The A-League is now approaching its 15th season. Put simply, there are a lot of problems to be solved that John O’Neill and co. would not have expected to exist 13 years on from the heady days of the fabled 2006 World Cup campaign.
In that time, we’ve seen North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United come and go, the problematic NZ team re-locate from Auckland to Wellington, and two new teams introduced into the Melbourne (City) and Sydney (WSW) markets. Don’t even try to count the number of ownership changes.
Despite being Australia’s most popular grassroots sport for as long as the ABS have been collecting the stats in this area, football is still struggling to capture the hearts and minds of the public at the domestic professional level.
With the exception of a notable Ange Postecoglou-inspired boom in Brisbane and a similar personality-inspired Mariners’ season under Graham Arnold, the league has been dominated by Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC with eight championship titles between them. When factoring in Brisbane’s purple patch, three clubs account for 11 of 14 championship titles won to date. Perth Glory, Melbourne City, West Sydney Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix are yet to trouble the historians even once here.
Recent attempts to boost the A-League brand have failed to have the impact hoped for. A series of awkward marriages and improperly formed concepts have contributed to the current malaise afflicting the league.
There was Manchester City’s bland attempt at bolting on a brand identity to Melbourne Heart. That has failed to have the on or off field success to the levels they would have hoped for, as they appoint their fourth permanent coach ahead of the new season. The fact is that they appeal only to fans of that EPL team. No self-respecting Australian-based Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool fan is going to support a Man City branded team (or vice versa). The same criticism aimed at their cashed-up benefactors of buying success in the EPL is aimed at their Australian offshoot, and only serves to emphasise the lack of soul associated with the club.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The Western Sydney Wanderers’ fairytale Asian run had zero impact on the league, other than to rob it of its players as A-League players experienced a boom in popularity in export markets such as China, South Korea and the Middle East. Any transfer fees harvested were understandably grabbed by owners keen to stunt the flow of money out of their pockets as they have struggled to balance the books.
Tony Popovic’s departure seemed to leave the club rudderless and without direction. The once vocal and intimidating Red and Black Bloc significantly diminished, along with their on-field presence.
The situation is not helped by the lack of top-quality recognition in the Socceroos. Aaron Mooy and Mat Ryan are great pros, but they’re hardly household names in the same way as Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Mark Bresciano, Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill and co. A successful and recognisable national team goes a long way to creating interest in the local product.
The FFA Cup has been reduced to a damp squib of the game-changing concept it was hoped to be when introduced. No NPL team has made the final, let alone won it. This year, only one NPL made the semis, and they were beaten 5-1. Winners do not gain an Asian spot, and the final itself is just another game between two A-League teams who will play each other for more meaningful league points three or four times in the year ahead.
Fan fatigue is another problem. How often can we expect fans to keep turning up to watch the same small number of teams battle it out? The AFL have 18 teams, the NRL have 16, yet football proudly boasts of its credentials as Australia’s national code with a confirmed 12-team league expected in 2020/21.
So, what are the solutions?
Optimists will look at the introduction of further expansion through yet another set of teams in Victoria (Western United) and New South Wales (Macarthur) as providing a boost to flagging interest. Pessimists would be forgiven for reporting a sense of déjà vu as new franchises are tasked with the job of providing the silver bullet to revitalise the tired competition.
Certainly, Geelong represents a new market, though Canberra and Tasmania must be wondering what more they must do be seemed worthy of a team.
We need to fix the Y-League to demonstrate a more obvious pathway between NPL and A-League teams. The last season saw A-League youth teams play four other sides twice for a total of eight games, with a couple extra if they made the finals. That is laughable, and can’t be allowed to continue.
There has not been a genuine marquee since Alessandro Del Piero. A genuine superstar would help – think an aged Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Gianluigi Buffon.
With all due respect to a great servant of the game, would the return of an aged Mile Jedinak – playing so deep he’s stood next to the goalie to protect his diminished legs – really put bums on seats, or is he just robbing a developing local youngster of a spot?
(Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
Can we increase the number of foreign players into the league to reduce the less-than-inspiring recycling of some mediocre Aussie players joining club number four or five?
Should we increase the salary cap to allow an improved level of import?
Scrapping the cap seems to be a popular theory on how to improve the game, but with so many clubs struggling financially inside the current model with dwindling commercial returns, the logic behind this seems flawed to me.
With clubs like the Mariners, Adelaide, Roar and Phoenix running on the smell of an oily rag, it is unclear where this extra money would come from. Rather, the concept seems more likely to feed the already stifling domination of Melbourne and Sydney, two of the few clubs able to potentially actually ramp up their spend.
The much-mooted two-tier promotion/relegation system is similarly flawed. Although it would create more drama and interest, the teams are simply not robust enough to survive relegation and its associated lack of income. The result would be a boom and bust economy – a nightmare scenario that could see the league quickly implode.
The answer could come from an unlikely source. Fox Sports have been the golden goose of the A-League since its inception. The most recent six-year, $346-million deal looks difficult to comprehend in hindsight, given the struggling TV viewership.
Their willingness to increasingly relax their grip on the rights and allow more free-to-air content via a new deal struck with ABC will hopefully see the game reach a new viewership who were simply never going to stump up for pay-per-view content. While match-day crowds are important, it’s TV eyeballs that really bring in the dollars, as the NRL model clearly demonstrates.
But the game never fails to shoot itself in the foot in this country. Whether it be lacklustre, low-brow foreign appointments to the national team position, failed expansion teams, board room bickering, or active fan group quashing, there is always some off-field drama which seems to dog the headlines.
In an ironic twist this week, the A-League owners used their new independence – free from the constraints of FFA HQ – to demonstrate their inability to handle their newfound power in a collective, constructive way. Their failure to agree a radio marketing strategy between themselves just as the new season is due to start was perhaps as predictable as it was troubling.
Rather than blame the AFL and NRL influence on media coverage – which some observers will have you believe is responsible for the relatively low profile of the sport at professional level in Australia – perhaps a bit of navel-gazing and self-realisation would yield better results.
The answers could be closer to home than we think, if we are prepared to look in the mirror for answers, rather than glare accusingly out of the window.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
and yet the darkness prevails :unhappy:
Redondo
Roar Rookie
I think references to a certain unsavoury crowd which festers in the darker corners of the internet might have tripped a switch.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Why were my posts deleted? What a joke,
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Agree, I doubt we will see Majewski this season, from the rumours, but Meier I am very keen to see, and so happy to be back in Parramatta. Victory are a big unknown, such an important season for them, this transition will set the club on a new path I think. Melbourne City has to do something this year. Brisbane? Not sure, I think middle of the pack, (which is good) give Robbie a year and then he can make a run.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Very true Post_hoc - same here. On the plus side, this season looks very promising on several fronts, with some good recruitment across a number of clubs. I had a look through the 'ins' lists and checked them all out - some good ones in there. I reckon Victory will be good to watch and tough to beat. Perth, Melb City and Sydney should do well too (until ACL time at least). Meier and WSW might turn out good - even better when/if Majewski comes back (doubtful?). Hopefully Brisbane will do something to get their crowds back, although their recruitment is not too thrilling.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Allies, Churchill's famous words of fighting them on the beaches is in clear reference to A League both playing in the Summer and the fact that we also have beach football as a thing . :stoked:
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
Perhaps Johan and Bilbo are one in the same, Mr AFL has form on that trick. And yes I am back, I've stayed away because of the crap like Bilbo and Johan, it just gets frustrating characters like that need to denigrate another sport to get their jollies.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Johan is clearly Mr Football, Nemesis.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
"It will take generations to shift people around to football, there’s no quick way to do it." These comments were made back in the years shortly after the 2nd WW, with 10000's of eastern Europeans came to Australia. Then in the 1960's when we had the influx of 10 pound poms arrive. On both occasions football/soccer never took off. Will it ever? Doubt it. A sport that is to be played in the AFL/NRL off season untill it goes under financially and then someone with a truck load of money ( probably from China) will come up with starting up another soccer/football comp.
Garry Jr
Guest
Given the author wrote "football is still struggling to capture the hearts and minds of the public at the domestic professional level", it's pretty obvious he meant the A-League.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Whilst the title references D-Day the article leaves me a little perplexed as to whether the football community are the Axis or Allies.
chris
Guest
Ritchie it never ceases to amaze me the comment "sokkah has never really captured the hearts and minds" blah blah blah. Do you mean the A-League or football ? Does "engaging", mean watching channel 9 or 7 ? If you total up the number of people involved with football (including watching overseas leagues) in some capacity, it dwarfs the other sports. And you dismiss the "most popular game at grassroots level" like that is not engaging. Its more engaging to sit and watch channel 9 and 7 yes? Apart from all that, really good article.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
D Day was 6th June 1944 and always will be engraved in our history as the beginning of the end of the tyranny of the nazis and their allies. There will be no repeat in sport at any level and certainly not in the A League. There will always be issues and challenges to face up to and work out how things can be improved etc. I enjoyed much of the NRL season but after the completion of what was at the very least a competitive final, I keep hearing negatives on refereeing, the fact that the game wasn’t sold out and the fact that the television viewing figures were less than the last few years and therefore the NRL chiefs should be doing some soul searching. Back on A League, we are at the dawn of a season. We have a very new regime in place. We hear that Greg O’Rourke and his team have been working with clubs and police etc to try and return stadium atmospheres to how we enjoyed them a few seasons back. We hear there will be less riot police and the clubs will be encouraging more active support. We are hearing that there is a request to allow more subs - for under 23 players. We have a new entry into the league, we have new coaches, swathes of new players, my team is finally back in its heartland and will be playing at a very schmik stadium. WSW even have their own advert going out on pay tv....when did that last happen? Certainly signs of trying to woo the fans back. We have an Anglo centric group in Queensland that will make headlines on a few different levels and give us something to argue about; we have Perth Glory finally woken from their post NSL slumber and they have motivation to try and go one game better than last season. We have Sydney FC trying to maintain their “top dog” status whilst still being nomads and without a contractor to re-build a stadium at Moore Park. Melbourne Victory have a new coach - they lost their pantomime villain on the field in Berisha and this year it is the villain on the sidelines that has moved on. Who will take his place? Who can snarl and grimace, yell and abuse the 4th official the way that Mr Muscat used to? How will the new kids on the block go? Can Mr Stajcic lead CCM out of the doldrums? How will Mr Merrick fare this season at the Jets with their apparent financial woes? Will Melbourne City entertain us this season irrespective of whether we support them or not? Are Adelaide really missing any kind of decent strike force or is it all just a beat up? Could Mr Verbeek make the team play in the same style as his namesake did when he occupied a rather important spot on these shores a few short seasons ago? Can the Phoenix under Mr Talay improve upon their play off position from last season? Does having ABC coverage mean we might get a change in commentary and style and perhaps a different kind of analysis? For me, there are plenty of good things to chew over and feel excited about starting Friday night at Coopers stadium. With apologies to any purist that is offended by the term but whenever I’m asked my favourite day of the week I say “Soccerday” - cos it works! COYW!
Evan Askew
Guest
Like I said, there are some things that need to be improved about the FFA cup. The rigged draw is one thing that will have to disappear eventually. I understand why they have it. It creates interest in a npl club which would otherwise not receive the exposure. I also dont like moving cup ties to neutral stadiums like they did for the wanderers v syd Croatia game. Edensor park is goid enough for an A league game, letalone a ffa cup game so there was no need to move it. There are other examples as well.
Onside
Guest
If for the sake of discussion every pessimistic observation in this article was an accurate assessment of the state of the A-League , all things considered one could easily conclude, that the A-League have done remarkably well in just fifteen seasons. That it has survived these fundamental teething issues, shows a resilience that will see it through the next decade of whatever good news and stuff ups football clubs and supporters can collectively muster. An immutable in most start up businesses is everything takes twice as long, costs twice as much and the returns are half. The A-League are therefore on track. Strap yourself in for an exciting but not necessarily predictable next ten years.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Solidarity Brother :thumbup:
Punter
Roar Rookie
Johan, it's you who we will ignore. If you don't like the A-league that's fine, just go away.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Mark Milligan is a Socceroo isn't he? He was part of the Golden Generation at the 2006 Works Cup was he not? I remember Mark being in the plane to Germany!!
Bruz
Roar Rookie
Very harsh verdict on the FFA cup in that regard- I personally think it’s a great concept. The A-League seriously lacks marketing values and development which is something you didn’t mention. As for marquees Honda was a fantastic import.
Nick Symonds
Guest
"The KPIs will be the increase in broadcast and variants of broadcast - streaming and broadcast on FTA and Fox and My Football Live – and we'll accumulate all those, and attendances. "But most importantly I think will be to turn the sentiment around. "It's been really difficult to get traction, to have people talk positively about our game. If we can get to the situation where people are talking positively then that will be mission accomplished." - Greg O'Rourke > https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/extra-a-league-visa-spot-plans-shelved-532010/page0