You would think the APL might be able to go a week without embarrassing themselves, but then they go and announce this season’s Dolan Warren Awards have been axed.
Want to know how well the A-Leagues are going?
They can’t even afford to host the annual season-ending awards ceremony.
Last year Craig Goodwin and Alex Chidiac received their individual player of the year awards in a lavish ‘black carpet’ ceremony at The Star in Sydney.
This year’s winners will be handed their awards at half-time of their respective grand finals – assuming, of course, they’re not actually playing in them.
“We’ve had some fantastic events over the years – of all different variety – but this year we wanted to bring the awards closer to fans and give them a platform to be celebrated during the biggest games of the year,” an APL spokesperson told AAP’s George Clarke.
Which is essentially code for the fact the APL is so broke they can’t even afford to throw an awards night for the footballers whose exploits they’re paid to commercialise.
(Photo by Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images)
If the A-Leagues weren’t so skint, they wouldn’t need the ACT Government to pay an extra $200,000 on top of their usual $250,000 annual subsidy just to keep A-League Women’s side Canberra United afloat next season.
We’re at a point now where we should be concerned about the on-going viability of the two competitions – particularly if the rumours about broadcast subsidies being slashed next season are true.
It won’t stop a vocal minority of perpetually online A-Leagues fans from bashing away at their keyboards to criticise the tone of this column, though.
To them, the blame for the A-Leagues’ myriad problems lay not at the feet of the administrators in charge, but those who can still be bothered writing about them.
It’s an attitude that plays directly into the hands of the APL – an organisation that has burned through millions of dollars with virtually nothing to show for it – and says much about an online culture where the extent of many fans’ support is leaving a trail of social media comments.
And the existential problem the APL faces now – as regular reader Waz pointed out last week – is the fact the A-Leagues have now lost all credibility in the eyes of tens of thousands of active participants who either play the game or otherwise support lower-league clubs.
Which makes the red card Macarthur Bulls defender Ivan Vujica received on Saturday night incredibly counter-productive.
It’s not on-field referee Daniel Elder’s fault that he felt compelled to re-interpret his decision to award Vujica a yellow card in what was then the 34th minute of the game.
It’s the systematic undermining of refereeing decisions the use of VAR has created.
While Vujica deserved no more than a yellow for a high-footed challenge on Sydney FC winger Joe Lolley that was late but not malicious, Elder was no doubt painted into a corner by the precedent set by all the other ridiculous VAR decisions this season.
Tommy Smith’s elbow on Fabio Gomes looked worse, yet the Bulls somehow managed to hold on to a truly heroic 1-0 win over the Sky Blues in front of their largest-ever home attendance of 7723 fans at Campbelltown Stadium.
The Bulls deserve credit for working quietly behind the scenes to improve their home attendances, and their efforts are clearly starting to pay off.
Yet it’s no surprise their biggest crowds always come against Sydney FC because the Sky Blues bring with them one of the biggest travelling supports in the league.
The good news is there’s still plenty to play for going into the final round of fixtures – even if Central Coast’s postponed clash with Adelaide United now means current table-toppers Wellington Phoenix will be left sweating on the outcome of that Mariners game.
The football we’ve seen this season has certainly been worth celebrating.
If only the APL could afford to do it.
ASFC
Roar Rookie
Nah not really. I'll Keep watching AL regardless. 2. Regarding stadiums, both pay for it. AL clubs pay match fees to access the facilities and the tax payer pays because they own the stadiums.
ASFC
Roar Rookie
Munro Mike - A fair bit to unpack there.. Yes AAMI park is funded by the taxpayer, hence why Melb Victory pays match fees every time they want to use it. Nothing wrong with that. They don't own the stadium. The AFL owns Docklands and has or will be getting upgrades done to it..do you know who's paying for the upgrades..have a look, it's not the AFL. Gold Coast..You mentioned Com Gov, QL Gov and GC Council..that is all tax payers money. Thank you for pointing that out. I wasn't making the point for or against stadium builds. I was simply pointing out a lot of tax payers money goes into AFL infrastructure..and remember AFL is a Pro Sport..I'm not talking about the community clubs. Did North pay 100% for their training facilities, Bombers..Hawks..Saints..Bulldogs etc.. I will finish with this..remember what the AFL said about Tassie..no stadium..no team..in other words..no taxpayers money..no team. Clearly it shows government is in bed with the AFL.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
A-League 1 - NRL 112 - AFL 87
AR
Roar Rookie
Yes, it's true. The APL spent $40M on setting up a digital arm, the centerpiece of which was the website KeepUp. It was scrapped after 3 years. Along with about 40% of APL staff. Binning that much money so quickly is genuinely hard to do. Especially when you don't have much to play with. Absolute shambles.
BigAl
Roar Rookie
@Tufanooo April 24th 2024 @ 12:30pm I would think the extent, duration and intensity of his raging should be no laughing matter...
pacman
Roar Rookie
Sorry Mike, my bad. My speed reading, unfortunately, is declining just about as fast as I am. I need to slow it down a little. At least we are in agreement on the soccer v Olympics issue.
coolncold
Roar Rookie
Someone here says 40 millions went to KeepUp. Is that true? Seems it is promoting a small league of Australia (A-League) to the whole world. This is terrible. This can be very poor business running. This can be overflow of commissions. Why not just use simple platforms, like youtube? I think 4 millions are already too much.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
Angel Torres.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
Ive been saying for years the AFL are parasites on the Aus taxpayer. And you've been laughed at for years too.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
A move back to Oceania, A-League back to Foxtel and make the ALM/W semi pro to stay alive.
Aiden
Roar Rookie
It's just very sad. Honestly, I feel for the players. The pathways in this country are a joke, unless you have the right background you are stuck here. If they work their rings off from 5 years old and somehow get into one of the few spots available in a fully pro league, their reward is to play some fantastic and entertaining football that relatively few people care about for low wages (the majority of them) and there is all this negativity (not a criticism of the article which is spot on).
Grem
Roar Rookie
Which comes back to our leadership and not our product. As you have already indicated.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Grem, it has always been thus in Victoria. The AFL protects it's 'product' and is reluctant to give way to football, which it has always seen as a threat. It is this way now, it will always be this way. The AFL has been masterful and successful in cultivating grass roots and political support.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Matildas effect’ causes explosion in girls’ soccer in Victoria Victorian girls hoping to follow in the famous footsteps of the Matildas superstars are taking up soccer in record numbers. There’s the reason why AFL wants to block the Matildas. We can’t have this explosion of interest in another sport!
Grem
Roar Rookie
‘Matildas effect’ causes explosion in girls’ soccer in Victoria Victorian girls hoping to follow in the famous footsteps of the Matildas superstars are taking up soccer in record numbers. Could this be why AFL is reluctant to grant access to grounds? More Matildas success will lead to more girls playing football and not AFL.
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
I really hope he gets sacked. He has repeatedly blamed the players which from the head coach is poor.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#chris1 "The only way they survive is to suffocate everything around them." And just how does this happen?? I'm very interested.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#ASFC "unlike the AFL"............hmmm. Y'know in Melbourne - - where soccer is played at AAMI Park...........100% Govt funded stadium. Sometimes the A-League got games on at Docklands............100% no Govt funds and 100% only got build because the private owners could extort the AFL until the AFL was able to buy it out. So far.............I don't see the AFL sponging. Then the MCG - - Socceroos, Wallabies, Man Utd, '06 Comm Games, Tay Tay.......all get to use this facility. Who paid for it? Not Govt. Only $77 Mill of the roughly $580 mill to 100% rebuild it since 1990 came from Govt. The rest........pretty well 90% is AFL direct revenues that are geared into long term leases to underpin the MCC debt. And the AFL don't even get to own or manage it?!?!? The Govt sponges off the AFL in Melbourne as do other sports who get to feel good about themselves if they draw 80-90K to the 'G once in a blue moon. So........nope........no 'sponging' there. Tassie you put forward as an example?? Interesting. The Stadium.......that the AFL will contribute $15 mill towards - a combination of State and Fed funds - for a state owned facility that........will be used by others but only the AFL will contribute. And that comes along with another $345 mill to be spent on establishing the club, talent development and academies into the Tassie economy. Pretty well balances out the Tassie Govt investment in their own stadium. Looks like a win-win to me for Tassie. Gold Coast........hmmm.......what? Where the new upgraded stadium was funded by the AFL ($13.3 million), the Queensland Government ($71.9 million), the Commonwealth Government ($36 million) and the Gold Coast City Council ($23 million). So.....the AFL put in $13.3 million into a public asset that has been since used by cricket, the Gold Coast Comm Games......doesn't look like sponging to me. How much did soccer invest in the SFS rebuild??
chris1
Roar Rookie
Ive been saying for years the AFL are parasites on the Aus taxpayer. The only way they survive is to suffocate everything around them.
chris1
Roar Rookie
Excellent comment