‘Go or no go’ is a business term I became familiar with in my early 20s.
My first introduction was when working on Rupert Murdoch’s personal staff, from the marketing folk discussing whether a major sale had been made or not.
Later in my career, the term referred to whether an investment should be made or not.
Key to the decision-making process was the need to form a dispassionate view of the data and facts in front of you. Let the figures and trend lines speak for themselves. It was essential to set aside your personal bias and world views, as these tended to cloud the decision making and lead to incorrect decisions.
This week, A-League head Greg O’Rourke gave an a long interview to SBS.
O’Rourke repeated the old chestnut about how competitive the Australian sporting market is, pointing out we have four football codes competing in the same market space.
O’Rourke went further, saying that comparing Australian football to Europe was poor because the round-ball code sits atop of the tree with nothing close. He referred to the J-League as not having anywhere near the same competition, and that in Japan, the teams have much larger budgets so comparing the A-League to the J-League was also not a good comparison.
This argument is BS, used to cover the inefficiencies of management and those running the game.
O’Rourke gave the example of cricket, which went in big time to develop the Big Bash and it worked in getting younger people back to their games.
The A-League has struggled to attract crowds this season. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The A-League chief said whoever runs professional football in Australia has these challenges to overcome and you simply can’t ignore them or operate as if they don’t exist.
O’Rourke came across as a person in management who understood the desires but wanted to caution about over-expectations. The pity was the interviewers tried to cover many issues and this resulted in some things being discussed not in great detail.
I understand and accept there is a lot of truth in what he is saying. Equally, I can point to many areas of mismanagement by the various boards running football over the last 60 years.
There are some undeniable facts pertaining to the level of sports competition in Australia. Few other countries have this level of competition. However, does this in and of itself excuse boards for the position we find ourselves in?
The desire to broaden the A-League to 38 rounds is well outside what Fox is willing to broadcast. Without the Fox money and the sponsors who come with that broadcast deal, football today would struggle for revenue.
We don’t have lots of competition, but equally many management decisions have been poor.
We have never had a plan nor a leadership group that tried to connect to both the player group and fans.
Where the balance lies is a subjective judgement, but what this clearly indicates is the need for a lot of work on a number of different solutions, because no single solution will bring in the player base.
oldpsyco
Guest
Part of the problem for the A-League lies in its very formation. It is composed of a group of FRANCHISES rather than clubs. It is hard to feel attached to these businesses. Football succeeds because fans become rusted on. If their club get relegated the majority stick it out, continuing to support the team even if attending games less often, they then drift back when good time return. But fans are reluctant to make such an investment in a Franchise that may or may not be here next year, often at the whim of the FFA. If your team goes through bad times, they may not get the chance to make changes and recover. Its all about "Right Now" there is no history to the Franchises like with a club. There is often more passion at an NPL 2 level game, where the clubs have been around for a hundred years, these fans ARE rusted on, and many more follow the teams results than attend games. Attendance is not a reliable measure of a clubs following, and most clubs rely on other forms of income as gates are unreliable! Yet the A-League seem only interested in the number of attendances at games to measure a clubs viability!
Punter
Roar Rookie
Jason Day is just so unlucky, injuries has really curtailed his career, he was 2 shots back in the masters & played the whole 1st round with a crooked back.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Punter Tongue was planted in cheek..... .....wish I had time to watch Jason Day.....and Marcus Fraser with his minor celeb caddy..... ....wanted to sit up for Ash Barty last week but we had too big a weekend of painting to get done so I couldn't afford that luxury..... .....and now I've come down with a cold and instead of going to the footy as a neutral tonight....I'll be wallowing in self pity on the couch instead of having a beer in the Medallion Club..... ......when life gets in the way of diversity......
Punter
Roar Rookie
What does that mean? You diversified? I'm watching the US open, love Jason Day, watched Ash Barty win the French open & have been watching the Australian swimming championship on top of women's WC, does that make me diversified too. But you go ahead & diversify watching AFL world cup cricket (sorry one day cricket), it's not Test matches, this is real cricket.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Punter Remember...I'm diversified....I've got WC cricket to watch..... .....is that what you mean by World Cup?? Or were you watching the 13-0 farce....... #makingUpTheNumbers
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
Clever, I like that.
Punter
Roar Rookie
I'm not saying any of the sort Mike. Re-read what I said, yes the shadows of hooliganism barely existed, but the AFL driven media, yes on hooliganism in football, they unfortunately loomed large with the FFA. Listen we aint going to convince each other, I have a World cup to watch & I'm sure you have a Melbourne suburbia game to watch.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Punter Ah - okay - so not you. The FFA. And that's your point of concern - that they jumped at shadows. Correct me if I'm wrong: I'm saying the shadows barely existed if at all. You're saying that even so - the FFA got spooked. Fair 'nuff!!!
Punter
Roar Rookie
No Mike, I said; 'But the Media, led by the AFL mafia down in Melbourne & highlighted by the likes of ALF fans on here like AR, would let you believe that going to the football, be careful there is a huge hooligan element & that it was dangerous. The FFA brought hook, line & sink. '
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Punter SO.......let me get this right......your complaining - as a representative of the biggest game in the world - - -that some kids in the kindi playground "aren't playing fair"???
Punter
Roar Rookie
Play with the big boys Mike, you are a tiny sport, yes huge in 3 states but please...
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Punter That's it??? So - a fear that maybe 83yr old Ron Barassi might be asked his opinion about the RBB and flares at a WSW home match....... .....yeah - nah!! Or that Graham Cornes on radio in Adelaide - on a 'sports' program - might pass a comment on the topic should it come up (perhaps if WSW were hosting the Reds)........ .....yean - nah!! And Mike Sheehan - he's retired. Yep - they have a chat with him now and then on radio SEN - but he's retired from the print press. ...... yeah - nah!! Neil Mitchell......he's not AFL media - he's right wing mornings talk back and he couldn't even get the Libs voted back in in the Vic state election......he's left to focus on African youth in gangs while ignoring white Aussies killing their wives and partners...... .....yeah - nah!! btw - The Giants got a massively hostile reception from the Daily Telegraph in particular and also Roy Masters (SMH). Some of it was headlines grabbing attention with examples such as 'Footy wars on western front' worse than the article itself while others set up Phil Gould or former mayors to fly the flag for Rugby League in the west of Sydney in defence of the AFL invasion. No one had a sense of humour....Kevin Sheedy found that out!!! And certainly the AFL via 'poaching' K.Hunt and I.Folau set the cat among the pigeons. I'm not saying for a minute that the AFL was a victim in this. The point in some respects is - if you want to play with the 'big boys' then wear a mouthguard.....
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#Nemesis I suggest you'll find plenty of content from 10 years ago......2009......example here of an article by a Michael D??
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Thanks Ex-hamster - your contributions always give me something to think about
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
I think yourself and Redodo are even more clueless. Both so backward in your thinking and holding the game back in every sense.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
Jibberish article Re-dudo.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
38 Games.....are they mad. If anything, they should be playing less matches. Next year we will see 12 team's. Home and away that's 22 games, more than enough. If you wanna kill the A-League...yes by all means go to a 38 game season. By game 30, there will be no spectators. Everyone will be saying "is that thing still GOING......FINISH already".
RbbAnonymous
Roar Rookie
Not sure how your post relates to the current NCIP policy, but, whatever.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
You are having an absolute larf if you honestly believe there was no concerted effort to exclude the ethnic clubs, a process which continues to this day.
jbinnie
Guest
RBB Anon. Your Point 4 tends to belittle the rest of your comment for it is based on rumour and innuendo that has been circulating in football circles for the last 13 years.Despite what you may hear,or think, there never was a bar put up preventing so called "ethnic " teams from entering the then first full time professional football league in Australia. It was simply a matter of financial demands. To join the A League required a sum of money easily calculable and it is in that area of operation the so called "ethnic giants" in our game fell sadly by the wayside. The sum required was $ 5 million dollars to purchase a licence and then the money to enable the setting up of a "club structure" that could employ at least 23 players, coaches,medical and training staff and some administrators, all employed before a ball has been kicked, say another $5 millions. Now the truth behind the scenes in football at that time was the financial meltdown in the NSL,our previous "top" football, and that financial meltdown was seen to affect many of the clubs still participating in that league. So called "ethnic" clubs, heavily dependent on their poker machine palace Social Clubs for funding, suddenly were faced with going to an annually elected social club committee to ask ,not for a few thousand to meet player expenses, but for $10 million dollars to upgrade their football status. I surely don't have to spell out the social club committee answers to you. And so we had a few self funded clubs enter the first A league, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane Lions, mainly backed by the funding from self made business men. And so it has continued. Talk is cheap but with that "entry fee costing" now rumoured to be nearing $20 millions the chances of former NSL clubs gaining entry simply slides further and further away. Sad ,but a financial fact of life. As a further example of what was fact, the best team in Australia at the time, HAKOAH, were withdrawn from the NSL around 1986, when it was made public the annual cost to the Hakoah Social Club at Bondi, had been a mammoth (for the time) $300,000. The Social Club would no longer guarantee funding like that. Exit Hakoah. Cheers jb.