meaning and unfortunately the Mickey Mouse A league is just entertainment nothing more or less . The good news is that football or soccer from grassroots ( the kids ) right up to the State league competitions is alive and well . Con ( the Fan ) will still be there every weekend passionately supporting his team long after the TV guys have lost interest and moved on " I am from Rugby {Union} land,what you are saying also is uncannily the same for Rugby. Just substitute "Super Rugby'for ALeague, and "Shute Shield"for State League.Leave the rest alone. Rugby in Australia & NSW is run by elitist,incompetent, stuck up's mainly from Sydney University. Give me David Gallop any day.
Kris
Guest
Of course Newcastle would have been relegated last season, lost most of their players, not signed Merrick and not emerged as the 2nd best team in Australia. They'd be currently starting on a campaign to prove themselves the best of the rest in NSW.
Peter
Guest
So, only noble Anglo-Saxons (I suspect just like your good self) allowed? I know, invite Milwall over.
Peter
Guest
You're right, of course. Grange Thistle, for instance, should never have been allowed to exist.
Old Greg
Guest
Stuart I've often said that I think the FFA Cup can be bigger than the A-League. Why? Because it appeals to both the "effnick" and "non-effnick" fans.
Jim Condylis
Guest
You miss the point entirely. The A League is a broadcast product , period . It has nothing to do with grassroots soccer or development and everything to do with solving Foxtel’s Summer broadcast schedule. They tried it with basketball and even baseball but it didn’t workout, so soccer was the next option . Has it worked ? Not really . The crowds ( or studio audience,as the Tv guys consider them ) haven’t turned out and are gradually trending lower with each season . Just ask the Sydney FC bean counters . Four of the ten franchises are on life support and if there were TV programs on their own right would have been cancelled long ago . The standard of football is pretty good , certainly the best of any competition in the land . But that’s not the point , people are not stupid . They know when something is real and has meaning and unfortunately the Mickey Mouse A league is just entertainment nothing more or less . The good news is that football or soccer from grassroots ( the kids ) right up to the State league competitions is alive and well . Con ( the Fan ) will still be there every weekend passionately supporting his team long after the TV guys have lost interest and moved on .
Midfielder
Guest
Nem Next bit Assume we get our act together to add a second division .... does not have to actually exist ... just say this is the plan and we work towards adding another say 16 teams and lets assume there are 20 teams being considered for the second division. Using the same logic that the addition of teams adds eyeballs to screens... assume an first team pick up of only 40% of a team actually in Div 1. 40% of 7.4 K is ... say 3 k ... by 20 teams is 60k ... Add the 60K to the 118K or 178 K ... and we have a 200 million dollar media product. Am I off with the faires smoking to much weed ... or is there some logic there. MLS rating last year increased by between 3% & 12% depending on the broadcaster does not seem much but all other codes fell a lot... so far this season their rating are up over 30% and in each year they have added new teams... and the thinking by those I have been reading is extra teams add ratings to every match...
Midfielder
Guest
Nem Need some of your logic and experience... I have been closely following the MLS over the past 12 months pertaining to how they think regarding new markets and where to get teams etc. A point that has stood out for me is the belief is new teams in a Div 1 competition add ratings.... they are talking between 15 to 30K a team. So I went back to last season, as I think this is going to be a one off bad season, so many issues, so must anger, so much infighting etc. So I went back to last year and we averaged about 74K per Fox broadcast and we have 10 teams... thats roughly 7.4 K per team... OK Nix viva V WSW I understand not all are equal... Say we add 6 teams and assume the same average ... thats another 44.4 eyeballs ... so adding the 74 to the 44 is 118K per match... if we added a 10% growth factor thats say 130 per game... thts very marketable.. Nem love your thoughts ... all popycock or has some merit..
Kangajets
Guest
I agree . Wollongong deserves a team in the A league.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
We're all doomed Sam, A-League will be dead by Christmas. Write some more negative doom and gloom stuff to put us all out of our misery Pip.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
If you think there's enough money in Australian football to run two top divisions with relegation and promotion then you are nutz. To compete with just NRL and Victorian Rules you would need media deals worth hundreds of millions and a marketing and advertising budget of over $100 million, which football doesn't have and will probably never have in our lifetime. The Victorian Rules Marketing department alone is bigger than the whole of the FFA and Football NSW combined.
Midfielder
Guest
Slater is arguably the worst broadcaster in the history of Football...
George winter
Guest
Well said Griffo I played soccer all my life NEVER followed the early NSL at all but once the A league starter we have never missed a game planed our holidays around the Jets away games as u well no shook your hand many a time suncorp stadium we think the game in Australia has never been better I think for now David is the right man for the job
Rolly
Guest
on the south coast of nsw we do have a local team in the NPL the Wollongong wolves two time NSL champions .we go to all their games at win stadium I've seen the crowds get bigger every year.the local media support the team .the wolves are doing everything right getting the locals behind them the university behind them utilising a lot of local talent .its a great atmosphere .its something the A league can not offer the soccer fans down here .the NSL had a lot of good things going for it it was inclusive not exclusive like the A league .there is a large chunk of the soccer community that the. A league misses out on becuase it will not even look at the smaller teams .money cannot buy history . big stadiums and capital city mentality is not the answer look at Sydney fc playing out of the SFS it's too big for them and no atmosphere rather a regional team playing in front of eight thousand in a fifteen thousand seat stadium than ten thousand in a forty thousand seat stadium .A league needs to expand and include teams where the fans are and that means more regional teams as well .great article maybe you should email it to David Gallop since he has no soccer pedigree.thriteen thousand kids play soccer in the Illawarra region they want a local team to play for in the. A league these kids are not going to commute three hours each day for three nights a week to train for a Sydney franchise whilst they are at school .like newcatle and Gosford .we want our own team or nothing.
pete4
Guest
I agree with the baby steps and the fact the FFA needs to have funding $ available before launching a 2nd division. The ideal scenario I think would be: A-League (12 clubs) Wooden spoon winner = Relegated (to A-League2) A-League2 Grand Final winner = Promotion A-League2 (12 clubs) Wooden spoon = Relegated (to own state NPL) NPL Grand Final winner = Promotion