For those of use who remember the old NSL, On The Ball was a program that analysed the game, spoke about the mission and went through the goings on of every facet of our code with a fine-tooth comb perhaps better than any football program since.
Headed by the visionary Johnny Warren and the great Les Murray, with input from Damien Lovelock, Mike Cockerill and Andy Paschalidis, these legends of our game not only dissected the game but demanded answers and held our game’s leaders to account.
I vividly remember Johnny Warren on one occasion dragging a former Soccer Australia official over the hot coals. “What is the strategy”, “what is the vision” and “how does this all fit into the mission”. He was basically brow-beating this official to the embarrassing confession that Soccer Australia really had no plan.
And so we find ourselves today in 2020 with a game imploding in its own inertia. We have some wonderful feel-good stories. Sydney FC are setting the standard, and Mohamed Toure is a potential star. But this is buried under a lack of strategy, direction and competence, which has infected all levels of our game.
We know the story. Declining crowds, ratings, interest, standard of football, a shambolic youth system, sponsors wallking and the FFA’s inexplicable ability to have taken one of the sport’s only feel-good stories, the Matildas, and trash it.
We are stuck in a dangerous no man’s land in terms of strategy and leadership. The club owners will not officially assume the leadership for some time now. They know that should they do so, other sponsors (and perhaps broadcasters!) will use it as a legal avenue to walk.
The FFA, knowing they are on the out, have little desire to try to set a roadmap for the future. All this at a time when Fox has declared it has little interest in non-marquee sports and has signalled its intent to potentially walk away from rugby union.
Our game is now out rated by women’s AFL and rugby league. You would say these sports have more resources. But ultimately Australia’s premium football competition would not find this acceptable.
(Albert Perez/Getty Images)
As with any toxic culture and management, old clichés get thrown out by the game’s leaders.
If you support the game, you will turn up. Well, no. What you are doing is appealing to the fans’ emotional attachment to the game. And when the metrics brigade run the game have built a culture based on making the game a product and treating fans like dollar signs – not to mention choking active support – then you have taken that emotional attachment out of the game. You are pulling a lever that is ineffective.
I heard another old chestnut the other day: “We have the largest participation base of all sports and we can use this to create lifelong fans.” This one has been bandied around for 40 years.
This brings me to the next point. Where is the Australian football media holding the game’s leadership to account?
The FFA and owners want to leverage our junior players and translate this into bums on seats and eyeballs on TV. Where is the media asking the hard questions?
Have you got a strategy to do this? Have you reviewed past attempts to do this? Do you have an understanding of why they fell short? What will you be doing differently? What touch points, pathways and leverages will you be creating to achieve your goals? Or is your statement just a five-second sound bite with no substance?
We have sponsor after sponsor leaving the game. As club owners, you were well aware that when the Lowy family were ousted, sponsors would walk given their relationship with Frank. What what plans were in place to mitigate this? Or was it just a mad scramble for power without any real strategy?
The likes of Robbie Slater and Mark Bosnich are fighting for our game. But their influence seems limited. Craig Foster admirably seems more focused on human rights and the plight of refugees and his influence seems to have declined. This is all at a time when we need the media more than ever.
It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The fans and the media need to hold the game’s leadership to account.
So what can we do? Well, that is an essay in itself. In the short term, the game badly needs a shot in the arm. The short-term bounce would be in the form of a quality marquee or two. No, this is not an ideal scenario but we are in desperate times.
The game’s leaders need to make sure they don’t solely build value around a marquee and need to work feverishly to create value through other avenues – local talent, for example. But a marquee will give us the time we need so the game’s leaders can frantically work to create a long-term strategy to fix the many problems the game has and reconnect with fans. We also need to create value in the A-League and end the old adage “for Australian football to be successful, you need the Socceroos to be successful”.
Robbie Slater is 100 per cent correct. Forget the NSL, we aren’t going back to that, nor do we want to. This is it. The A-League is the premium competition. Without it, we have nothing, or at the very least will go backwards for a long time.
Our game’s owners will do well to heed Johnny Warren’s message about the mission and consider what will football look like in an ever-changing environment where people have more options. The game needs direction. And the game’s leaders need to be held to account.
It’s not their game. We entrust it to them.
Punter
Roar Rookie
"Frankly I’m just trying to enjoy the football on the pitch. The off-field management of the game has been depressing for some time now." This is exactly how I feel & something Ange touched on in this podcast with Adam Peacock. https://www.foxsports.com.au/podcasts/fox-football-podcasts
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Nick You seriously don't think the Football media in Australia don't point out FFA management issues and call for leadership.. Its been non stop... for years... the media almost never stop pointing out the errors and having shots at FFA...
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Let me be blunt. We can gas bag all that we like, and we do, but as supporters the term 'fans holding football's leaders to account' is meaningless and carries no weight unless fans go on strike (don't turn up to games) and/or do something to publicly embarrass the leadership. The best example of fan action were the stadium walk-outs over the way people were being treated by security https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league-fan-walk-out-challenges-ffa And look how that turned out. The FFA stood firm. In the early years the FFA talked up the contribution of active fans to the atmosphere at games. It was promoted as a point of difference between our sport and others. Have we heard the same talk from the FFA in recent years? Frankly I'm just trying to enjoy the football on the pitch. The off-field management of the game has been depressing for some time now.
Micko
Roar Rookie
One dollar to rent a stadium!!!? :shocked:
pacman
Roar Rookie
When Brisbane Roar last played in the ACL, I enquired of the QLD Premier why her government was not taking advantage of the situation and promoting Qld tourism, at least at Suncorp. The response was a mind-boggling "duh?". Come to think of it, why aren't Aussie businesses advertising at any ACL games, regardless of whether or not one of the teams is from here? In the example above, I pointed out the huge TV audiences that dwarfed anything obtainable through domestic sporting events, with the possible exception of the Melbourne Cup. Haven't our state tourism organizations noted the advertising by various airlines? Get on board with Qantas! Geez, I am aware it is easier said than done, but doing nothing? And, I wonder if the A-League teams competing in the ACL have explored the possibilities with their state governments? I suspect I know the answer.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
If there is one thing we have learned from 15 years of A-League, it is to not get excited about the wealth of individual owners. In this case, if Lang Walker is able to sell his share for a small profit, then: a) good on him b) who ever is buying must be interested I think the key thing about Macarthur, confirmed by the rest of your post, is the very close partnership with the local council.
Nick Symonds
Guest
1) The issue is that a lot was made of Lang Walker's wealth to make the club viable and stable. I just hope that the new owners who took over his share can replace that kind of money. If they can and it doesn't hurt the club, no problem. 2) I thought they said they were going to start upgrading the stadium as soon as they got a licence, but I went back to the stories about the Macarthur bid and they didn't say anything about getting started on work immediately. What they actually said was that they would break ground on their training base before they started their first season, which they have. - STADIUM DEAL A big positive, they do have the best stadium deal in the league of just $1 per season for 10 years and will be able to keep all profits made from gate receipts. They hope this will enable them to offer some of the lowest membership and ticket prices for a team in any sports code in Australia. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/dollar-dazzler-a-league-club-flips-gold-coin-for-campbelltown-stadium-20190614-p51xtx.html
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Nick Why is it an issue that an original owner is selling his 50% share in the club? While I agree with you that WU was probably rushed, I can't agree that Macarthur was rushed.
jamesb
Roar Guru
Are you taking about the ACL or AFL in China?
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
They never said anything about developing the stadium before the start of their first campaign. I'm assuming they'll start the redevelopment of Campbelltown Stadium after year 1 of Macarthur, I haven't seen much about it though. Didn't the West Tigers have some say in it as well?
Nick Symonds
Guest
That's what they said, but what are they actually doing? They were given a whole season to prepare but they haven't done anything to upgrade Campbelltown Stadium yet. It's all just concept designs and plans. It was meant to be shovel ready, like Tarneit. Still, better than the start that Western United are dealing with. At least it's rectangular and they can use it from match one even in its current form.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Must add Wollongong and Canberra to the competition in the next 3-4 years, would be great additions to the league.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
– Football in Winter. I've always thought that, maybe April to November. Finals when the weather is at it's best. However if we are gonna play in summer then they have to be smarter.
AxeMaster
Roar Rookie
Firstly, Nick21 says “Craig Foster admirably seems more focused on human rights and the plight of refugees and his influence seems to have declined”…..yep and good on him. Way more important than any sport, period. Secondly to jamesb’s point, to take it a bit further, maybe the A-League as an entity should look at helping to create an Asian Super-League and just get rid of the current format completely. This way we get the best run / most supported clubs Melbourne Victory, Sydney F.C, Western Sydney Wanderers and Wellington Phoenix (or a completely new club to represent N.Z) there at start up and good riddance to the rest. Top class matches every week. Like James says…..huge audience and financial numbers. In fact by the time I’ve typed this much….I love it even more. Another good thing which will probably happen and this is crucial, you could get a lot of the marque Asian players tempted to play for the A-League clubs because 1. It’s an Asian League and 2.They get to play back in Asia a lot, so it can’t be a bad thing. Of course travel would be the biggest obstacle and the whole northern / southern hemisphere weather acclimatization but what do you guys think, could this work? Asian Football Super-League or dreary A-League. Good stuff James.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
I've heard that they can still play in their stadium while upgrading it, similar to what the Geelong Cats AFL team did with their stadium a few years back.
Samuel Power
Roar Rookie
Plenty of things to get excited about surrounding the A-League. Construction on Western United's new Tarneit stadium will start soon (hopefully), but for next season they should commit to either Knights Stadium or Whitten Oval, at least these venues are in Western Melbourne where they are located. Macarthur FC are being introduced into the league next season and so far, even though we are still 7 months away from their first professional league game, things are looking very promising off the field. Around 4,000 foundation members already, a great stadium deal where it is easy to get to and is RECTANGULAR, and local business' on board with the club. Brisbane Roar are pushing for their new 17,000 stadium which will hopefully happen in the next few years, we have great youth coming through with all 3 Toure brothers at Adelaide United, and a great quality of play is being played in most matches, most games have been great to watch. Sure there are your negatives such as low crowds, TV ratings, etc, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Always worth noting that a national second division will help to unearth more young talent and force clubs to improve which will in turn help to make the Socceroos more competitive. The ACL is important, but the WC performance of the national squad is the main objective.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
In my heart I hoped SFC could win their first game in the ACL, but in my head I new that the outcome would be defeat for SFC, but by such a big margin, I thought not. So how did it come to this? I am going to point the finger at the Lowy family and FOX for holding back the HAL for more than a decade to a miserable Pi$$ant 10 team competition. The HAL by this stage in 2020 should have been by now: two divisions of 14 clubs, a home and way competition with promotion/relegation. The HAL is too small with not enough quality players and intensity to produce quality teams who can compete in such a high levelled competition as the ACL. FOX has deliberately stifled the HAL’s growth to fit its agenda––a pigeon hole comp fill in, for their TV scheduling. The Lowys let FOX dictate the size and scheduling of the HAL to suit them not Australian Football. It’s time to expand the HAL to 14 clubs now and set in place a road map for a second division for the future with pro/rel.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Stadium deals are a major problem. It's not unlike tennants having to pay $1,000 a day rents at shopping centers and going out of business. The big shiny shopping center might attract people to come to it, but then the businesses who opperate there can't afford to use it. That then drives them to go online where they don't have the same overheads. As that happens, the landlords lose income that comes from rent and the remaining tennants can't make up for the lost revenue. Then the whole thing becomes to expensive and the shopping center is abandoned. If clubs owned their own stadiums or had much better deals it would be a huge help, both to their own finances and to the stability of the competition. But for that to happen you need owners with long term thinking and stadium designs that are low cost. Dolphin Stadium shows that low cost is possible even in Australia, but it's up to the owners to make it happen.
Nick Symonds
Guest
Macarthur FC