With preseason now underway in professional footballs longest off season, A-League clubs are starting to make moves when it comes to squad management.
New players are being signed; existing players are renegotiating, and talented teenagers are being upgraded to scholarship contracts.
A-Leagues clubs have the difficult task of trying to fit 20 plus players under the leagues $2.6 million salary cap. There are ways around this with concessions for marquee, loyalty and homegrown players.
Not all teams use the full salary cap though, several work to a budget, with Central Coast & Adelaide heavily reliant on scholarship contracts, with 10 and 9 players respectively.
Each club can sign up to 16 players on scholarship contracts, each of whom is outside the cap if they are paid the agreed minimum wage.
If a teenage player performs well whilst on a scholarship contract, there is the real likelihood of a European side paying a transfer fee to sign them. It is a low risk, but potential high financial return for the club.
There is no better A-League side at extracting maximum value for their scholarship players than it smallest club – the Central Coast Mariners.
(Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)
It is a business model that has seen other clubs finally start to take scholarship contracts more seriously as an investment – with young players now not afraid to sign for a rival.
As a club the Western Sydney Wanderers have one of the league’s most maligned academy set ups, with an endless number of players signing for other sides each year.
The sheer exodus of players directly to the Central Coast Mariners in recent times has hurt financially, with over a dozen transferring to Gosford and some now moving to Europe for fees.
Western Sydney have tried to combat this by starting to recruit from their direct rivals Sydney FC – in years gone by, this never would’ve happened; but loyalty is long gone in today’s age of football.
This type of raiding of other team’s young players has now become a common occurrence, with even the league’s best developer of teenage players, Adelaide United, becoming a target for the circling vultures this offseason.
One of South Australia’s stand out defenders, Kane Vidmar son of Socceroo’s legend and current Olyroos coach Tony has been poached by Western United.
Vidmar’s slaloming runs from defence and ability to contribute to the attack have been a highlight from his time in the SA NPL, and a move to the side which was the oldest last season is a peculiar one, given his high standing in Adelaide.
Nathan Amantidis, star of the recent Joey’s campaign and the latest jewel from Adelaide’s endless supply of attacking talent, is negotiating a contract with Sydney FC.
Besides his displays on national team duty, Amantidis has been in blistering form in the SA NPL this season. A truly 2-footed player coupled with an exceptional burst of pace, as well as the necessary arrogance required in a young winger.
Similar to Kane Vidmar, if this move goes through it is another puzzling one, as Sydney FC has never integrated young players well into their A-League side.
They may not be the only 2 players lost, as there are several more talented teenagers that Adelaide United is fending off interest from interstate rivals.
Part of this problem is there are only 12 professional clubs. This will change with new franchises and the national second division in the coming years but until then, young players will find playing minutes scarce unless they are prodigious talents.
This is why teams like the Mariners, Adelaide, Brisbane and Wellington have proven popular destinations – purely because they provide a chance to play, rather than constantly sitting on the bench.
While A-League clubs are used to the never-ending recycling of senior players every off season, they also now need to deal with this type of merry go round when it comes to teenage players on cheap scholarship contracts.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
You cant go for trophies with pensioners either, clubs are not going for trophies when they hire the old, they cant sell them either, its coaches hiring their old mates. The only difference between South Australia and the rest of Australia is poverty. Its certainly not population their population doesn't grow because people move elsewhere. When your relying on South Australia for something then its like reducing the population to 2 million. Maybe the A-league clubs here need to send people to the local parks and look for the talent , as the NPL blockade stops the talent getting through.
pacman
Roar Rookie
Chris, Brentford's youth program is yet to be meaningfully tested, with their academy being re-opened in the last year or two after a hiatus of several years based on it being financially unviable. The academy re-opened in order for Brentford to be eligible to enter European football should they qualify, a UEFA requirement. No academy, no matches.
Brendan
Roar Pro
On an unrelated football topic… 50,000 Matilda’s fans will pack out Marvel Stadium in Melbourne tonight. I am impressed!
chris1
Roar Rookie
Victory = Juventus lol Stockpiling players
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i think everyone who follows the league knows that each club falls into 1 of the three below categorys (same as in europe or south america): "big" = city, wanderers, sydney & victory - they have the most money and always prioritise trophies over youth. "small" = mariners, adelaide, newcastle, brisbane, wellington - heavy emphasis on youth, because financially they cant compete with the "win now" clubs "medium" = western united, macarthur and perth - can compete with the "big" clubs in terms of having money to buy players, but dont seem to want to do what the 'small' clubs do with youth. the a league has always been a developement league - bring the kids in young, sell them the folowing season, rinse repeat every year. i'll change from the wanderers to the victory - its great they've upgraded multiple players to scholarship contracts (including a few i spoke about who should be challenging for a starting spot halfway through the year) but whats the point if you will not give them minutes? you're just stockpiling players who are on minium wages, whilst also stalling careers - who is the last homegrown melbourne victory youth player that went on to be succesful? i know people are going to say velupillay, but what has he exactly achieved? (i guess breaking into a poppa team is an achievement of sorts
chris1
Roar Rookie
SS the business models you described are the same here as they are in Euro and Sth American leagues. The clubs with money will always go for the quick fix etc whilst the smaller clubs look to build and nurture their academies and reap the benefits on and off the field accordingly. Look at Brentford in the EPL. A tiny club in comparison but apparently with a world class youth and development program. Ajax, whilst very successful in Europe are also a "selling" type club who have outstanding junior academies.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i see one of my players ariath piol who only signed last season, has already jumped ship (gone to macarthur) rudes has to wear a lot of responsibility when it comes to the academy players - hes never really played many young players at any clubs hes coached at
Brendan
Roar Pro
Rudan can be a strong cup of coffee. I get the impression he’s fantastic with senior players, almost chummy. He defended Ninković against a few cheeky Corica barbs on All Access. However, I think he demands instant respect, especially from his younger players, which could come across as gruff, even intimidating. It’s only an observation. I’d love to see more opportunities given to academy players.
JoshW
Roar Rookie
Western Sydney is arguably the home of football in Australia, there's 2.2 million people and the majority speak football. Something is happening within the club though and I don't think it's all Rudan. You only need to look at the state of the NPL team. It's almost criminal how Mariners are profiting from the area because kids don't want to stay and represent their home. Once it's fixed Mariners will hopefully go under.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i have alot of time for the wanderers, but there have been issues at that club from the very top to the very bottom. most of those said issues have been fixed in the past 24 months and i still believe they have the right man as head of the academy currently the problem is getting those boys into the a league team, which will not happen under rudes - for the wanderers to take the next step of there evolution, they need to part with rudes and start having 3-4 kids each year break into that team. plenty of talent at that club, that are not getting the opportunities to shine
Grem
Roar Rookie
I’m all for young players doing whatever they can to better themselves financially and professionally, but as you indicated – they need to be careful with where they go. A short term financial gain may hurt a long term career. Sydney have certainly added quite a few scholarship players this year and I look forward to seeing them on the field. Glasson, De Jesus, etc look interesting. For teams to be sustainable they need to work on crowds (as Midfielder regularly mentions) and develop talent. Let’s hope this is the start of a real contest for developing and retaining talent and seeing the production line grow. When a “product” is valued it is given better treatment. Good article SS.
Brendan
Roar Pro
I was surprised at WSW’s academy too. There’s an issue with retaining talent. Clearly they can spot a potential star, but do they have the resources to develop those same players?