Mike, good article.
On the one hand, I think the actual football has been ok on the field overall, there’s enough quality, and there are some good news stories to come from this season, WU are almost about to play out of their own small ground, there’s Auckland and another team hopefully coming in, which will mean we can have a proper 26 game season, plus finals and FA cup games.
But you can definitely see some dark clouds on the horizon, like who is going to bid for the next TV rights when crowds and viewers (we’re assuming here) are going backwards?
In my opinion, a lot of it has to do with the current TV deal, as not many people have the Paramount Plus app (I’d love to know what this number actually is) and there’s been no significant money spent on marketing the competition this year yet again, and this is criminal considering the APL was given a TV deal with enough money to do this.
There’s also the NSD, which could potentially take some fans away from the A-league if it’s run properly (this is still a huge IF for me).
The APL has done a shocking job overall since coming in, and the fans want accountability and transparency, which is exactly what they asked of the FFA at the time, then the unbundling and obviously why the game was in limbo for so long.
I’m still slightly optimistic but not confident.
If all else fails, get the FA to speak to the federal government, implement the full Crawford Report (which is still very relevant today) scrap the state feds, create a central model, and restart the entire sport in Australia.
It might actually be the only way…

Stu,
Your points are valid and I understand them.
But we do not live in a place where parks and streets are full of kids playing soccer. We live in an organised, heavily regulated country, where structured competition is king, and the numbers of kids that play the game on the weekends prove exactly that!
Football participants get less than $50 per person, based on the current funding. By this same metric, every AFL participant get $1000 and every NRL playing kid gets over $500.
This is ridiculous and massively disproportionate!
This is what needs to be spruiked heavily at govt levels and be corrected.
That would go a long way!

Massive issue!
And it’s now holding the game back, particularly at grassroots levels. But our game needs to be better at talking to governments and selling the game and also selling that message. Show Albo and co what Morocco did with their home training base for their NT, show them what France did years ago with Clairefontaine etc, and then show them the scenes from Fed Square and all the other live sites around the country, plus all over the world. This is what the game can do, if it’s properly funded!
Sell them the message…

Agree with this!
But also it’s not their fault that Probuild, a massive Tier 1 national building company went broke during Covid. Their CEO was a Director on WU’s bid, which practically ‘guaranteed’ the building of the stadium at that stage.
Unfortunately, as of today, they won’t have the proper stadium that they promised, and it’s crap! But they’ve gotta move on from that. What they can do now is get it going, which is happening at the moment. And you are right, it is a land grab, but in business, even moreso than in life, there’s no such thing as free lunch! If someone is giving you something ie. a stadium, they’re not gonna do it for free.
So the execution has been terrible, I agree, but the whole idea wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen!
Stage 1 is being completed at the moment, that’ll give them a small 5k capacity stadium, but they should be lobbying government to get a $100m upgrade shortly after, plus a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area, which is happening, but it’ll take some time. And because of where it’s situated (I know that area quite well) that will be massive for the community down there, so there’s plenty of reasons to get the government involved.

Good article Mike.
Unfortunately this been coming for some time now.
On the one hand you can’t just blame it all on the manager, when he simply doesn’t have the cattle. This is a fact!
But on the other hand, the lacklustre performances, the lack of tactics and particularly his squad selection has been very questionable throughout his tenure. I’m still a big believer that we can do more with the players we have.
Arnie is a good choice locally, I’m not disputing his coaching ability, but he’s simply not world standard, and there’s no doubt Covid was his biggest reference in getting the gig at the time.
Yes we need better players, which unfortunately we don’t have, but we also need a manager who’s ready to take some risk, pick some younger players, play a more daring style of football, but also to have a plan B and C when we need it.
I’m sure the FA has already worked out what this means if we don’t qualify.
Right now, in my opinion we’re a 70/30 not to make it. I think we’ll get past the UAE comfortably, and we can even give Peru a good game, and not get battered, but I don’t think we’re good enough to beat them right now.
They’ve got 2-3 players that are a class above, the kind of players we don’t have at the moment.
Now I’d love to be proven wrong, and for the Socceroos to make Qatar, but I’ve accepted that we most likely won’t be there, which is pretty sad, and a good indication of where our game is at right now unfortunately.

I reckon even a 5k capacity stadium is good for them at this stage. Get that joint built ASAP, and then pack that out every week, and use this to lobby govt for extra funding. They don’t need 15k seats tomorrow, but maybe in 5 years time. I dont think the size of the stadiums are the issue, their location, access and a rectangular ground are more important at this stage. The stadiums that Adelaide, Perth and the Mariners play out of are perfect in all those facets.
There’s a really good podcast with Michael Zappone (A to Z) where he interviews Brendan Schwab, and he gives his views on expansion, and lobbying governments, which I completely agree with. In a nutshell he says that we don’t deserve anything, and have to build everything from the ground up, and grow organically, eventually growing to a level where governments can no longer ignore it.

Lionheart, I don’t write for anybody. Rightly or wrongly this is merely my point of view.
Happy for you to agree or disagree, it makes no difference. I wrote this because it was on my mind, and to generate some healthy debate.
I wrote my perspective of the club, from the outside looking in, and from an infrastructure point of view. Now I know they have their own training base and that’s great, but they’ve had to move almost 40km from Suncorp Stadium to play their home games. Is this the future home for the Roar? Or are they still looking at something closer to the CBD?
In my view, its now the only club in the league which doesn’t play where it should, at least in terms of geography.

I know for a fact that Victory was very close to securing at in Williamstown, close the the water, but haven’t heard anything for a while, it seems to have gone cold. It may still be a possibility, so watch this space. But I believe Victory wants something close to the city. Either way, my point is, 16 years is far too long for the biggest club in the country to not have its own training facility, a bit disappointing. All other clubs I believe now have one.

Agree Full Time NDS.
Victory had Footscray Park ready to go, for a training base/academy, but that was virtually booted out by the locals when it got close. For the Victory directors, it’s not about building a complex at this point, that’s the easy part, its finding the right size parcel of land in the right location, without any local issues, and being able to get the permits that they need. This is proving to be very difficult.

Yes Waz, that’s is where I live.
If the A-league isn’t strong in Vic and NSW its not going to last. We’ve seen it this season to an extent in NSW, where only 1 team made the finals, the smallest team out of the 5, and have we seen the A-league in the media in NSW in these last 3 weeks? No.
Now I have not mentioned Adelaide once in my article, because they are a strong club, with strong support, hence I think they’ll be fine long term. The fact that they’ve got govt funding for a new roof for their stand plus some other additions is a testament to this.
Brisbane on the other hand, I’m not so sure. Will they play out of Dolphins Stadium forever? I’m not sure if this is the solution long term. What about their owners, are their fans happy with them?

pete4
2nd Div clubs will obviously need to pay players, but they also need to keep costs down to survive. They’d need 18-20 players per team, topped up with their own youth players if necessary due to injuries/suspensions etc. So even at $60k-$70k each for 20 players, that’s a wage bill of $1.2m-$1.4m plus the coaching staff. I know some of the better supported clubs in the NPL currently have budgets of $500k-$600k, and while there is some difference there, I think that shortfall can potentially be made up by extra sponsors and members.

Waz,
Not blaming the owners for the salary cap at all. The cap has been a necessary evil in the A-league up till now, but especially in the last 3-4 years we’ve seen how irrelevant its actually become. When you have teams like CCM spending the cap floor, and others like MV & SFC spending $6m-$7m in yearly wages, you can quickly see that the system is not only now broke, it’s actually become irrelevant, and (9.5 times out of 10) who the top teams are going to be!
What the players need is a minimum wage guarantee, like in any other industry, in any other country in the world (I’d say $70k-$75k per player minimum salary) and then go from there.
Players should get paid; 1. what they’re worth in our market, and 2. what the clubs can afford to pay. Putting a salary cap is unnecessary and unproductive! That’s my view on it.
Also, a very important point to remember, which I didn’t even mention in the article, is that these current squables over the CBA is actually only for 1 season. Who knows what happens after next July, do we have another broadcaster lined up? how much are they willing to pay? what will that mean for players’ salaries, etc? Its the world of the unknown…

I think it both things can happen alongside each other.
Victoria is also getting a Home of Football, and already has a $15m funding pledge from the state government, as does WA with Football West getting a significant grant for their base a month or so ago. A 2nd Division doesn’t need a huge amount in my opinion, its all about planning. FFA with the AAFC can help to plan the comp, and eventually run it at Head Office level, the clubs already exist, they just need to find the money for travel/accommodation etc. That’s the biggest thing currently holding it back IMO. And the fact that the FFA is currently tied up by the A-league and the current CBA issues. Once the AL is fully independent, which is apparently only months away now, they can then turn their attentions and their focus to the 2nd Division. I think it can still start in 2021, but most likely in 2022.

Agree, the German model of 51% fan ownership would be great, maybe not for every club, but I definitely see the benefits in it for some of the clubs – Mariners, Jets, Nix etc.

I honestly don’t realistically see the full promotion and relegation coming in anytime soon, I’d love to see it, but before COVID it was still a few years away. Now with COVID its probably at least 5 years away, if not 10 years.
What I do and want to see, and I think is also realistic, is the 2nd Division getting underway in either 2021 or 2022, then running for 2-3 years, which will give these clubs the time to get to a fully professional setup, plus building their base financially with sponsorships, memberships, stadia improvements etc, then a full pro/rel can then happen.
What I’d also like to see is promotion (and not relegation) straight out of the 2nd Division, to get the A-league to 14-16 teams. Once the A-league is then at 14-16 teams, and the 2nd Div clubs have had time to come up a level, then I think a proper promotion and relegation could happen. But all this has to be underpinned financially to be possible. We are hoping that by then, TV/streaming deals and others are in place, so the game is fully ready for this.
This is definitely not where we are at at the moment. But if we can get out of the current mess, and with the right people and decisions I think we can get there.
And for me Finals stay, as a football person its not ideal, but I think in the Australian landscape they’re here to stay, at least in the short term.

Roberto, yes Optus can and may well get heavily involved. I for one hope that happens. But my point is, for the FFA not to be at the mercy of one player anymore, as it has been for the last 15 years, they need to get their own house in order, think for themselves and get setup for the next 5-10 year cycle. Optus for example may only be willing to show the games, but they may only want to pay $15m per year, and Foxtel probably isn’t even interested anymore, so again we may only have 1 suitor, who may not be willing to pay what the game needs to survive. That’s the key issue here. That’s why I’m going down the line of their own OTT platform. Yes it’s a risk, but the time has come.
And from there of course there can be separate deals, eg; 1 game to one channel, a second game to another broadcaster and so on. The more revenue the better.

David,
That figure was made up, but it was based on the number of football participants we have country wide, which is just shy of 2 million. So my guestimate was a 12.5% conversation rate of those participants, yes big number I know, and maybe not realistic in year 1, but I think a realistic goal to achieve in the short to medium term. My point is we have the numbers in terms of our base, if we go things correctly We can bring people along, and make this happen.

I think if you look at attendance figures from more established football leagues around the world, you’ll realise that 11k per game isn’t actually a terrible figure. Even here in Australia, it’s only few thousand short of the NRL, but then consider that we get 10%-20% of their media coverage in NSW & QLD, if that. It’s only when you put that up against the AFL, where that figure looks quite small, but good for them.
The biggest factor for me in that respect, is that we need to be playing in boutique rectangular grounds. For example, Brisbane has to stop playing at Suncorp, Sydney shouldn’t play at their new stadium, and Wellington should also move to a smaller ground. Most grounds should be 30k max capacity. Even if it means they’re suburban, with slightly less facilities.
We need to build the product first, football people will come, then be smart enough to lobby governments for upgrades of those grounds or even new ones. Playing at smaller rectangular grounds are a no brainer. This improves the overall product, and 15k looks and feels like 30k-40k in the right setting, as the atmosphere is awesome, case in point is Coopers Stadium.

Great article Mike.
I’d say the wheels are in motion now, at least, as opposed to the last 15 years on these important fronts.
The move to winter alone will not unlock anything on its own, but I believe that a combination of a number of important factors, if they’re implemented in the next 2 years, then we will unlock what we need. And these are;
1. winter season
2. second division
3. Transfer System
4. promotion and relegation
5. an OTT platform, preferably our own, where we can charge a monthly fee for all football around OZ – AL/WL/NPL/state league/women’s football/juniors/state championships/FFA cup, Futsal etc

Now granted, P&R won’t happen overnight, but if we can establish a second division, we’ll be almost there, even if that’s semi pro for the first 2-3 years with a plan to make it professional as soon as possible. We need a football pyramid, it’s what makes the game strong the world over.
Now I know the naysayers will say there’s no media space or Enough grounds, but at the start we’ll have to fixture very smartly, depending on ground availability and dates, but we can also use this issues to play in smaller stadia where necessary, work hard to fill those grounds, which in turn will create demand and build the league. Media is non existent now anyway, if we sit and way till the MSM even notices the game, we’ll all starve and it’ll be too late. FFA needs to setup our own media arm to set the narrative and tell those awesome stories that are out there all over the country.
Another huge factor is government relations, FFA and state feds should setup teams in each state to lobby local and state governments for further funding for smaller suburban stadia, be it for community football, NPL, W-league and A-league. More infrastructure is great for the entire sport, not just for the top tier.
In terms of the A-league, the biggest issues for suitable grinds are Brisbane and Wellington, but we shouldn’t worry about our cousins from NZ for now, let’s fix our own backyard first.
Victoria only has AAMI Park, but there’s now many NPL clubs grounds which could be transformed with some further investment down the track, ie; Hume Ciry, Heidelberg, South Melbourne, Melbourne Knights, Bentleigh Avondale etc.
Also, the FFA and the clubs (who almost killed the game off in the last 24-36 months infighting RE independence and others) now have a clear window (12 months or so) to get an OTT platform off the ground and perfected. This could show all parts of the game, have weekly debate shows, pre game, post games, awards nights, HofF nights etc, make it a One stop Shop for any football event and that way it can be monitored properly.
The sky is the limit here guys, the glass is definitely half full from where I’m standing, but a lot will depend heavily on who, when are how these things are all developed and done…

Good article Mike.
There’s many sides to this debate.
Firstly, Buzz isn’t telling anyone anything we don’t know, ie. falling crowds, terrible TV viewing numbers, overall interest etc. He is spot on there and the FFA, and now the clubs who by next season will have 100% control of the league, need to act, and fast.
But knowing the owners who are involved in these clubs, and the vast investment they can spend, don’t be surprised to see many things changed and improved on for next season. Now that the owners have control, plus with the help of the CFG, they’re not going throw in the towel now.
Also, the reason why Buzz is writing this crap at this time, could be seen from a few different angles; could he be slagging another sport, so the average punter forgets about all the current NRL issues, and there’s plenty of them at the moment, so he’s controlling the narrative. This is something our game needs to learn to do.
But also could he doing the dirty work of his employer, News Corp, trying to denigrate the A-league as much as possible (more than it already is) to help their next lot of negotiations, which they’ll be offering less coin anyway.
So there could be a number of reasons, but the FFA and now the clubs, who wanted and fought for independence, now need to get their house in order, start listening, and improving things, so that next year, we see a better A-league.
Articles like these will always come and go, of course they cut deeper when thing aren’t going so well. But we must improve, and this is the time when it needs to happen.

I think Ivan’s summation via Twitter is spot on. Yes our offseason is way too long, ground availability can be worked through on a case by case basis and overcome, and clear air, well this is simply a myth.
Clear air had never existed, the MSM does not give a stuff about the AL, pure and simple, they’d rather show lawn bowls than an A-league game, because simply there’s only 2-3 channels that have any sort of money to spend, and all of them will spend it yearly (and heavily!) on either AFL, NRL or cricket.
There is never ‘clear air’ for us, there never has been or will be!
Our product needs to cater to the football folk first, get that bit right, and the rest will follow. Currently only 14% of teenage football players (boys and girls) go to A-League games, if they can increase that to 30%-40% that’ll be more than enough.
Let’s see what the incoming independent board do, but I’m tipping it’ll be an improvement on the last 15 years at the hands of the FFA, who’s always been under resource with way too much on their plate.

Jack, a good read, and some interesting questions that people like myself have been asking for over a decade, with no sensible answers coming our way, just hogwash, and the true fan sees right past that, and that’s why things are where they are today.
Unfortunately not much has changed, and people like me, the diehards or true believers or whatever you wanna call them, have lost patience.
For far too long the FFA and the state feds have been too worried about power and control (its all about $$$ at the end of the day) and not cared about what they’re actually in their jobs to do, that is to govern, to grow and ultimately to care about the game! They’ve failed on all counts!!!
The boardroom battle of the last 2-3 years, has set the game back another 5-10 years in my opinion. The A-league wasn’t going well then, and they’ve just let it get worse, by sheer inaction.
Can we get to where we need to get to? Of course we can, but to get there, there is a crap load of work to be done. Certain people need to stop obstructing progress because it doesn’t suit them, their mates and their pockets!
The FFA is an incompetent body, whose leaders wouldn’t last 6 months in the corporate world outside of sport. They’ve shown time and time again they’re not fit and not capable to run the entire sport, so the quicker the A-league becomes independent, the better.
This is what the game needs; an Independently run league, run by an independent commission type structure, 16 team A-league sooner rather than later. 12 is ok for now, but I’d be adding new teams every year after that till we get to 16 teams, 30 game seasons, no more compromised fixtures.
A second division also with 16 teams, up and running in 2 years. The new A-league teams coming from there. No more made up clubs with no history or fans.
Salary cap scrapped, there’s no need for it, it does nothing for the competitiveness of the competition, we all know who the big and the small clubs are, let the big clubs get bigger, and the smaller clubs spend what they can spend.
Football economy, open up transfer fees and loans, as everywhere else in the world, this is a fabulous way for our league, and particularly the smaller clubs in it, to make money and refocus on their juniors and player development programs.
No more oversized or oval grounds, in NSW and QLD there is an abundance of small/medium sized rugby league/union stadiums. And in Victoria, Perth and Adelaide the current grounds are adequate. Lets build the crowds, and the interest, not play in 50k seated stadiums, when we only draw 15k, that kills the product!
And above all else, lets listen to the fans and players, not shun them away and continue to do what we’re not doing, coz its killing the game! Lets listen to the players and the fans, our game is not AFL or NRL, and it never will be, but if we keep running it like that we’re gonna lose the remaining fans that we do have. The player base and fan base are out there, but we’re not listening to them, that’s why they’re not turning up or watching!
Things like the NCIP need to go, we all came from somewhere in this country, the only difference is from where and which generation. Lets not forget the people and the clubs who brought the game to Australia. Lets embrace our history, instead of hiding away from it, which has also alienated a lot of supporters in the last 20 years, and some of those people will never come back. Lets get back to basics and listen to the fans!
The sport and the league is for them, not for the suits, lets start listening!!! Over and out…

Fadida,
Wiser people than me can work out the finer details, but I’ll give you what I know, and how I think it can work. Many NPL clubs that I know of today can generate over $500k in sponsorship per year, I think if they were playing in a national second division, this figure could grow, plus their attendances could also grow generating some more revenue. We’re not talking of 5000 people per game here, but perhaps 2000-3000 home gates at $15-$20 each, for some clubs is actually achievable. A salary cap of $1m-$1.2m for 23 or so players, giving an average wage of just over $50k per player, some could be on more and others on less.
In terms of travel and accomodation that could be partly covered by competition sponsors, some TV rights money, perhaps to show 1-2 live games per week, plus playoffs and the Final.
There’s a lot of people out there, outside of the A-league, who have money and would invest to help out their clubs. It won’t be easy, but I think with sound planning a 2nd Division can work.

Guys
My last point, I’m not saying that fans aren’t coming to games directly because of the current Congress issues. But what I am saying is that indirectly, it’s having a massive impact, because the FFA have taken their eyes off the ball
(the A-league) and they have not marketed it, promoted it, advertised it, as they’re too busy trying to control the purse strings of the game. And all of the noises coming out of the game into the media this season are all about them and the current issues and not about the football, and it’s all negative stuff. Now that has no effect on me and all of the rusted on core fans in this forum, but it has a massive impact on the casual or new fan of the game. That’s what I was trying to say.

Thanks for all your feedback and comments guys.
Just an FYI, my 5 points to fix things are not in order, I just wrote them as they came to mind.
A few other points, the cynic in me says the Lowys have and are helping football, but they’re also in it for themselves.
Being chairman of the FFA might not be a massive deal in Oz, but it definitely helps to you to network and would get you in touch with some very influential people worldwide, which is what the Westfield business is. I saw in the news the other day that Westfield is about to get bought out by a huge firm overseas, not sure where that’s at. Anyhow it’s time for fresh faces, preferably football faces on my opinion. Gallop and Lowy are on the nose with their constituents and there’s no turning back now.
I am putting all or the majority of the blame on the FFA, because the clubs can only do so much. They’re heavily hamstrung into what they can and can’t do, but they have no say, even though they’re the ones paying for almost everything within the game.
Also, a second division is a must for many reasons, the main ones are more opportunities for young players, for local coaches, for more physios, the list goes on and on. It grows the football pyramid in Australia, it’s a must. Yes it has to be viable, no doubt about it, but it could also start as a semi pro league with minimum costs at start up.
For the record, promotion and relegation would be great down the track, by imo that’s at least a decade away, if it’s a viable option at all one day, with the size of this country. But that’s a chat for another day.
The game needs change, and fast imo, before it’s too late.