You know it’s been a successful writers’ festival when it generates a “Clarification of FFA Chairman comments” media release late on a Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately I couldn’t make it down to the Football Writers’ Festival over the weekend despite being graciously invited, although I wish I had ended up at the Jamberoo Pub given some of the content it produced.
Congratulations to Fair Play Publishing and the Johnny Warren Foundation for putting on such a well-received event, and kudos to Bonita Mersiades for coming up with the idea in the first place.
And full credit to FFA Chairman Chris Nikou for making an appearance too.
Nikou was professional enough to answer questions in a session chaired by The Daily Telegraph’s underrated football reporter Emma Kemp, and by all accounts he put his foot in it with one specific response.
“As I stand here now promotion and relegation is unlikely until 2034,” Nikou told the audience in response to a question from the floor.
“You need to have a second division established. Those clubs need to be able to step up… if the gap is too big they won’t be able to do it,” The Age’s resident football expert Michael Lynch reported him as saying.
So there you have it. No promotion and relegation from the A-League for the next 15 years.
Or maybe not?
A media release that went out shortly after sought to clarify Nikou’s comments.
“Under the terms of the existing Club Participation Agreement (CPA), existing and incoming Australian Hyundai A-League Clubs are entitled to participate in the Hyundai A-League until the year 2034,” it read.
“While the CPA also provides for the introduction of promotion and relegation during that period at its discretion, FFA notes that the New Leagues Working Group and the Second Division Working Group are currently considering the future structure of the top two tiers of Australian club football, including what provisions for promotion and relegation should be established.”
So in other words – and contrary to Nikou’s comments – promotion and relegation is potentially on the cards much sooner than 2034.
“These provisions are expected to include the specific timing of the establishment of a Second Division, targeted commencement of promotion and relegation to and from the Hyundai A-League, and the prioritisation of Second Division Clubs as part of expansion of the Hyundai A-League beyond 12 teams,” read the final paragraph of the release.
A couple of FFA board members also got on Twitter and suggested that Nikou’s comments were simply off-the-cuff remarks and not to be interpreted as the FFA’s official position.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
And as Lynch pointed out in his quick-fire online report, the Association of Australian Football Clubs is hopeful an official second division will be ready to kick off as early as next year.
There are a few other important points worth unpacking here.
The first pertains to who is in charge of the A-League and how binding the Club Participation Agreement is in the first place.
Nikou was decent enough to honestly answer a question put to him from the floor, but it probably doesn’t mean much if the FFA is no longer in charge of running the A-League anyway.
And while the ten current clubs might not fancy a stint in the second division – and could potentially cite contractual stipulations to avoid it – there’s a bigger question at stake than the broader philosophical debate surrounding promotion and relegation.
Namely how can it be funded? Especially if the next broadcast deal is less than the current one?
We have to be careful of pretending that the A-League is inherently unique, because for too long the idea of Australian exceptionalism has been used to lock others out of the game.
But the most pressing issue in Australian football right now is not when promotion and relegation will be introduced, but how it will be funded.
Figure that out and our football might just be on the right track.
oldpsyco
Guest
Thats an Easy answer! The same poor bastards who pay for everything else in football. The mums & dads who pay the Rego Fees and man the canteens on matchdays! The same mums and dads who buy the tickets to watch the A-League. The same mums and dads who are told you can't have a vote, you cant be trusted to vote for the right people! The same mums and dads that are tuning out of the A-League in their THOUSANDS!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Agree with you both here but how then to upgrade facilities and the capitals' source? Modular stadium builds are a thing and should be cheaper. So should be perhaps government funding to various suburban grounds supporting the larger teams rather than one big rebuild... ...also I think the criteria needs to be adjusted on 'minimum' standards for grounds: lighting for HD broadcast seems to be the most obvious but then leads back to seating/facilities; also some have gone for synthetic surfaces. If a framework and standards are agreed upon it gives those clubs something to strive for, and a quick measure on who is ready to start in a new second tier sooner than later, or a known quantity on the help needed to get there if close.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
With all the professional clubs in the US, and they refuse point blank to introduce P&R, why is the MLS the best example for the A-League?
Matsu
Roar Rookie
Actually, no. They USED TO be close. But they have become less and less so in recent years. Mitsubishi Motor pulled out as investors, completely, two years ago. Now the only really BIG Mitsubishi-group stake is held by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. http://www.jsoccer.com/new/news/75-j1-news/332-mitsubishi-motors-selloff
Matsu
Roar Rookie
All of the companies you named OWN SHARES IN clubs, but J.League rules prevent direct ownership. This was the whole founding concept behind the J. League. Clubs must be fully independent. Any historical ties had to be dissolved, and the former corporations had to limit their activity to buying ad space on the team uniforms. Furthermore, the ONLY money stakeholders can give to clubs is via an advertising deal (ie. buying a sponsor spot on the uniform, plastering the stadium with ads, etc. ) and there are specific rules on how much can be spent for a given sponsorship. Admittedly, Rakuten seems to be making a concerted bid to “stretch the rules” recently, but they have not yet violated this separation in principle. An instructive lesson on what happens to teams/corporate “sponsors” who break these regulations, however, can serve as a reminder of the dangerous ground Mr. Mikitani is treading . . . . . . http://www.jsoccer.com/new/j2-league/tokyo-verdy/56-tokyo-verdy
Ad-0
Guest
Good point. And yet they still have a closed shop league because investors aren't willing to risk being relegated. They also, unlike us, have a 2nd division whose teams are fully professional and would be more than capable of handling promotion financially. And yet they still don't have pro/rel and nobody is seriously considering it. Makes you think, no.
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
Matsu I'll take your word for it, but the links between Red Diamonds and Mitsubishi are very very close.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
In part at least, I think followers of other codes all have an interest in soccer because it is football, real football played with the ball at one’s feet. At heart they are all football fans and kid themselves by using our label for their games. Of course, being the global game too, they would all, deep down subconsciously I feel, love our game to succeed and for our Socceroos to become a world power.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
You need a strong 2nd division. So Brisbane fans, we wonderful people, will follow our team just as passionately in the second division as we have in the A League. We'll watch them on You Tube and around 10K of us will watch live at the new Logan sports complex mini stadium. Our away games will all be played in Qld, at the new Cleveland sportsground stadium and the upgraded Lions FC park. There's much to do before we get there and it will take time. Fifteen years, 1934 is probably about right because we have a long way to go to lift our second division to that standard - facilities, funds et al. But we will get there in the long run, if we work together. Those arguing that it should happen in a few years are not realistic, or have somehow discovered a magic wand they are yet to unveil.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Sounds like a future article. I look forward to reading it.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Our own little Brexit - what could be more fun?
Nemesis
Guest
If a semi-pro club is promoted, as long as they remain level-headed, they'll be fine. Use the extra cash they get from TV distribution, sponsors, merchandise, match day to get a couple of higher quality players and work from there. When little Eibar, with no-name players, representing a country town in Spain took on the mighty Real Madrid, filled with celebrity players who are amongst the highest paid on the planet, Eibar smashed the visitors from Madrid 3-0 in La Liga this season.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
You might be in the minority there, RF, as I got a phone call on the back of this column from someone close to the situation to talk me through many of the pros and cons of promotion and relegation in the A-League. Let's just say there's not a whole lot of alignment among the many stakeholders in the game.
RF
Roar Rookie
So here we go again. More of the dog chasing its tail. Round and round and round. I understand that Mike had to write this piece, but my word football discussion about matters Australian is dull and repetitive at the moment. Work looks so much more attractive.
chris
Guest
Because football is different and doesnt need to follow the suburban sports model in this country.
chris
Guest
Thanks for the update Jordan. I'll sleep better knowing that we are climbing the international ladder in AFL
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Wooden spooners too. It’s very zen.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Population and population distribution are big differences between us and the US. We have just 6 metro areas with populations over 500,000 but the US has over 100.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
We are the world champions of AFL Chris. Show some respect!
Mister Football
Roar Guru
As I said in another post, there would be two obstacles placed in the way of the semi-pro club to getting promoted: 1. having to play the team which finished bottom of the A-League in two legs home and away; and failing that 2. a long list of criteria which the semi-pro club will fail. Rest assured that the current club owners will one day introduce P&R (in 15+ years)...on their terms.