Graham Arnold is calling for Australian football to get the funding it deserves after the Socceroos spent the build-up to their crunch World Cup qualifier with Lebanon training on rugby league fields.
As he put his finishing touches to his squad for Thursday night’s clash at CommBank Stadium, Arnold went on the offensive, criticising the lack of government support for the sport in comparison to rival codes.
At a time when politicians are at loggerheads over the plans for the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, Arnold was keen to underline football’s need for investment.
Unlike many other top nations preparing for international fixtures this week, Arnold’s side spent the build-up training on rugby league fields at the NSW Rugby League centre of excellence.
While Arnold was incredibly complimentary of the NSWRL for hosting the Socceroos, the Australian boss warned the nation risked being left behind.
“It’s frustrating because of my passion for the game and the pathways … the government loves helping the NRL and the AFL building these fantastic facilities,” Arnold said.
Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold and Assistant Coach, Rene Meulensteen. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
“If I’m right I think I read that the Canterbury Bulldogs are going to get one, but we can’t get anything?
“I have great gratitude to the NSWRL for letting us train on their pitch, even if we had rugby league posts behind the soccer posts.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I believe it’s something that’s crucial for the development of our game, something to inspire kids.
“Look at the Middle East and the way they’re improving, the boys fly all the way back from Europe where they have great training facilities in Europe … and we don’t have any.”
Plans for a Socceroos HQ that could host Football Australia’s offices have long been mooted for Sydney.
But Arnold said the federation was currently “homeless” despite the recent World Cup performances of both the men’s and women’s senior national teams.
“I’ve been involved for 30 years, with all these different offices,” Arnold said.
“We need something where we have a museum and be proud of what Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka did to inspire kids, to have a home.
“If you don’t have a home, how do you have a culture? We are homeless.”
Thursday’s fixture is Australia’s first time back in Sydney since a 3-1 friendly win over Ecuador.
Winger Craig Goodwin (virus) is unavailable which may force Jordy Bos to the left flank and move centreback Kye Rowles into the left fullback position.
It will be Australia’s first match on home soil since their Asian Cup exit in January when Arnold’s side was criticised for their lack of cutting edge against stubborn opposition.
World No.115 Lebanon are expected to sit deep and aim to nick a point, but Arnold is backing his charges to go full throttle.
“I expect to see some really positive things in the final third with our one v one actions,” Arnold said.
“That’s important for me because I feel that middle third we are very good but in the final third, a lot of it is down to the individual.”
Grem
Roar Rookie
Great comeback
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Halftime. I thought Newcastles best was Allen. Chidiac doesn't look the same , is she carrying some form of injuty. The best for Victory Dappolonia.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Wow how good is the surface at Newcastle no 2. Its a billiard table. This is the best ground in the country .
chris1
Roar Rookie
You missed my point. It's not that specific example of where to build the NT's COE I was referring to. London is the main city in England and most things will emanate from there. Whether it's England playing games or COE's - whatever. Same as in other capital/main cities across the world. We get people on here whining why things aren't happening more in Adelaide for heavens sake.
pacman
Roar Rookie
chris, England's centre of kkexcellence is at St George's Park, via Burton upon Trent, in the middle of Staffordshire, in the Midlands, remote (in English terminology) from London, or any other major city.
AR
Roar Rookie
The VFL started planning for Waverley in the 1950s. It was built and paid for in 1970. It was a move determined, in part, because the MCC/MCG tenancy deal was so restrictive. Year later, the Vic Govt reneged on its promise to build heavy rail out to Waverley, and so the AFL was forced to move back to the city. It sold Waverley for $30m, put that money into the construction of Docklands Stadium, agreed to play 40+ games per year at the new stadium. In return, it could purchase Docklands for $1 by 2025. As it happened, the AFL purchased Docklands earlier than expected for about $200m. It now owns this $billion asset outright. This extraordinary result started with the planning for Waverley back in the 50s. To cast the Waverley episode as some kind of investment misstep, is pretty funny.
AR
Roar Rookie
Thanks, I hadn't realised that. $10m from the NRL - that's fantastic.
AR
Roar Rookie
"...the best AFL deal in the land is Gold Coast Suns where they get the whole stadium lock stock and barrel including naming rights for the whole year for free." Um...the AFL contributed $14m to Metricon Stadium.
Brendan
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Untrue. The NRL and Cowboys contributed 10mil to the stadium in Townsville. https://www.nrl.com/news/2016/06/10/nrl-supports-new-townsville-stadium/amp/
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Docklands was already built before any sale of Waverly happened. What happened with Waverly is they didnt end up knocking it all down because the council put a protection order on it. It was a concrete bunker one of the worst large stadiums in the world with no transport links and it was be unsuitable for the modern sporting fan. The gift of a premium piece of land next to transport links then the AFL could selll the whole of Glen Waverly land which was how many times bigger than Docklands, so it was massively more generous than the Tarneit deal. You could have bought the land in Tarneit for a song at the same time. Where the biggest mistake in AFL history happened was selling Waverly. The land would be worth close to a billion now. The AFL forced clubs it didnt like to pay top dollar at Docklands to pay the stadium off for them. It was great for the AFL of course as those clubs had to struggle financially because of it though. This made its goal of Sydney and Brisbane teams to be at the top of the AFL and win titles easier to achieve. The equivalent would be for Western United to force Victory, City,Storm and Rebels to play at Tarneit at top dollar to pay for it through a private operator mechansim . Thats why the comparison is absurd yes. Whats also very interesting is the high rise around Docklands was there some funny stuff with that. Their private operator could have found a loophole to exploit and make money with that and thats why the AFL was forced to buy the stadium
AR
Roar Rookie
"just build it!" Simples.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
NRL pays top dollar through to rent Lang Park, in Queensland the weird situation is the NRL pay big rents and the best AFL deal in the land is Gold Coast Suns where they get the whole stadium lock stock and barrel including naming rights for the whole year for free. The team that payed the most rent in Queensland used to be the Brisbane Roar the years they played 15 game A-league then followed that with ACL was when, with 2 other Queensland A-league teams QLD was collecting more rent off the A-league than anyone else. The Gabba the thing about that is the AFL get to use it as a training ground except for the cricket season and even had their offices there. In their annual reports they even mention renting poker machines, their pokie palace is also rented, If they pay anything for the Gabba its not clear but its low amount considering what they are getting. Until Tasmania actually spend the money on their new stadium, Queensland is the clear no 1 AFL slave in the country. You still have the Olympics and the AFL will be sniffing around that to use it in any way possible.
Leon
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Thanks Lionheart Typo in my post. $11M over 10 years at Perry Park btw
chris1
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Seriously? Not sure what you are talking about anymore or where your thoughts are on this. Like I said, build the COE for the NATIONAL TEAM in Broome for all I care just build it.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
The better team lost.
Caniva
Roar Rookie
Yep. The guys is full of it The AFL -agreed to knock down and sell of Waverly to remove competition with the new stadium -pay $30M with the proceeds of Waverly for the Option to own the stadium 25 years later -committed something like 45 games a year at rental rates that including paying down the capex in its contract with the private operator The comparison with Tarniet is absurd. The equivalent would be if they had gifted 4 times the land of docklands stadium to the AFL if the committed to building a stadium on 1/4 of it and the could commercially develop the rest.
Christo the Daddyo
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You’ve contradicted yourself. *golf clap*
AR
Roar Rookie
"...the Matilda’s and Socceroos are national sporting programs and deserve government backing." Of course they do. We all agree with that. But there's 2 glaring factors that few people here acknowledge: 1. They already get massive government backing - The Matildas currently have a dedicated home at LaTrobe Sports Park (Vic Govt $101m, Cth Govt $15m). The Socceroos should share that facility. - Both teams play all their matches in stadiums that are 100% govt-funded. This includes Accor Stadium which has just received $810m of govt funding, SFS which had $828m, CommBank which had $300m, AAMI Park which had $270m, etc etc. 2. Rather than discuss how to get more money for dedicated infrastructure for national teams (if indeed that is warranted), most people on this tab think the only strategy is to whine and blame other sports. To date, that's a strategy that hasn't yielded results.
Waz
Roar Rookie
AR Your point is not an invalid one, the best route to getting government funding is to contest. However, the point is still valid - the Matilda’s and Socceroos are national sporting programs and deserve government backing.
Waz
Roar Rookie
No, you’re talking about a topic you don’t understand. The Socceroos and Matilda’s programs start at U13, Arnold is talking about the tip of the iceberg … one team amongst many