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.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#ASFC Where does any 'club' pay 100% of builds for public assets?? I'm asserting you're attacking the AFL on an unreasonable basis. The example of NMFC facilities is that they are a public resource, publicly accessed and utilised. NMFC has contributed heavily as has council and govt. That's entirely how these things work. Part of the conditions was the 'walls coming down'. In the AFL context - it's somewhat different to the RL and Soccer who haven't gone down the ground rationalisation pathway such that so many of their facilities are match day ones as well which means they are gated and managed in a very different way. Just how each facility functions as a 'community hub' will vary - - however - - it's arguably a continuation of how 'community' sports grew in Australia through the mid/later 1800s rather than corporatized (private ownership) models.
ASFC
Roar Rookie
Munro Mike No, you have clearly missed what I was saying..I'm not talking about business cases, com games and if you think I hate the AFL.. I'm pointing out tax payers money is involved in the majority of the builds. You keep confirming it by saying government funds, grants and indirect government funding etc etc..Not once have you said an AFL club has paid 100% of the build. Thats all I'm pointing out. Go Hawks!
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
#ASFC re Docklands - the majority of the Govt funding going into Docklands is the external as the State Govt tries to fix up the failures of the overall Docklands Urban Renewal 'project' that has failed to connect the CBD to the waterfront. So much of this funding is unrelated to the AFL core business and isn't something the AFL would instigate. Note too - - the Govt is in part using this to ensure the AFL doesn't sell out of the venue and rebuild elsewhere. The Govt is still coming out very much on top when you contrast to how much they haven't had to pay to have a city with the MCG and Docklands Stadium. re North training facilities......is a community facility. North have fund raised themselves and contributed heavily; along with security funding via grants programs like anyone else. There's no fence. It's a community facility being used by the community. The bricks and mortar are not on the NMFC balance sheet. Funny you mention Essendon. They fund raised a huge amount within the club and gained some Govt funding.....indirectly - - because the "Hangar" is shared with Paralympics Australia as the Victorian homebase. This is where ignorance often kicks in. People see only 'AFL' and not the partners. And you've entirely missed the point re Gold Coast Stadium. It's a public venue; publicly owned; and been used extensively including the home of the GC Comm Games. The Govt has got a very nice outcome on 'bang for buck' including that the AFL put in $13.3 million. Gold Coast FC manage and operates the venue. Fair enough. That's effectively what the AFL bought the rights to. Seems a pretty reasonable business outcome to get all those stakeholders together. That's the key. Partnerships. Soccer in Australia can't sort itself out let alone present as a solid development partner..........but still...........so glad for the Matilda's that they have a home at LaTrobe Uni Bundoora.......still haven't seen a Matilda there yet but they've got it!! You're very much blinded by your hatred of the AFL here.
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.