Jets will survive in new era for A-League

I am a long time Jets fan, my family and I are cautiously optimistic for the future of our club. Yes, we are happy and grateful that the Club has been rescued from certain oblivion, however we remain wary of change and the instability that follows. Newcastle Jets fans deserve owners with capital and long term commitment to the Club and the region. It has been a long bumpy ride for us fans, only to be sent back to the beginning to start all over again. We are extremely frustrated Jets supporters!!!!!

Above: "Under the new unbundling agreement, FA will still be responsible for items such as expansion, contraction, promotion and relegation" - The World Game: "If, for example, Football Australia feel that a second division (with promotion and relegation) would benefit the game nationally, they would have every right to tell the league, 'look, we'd like to have another division with one team going up and one going down. Let's talk about it and try to find an agreement'." "Most importantly, if agreement is not reached, Football Australia would have the legal authority to decide whether to do it or not do it." https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/what-independence-really-means-for-the-a-league

This concept was mentioned in the Crawford report back in 2003, that the professional league be separate to the governing body, and is the model used in most of the world's professional football leagues. Interestingly, looking at other professional sports in Australia, the norm is the reverse. The track record of clubs being tasked with looking after the elite leagues is not a pretty one. Why? No surprise that the key issue has always been that clubs look after their own interests first and foremost. That might be good for them, but it's not necessarily the best thing for the game as a whole. Especially when the context is one of club owners having lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 16 years. That's a lot of money. It's true that there is an incentive to invest more and look for new revenue sources, and that might happen. It's equally true that club owners will be looking to take more money out of the industry, and that other stakeholders along the way will lose out.

Understand the sentiments, but probably too early for anyone to make any promises. At least half the season will be affected by COVID, the broadcast deal ends late June (which might mean there is no broadcaster in place should the season need to be extended), and a host of major sponsors have been lost the last couple of years. Will things improve now? I doubt anyone really knows the answer, we just have to see how things pan out.

Bear in mind that football Australia still have the decision making in relation to expansion and that seems bizarre to me. Is their track record good? The obvious answer is “time will tell” but to me they have taken what appears to be an easy and obvious route that has danger signs all over it and imo dilutes the market rather than expands it, or at best adds about 25%-30% of the estimates as to additional people being involved in the game.

If this really is a new era I would like to see it explicitly backed up by clear and detailed goals and objectives. Attendance/membership/marketing etc etc.. what is the target for each club and the league as a whole? In 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? What is the league aiming for and what is the path to achieving this? In the future it would be great if we could compare how the league performed relative to its targets. Frustrating instances in the past where new clubs are proposed in ’population’ growth areas, with little detail for converting new residents into fans. This hasn’t worked so far for existing clubs. I hope there is some detailed review of this. Places like west sydney, central coast, brisbane etc have had high population growth yet crowds are going backwards- this needs to be turned around.

Lionheart - maybe “same old same old” wasn’t the best phrasing but all I meant by it was that there was supposed to be a big announcement - something ground breaking or inspiring/exciting, whatever adjectives you like to get you interested. However, if you’ve ever had a backyard firework display on a damp and cold evening then you’ll understand my analogy of the announcement. It was a missed opportunity and that is why it felt like “same old” as we have seen so many down the years that just hissed and fizzed and went out. The change has been in the making for a long time and therefore surely it follows that there have been meetings and brainstorming and the place has been full of ideas? So why not offer a taste of what’s to come? Why not throw some “ tidbits” out to arouse some interest and get people writing and reporting some positive stuff on the game? I hope it goes forward in leaps and bounds .... I just want to see some substance..... too many years of hollow or undelivered promises, of new beginnings, changes for the better etc for me to just read the announcement, nod and be convinced.

I can't see how this can be described as 'same old same old'. This is a concrete step, a major change that has been put into effect already. The FFA have been target No. 1 regards the A League perceived failings for some years, by fan commenters on here, by more knowledgeable journos and by the clubs themselves. Get out of the road has been the major call, and now they have. 'Same old same old' will only imply if the clubs bumble their way along and avoid taking action to improve the professional game. I can't see that happening - it's their investment, they'll want to do everything they possibly can to improve their bottom line. Personally, I would be very surprised if they bumble along, tolerate bumblers and just let the game drift. I don't get the inevitable criticism that is thrown about no matter what the men in suits do. I have no doubt there will be reasons for criticism in the future, as the APL make decisions in their commercial interests, over the good of football but the FA appointee to the board is obviously there just to guard for that reason. Constructive criticism is always warranted, in any organisation. But criticism has become a default position for football fans. I see this unbundling as a positive start to 2021 and wish the APL well. It will be slow, no doubt, but we are moving in the right direction under James Johnson.

The clubs have talked & talked! Now its time to walk the walk! Well said Buddy, Paul Lederer needs to sell this to us; the football public. What exactly will this mean? More marketing? Sponsors? Getting rid of the cap? A new broadcast deal? This I suspect is the first pass mark which we all will be looking at. Anyhow, happy 2021 to all on these boards!!!!

We keep hearing lots of noise about this new era in Aus football and a certain amount of platitudes too but announcements lack any kind of detail or explanation and although there was an attempt at spruiking and talking up a major announcement yesterday it came over as “same old same old”. I’d love to hear a Q & A with Paul Lederer on the subject so that he has the opportunity to sell the idea to the population as a whole. It seems slightly ironic that he is at the helm as WSW is seen to have gone backwards under his stewardship. The club has excellent facilities etc but a poorly performing team, membership is going backwards, crowds are down and relationship between club and fans has taken a nosedive (ignore pandemic here). It appears to the casual observer that the only thing that matters is the corporate dollar – and it probably does, but it doesn’t make a football club and it doesn’t put bums on seats and it doesn’t produce results – it is just business – is that the future we are string at now?