Has The NPL Derailed Football in WA?

We have all heard stories of gamblers who keep betting $20 sums or more and lose track of how much they have spent. Their spend may be between $200 – $500 before they record a $100 win that they celebrate as a victory. Many shake their heads in sympathy as obviously the gambler is losing money in order to achieve small returns.

Cast your minds back to the turn of this century and when it came to football the same thing was happening across the country. Soccer Australia every four years would gamble everything on World Cup qualification and lose. Many a National Soccer League club was running at a loss, as their expenditure far outpaced their incomings. The return of Frank Lowy and the creation of the Football Federation of Australia was meant to reverse that trend.

In 2005 Australia qualified for the FIFA World Cup and would compete in Germany 2006 after a break of 32 years. It was hailed as a watershed moment for the sport, yet had Mark Schwarzer failed to save that penalty from Uruguayan Zalayeta, the game could have taken a very different path.

Chairman Frank Lowy and his CEO John O’Neill gambled too. They threw every resource at their disposal in order to qualify for the 2006 World Cup Finals. The timing was vital as this would be the best opportunity to propel the game into the new era of “Football.” The qualifying game was ideally just three months before the start of the new national competition, the Hyundai A-League.

The irony was that after years of mismanagement by those charged with running the game this success came about thanks to a massive gamble. It was John O’Neill who kept stated the phrase “No stone left unturned.” Yet how quickly people forget that four years earlier, the then Soccer Australia chairman Ian Knop was heavily criticised for talking about “plan B” when there wasn’t one. Was there ever one for Lowy and O’Neill? Or were they just lucky that their gamble came off?

Of course the World Cup Qualification and the subsequent performance in Germany really lifted the sport to new levels. The dawn of the A-League and the coverage from Fox Sports had everyone believing that football really had come of age, that it would now usurp some of the other sports in terms of media attention and coverage. Yet sadly it wasn’t to be. However, there have been a number of plusses along the way.

The Socceroos have qualified for three World Cups in a row, they have won the Asia Cup, as have the Matildas who have really climbed in the World’s estimations and are a genuine medal hope in major tournaments. They too now have a league of their own.

Yet it is the levels below the elite level that are of the gravest concern when it comes to the future of the game. Regrettably the leaders at the FFA concentrated their efforts and attention on first of all the Socceroos as a brand and then the A-League, but neglected the leagues that underpin both of those important parts of the game.

Forced by the Asian Football Confederation to create a competition that was supposed to be a “second division” to the A-League the then technical Director of the FFA, Han Berger, adapted a model that was used in the Netherlands and with a few cut and pastes came up with the National Premier Leagues model. The FFA being blinded by the brilliant orange of the Dutch accepted the proposal and were convinced that it would immediately solve all of their problems.

If we look at Western Australia the NPL has been far from the saviour it was being promoted as being. Sadly some clubs bought into the dream and now are finding themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The selection process in Western Australia as most will know was flawed. However some of the criteria put down to be in the NPL had its merits such as improving the standard of club grounds. Some have improved considerably, some have improved by the least amount, some have done nothing, and regrettably in many cases the actual pitches have been allowed to deteriorate to levels that would never have been accepted in the past; thereby making good football hard to play.

The NPL was we were told the direct result of the National Competition Review. It was in fact solely to satisfy a promise made to the AFC that there would be a second tier to the A-League by 2013. The aims of the NPL we were told were:
1). “Create greater consistency across the Member Federation top leagues across Australia;”
2). “Recognise the role that State League clubs are playing to develop players, and showcase local talent;”
3). “Raise overall standards in club management;”
4). “Improve the financial and commercial position of state leagues and clubs.”

According to the official NPL documents and website in order “to be eligible to participate in the NPL within each Member Federation, and in addition to sporting merit, clubs must meet uniform national criteria including:

Total number of teams and age groups;
Youth development practices, including the implementation of the National Curriculum;
Coach accreditation criteria including the introduction of a Technical Director in each club;
Organisational planning including finance, business planning and organisational structure;
Greater oversight regarding the charging of player registration fees;
Facility standards and improvement;
Adoption of a player points system which incentivises clubs to develop players through their youth team structure as well as produce talent which progresses to national pathway programs and the Foxtel Y-League, Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League and FFA National Teams.”

There is no doubt that clubs needed to become more professional on and off the park, but the NPL was never the answer. It was ill conceived and rushed through to satisfy the AFC and make sure that the A-League clubs kept two Asian Champions League places.

Historically some clubs have been good at developing players while others have had money to poach those players when they are ripe and ready. Now all have been forced to have junior development programs, which has come at a cost. Coach accreditation and keeping it up to date has also come at a cost. If clubs are not paying for it, the coaches are, and if they are paying then they want a higher fee to offset that investment.

Just as happened with Rugby Union around the globe when the game went professional in 1996 and the top players were suddenly being paid to play, once the A-League players were on decent salaries as full time players, the demands from players in the NPL rose. The clubs foolishly have met these demands, and now find themselves paying out three or four times the prize money they are playing for. Football has ignored the fact that in Rugby Union the paying of first team players and coaches actually saw a reduction in junior teams at clubs. The reason being there was no longer the money to support these junior clubs.

Maybe that is being harsh. Maybe Football did see that as a problem, hence the exorbitant fees that the parents of Juniors have been forced to pay. Sadly you cannot have a sustainable sport if the money is coming from the bottom. It must filter down from the top in oder to feed the bottom and keep the talent coming through. The current football model has made the game almost elitist, in that only those with money can now afford to play.

Promises were made that money would filter down to the NPL. That sponsors would be found and the money split between clubs. That hasn’t happened.

Even if an NPL club qualifies for the FFA Cup there is next to no money that comes to them as a reward. In fact many have to play at alternate venues, so it actually costs them to play in the competition. Prize money only comes into play if you win your game when you reach the last 16, and then you only receive $2000 which is unlikely to cover any team’s match day wage bill. So far in four years of the FFA Cup 13 teams outside of the A-league have claimed that money and of course the way the draw is set up one of those is guaranteed a place in the semi finals each year and claims $10,000. What about revenue from television if their game is aired? Again no money comes down to the club, unlike other similar competitions around the globe. So how are the clubs to make money?

The Prize money for the winning team is only $50,000. The losing finalist receives $25,000. As these are traditionally A-League clubs, again the amount would not cover the weekly wage bill. So once again the clubs are playing in a tournament where there rewards are not going to exceed their costs. Sure they may gain revenue from home games but again there are costs as no A-League team owns their home ground, and sadly the crowds do not match the A-League crowds as fans have yet to totally buy into the FFA Cup concept.

A salary cap was introduced into the NPL but was not policed. The venue requirements to be in the NPL were watered down and again not enforced; or only enforced when it suited.

The points system has seen the league trying to be two things at the same time. It is trying to be a top level competition in the state but also a development league. It is hard to find any such competition where this has worked. Players are either good enough to play at the top level or they are not. It would be hard to see how this points system has helped development of players on this much talked about “pathway.”

The sad facts are costs have risen. Yet revenue has all but dried up, and many clubs now find themselves in a precarious financial situation. Some are in debt as they continue to try and stay in touch with the top performing clubs by matching the salaries they are offering. Some will unless they are not very careful face extinction in the next five years.

Very few of the clubs have a community presence. In the main because their hard working committee members and volunteers are focussing all of there attention on servicing all of the teams they now have, and making sure they have those teams on the park each week. There is no time for anything else. Even the match day program has become a thing of the past at many grounds. Or they only print 20 to fulfil their obligations.

It is a very sad time for football after so much promise, and so many promises.

Interestingly English Cricket had a similar problem in the 1960’s. Prior to the early ’60’s County clubs were made up of professionals and amateurs, so not all players were paid. Crowds were dwindling and the clubs were spending more money than they could generate. The decline was put down to television and the dawn of the car. People were now able to drive around at weekends, which opened up new horizons to families. Another reason for poor attendances was the standard of the grounds and the food and drink on offer, the queues to buy such fare and poor views from many parts of the grounds. Finally another key factor that was mentioned, was that teams were starting to play not to lose, rather than to win.

Are not many of these issues pertinent to football in WA at this point in time?

Life today has many distractions and people’s attention spans are not what they used to be, so to entice them to come and watch football rather than do something else or watch another sport is going to be hard. As mentioned, attempts were made to improve the venues at which clubs play, but have these improvements not just been band-aid solutions in many cases? Would the game not have benefitted more had a concerted effort been made to lobby for funding to improve all of these grounds to make them more of a community asset rather than chasing the dream of a centralised “Home of Football?” Surely twenty grounds with up to date facilities and decent stands and kitchens in which to prepare palatable food would draw more people to games and to hire the grounds? Certainly local schools would jump at the chance to play in a nice stadium.(Time to Leave Home)

Sadly players from clubs in the top league rarely come and watch the Grand final these days. As for the juniors at these clubs, how many of them watch the first team, and want to emulate a certain player? So if people playing the game are not watching the task is going to be hard to attract new fans.

Interestingly back in the 1960’s English Cricket highlighted radio as one of the key factors in helping the game out of its slump. Why? It has been credited as having an impact because the commentators ‘brought the game to life.’ They drew listeners in, and created an atmosphere, as well as heroes. Surely the modern day version of this is live streaming, but not just vision. Top quality commentary has the power to lift a dull game and that can work wonders in promoting the sport.

English Cricket turned professional in 1962. The NPL here in Western Australia is still classified as semi-professional, yet it is in fact closer to amateur football these days. The “visa player” is no longer the definition of what a “visa player” used to be. Today these players happen in many cases to be foreign players who are in Australia for a couple of years and want to play football. The NPL rules state that a visa player is “somebody who is NOT an Australian Citizen or does NOT have permanent residency – includes: 457, 421, Tourist, Student visas.” The “Visa Players” of yesteryear were quality footballers from overseas, what the A-League would call Marquee Players. They were players who raised the standard of the team and the league. They were players you wanted to watch, players who stood out. They were players that clubs went in search of, not who simply turned up.

The players of yesteryear may have partied hard but they played hard too. There was no going off on holiday during a season. These players made a commitment to play for a club and play for it they did, for the whole season. Why a modern day club would pay any player who is not prepared to make such a commitment is hard to fathom.

The clubs knew players were under contract and so in those days, although there were players being ‘tapped up,’ there was a way business was done. If the club had established after the ‘tap’ that a player was keen to move to their club they would then make a request to their current club to be allowed to talk to the player. Then the clubs would agree a transfer fee. Today there are no transfer fees. In fact today we have seen some clubs pay out money to sort out residency for a player only to see that player move on to another club. So why would clubs not have players on contracts, especially if they are paying them?

When Cricket turned professional the transfer of players suddenly became a discussion point and the argument in favour of such a move was a valid one. Christopher Martin-Jenkins wrote “We need a leavening of talent; the best players in the best teams. It may mean a transfer system. It does not matter. There is nothing immoral or wrong about buying a player. If his purchase injects new life into an ailing club, apparently doomed to stereotyped mediocrity, it can only be a change for the better.”

Of course Cricket introduced bonus points to the County Championship to try and stop negative play. Maybe football needs to look at the same, something along the lines of a bonus point if you score three goals or more?

Making all players professional in the 1960’s ruffled a lot of feathers. So too did the introduction of one-day cricket via the Gillete Cup in 1963. Yet these changes were crucial in terms of keeping the game alive and England competitive.

The NPL was “designed to raise the standard of elite ‘state league’ football.” It has not done that. It was we were told going “to create a more inclusive spectator experience for football fans.” It hasn’t done that. In fact if one reads back on the document presented there are many other issues that we were told would happen, or be put in place, which haven’t.

Just like many of the A-league clubs, NPL Clubs are now spending money they do not have to win a prize that fails to cover their expenses. There has been much talk of how the A-league has to change to stop it stagnating, but surely more importantly there needs to be not just talk, but action, to stop the NPL WA and many of our historic clubs from dying? If they die then the supply line to the A-League and the Socceroos dries up. Already it has been said that Perth Glory look interstate for players rather than the NPL. That alone says that things need to change.

Do the clubs want to change? Are they prepared to work together to change? Will the powers that be allow them to change the way things are, or are they prepared to let some of these clubs be consigned to history? The most important goal has to be to get Football back on track here in Western Australia. If that can be achieved everyone wins.