This writer is not a fan of a salary cap in any sport, as in life everything is only worth what anyone is prepared to pay for it, and at times the price appears foolish; Hence the phrase caveat emptor, or buyer beware.
We are raising this issue in relation to the APB Football West State Premier league football competition. Anyone who has watched the league in the past ten years would see that despite the excellent development programs that are now available in the state, the standard of football on offer in the state league has declined. Equally worrying is the fact that the costs of the clubs assembling half decent squads has increased, while crowds have gone south.
These are worrying times and the benefactors that many clubs have cannot continually be shelling out of their own pocket, while the team achieves mediocrity.
We are halfway through season 2010 and once again it appears to be a three horse race between Perth, Floreat Athena and the Western Knights. That is not good for any league, to have a mini league within a league, look at the English and Scottish Premier Leagues to see.
What is more of a concern is the amount of money that some clubs are spending in the hope of winning a trophy come seasons end, yet if they win nothing where will it leave the club financially?
The question has to be asked are players currently playing in the league worth the money that clubs are paying them? We feel in a great deal of cases they are not. Surely a better system would be to have players on performance-based payments, as this season some higher paid players have shown that win or lose they simply don’t care, as long as they get paid.
What has to be better for all concerned would be a team all on a hypothetical figure of $150 per week, with win bonuses being greater for the better players and a sliding scale in terms of experience and ability. A similar but lesser bonus would be available for a draw.
The thing with salary caps is they need policing, otherwise everyone looks to find ways to circumnavigate them, and that is no easy task. There is no doubt that players will still find cash in their boots after a good game, but it is the duty of those involved today to protect the future of the game, and make sure that we do not destroy some of the game’s history in WA by chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
There is no doubt some very good football being played in the APB Football West State Premier League, but there are some players who had they been playing as long as five years ago would not have made their current club’s first team.
Yes it is a very sad state of affairs, the win at all costs comes because it is costing the clubs too much to put a team on the park.
The NTC and Perth Glory youth all try and play football and are good to watch, but as we all know there are times to play football and times not to.
Similarly if a player shows individual skill encourage them, as that is what the punters want to see. If, however it is done in the wrong place and does not come off, simply make the young player aware of when and where to try such things. Only that way will they learn.
I met a young player who was in the reserves squad of a State League team. He complained that he would never get a game in the first team as he liked to play passes to feet, attack his player with the ball and was happy to play possession under pressure. This, as he explained always got him in trouble with his coaches who no doubt saw his talent but wanted to pry away the good qualities so that he would play low risk football and boot to the strikers or wingers so they didn’t get caught with the ball in the middle of the park.
That really sums up everything that you are trying to say, yes money is an issue in that it means football is results driven ie low risk for many people.
And it’s reflected in the games that i’ve watched recently with teams favouring the get it up front and deal with it there, no nonesense style of defending. A few teams break that trend but they’re the ones who spend the piles of money to get that level of football.