This past weekend, the J-League celebrated its 28th anniversary. The Japanese top division has gone on to become one the best leagues in Asia.
But before the J-League, there was the Japan Soccer League, which was then considered an amateur league in Japan. The teams in the old JSL were owned by top Japanese corporations and lot of the players worked and played for those corporations.
Japanese soccer’s issues in the ’80s and early ’90s were somewhat similar to the issues that Australian football has had previously. In 1992, Japan hosted the Asian Cup and went on to win it, but a couple of years later, they narrowly missed out on going to the ’94 World Cup after losing to Iraq.
The Japanese national football team has suffered due to the status of the league being amateur and having players both working full-time and playing soccer as a hobby.
The Socceroos have suffered similar issues, despite the NSL being borderline professional in the late ’90s, going into the early 2000s, however, the NSL was a level or two above the Japan Soccer League.
After the 1992 Asian Cup, the JFA had to raise their domestic league to professional status.
The J-League was created, birthing nine new professional teams. Shimizu S-Pulse were brought up from JSL; the JSL became a second-tier league and was rebranded to Japanese Football League for six years.
There is still some belief within the Australian football community that the NSL should have lived on as a second-tier competition after the creation of the A-League, with promotion-relegation and having the original NSL clubs participate in the league to fight for promotion to the A-League.
While this has merit, a second-tier competition was never considered and the newly-formed FFA had no intention for new football fans to remember old soccer.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
The new Japanese league brought attracted International names like Zico and Gary Lineker, similar to the A-League bringing in marquees like Dwight Yorke in the first season.
Sixty-thousand people attended the first game between Verdy Kawasaki (now known as Tokyo Verdy) and Yokohama Marinos at the old Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
The first season was considered a success but this period was the beginning of Japan’s ‘lost decade’ after the 1980s bubble era burst.
Japan’s economy collapsed and this impacted the J-League massively in the ’90s, with declining crowds and lost money.
Some teams were about to go broke. Despite winning the Emperor’s Cup in 1999, Yokohama Flugels had to merge with Yokohama Marinos to now be known as Yokohama F. Marinos.
After this merger in 1999, the JFA had to quickly come up with plans to ensure the league did no go belly up and ensure the long-term future plan for Japanese football.
The first plan they announced was the 100-year vision which was the plan to have 100 professional soccer clubs in Japan by the year 2092.
The second was restructuring of the Japanese football pyramid. This has led to the JFA acquiring nine clubs and one J-League club to create a two-division system and scrapping the two-stage season and playing one championship.
The J-League was then rebranded as J-League Division 1 and the Japanese Football League then became J2-League.
This move has proven to be a huge success for both divisions as crowds came back and this then led to the creation of the J3-League division which was launched in 2013.
Japan are on target to achieve their 100 professional soccer clubs, with currently 60 professional soccer clubs playing in Japan.
This growth has led Japan to become one of the powerhouses of Asian football, which helped them qualify for the World Cup six straight times, including hosting the 2002 World Cup and on the back of that, this has made the J-League one of the best leagues in Asia.
But this success is not exclusive to Japan only – this has also helped other Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Lebanon and North Korea to prosper and this has allowed these players to become cult heroes among the supporters at their clubs and their respective countries.
The J-League has led many players from Japan to create their paths to Europe and now, there are more Japanese players playing top level football across Europe than ever before.
Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa. (Kyodo via AP Images)
Australian football has had similar situations that Japan had with their domestic league.
The FFA sought ideas from the J-League and created the A-League with ten new teams. The A-League has had the same level of success the J-League had in its early days, but unlike the J-League, the A-League has suffered from poor management up top from previous governing body, the FFA.
For 32 years, Australia has suffered heartbreak from failing to qualify for various World Cups due to a variety of factors.
With the successful 2006 World Cup qualification campaign after beating Uruguay in 2005, this has laid the platform for Australian football and the A-League to grow, which helped Australia qualify for the World Cup a further three times.
However, Australian football peaked in 2014-2015 after Western Sydney Wanderers won the Asian Champions League and the Socceroos won the Asian Cup a couple of months later.
This should have been presented a massive chance for Australian football to grow even further, to become bigger than what it should have been, but a lack of foresight, growth and long-term planning for the future meant both the A-League and Australian football stagnated and declined straight after due to the poor decisions that were made by the FFA.
The threat of normalisation didn’t stop FFA management to do as they pleased and they carried on with their business.
The FFA in the early days had the right idea to emulate what success Japanese football did with the J-League but poor decisions have hurt Australian football in the long term.
Right now, Australian football has a very long way to go to be where it should have been.
The ongoing pandemic has hurt Australian football and other leagues, but the A-League has somehow managed to survive.
Under the newly-formed APL, we can hopefully see the A-League prosper into the future and be at the levels of where the J-League is at.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Nail head in part of your article... When the J-L started to falter they looked to why and made changes to the J-L... When the A-L started to falter, those in charge refused to accept they had it wrong....
Will
Guest
Great article I always look to Japan for reference given not only they one of our neighbours but also a country that built a football culture and infrastructure from the bottom up. The 1998 World Cup they had no European based players fast forward to last year they able to field an European based squad where half of the squad were in top 5 level leagues. They also seem to plan for the future, contrast to here where little to no planning is ever involved if its developing the professional club game to pritorising in future player development where the national team and national league is the benefactor. Of course you need money which they have but also you need to organised and working on the same page and from the later thats something we can learn from and aim for a long term goal where everyone can aim for.
The Rev. Pat Brodnik 2.0
Guest
Re. Steve Waugh's early involvement in football, your facts are a bit wonky - he was already on the books at Sydney United in the early-'80s NSL; indeed he was teammates w/Robbie Slater in their youth team@ the time. He gave up on the game due to him being selected in cricket for NSW and eventually Australia, so naturally he had to choose one or the other. That being said, he also admitted to feeling like an outsider@ Syd Utd due to being virtually the only 'Skip' in their youth-setup; for context Robbie Slater was the son of £10 Poms, so that gave him a ⚽-cultural cred that Steve lacked.
Bendtner52
Roar Pro
So using your logic China has the scope to have 11x the professional clubs that Japan has I don’t think the equation is as simple as population being a factor
Bendtner52
Roar Pro
Very nice read It gives Australia some hope
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
@Pacman, i agree 100%. Not enough financial information has been made available to those not involved at club level, rightly so, after all it is none of our business. I did base my simple logic on theory and a hypothetical scenario. Reality is a lot harsher and while some clubs ambitions should be applauded, I still believe they have confused that ambition with their actual capabilities. I am certain that some fans of these NPL clubs have no concept of what will be required just to prepare a club to play in a NSD, how volunteer staff now, may need to become full time employees, etc etc Everything sounds fun in theory.
Simmo
Roar Rookie
the latter batch of reasons are ultimately caused by the lack of the former. Sort out the planning and you create the conditions for the rest to fall into place
Punter
Roar Rookie
Yes I agree on both counts, great article & if we can replicate Japan, would be happy.
pacman
Roar Rookie
Rodger, I suspect the difficulties associated with establishing a semi-pro NSD are overlooked. Even if a two conference NSD is established, to be successful it will require an extraordinary number of employers to be unbelievably supportive, and unbelievably flexible, in accommodating the necessary demands NSD clubs will place on their players. I appreciate your positive thinking, but a considerable degree of pragmatism is also required. And don't get me started on posters who calculate NSD clubs expenses solely on wages, travel and accommodation. There is a myriad of additional expenses entailed, as anyone who has perused even a small business profit and loss statement can attest.
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
Why only 15 mate? All the noise we keep hearing about the NSD, won't they be semi-professional to start with and then as it grows they become fully professional, both on and off the park. So in theory, we could well have 12 or 14 A League clubs [fully professional] plus another 12 or 14 NSD clubs, who within another 10 years could also be professional. So hypothetically we could have 28 fully professional clubs by 2032/33
Remote
Guest
jupiter53 As a Sydney fan you would know that Sydney FC drew their highest average crowds during the two seasons that ADP was there. A season or 2 before that you had an average of 8000 odd. Other clubs also benefited at the gate during his stay. There was no Ninkovic type of player playing for Sydney at that time. The thinking was that to pull in the Optus mob , consistently have the lure, an ADP with a flash of colour and once they also saw the quality of a Ninkovic type of team player, they’d come back. Unfortunately finding the cash for the expensive lure was never addressed by the A-League and along came Ninkovic,Bono,Le Fondre vanishing from the mind of those football fans who continued to increase Optus’s coffers. Frustrating I know, but nevertheless the reality of the way football is consumed in Australia. If the A-League had created a consistent supply of marquees plus team players since ADP, Heskey and Ono plus adding more Ninkovic’s, it would be in a different position IMO despite the other valid reasons mentioned by other posters.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
When Australia's A-League is ranked behind the Philippians questions have to be asked.
jupiter53
Roar Pro
I get that a marquee can pull in the uncommitted. The problem is, what can A League clubs afford? It has to be a big name to attract the casual fan [Del Piero for example], but we can only afford the big names when they are substantially past it [again Del Piero]. As a Sydney fan, Ninkovic's extraordinary skill, work rate, and consistent contribution to the team far outweigh the moments of magic from a slow and tired Del Piero. But Ninkovic has no casual fan recognition and minimal marquee value.
Sam
Guest
“ but a lack of foresight, growth and long-term planning for the future meant both the A-League and Australian football stagnated” ……. A bit simplistic to suggest this to be the main reason for the lack of growth of A League. Lack of marquee players, local players going overseas, lack of exposure in all areas of media ….. these are the real reasons.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Ad-o good points, although if we can't manage a meagre 15 professional clubs in the first 28 years of the A-League, we may as well pack it up.
Remote
Guest
I believe a second division is coming and can exist in juxtaposition to the A-league. It can be operated at the level of the former NSL, which existed for 28 years. However before P/R is contemplated between the 2 divisions a sustainable 14 team competition should be solid with strong financial backing, be that from owners, sponsors , a private investor or TV or streaming company. Only the APL knows whether that is on the cards. Let’s assume that is on the cards then what is the ideal scenario for a 14 team A-League in order for the lost momentum to be recovered. One is a TV or streaming partner (preferably a combination of both) that doesn’t dictate when matches should and shouldn’t be played, allowing for a proper 26 round home and away season. Two (as unpalatable as it is for many football fans in Australia to accept) marquee players are a must. For the A-league to have credibility it needs to gather in some of the football fans who are prepared to subscribe to Optus Sport to watch the EPL & ECL, 868,000 at the last count. That has been the nature of following football in Australia for ever, by football fans. Bring a bit of that quality overseas football from over there to here by way of marquees and you have their attention. Double the attention if the A-League is on Optus, though from reports recently they show no interest, shame. This article talks about learning from Japan , we could also add the USA which went through similar rises and falls, but as others have already pointed out both larger population wise markets that have found their own solutions . It should be pointed out though one embraced P/R, one so far hasn’t. Which indicates that each new football market is different, Australia included. I agree some of the above posters that this country can only sustain so many fully professional football clubs, but also agree with others that it takes time and proper planning and with that 14 IMO is feasible. The secret is for investors to want to be as they say in the USA “In the game” whether the APL can create such an environment a big question. Back to the second division, I see little point unless there’s P/R , otherwise its NSL Groundhog Day. If we accept that the amount of sustainable professional football clubs in Australia is limited to 14, 16 maximum( if investors want to be in the game), you can’t have traditional P/R where all clubs below the first tier are professional. Even in that system some are more professional than others( that’s why a you need to scrap the salary cap) , so where’s the incentive to improve , and move up? Well a simple play off home and away between top and bottom is enough IMO, bit pointless having a Second division without P/R whatever system is settled on.
Simmo
Roar Rookie
Good article mate. It's a reminder that having a strategy and investing behind it yields results and continuous improvement. In Australia we prefer to bumble along and hope for the best.
Winter A League is Awesome
Guest
Great article. Lets hope A League tries to exceed all the benchmarks around Asia.
At work
Roar Rookie
You’re right, however there’s no reason we can’t aim for more fully professional clubs. It’ll just take time and proper planning.
At work
Roar Rookie
Great article, if we can slowly replicate what they’re doing in Japan I think many football followers will be quite happy.