After the shortest of romances the FFA Cup is headed for divorce after just one year. Which is a shame, but not totally unexpected.
First of the competition was rushed through to start in 2014 to make good on a promise made to the Asian Football Confederation when Australia joined Asia and left Oceania. The promise was that Australia would have a knockout Cup competition by 2013. That never eventuated, neither did a second tier competition to the A-League and with Asian Champions League spots in jeopardy, the National Premier Leagues competition – which is far from a National competition – and the FFA Cup were cobbled together. In fact the FFA submitted a document to the AFC stating the NPL would commence in 2014 before every state had actually signed up to it; in fact in Western Australia no club has signed up to be a part of the NPL still.
The FFA Cup was a great idea, the chance for State League/NPL clubs to pit their wits against the full times professionals. The hope like in every competition being that you draw one of the big teams your club has a chance to make some money.
Oh no, no, no, no. How wrong could everyone be. This competition has nothing to do with helping the semi-professional clubs make a little extra revenue, as is becoming abundantly clear.
The draw was “fixed” to ensure that at least one semi finalist comes from outside of the A-League, rather than leaving that possibility to ‘the romance of the cup.’ This was anti-climactic to start with, six A-League clubs drawn against each other and three eliminated immediately. Other fixtures proved convenient, and were again deliberate cost saving measures on what was always going to be a costly competition to run. That was unless a major sponsor came on board. Westfield did as a naming rights sponsor, the company owned by the Chairman of the FFA, Frank Lowy. No prize money figures have been announced and so far no club has received any windfall from playing in the competition.
In fact three clubs have been forced to move away from their home grounds to play A-League opposition. No compensation has been given to those clubs, and as many were warned their FFA Cup experience has ended up losing them money.
The reason given for them having to move was another example of a very uneven competition, and one tilted heavily against the non A-League sides. A-League teams require a certain standard of lighting, or Lux, to play against state league opponents. As the latest draw has shown this means that what was good enough for the Melbourne Knights is not good enough for the Central Coast Mariners!
After hosting their opening FFA Cup game against Melbourne Knights at their home ground Goodwin Park, Olympic FC been told that their ground is not of a suitable standard to host the Central Coast Mariners, so they have been forced to move the game to the Queensland Sports and Athletic Centre.
This shows what a complete and utter shambles the competition is. Firstly no club participating was told of the lighting requirements and therefore had no time in which to upgrade their lights. Do non-league teams in the UK have such lighting issues? no. Now one team has been eliminated playing under such lighting while another doesn’t have to, does that give the Knights grounds to lodge a complaint? As the rules are different depending on which team is playing.
Some clubs faced with having to hire an alternative ground have asked to play away, and hand the gate to the A-League side in return for airfares and accommodation and a set number of tickets. Something that is common in the English FA Cup if a non League side draws a club from the higher divisions. They know they stand to make more money playing away than at home and forfeit that benefit to make some money. The same rule should apply here. If the A-league side is happy to accommodate the NPL side, and give them money from the gate that they can in turn spend on new lights, or better still junior development everyone wins. However the FFA slammed down its iron fist and would not even consider such an argument.
Not surprisingly the biggest argument from the NPL clubs is if you want to move us to a ground where the lighting is better at least compensate us. Maybe they should have simply forfeited the game to ensure the message hit home? Once again their cries fall on deaf ears, as this competition has nothing to do with romance, it is purely to satisfy a requirement.
With Fox Sports only televising one game per round streaming was an ideal way for fans to stay in touch with the FFA Cup around the country. Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar paid for such a service so that their fans could watch their games in Western Australia. That too will cease from now on.
On Monday, all FFA Cup participants were advised by a memo from the FFA that “there will be no further opportunities for clubs and/or Member Federations to organise an online stream of any Westfield FFA Cup matches.”
In addition to this they advised “member federations” – all state bodies are in fact only Associate Members of the FFA – that they cannot house highlights or footage on their websites as it is “in breach of the broadcast and online contractual agreement.” What the hell happened to the FFA’s role of promoting the game? Some of the games streamed had viewing levels around 20,000. For teams playing who normally attract 200 through the gate this is great news. This is what the game needs. If people watch games like this on line then you have a the chance to entice them through the gates down the track. It shows there is interest there. If you kill that avenue the job of attracting fans becomes even harder.
How many clubs read the rules and regulations before they entered the FFA Cup this year? Probably very few, as most were excited to be a part of such a competition, and with no money filtering down to them on any level they thought this was a chance to make some money. Sadly had they read the FFA Cup and competition regulations they would have seen Article 22.2 states that “FFA has the power to require any FFA Cup Match to be played at an alternative venue or date if FFA considers it appropriate and necessary (in FFA’s sole and absolute discretion). No money or other compensation shall be payable relating to any change of venue.” Had they read that how many would have bothered to take part? How many will in the future? The money to participate can be put to far better use.
There are rumours that next season participating clubs will be asked to pay a ‘participation fee’ to help cover the undoubted high costs of running such a competition. If that is true how many can afford to be a part of such a fiasco?
The sad thing is the FFA Cup is a great concept. It is just tha it has been rushed and not thought through. It has been a marriage of convenience. There has been no love for the game and wanting to nurture club football below the A-League, it exposes those running the competition and proves the great Oscar Wilde to be so very right when he said “where there is no love there is no understanding.” The FFA Cup has proved the powers that be have no understanding of the game at grass roots and until they do this competition will fail, and so will they.
I agree with the sentiments expressed, and now I hear that here in WA the NPL clubs want to change the constitution so that their vote carries more weight than non NPL clubs. This comes back once again to self interest and not the general interest of the game.
There is no way the NPL clubs can even agree with each other except maybe in this self interest one.
Both the WA qualifiers had a chance to stand up to FFA this season but backed down because they did not want the players to lose out. Well in this case they should have because maybe the embarrassment FFA would have had would cause a change of heart. Then again we all know FFA do not give 2 hoots about grass roots football.
There is common thread in your comments guys. Thank you.
That is that the clubs need to stand up and be counted. The distressing thing is the model put forward by the Crawford report has been screwed up so badly. Every club and every state was supposed to have a say in the running of the game. The FFA has been set up to stand above the rest of the game, as mentioned several times the state bodies are not even full members of the FFA and have no voting rights. They were supposed to have a say in the election of the FFA board.
The Standing committees too have been a major disappointment and not had the affect on the running of the game that was intended, some of this has been due to the way they have been structured as well as clubs not looking at the big picture. They have not been helped by having the game’s administrators sitting in on the meetings like Big Brother.
There is no doubt the next 18 months to 2 years will be very interesting across the game…Expect the camel’s back to start creaking.
I agree Ben we cannot continue on the path we are on or the game will be taken back years. All White, you singled out one person at the FFA, there are plenty there who do not have a feel for the game and are simply administrators. That works in government run organisations but in a sports administration you must have a feel for your stakeholders, if you do not you are doomed.
I do not have a lot of time for many of the state league clubs as they have brought a lot of their troubles onto themselves over the last ten years. Their lack of unity was evident when the NPL was pushed through, even though few agreed with it and now they continue to moan about the crowds the standard of football etc. Shut up or work together and change it!
The same goes with the FFA Cup, I heard that clubs were warned it would end up costing them to be a part of the competition. They did not listen, as they always know better. Now they are finding out the hard way.
If there is a fee to enter next year simply say “no” en masse. In fact before next year’s competition all states need to say “No unless certain conditions are agreed upon.” There are more NPL clubs in the cup than A-League clubs, so you hold the balance of power. The FFA Cannot afford the competition to fail in year 2 so will have to listen, or will have to answer to the AFC. Simple politics, the NPL clubs have the numbers, they have always had the numbers, but can they unite?
The FFA Knows this and so do all the state associations and that is what they prey on. If as presidents of a club you genuinely want to make a difference for the long term good of the game and ultimately your club, put aside self interest for once and stand as one with your fellow clubs. That is the only way forward for the game. The current path the FFA are taking us down with their weak state CEOs will take 20 years to recover from. Hopefully we won’t have to wait and see that.
I could not agree more. The clubs need to take a stand – together! But they won’t as all are full of self interest and not the big picture, look at how they all towed the line re the NPL in WA, all because a few people were “Got at.” If the NPL sides withdraw the FFA cup dies. Without them there is no cup.
The FFA are totally clueless and the Damien de Bohun is useless, he is more concerned about he looks than the A-League! Why do football end up with these conveyor belt administrators who read it all in a book but have no idea how to actually do their jobs?