The announcement of the in principle agreement to grant the A-League independence from the FFA has been met with a variety of sentiments.
While many who have championed the cause for some time now claim to see rays of hope on the horizon, there are others with grave fears for the league. Particularly when the practicalities of the new arrangement eventually become reality.
In essence, the A-League needed guidance and child minding at birth. Very few would question that. However, as time passed it become apparent that the competition was very much attached to the apron strings of the FFA and heading nowhere.
That is not to say that the standard of A-League football played was not of a respectful and watchable standard, far from the case. However, the rate of improvement in it compared to the substantial and sustained growth occurring in other Asian Confederation nations would eventually necessitate the formation of the New Leagues Working Group (NLWG).
Thus began the grapple of dialogue between the new body and FFA, as both sought to achieve an advantageous outcome.
With A-League franchises desperate for a loosening of the purse strings and self-determination within the domestic setting, the clubs now appear to have received that assurance.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The commercial reality of the agreement is a potentially significantly increased piece of the financial pie for the A-League clubs, as well as full and perpetual control over their intellectual property.
While the FFA maintains its overarching governance role and continues to administrate national teams and grassroots football via its portion of revenue from the game, the agreement announcement used a key and decisive phrase when it came to the newly created distance between the FFA and an independent A-League.
Unimpeded control.
It is a poignant choice of words and one that could eliminate many of the restrictions that have hampered Australian football over the last decade.
The idea of the A, W and Y-Leagues advancing unfettered is both an appealing and scary proposition.
No doubt, clubs will find themselves in a somewhat conflicted space and take a self-serving approach to the upcoming negotiations, as the finer details of the agreement are decided.
They would indeed be mad if they did not, however the broader and structural changes required to improve Australian football as a whole will also be forefront in their minds.
The implementation of transfer fees, removal of the salary cap and an eventual move to full promotion and relegation are easy things to support and champion. However, when push comes to proverbial shove, there will be undoubted financial winners and losers when the new structures are put in place.
The notion of an A-League club agreeing to moves that in fact weaken its position and long-term viability in the competition is an unlikely one. The natural by-product of that will be rigorous debate and those clubs bullish about independence will attempt to persuade the more conservative members to come along for the ride.
That bullishness proving profitable to all is a best-case scenario for the league, yet perhaps idealistic at the same time. The diametrically opposed doomsday narrative sees another A-League club (or two) on the scrapheap at some stage in the future.
If that scrap heap becomes a second tier of professional competition then perhaps natural attrition will be used to validate the fall and maybe that is exactly what is required.
The ruthlessness of professional sport appears shortly to arrive in Australian football and casualties are likely to emerge. However, it is time for the A-League to let go of mummy’s hand and take a shot at existence without restrictive captivity.
There is no doubt that the playing field will be vastly different across the A-League clubs. The eternal questions around the survival of the Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix will remain.
The challenges for both Western United and Macarthur FC as new franchises will also be considerable, as they attempt to attract a following and build an identity in their local communities.
All the while the so-called big clubs will attract suspicion and concern, with many certain of the fact that the benefits of access to a broader corporate dollar in a big city will undoubtedly see them flourish at the expense of smaller clubs.
And maybe that is exactly what Australian football needs; a competition more closely aligned with leagues around the world. Leagues where success breeds a growth that leads to further achievement, where teams tumble and fall and others excel.
The coming month of detailed decision making will determine just who those clubs will be as the new independent league takes shape. It will make for some heated debate, with some clubs anticipating a boon and others fearful of disaster.
Freddie
Guest
For a start, it's highly unlikely Sydney or Victory would be relegated, but in the event they were, then they'd have the opportunity to bounce back inside one year. That's how football works. You put in place a "parachute" system of payments for relegated clubs, as they do in England. It doesn't insulate them from the effects, but it cushions the blow a bit. If a smaller club goes out of business, then so be it. There'll be another to replace it. Secondly, I imagine that any clubs forming part of the 2nd Division will have to fulfil strict criteria on stadiums, crowds, finances, members etc. I would think Div 2 would be made up of a mixture of new franchises, and existing NPL clubs, but only those capable of making such a big jump. Thirdly, you don't have instant promotion-relegation. For the first few years, it's a standalone league, then perhaps structured promotion followed eventually by promotion + relegation. There are ways and means of doing this. Your doomsday scenario is having NPL teams (as they currently exist) coming straight into the A-League, and the biggest clubs dropping out. It isn't going to happen.
Newie
Guest
Same. But I'll be going to Kayo once the A-League season begins again.
Dianne
Guest
So do you financially support relegation system? Scenario Melbourne V & Sydney fc are relegated green gully and Leichhardt promoted - costs of flights, stadium, crowds, members, tv rights etc... I can’t see it working yet.
Squizz
Roar Rookie
I think you may be writing off CCM prematurely. They have had no incentive to invest in thee HAL under the old system. How can an area of 340,000 justify spending money on a marquee when they get $4 from a $119 shirt. You may increase crowds but that is just taken by 'extras charges' on top of the rental charged by the Council and the increase in security and police costs. I think you will find the Mariners will be a lot stronger this season and build on that the following season. WU on the other hand I have grave fears for. The place is already taken as a Victory stronghold for anyone that follows football. They wax lyrical in Geelong and the surrounding areas about their growing participation numbers but it is still around half of what the Central Coast had in 2004 when the Mariners were formed and about a quarter of the Central Coast's current numbers.
Justin Mahon
Roar Rookie
https://www.matildas.com.au/news/matildas-crowned-australias-most-loved-team-following-2019-fifa-womens-world-cup-tm
anon
Roar Pro
Did you see how many people were in attendance for that match? It looked like the bad old days of the NSL. If she wants to play in front of 20k, 50k in a Grand Final, she needs to play AFLW.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
If they are good enough they will stay up. If Perth/Adelaide/Brisbane with their multi million $ owners and cities of millions of people don't put a good enough side together that they can't beat Mr Druitt Rangers then should they be playing in the top league?
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Funny the only think I watch on my Foxtel Sports package is Football, if Foxtel didn't have the A league I wouldn't have it. Not just the sports, I wouldn't have Foxtel period.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Declined? LOL you have no idea what so ever. The Matilada's captain just slotted a match winning hat trick for her Club Side in the US, that same person is rumoured to be a transfer target for Chelsea where she could earn more than the entire AFLW player contract, so yea she is really coming to the AFLW shortly.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
And as a Vancouver Canucks fan i have seen plenty of videos of the team kicking a football (soccer) around the dressing sheds and hallways of the ice rink. So I suppose all those professional hockey players prefer football?
Mister Football
Roar Guru
This is probably one reason why P&R is, and will remain, on the backburner for many years to come. Open P&R means you get what you get. It might mean a national footprint, or it might mean 80% of the top tier clubs coming from the one city. Every now and then, it might mean the likes of a Morwell or Cooma gets promoted at the expense of a Sydney or Melbourne. You get what you get.
PJ
Guest
I hope there is a structure in place that protects the league from becoming a Melb vs Sydney comp in 5-7 years where stronger teams from those cities relegate Brisbane or Perth or Adelaide. We need to maintain a national footprint to our game.
anon
Roar Pro
I wouldn't laugh too much. It's no coincidence that the Matildas have declined as women's footy has taken off with the arrival of AFLW. Don't count out Sam Kerr one day playing the sport she grew up with. In a recent interview she said that at home she kicks a Sherrin around for fun, not a soccer ball.
anon
Roar Pro
Nothing to monetise. I tune into the odd A-League game because it's part of Foxtel, but if I had to pay $5 more per month for an A-League channel I wouldn't. It's Aussie Rules and League, US sports that drive sports subscriptions on Foxtel. Soccer has been classified as a marquee sport along with Rugby Union. Expect Foxtel to bid substantially less when the rights come up for review.
anon
Roar Pro
You want to build a stadium next to bars, restaurants, public transportation, etc. I just can't see it working, especially when the new club won't have the resources to compete with the likes of Victory or Heart.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
hehehe hahaha think you are spot on ... But we have perfect examples before us on how to do it with the Great Waste of Space and the Fold Coast.
Nemesis
Guest
2 Egg Ballers can't stop talking about an A-League team that hasn't even kicked a ball competitively. Even those who don't watch the competition spend hours every day reading about & then posting comments about it. This is the enormous reach of the A-League, that will be monetised by an independent executive team that has only one focus.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
If it was actually getting built in Hoppers Crossing, you'd be more accepting of it. The key point is that it's getting built outside of the outer outskirts of Tarneit, where there are currently only sheep paddocks, and the surrounding land is so cheap, it's where they built a Mosque, a Hindu Temple and even an Apostilic Church of Nazarene.
Nemesis
Guest
Who are some of these superstar kids, whom WSW have scouted, nurtured through their Academy & moved to professional football? I presume all these superstar WSW academy graduates must be going to other clubs senior football, since WSW senior team has been an embarrassment in recent years.
josh
Guest
The Mariners opportunity doesn't diminish, it just gets severely reduced. The next Maty Ryan or Mile Jedinak isn't coming up through the Mariners Academy he's coming through WSW. Mariners can have any kid that isn't good enough. They offered Mo Adam a contract and he turned them down. Pretty simple.