What Do Poll Results Reveal About Non-Attendance?

After the opening round of the NPL-WA we published a poll at the end of our piece “Hats off to Inglewood” where we asked local football fans to tell us why they no longer support this level of the game.

Apart from some comments that we had not put enough categories, and should have featured the at times questionable refereeing and a question as to whether the league itself had become stale, a high percentage of people took the time to register their views on our poll.

Despite those categories not being a part of the Poll it was interesting to look at the fact that of those that voted more than half said that the reasons they no longer go was because the standard of football is poor or because there is no marketing or promotion.

It is a clear fact that the standard has slipped, yet one has to ask why that should be the case when in 2012 the National Training Centre which hand picked the cream of the talent in Western Australia commenced playing in the State Premier League as it was known then. They have been replaced by the Perth Glory Youth team since 2014 when the NPL replaced the State League competition.

The NTC had a League squad of 21 players, a reserves squad with a similar number as well as an under 18’s squad. If one looks back at the names of the players in those squads some have had time with A-League clubs, some are still on the books or A-League clubs, others are playing in the NPL in Western Australia while some are gracing the leagues over East. Sadly though there are a great deal whom are now missing in action.

These were the cream of the crop when it came to the young up and coming players in the state. If a player was 16 in the under 18’s squad they would now be 21 and should be forcing their way into the first team at any NPL side. Certainly those in the teams above that one should be established and setting the league alight. Sadly though very few of the names from 2013 are featured in any match day programs. So what happened?

Regrettably the same is true with a large number of the players from the Perth Glory squad of 2014.

Does this imply that the “pathway” that is constantly being preached is not working? That apart from the odd individual we are simply not producing young players to play at a high level even, at the highest level in the state? Or is it that these players feel that once they have been ‘let go’ by these elite programs they have proved themselves, and now their dream of professional football is over, simply walk away? Or have some simply fallen out of love with the game after having given so much, or having been pushed to attend so many coaching sessions with the club and privately?

This should be a major concern. It is clear that it is having an impact on the local competition.

One cannot help wondering whether football as a whole would be better served having the young talented players back playing with a local club and then training as part of a Perth Glory squad that gets whittled down to a squad that represents the club in the National Youth League. Yet even in this set up there are huge issues to cope with. The workload on the young player, two coaches giving different information, and using the player differently.

There is a school of thought that believes having young talented players stay with their club sides rather than joining an elite team benefits any professional side that the player joins later. The reason being that players and supporters of that club see the achieving player as one of their own, and therefore will be there supporting that player throughout his career. The player is also proof to other young players that dreams can come true and if you are good enough you can make it to the top. Suddenly the dream becomes tangible, because someone from your club has walked that path already.

The other reason for non-attendance was the lack of Marketing and Promotion, yet if we are not producing players, and clubs are simply recycling players just as we are seeing in the A-League, it makes it hard to market and promote the competition.

However a marketing plan for the NPL was promised by the former CEO, whether it was ever produced is another matter. Certainly to date there has been little or no cohesive promotion of the league, which clearly, based on the results of this poll, is having an impact on crowds.

This was obviously an independent poll and saw just under 100 people take the time to vot e. Whether any notice is taken of it is down to the powers that be and the various clubs. Hopefully it is some guide as to why attendance numbers have dwindled at the NPL level, they may also be a link to A-League attendances.