Surprise, surprise – Australian football is again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and once again has nobody to blame but itself.
The fact that the latest A-League season was finished through very tough circumstances and the COVID-19 pandemic was great to see. Players had to sacrifice plenty, most of them relocating from their homes and families and living in hubs to allow the campaign to finish with integrity. It was very brave and encouraging.
Attention quickly moved onto next season, and many have questioned why the FFA still had not announced a start date and more details about 2020-21. We know it’s definitely happening as it is still being financed, albeit at a heavily reduced rate, by Fox Sports.
But now we all know what the hold-up is: the game is once again eating itself up over money.
How you see the situation depends on your point of view.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
On one side you have the clubs and their owners who aren’t exactly filling their supporters or players with confidence given the latest action of one of the teams in the middle of this collective bargaining agreement negotiation with Professional Footballers Australia has been to threaten to stand down players.
On the other side, we have the PFA once again making large demands many say the game can’t afford, particularly not after the 2020 we’ve had, and that could destabilise the clubs and the league as a consequence.
In the current football landscape in Australia, running back to the last 15 or 20 years, the players share of the pie is far too large for where the game is at financially. Let’s not forget also that our Socceroos were one of the better paid national teams at the last two World Cup tournaments. All of this in a country where the game and the vast majority of its clubs have little infrastructure, training facilities, stadiums et cetera.
We are light-years behind most other countries in the world in that regard, including many so called ‘non-footballing’ countries.
Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, the one thing that cannot be denied is that the current situation is a debacle. How many more times does this sport need to be dragged through the mud – and from the inside, mind you! – for all the parties to come together and become aligned for the common goal of actually growing the game? Surely they realise they all stand to gain massively if that common goal is reached one day.
The FFA have rightly taken a back seat so far given the clubs now control their own destiny, but CEO James Johnson has now been given no choice but to step in, hopefully sooner rather than later to rescue the code from potential oblivion for the good of the game.
The behaviour of the owners is now of huge concern to me, a football person through and through, I’m a football diehard, a former NSL club member, an NPL fan and a foundation A-League member – in other words, I’m exactly the type of supporter the new A-League, whatever it may look like, doesn’t and won’t want to lose. And there are many like me who are not currently liking what they’re seeing or hearing.
The salary cap needs to be scrapped immediately so that clubs can pay players what they can actually afford and what they deem each player to be worth. COVID or no COVID, each club will end up finding its own path. Some clubs will have the finances to battle for the ACL, some will battle for the two two, some will battle to make the finals every year and others won’t, but every club will find its own base and build from there.
Still on the football economy, Australian football needs to open up to loans and transfers immediately, as is the practice all over the world, so that clubs can start to really invest in their youth systems and tie up their best young talent to long-term contracts. It will mean smaller and junior clubs can start being properly compensated for nurturing the best young talent.
This will add a significant revenue stream for all clubs, particularly the mid-size and smaller clubs in the A-League, plus all clubs in a second division, the NPL, state leagues et cetera, which can now start to make some significant dollars with player sales both domestically and overseas. This opens up a whole new world.
What do you think, Raorers? How do you think the owners are handling the current situation? Do you still have faith that the competition is in good hands? Can the owners now steer the A-League in the right direction?
Should we have a salary cap? If so, for how much longer?
Kevin
Roar Rookie
Coming from a glory supporter, how will scrapping the salary cap do the league any better? I understand it might benefit a few clubs, like Victory, Melb City, Sydney and Western Sydney. Yes, they would be able to attract more talent, and in turn, those clubs would receive more interest. But what about for the rest of the clubs? There is no way teams like Glory can even be competitive with the richer clubs. While the clubs above mentioned could spend anything between $6 to $10 million on their playing squad, Glory would struggle to assemble a squad worth $3 million. Sage simply can’t afford those kind of players. This would make us uncompetitive and an undesirable destination for players to move to. Furthermore, our fans would lose interest and stop attending games, because lets face it, no one wants to go to a game knowing that their team would lose. Then Perth would be eventually relegated, and there would be no professional football in WA. This isnt a very good result for the game. The only reason Perth got players like Castro, Fornaroli, Kilkenny, Davidson, etc was that richer clubs simply couldn’t get them or else they would be breaching the salary cap, (or in the case of City, Warren Joyce caused a load of toxicity). Every club, CCM aside, had a fair share of star players, but I fear that all the stars would move to the big four clubs if the salary cap is ever abolished. And football would become very Victorian and NSW centric.
pete4
Guest
Your probably right you would think A-League funds would have been mixed in with Admin/Socceroos/Matildas expenses over the years. But I think the FFA would have to be a major backer of the NSD otherwise it won't be NPL clubs rather a private investor model that will be the only option if it ever gets up
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
There are not enough fans. 8,000/10,000 per match against 50,000 does not bring in enough money. Membership numbers would be the same. Very low
Waz
Roar Rookie
You miss a fundamental point - one of the biggest expenses for the A League was the administration costs of the FFA running the competition. The FFA is not the answer nor is it needed when it comes to administering competitions like this.
Waz
Roar Rookie
All good points but it read like you’re blaming the owners for changes they will struggle to make. The Cap for one, the PFA will not let that go lightly. Transfer fees - the FFA have them ruled out at the moment and bringing them in is desirable but outside the owners control. There’s much to be changed but change isn’t happening quickly that’s for sure.
pete4
Guest
Yes the figures start to balloon out. Scrap the cap for the NSD :silly:
asanchez
Roar Guru
pete4 2nd Div clubs will obviously need to pay players, but they also need to keep costs down to survive. They’d need 18-20 players per team, topped up with their own youth players if necessary due to injuries/suspensions etc. So even at $60k-$70k each for 20 players, that’s a wage bill of $1.2m-$1.4m plus the coaching staff. I know some of the better supported clubs in the NPL currently have budgets of $500k-$600k, and while there is some difference there, I think that shortfall can potentially be made up by extra sponsors and members.
pete4
Guest
Another issue is the AAFC and the PFA are apparently some distance apart when it comes to NSD player wages so make take some time to sort through it all
asanchez
Roar Guru
Waz, Not blaming the owners for the salary cap at all. The cap has been a necessary evil in the A-league up till now, but especially in the last 3-4 years we’ve seen how irrelevant its actually become. When you have teams like CCM spending the cap floor, and others like MV & SFC spending $6m-$7m in yearly wages, you can quickly see that the system is not only now broke, it’s actually become irrelevant, and (9.5 times out of 10) who the top teams are going to be! What the players need is a minimum wage guarantee, like in any other industry, in any other country in the world (I’d say $70k-$75k per player minimum salary) and then go from there. Players should get paid; 1. what they’re worth in our market, and 2. what the clubs can afford to pay. Putting a salary cap is unnecessary and unproductive! That’s my view on it. Also, a very important point to remember, which I didn’t even mention in the article, is that these current squables over the CBA is actually only for 1 season. Who knows what happens after next July, do we have another broadcaster lined up? how much are they willing to pay? what will that mean for players’ salaries, etc? Its the world of the unknown…
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Listening to the Galatas interview, he didn't seem overly confident that 2022 was a goer.
asanchez
Roar Guru
I think it both things can happen alongside each other. Victoria is also getting a Home of Football, and already has a $15m funding pledge from the state government, as does WA with Football West getting a significant grant for their base a month or so ago. A 2nd Division doesn't need a huge amount in my opinion, its all about planning. FFA with the AAFC can help to plan the comp, and eventually run it at Head Office level, the clubs already exist, they just need to find the money for travel/accommodation etc. That's the biggest thing currently holding it back IMO. And the fact that the FFA is currently tied up by the A-league and the current CBA issues. Once the AL is fully independent, which is apparently only months away now, they can then turn their attentions and their focus to the 2nd Division. I think it can still start in 2021, but most likely in 2022.
pete4
Guest
The earliest date I can see for the NSD is 2024. The FFA's priority is a successful Women's World Cup assuming some of the windfall is leftover (after the new Home of Football in Sydney funds are allocated) it maybe possible at that point but not before
Waz
Roar Rookie
“ and once again has nobody to blame but itself.” err, don’t you think COVID is to blame? And why are you blaming the club owners for not cancelling the “salary cap” - the PFA worked hard on the salary cap and it’s one of the central pillars of their organisation - any one (owners, FFA) proposing scrapping the cap is likely to get fierce resistance from the PFA .... exactly the sort of headlines the authors doesn’t want??? And why are football fans so precious over negative headlines? Rugby and AFL have to deal with bubble breaches, drug scandals, players beating wives/girlfriends, fans fighting in the stands, and much more .... all of which makes headlines on FTA and print media (unlike the sokkha’s bad news), and yet these codes survive. Maybe football fans just like to find one more reason not to like the code they claim to support?
asanchez
Roar Guru
Agree, the German model of 51% fan ownership would be great, maybe not for every club, but I definitely see the benefits in it for some of the clubs - Mariners, Jets, Nix etc.
asanchez
Roar Guru
I honestly don't realistically see the full promotion and relegation coming in anytime soon, I'd love to see it, but before COVID it was still a few years away. Now with COVID its probably at least 5 years away, if not 10 years. What I do and want to see, and I think is also realistic, is the 2nd Division getting underway in either 2021 or 2022, then running for 2-3 years, which will give these clubs the time to get to a fully professional setup, plus building their base financially with sponsorships, memberships, stadia improvements etc, then a full pro/rel can then happen. What I'd also like to see is promotion (and not relegation) straight out of the 2nd Division, to get the A-league to 14-16 teams. Once the A-league is then at 14-16 teams, and the 2nd Div clubs have had time to come up a level, then I think a proper promotion and relegation could happen. But all this has to be underpinned financially to be possible. We are hoping that by then, TV/streaming deals and others are in place, so the game is fully ready for this. This is definitely not where we are at at the moment. But if we can get out of the current mess, and with the right people and decisions I think we can get there. And for me Finals stay, as a football person its not ideal, but I think in the Australian landscape they're here to stay, at least in the short term.
pete4
Guest
That's the problem will the standard improve with semi-pro NPL clubs potentially gaining promotion to the A-League According to the AAFC these clubs are ready to go but it's unclear how they can be IMO
Archameddes
Guest
If the NPL club wants to survive in the top league, they either, get serious and get professional or they carry on being semi pro, most likely get towelled up every week and get relegated. So you either improve or you suffer the consequences but it's all done by your performance on the pitch. Grand finals are for closed leagues, you elevate the FFA cup if you want an event match, having a cup run is done on merit, not finishing sixth.
pete4
Guest
With promotion and relegation how would you replace a fully professional club with a semi-pro club from the NPL? The Grand final is also the biggest match of the season so difficult to see it ever being scrapped
Voice of Reason
Roar Rookie
Good article. Transfers freed up and salary cap abolished.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
The new CEO is very much in lock-step with the Chair, that is, as a priority they will look after the interests of current club owners. If you want to work out what the next policy step is likely to be in terms of administering the league, look first to the club owners. That will be the very best gauge you have.