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With pitches at a premium and clubs turning away players, football’s next major battleground will be ensuring our politicians represent the game’s interests.
Victorian football is in rude health, so much so that the state is literally running out of places to play.
As Ray Gatt wrote in the Australian last month, hundreds of Victorian kids are being turned away by local clubs every year because there are simply not enough football pitches to play on.
It’s a scenario being played out across the country – particularly in major cities, where rising populations are fighting for every inch of green space on offer.
So it was no surprise to see Football Federation Victoria release a strategic plan aimed at upgrading facilities across the state, to ensure there’s adequate playing space for the many thousands of recreational players who want to play football.
The ‘Facilities Strategy’ was the brainchild of former Perth Glory administrator and current FFV chief executive Peter Filopoulos.
And like a lot of things Filopoulos has been involved with over the years, his plan enjoys widespread support.
Including – crucially – at the political level. And that’s something that’s been sadly lacking within our game for far too long.
One of Filopoulos’ most important relationships during his tenure as FFV supremo will be with the state’s Sports Minister, John Eren.
Eren wears plenty of hats – he’s been the Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Minister for Sport and the Minister for Veterans in Daniel Andrews’ government since December 2014 – but most importantly for football fans, he’s a former player himself.
And the Turkish-born Labor politician has made it clear he understands the role football can play in bringing people together – not to mention bring in a few extra votes.
That’s not to imply that Eren’s a football zealot – he’s been involved in a variety of sports throughout his life – but rather it’s a simple acknowledgement of the fact that for once a state houses a politician who doesn’t inherently fear football.
It’s not something we’ve often been able to say, and surely Queensland wouldn’t have gone nearly four years without a Socceroos fixture had the political willpower existed to bring the national team back to the state.
Yet it’s been clear ever since Australia largely squandered the political capital generated by hosting the 2015 Asian Cup, that many of our politicians are not only intimidated by football – or at the very least, ignorant of its potential – but actively dislike it.
Trying to convince the political establishment that the AFC Champions League might be a way to open doors with major trade partners like China is akin to speaking Mandarin in parliament.
But when the cameras are out and there’s a Sherrin involved, suddenly our none-too-bright career pollies are spruiking the benefits of a game no one outside Australia has ever heard of to a baffled international audience.
Yet football fans are also to blame – at least in part – for failing to make the health of the sport the sort of political issue that wins votes.
Fans wanting better treatment for the game could do worse than remind their elected officials of that fact the next time they hit the election trail.
Sadly, the fact that Australia remains one of the most politically apathetic nations on earth means our politicians tend to mostly ignore the will of their constituents.
And it’s left to voices within the game, like Football Federation Australia’s multitasking Head of International Relations Mark Falvo, to speak up on behalf of the code.
The FFA have done reasonably well on that front over the past couple of years, although it remains to be seen what happens once the extraordinary general meeting called for October 2 takes place.
Most fans are sick and tired of all the politics.
But as Football Federation Victoria’s impressive Facilities Strategy demonstrates, getting politicians onside is an important part of the game.