Last week the Football Federation of Australia announced two new Franchises for the A-League. It is fair to say that the announcement was met by indifference rather than excitement.
One new team, Western Melbourne will join the A-League in season 2019/2020, and the other team, South Western Sydney in 2020/2021. “Not a perfect outcome” was how the new Chairman of the FFA Chris Nikou described the situation, while putting a spin on the plusses of the staggered introduction being that it gave the FFA time to negotiate with the clubs, the PFA and Fox as a broadcaster as to when the sixth match will be played each weekend.
Why has this news been met with such indifference? The main reason is clear. Despite the fans wanting an expanded league the FFA were caught up in a war of Governance that took all of their attention. So self-seeking did it all appear that many questioned whether those running the game were there for the good of the game or for their own ego.
The Governance issues were only sorted out just over a month ago. Hot on the heels of a new Board and the first Chairman that was not a member of the Lowy family came the announcement of expansion to the A-League. The timing smacks of politicians smugly telling their voters they delivered on an election promise.
The bias of more teams in Melbourne and Sydney has been explained away as one of cost, one of stimulating genuine revenue with now three local derbies in each city; Derbies that will no doubt be given ridiculous names in the coming seasons.
It therefore appears that it was no coincidence that only one of the six bidders shortlisted to become a part of the A-League came from outside these two cities.
The successful bids both come down to money. An expansion that appears to give the fans what they want, but the limited extra travel costs with the teams being based in the two major cities restricts the financial impact.
The Western Melbourne bid is supposed to have won through on a promise that it will be located at a privately funded stadium, one they claim will be “owned by football for football.” If it eventuates it has to be called “Field of Dreams.” For in the movie of the same name Kevin Costner’s character is told “Build it and they will come.”
Kate Roffey, who has been dubbed Wyndham Council’s ”director of deals” is a key component when it comes to the new stadium. She was the one who acted as the facilitator between the public body and the private investors to create the dream of this purpose built stadium. If it succeeds no doubt other clubs will be looking to adopt similar working relationships.
However the big question is will expansion of the A-League re-invigorate it? Will we see flatlining crowds and dropping viewership on Fox Sports be arrested and start heading in the other direction with new teams competing? The FFA and the current A-League club owners will no doubt be hoping that is the case.
Yet many life-long football fans have simply become jaded with the game and the fact that it continues to make the same mistakes again and again. That power and the egos of many come ahead of the game itself. The Franchise model that created the A-league has not helped. Regrettably the owners understandably leverage their ownership for media attention, and some are better known than their own players and that is not the way its supposed to be.
Where the Franchise model fails is that football may be big business now, but the clubs that have become big businesses did not start out that way. They started out as a club that represented an area, a city, a town, and in some cases a religious section of that city or town.
Football clubs are businesses now. However for that business to be a success today, if you do not have the history of European and South American clubs you need to tap into the consciousness of the people that are your target audience. You do not open a shop on any street corner. If you are smart you do your market research, you assess the foot traffic passing by, and so many other factors that will have a bearing on whether your business will be a success or not.
When it comes to sport, fans need to feel an attachment to the club they support. They have to have found something that makes them feel that the club is part of them, a part of their community. Once they feel that the club has the same values as they do, and that it is stands for the same things that matter to them, they will support it. They will ride the pain of every loss, every bad signing and every coach that struggles. Equally they will share in the success, and feel that they are part of that success. That they made a difference coming every week, buying merchandise and flying the flag with a bumper sticker on their car.
This is where some of the A-League clubs have failed. They have pulled in Football fans who were teenagers when Australia qualified for the World Cup Finals of 2006. These are the fans who were caught up in the euphoria of that moment, and believed that football really was “The Game” in Australia, and was finally going to be given the media coverage and recognition that it deserves. They were the dreamers. These were the fans on which the A-league was built. Close behind them were those whose first World Cup memory was those finals in 2006.
The trouble was these fans were and still are part of a football community but not all were or are part of a community club. Many are now in their late twenties or early thirties, they are settling down, becoming parents, concentrating on their careers. They still follow football, but the pull to be there every week is simply not strong enough for them to make sure they do not miss a game.
To be fair the scheduling of games does not help. Sports fans are by and large creatures of habit. Although Premier League clubs have coped with different kick off times, that is because they are playing in one of the top competitions in the world. In other leagues where teams are very much a part of the community kick off times are in the main at regular times week-in-week-out.
The FFA have stated that their ideal number of teams in the A-League for a proper home and away season is 14. Few would argue with that. Although if the make up of the league is going to be Sydney and Melbourne-centric it will go the way of the NSL.
In the NSL there were too many teams in these cities. It is like an airline flying into a city. There is not much benefit if it flies to the same city as three other carriers, all the new Carrier does is dilute the existing market and it becomes a price war until one pulls out. You have to bring new business to be a success. Everyone struggles in a saturated market.
If Football is to succeed Brisbane need a rivalry with another team from Queensland, Adelaide and Perth need a local rival as well. “The Long Distance Derby” simply cuts no mustard with the fans. They want a rivalry that causes banter in the workplace.
Yet with an ideal league size of 14 one city is going to miss out on a local derby. Of course that is if the League does in fact expand to 14 teams.
The new board of the FFA were supposed to be delivering reform and change. Yet so far, and its only been a month, we have seen little change from the mistakes of the past.
Already following the expansion announcement Western Sydney Wanderers chairman Paul Lederer, has stated that any further expansion must be under an independent A-League model.
This understandably resulted in many questioning what he means, specifically when he talks about Independence. This comment was surely a reminder that the clubs now hold a fair degree of power, and within those clubs there are a few who hold the balance of power. Of course this will all become more evident when we see the make up of the working group who will look at the establishment of a second division in Australia. It is hard to imagine that the current A-League owners will ever allow this to happen, let alone with relegation and promotion.
If there is truth in the rumour that the current A-League license owners have an agreed 15 year tenure you can definitely kiss that goodbye. Which ironically could prove to be the kiss of death for the A-league as we know it.
It is understandable that the owners want to protect their patch, they have invested heavily in their clubs. Yet this protection of their club’s future will be to their detriment. It will mean that some clubs can wallow in mediocrity. That some will never be ambitious enough to challenge for the title, their owners will be more interested in survival and ensuring they reap the benefits of being a club owner.
Expansion may help in the short term, but the A-League still has a long way to go before it is back on solid ground. The key to future success is to create clubs that are a fabric of a community and reflect the people who support them . Until that happens across the nation football will continue to struggle to be accepted despite its participation numbers. Clearly people are playing the game and love the game, but they do not feel connected to the A-League or its clubs.
Great article one again! Hit the nail on the head. There is little or no community about A-League clubs. As for values and what they stand for I am not sure they even know.
I would call myself a football fan, but I have lost all interest in the A-League. When it started I would watch games on TV and go and watch the Glory. Now I rarely even know when they are playing, and would rather watch anything but the A-League. The Fox product is so dull and boring, the experts are only there because they want a job after football and talk rubbish. The two exceptions being Kozzie and Boz. Some of the others how they ever got a job as pundits is astounding, and most were panel beaters of footballers. So why would I listen to them?