Back in 2019, I was gifted the honour of sitting on the first ever panel discussion at the inaugural Football Writers’ Festival in Jamberoo.
The somewhat sleepy town just a hop, skip and jump from Kiama on the south coast of New South Wales has become something of a spiritual home for football in Australia, with the local establishment even more significant considering the staff serving you a schooner from behind the public bar are directly related to Captain Socceroo, Johnny Warren.
Three generations of Warrens work at the pub that was first constructed in 1857. The clan took control of the hotel in the 1980s and subsequently undertook a project to adorn it with myriad football memorabilia, with the most famous member of their kin as a key focus.
Now, the pub stands as the most wonderful and unique boozer one could ever walk in to.
I will never forget the first time I did.
As a panellist at the 2019 festival, I was blessed to be accommodated in one of the charming, old-school rooms on the second level. The comforting generosity of the room blended perfectly with the creaking staircase, traditional front bar and a vast outdoor beer garden that simply took my breath away.
It was exactly the way most of us wish to experience a pub and a far cry from the polished brass knobs of many modern establishments that most city folk are forced to endure whenever they attempt to catch up socially with friends.
Yet there was something even more special to encounter.
After settling in and descending back to the main bar, a turn to the left steered me into what is the most stunning of rooms, littered with images, clippings and football memorabilia from days gone by and an eerie sense of the space knowing all there is to know about the game in Australia before the modern A-League era began.
The front room of the Jamberoo Pub is nothing short of breathtaking.
Johnny Warren’s face is clearly present, yet associations can also be drawn to football right across the country, with specific clubs, players and moments all featuring. The drink in your hand will most likely have been poured by Johnny’s nephew Jamie, or else one of his kids who also zip around the place on glass duty.
Andy Paschalidis with Les Murray (middle) and Johnny Warren (right). (Image provides by Andy Paschalidis)
I attended that first festival as a passionate yet relatively new member of the football media. With Foxtel’s commitment and long-term investment in the game seemingly about to come to an end, the stark reality that there appeared to be little else of quality for passionate Australian football fans to consume concerned me greatly.
The notion of an event that encouraged and valued intelligent and professional football content being composed appealed to me greatly. Frankly, at the time, such content appeared to be waning.
Despite the first Football Writers’ Festival being a brilliant and successful event, it had little chance of guising the fact that the Australian football journalistic landscape was ever-shrinking and destined to continue to be so.
Content and exposure in mainstream newspapers now appears to be at an all-time low. The shuttering of SBS’s The World Game website in 2021 further exacerbated the issue and with Fox Sports’ dominant voice in the domestic game destined to vanish in a puff of smoke prior to the 2021-22 season, the landscape left behind is somewhat desolate and disturbing.
The brisk exit of the previous broadcaster was a concern of which I have written previously, with the power of the News Corp brand smothering competition and logically leading to the vacuum that currently exists.
In an attempt to fill that space, a broad array of websites and blogs have popped up over the last 18 months, mostly featuring content written by unpaid and enthusiastic authors.
As hard as those platforms might try, the reach required to make a significant difference and see the world game popping up on news feeds other than those of people eagerly seeking football content, appears beyond them.
Despite the sad state of affairs currently existing in Australian football media, many of the nation’s best writers will meet again on March 25-27 at Jamberoo Pub, with the issue of accessibility and reach of content no doubt at the forefront of many people’s minds. They will be joined by football fans from right across the country, those keen to engage in the discussions that arise.
This year, Andy Harper will present the inaugural Michael Cockerill Oration and 1974 Socceroo Adrian Alston and Australian football royalty John Kosmina will no doubt have the attendees in stitches.
The Roar’s Texi Smith, ex-Socceroo Frank Farina and journalist Nick Stoll will also be in attendance, with a host of other guests and speakers adding to the three days of engagement.
It will no doubt be an entertaining and engaging event, yet underlining it all will be the continuing and serious concerns around how football in Australia sees its story, message and analysis presented on platforms that so often appear less than sympathetic to the cause.
It is a problem that has plagued football in Australia since the earliest of days and one that a large gathering of writers would like to see overcome.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Who is the dedicated Brisbane Roar reporter for KeepUp? No one. Who wrote an exclusive column for Brisbane Roar's match day programme today? Me. Why didn't KeepUp ask me to write Brisbane Roar columns for them? You tell me. But I don't think it takes a genius to figure out there's not a huge appetite for writers of any kind to cast a critical eye over the A-Leagues.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Another case in point. Fascinating game last night between WSW and Melb City. Plenty happened, plenty to write about, but here we are mid-morning, and where do I go to read about it? Obviously, there's nothing here on the Roar. I go to KeepUP, surely they'll have something? Well, I couldn't find it. The most recent article on there is about Barca. Now that's interesting, but what about the last night's game??
Simmo
Roar Rookie
I didn't realise it was on until after it had finished
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Case in point. Some might be aware that there is actually a game on right now, between CCM and the Bulls. I'm watching it on Paramount+, good game. The 2nd half has just started. But you would be forgiven for not knowing it was on. No pre-match report here. No pre-match report on KeepUp. Only the handful of Paramount+ subscribers can watch the game live. So it's not necessarily a case of the quality of football writing being in decline. It's a case of football writing being non-existent.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
No doubt about you AA. Always talking about how much you know. Just never saying anything worthwhile. You remind me of the Australian mens team and A league, C grade. Its all b/s talk.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
It's a good point. Personally, I don't like all this fragmentation - I'd rather we had 2 or 3 optimum points of info delivery and that's it.
Nick Symonds
Guest
BREAKING: Tasmania launch bid to co-host 2026 Commonwealth Games with Melbourne - It'll be sure to draw attention to their AFL and A-League bids again. Maybe they can host the beach volleyball at Wineglass Bay.
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Roberto: For many years, I use to read anything I could find on football; Local, Socceroos, English football and the big leagues of Europe on SBS TWG with Les Murray and the rest of the crew. Now these days, my interest has waned, so much so, I only read the football news on this platform, the Roar Football Site, and will only consume my live football on TV 10. I think we have people out there, who are very much still interested in football, but the problem is, football has so many social media and digital outlets---it is impossible to tune into all of them. Football fans, will search for wherever they can find it that will fit into their routine, which suits their needs and convenience the best, ie TV, live streams, radio podcasts, social media, you name it, the choice is mind boggling. There are so many outlets out there, that I have never been to, and most probably never will.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
"...it had little chance of guising the fact that the Australian football journalistic landscape was ever-shrinking and destined to continue to be so. " It can't shrink from where it is now, it's already at rock bottom. I think we are ignoring the real reason. The A-League is currently invisible. It is at its most invisible since inception. You reckon an invisible league is going to generate stories? The strength of the journalism is only as strong as the strength of the actual stories already in the public conscience. Even here on The Roar, barely anything is written about the league. No pre-match reports, no live feeds, no detailed stories about the matches, the players, the heroes, the villains...there's nothing. The truth is, there are not enough people who are interested.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
You bet the investment needs to be long term Mid. The target audience are the kids of today. My nephews (four of them) range from 8 to 14, and they are all brought up on a diet of A-League and their own teams. These are the kids that are the ticket paying, football following faithful of the future. I think that maybe just maybe Para + and 10 see that, and their investment, if patient will pay off. They'll own the market long after all NRL boofheads have disappeared.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Makes sense Andy, that's where the target audience get their info. The fact that blackballing still exists gets my blood boiling. I keep the faith though, because there will come a day when NRL journos have nothing to write about, football will be in the ascendency and football media will be everywhere........Except WA. Lived there for a couple of years and the main rag should be called the Eagles Times, that's all that's in it. I feel for the Glory lads
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Stuart When is it on.. Puts on helmet and a steel helmet ..... Part of the problem with football journalist in Australia and often lead by our most senior journalist is the mind set that the solution is not only simple, its obvious.... only Mike Cockerial IMO had an eye for how complex Australian Football issues are... In very simplistic terms in any population only a certain percentage engage in following sports and even these have different levels of engagement. Next is by around 30 most people have already chosen their main code and in Australia that has also happened.... getting people to switch codes or support actively more than one code is difficult. Into this mix we have often nay almost always had poor management... jury still out on APL and new FA.... The investment needs to be long term.... we have a long way to go... and its going to take a long time to get there .... however people who think the solution is simple are both very loud and can be very destructive.... I have always believed the change needs to be at park level and grow from there and that change needs to be a behavioural cultural switch at park level... Today Football does not have the support base it needs but simple solutions and """If Only""' we do this will never work...
chris
Guest
I guess be thankful they see you as a credible, reliable source :) You do wonder where sports reporting (and other reporting for that matter) will be in 20 years. Everything is so fragmented now and since source is so readily available, anyone can have a go at getting a report out there. Journalists are losing their jobs left and right because no one is buying up traditional media (except for the over 65's). I have a friend who works for a "traditional" media company and she tells me all the investment is in digital platforms. The problem is there are so many digital platforms.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Great contribution FiL0. Waleed is a Richmond supporter as well as Victory and Liverpool. He is one of the more thoughtful people in the media. Loves his sport and doesn’t bag football but talks about it with enthusiasm. A guy with a broader view than some traditional pundits who have grown up in their narrow sporting bubble.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
the journalists are there, its just they get blackballed - like the sport itself has been for 60 plus years and counting in australia alot of them (especially the young up and coming ones) rely heavily on the use of social media, which is where journalism is unfortunately going these days. i've been contacted here a few times this season from various journalists, in relation to stories i've broken on here. *had the SMH (not rugari either) who were apparently close to running a story on players refusing vaccinations at the wanderers and macarthur and wanted credible proof in relation to how i knew the players i mentioned, werent vaccinated story was never run, but the players names spread like a wildfire across social media *alot of the adelaide news i break, i have had the adelaide football journos as well as many various australian football websites wanting 'confirmation' of how i know the things i do, before they run stories. more and more journos (especially the youngers ones) are checking reddit, twitter, the roar etc etc for news. its lazy reporting, do the work yourself haha
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
That's a nice article Stu, thanks. I enjoy many of our football writers but I utterly detest the many ex footballers disguised as commentators who are nothing but fans given a microphone. They do more damage than good, and there's a whack of them. They belong here, in the comments section, not on our TV screens.
Simmo
Roar Rookie
I haven't been to the festival before, but I've seen bits and pieces of it on social media before. It's not just for journos, but for fans who really care about the deep issues and want to interact with writers, former players and administrators
chris
Guest
Tiger I was thinking the same thing! A nice lunch and cold beer on a sunny Sunday arvo :)
Simmo
Roar Rookie
Stuart, great article, you've convinced me to find some time to attend the festival! I've been thinking for a while that football in this country needs an independent think tank to explore and pursue policy options for reforming the sport. We're nowhere near good enough on the results side of the fence, despite a wealth of talent, passion and expertise. Organisationally, we've never been very good. Someone, I suspect you ;-) followed me on Twitter (ewokhunter) this morning with The Meadowbank Ultras account. Do you guys meet up virtually or only in person? I'd like to chew the fat with you guys some time
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
yeah, I'm sure there'd be someone in the UK of suitable stature who'd embrace a guest stint in Australia.......Great idea