Winter Is Not A Season, It’s A Celebration

The title above is a quote from Indian Author Anamika Mishra, but it could soon become the tagline for the Hyundai A-League.

Much is being made of the Hyundai A-League shifting from a Summer season to a Winter season. As with all decisions there are plusses and minuses, but one cannot help feeling that this is a step in the right direction.

Reading various articles on the sport in Australia, you will invariably read about the sport fulfilling its potential. This is one of the issues that frustrates the fans the most. They want to see their brand of football competing with the other codes on a level playing field. The belief being that if it was given the same coverage and media support that it would be in a much stronger position.

Moving ahead for starters football has to stop looking over its shoulder. It has to remove the chip that it has carried for 40 years or more that it is the poor cousin of Australian sport.

The sport has to decide if it is going to try and match it with AFL and Cricket – which are the traditional Australian sports; even if their participation numbers are on the wane. If it is going to try and go head to head with these two sports and the NRL then it has to have a plan as to how it is going to change the Australian psyche, and stop the rhetoric bandied about that these are the two truly “Australian sports.”

That is not going to be easy, and such an assault will need to be strategic and well executed.

Across the country media outlets are biased towards the sports which their reporters are more adept at covering. An AFL reporter is more likely to be employed than a football writer in some cities, as they serve the needs of that media outlet best. Equally in New South Wales the same could be said in relation to Rugby League. There are many who will tell you that one of the reasons The West Australian’s circulation has dropped so dramatically has a great deal to do with the paper churning out sports stories they believe the public want, rather than what they actually want. It has become boring seeing the same sport featured on the back page of the paper for over two thirds of the year, even to diehard fans.

The best decision football has to make to climb into the Australian public’s consciousness is to be the very best it can be. To not focus on what the other sports are doing and what coverage they receive, but focus on what they need to do to be a success. Once that has been decided upon the sport then has to build a way of promoting the sport and the players that benefits the game as a whole. To be strong in that resolve and to see it through.

Football has been stymied time and time again by poor leadership. A leadership full of self interest and often ego driven. Unless that changes as history has shown over the past 30 years the game will never get ahead. It will never be taken seriously.

Moving to a Winter competition is not going to be a magic answer that will solve all of the games problems. It will however probably be a great benefit to the game.

If the sport truly believes that it has the following to be a major sport in the country then now it will have the opportunity to show just how well supported it is. The media deal the FFA or the A-League owners negotiate will have a massive impact on the outcome. Maybe they could create their own dedicated football newspaper? Crucially not a propaganda sheet, but one with contributors able to give their honest assessments. Would a dedicated TV channel be the answer? Experts will tell you that it will cost more than people realise and the pressure to find content and make that content quality content so fans tune in is a big ask and requires a big budget. (Podcast #80). However maybe they need to go down that path for a season or two away from the payTV networks, and away from the struggling commercial television stations, if only to prove the pulling power of the sport. Then they can open up the lines of communication with these outlets, and if the support is there make demands that suit them. This is where the leadership will have to show unity and a strong resolve. Such a stance will be costly at first, but ultimately could pay huge dividends. They key will come down to the planning and the execution.

One of the advantages of controlling the broadcast of their own games would mean that they can then arrange fixtures to best suit the clubs, rather than the television stations.

Football fans are traditionalists. You only have to look at the reaction if the club opts to change their shirt colour. Fans like to follow a similar match day routine; some out of a deep-rooted superstition. There can be little doubt that Perth Glory was best supported when they played their home games at the same time on a Sunday or a Saturday. Fans knew that if the game was on a Saturday the kick off would be the same time, so they could plan their lives around that. Having the kick off time change albeit by an hour from one home game to the next impacts on those fans lives and routine. Suddenly it becomes harder to attend. Or rather excuses not to attend are easier to find.

The FFA and the A-League owners have to look at the best way to pull in the fans. One way would be by having home games across the country for each club played at an agreed time. With the league possibly moving to winter there will be many who will shy away if the weather is wet or cold. So stands must be covered.

Pricing is going to be an issue. Some form of cross promotion needs to be created. With junior fees as high as they currently are across the country many families will not be able to afford for their children to play and watch an A-League match every fortnight in the same winter season.

This is where the private ownership of A-League clubs causes the sport a problem in Australia. You cannot compare Australia to the European countries that play the sport, there are so many differing factors. If the clubs had stronger links and ties with the communities they represent so many more opportunities could open up. For example junior fees could entitle the registered player to so many games free during a season. Tickets being built into those local fees. Most parents would not allow the children to go on their own, so while the children are being given a ticket the parent will probably buy one. Having the children attend regularly then you are creating fans for the future.

Club Memberships are a complete misnomer. They are essentially simply just a number of alternative ticketing packages. If fans genuinely were members they would have a voice that was heard at their local club, and it would make a huge difference. Many clubs across the world have learned the hard way that the fans make the club. Without them you are nothing. So listen to what they have to say, include them, and remember they feel that the club is “theirs” as they have invested not just money, but time and emotion into it. Players and owners will come and go, but the fans remain through thick and thin.

There are some who will say that going to a Winter competition will damage the quality of the league due to the weather that is likely to be experienced. Some will argue that this extremely unlikely as the standard has already sunk to a level from which it can only rise!

The same argument was raised in Major League Soccer in the USA in 2000 as they made the move from Summer to Winter. Interestingly the players said that playing in Summer actually had a far greater impact on the quality of the football. Those teams from the warmer states benefitted from training every day in the warmth. They were used to it.

Former USA International Eric Wynalda who scored the first goal in league’s history in its inaugural game as the San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0 has been quoted as saying “watching guys from Colorado, New York, the West Coast… they’d get twenty minutes into a game and they would just become clock watchers, saying, God, I just want this game to be over with.” Does that sound familiar to some teams travelling in the A-League in the height of Summer?

Wynalda went on to say that the games were slower as a result. He also admitted that they made the teams used to the heat look better than they may have been, as they could attack the players that were too tired defend. So will the Winter league result in more competitive and even matches? The chances are that it will.Crucial to that will be the way the games are refereed, but that is a topic for another day.

While it is understandable that football fans want to see football played across the globe under similar conditions sometimes there has to be some give and take. Looking ahead to the Winter league, one of the plusses would be that all of the State League competitions are being played at the same time. So those kick off times are going to be very important if local players are going to attend games.

If, then there is to be the much wanted promotion and relegation from a second division then a whole set of issues come to the fore. Once again a great deal of planning will need to go into the creation of this second tier for it to work and compliment the local competitions rather than decimate them.

We all know that currently the A-League clubs have junior teams playing in the State NPL competitions. Now officially players on a full professional contract should be ineligible to play in the NPL under FIFA Regulations, as the two are seperate competitions. In some cases the NPL clubs are completely separate entities too, and according to FIFA, players cannot have a dual registration, despite what the local administrators say.(No Two Ways About It)

Would football not be wise to look at the way hockey runs in Australia. The High Performance unit for the Australian men’s and Women’s teams are located in Perth. All of the players that are part of that program are then drafted to local clubs. They play for them when they are not required by the National program.

Surely such a program would have a far greater long reaching benefit to the game as a whole if in a winter competition, those fringe first team or squad players with the A-League clubs and even the second division sides were drafted to local clubs? If we are to grow the game as a whole, keeping the A-League as the pinnacle, and then if the second division comes in, would this not be a benefit? Those not in the first team receive game time, so stay match fit. They also form a link with a local club, which may encourage those members to come and watch when they represent the A-league club.

Nick Tana when owner of the Glory tried such a system with the local clubs, but there were two stumbling blocks. Some coaches were in awe of the players allocated to their club, and let them have to much rope, while the ego of some players would see them hang themselves. Others were model professionals. The Western Force and Rugby WA also embarked on such a system with huge success. As those players, as with hockey helped raise the standard of the players around them. So should football look at doing the same? Obviously they would need to get the OK from FIFA, but if it helps develop players then it has to be worth considering. After all look at the players that came through when the various leagues around Australia imported players from Poland, The Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Scotland and England.

One concern that many have with the A-League owners taking control of the flagship competition is whether we have the right people running the game and that they are there for the right reasons. Communication, and openness is going to bet the key for this group of people. Many have money and egos that mean that in normal business they don’t care what people think of them. Yet football, in fact all sport is about people. They may have to make hard decisions but if they communicate the reasons behind those decisions then they are more likely to have the fans onboard. A failure to engage the fans and have honest open dialogue with them will cause them more damage than good. Major League Soccer realised this mistake, and soon after they started to work with the fans the league started to turn around.

The FFA in the early days of the A-League thought they knew best, and unfortunately alienated a large number of fans when they foolishly opted not to acknowledge the league competition before theirs, – the National Soccer League, – ever existed. The NSL had its faults but those clubs, many with origins in cultures from overseas kept the game alive, and produced many of the “Golden Generation” that was bringing them exposure and success at international level.

The Crawford report recommended each major city have two teams so that there were local derbies. If a second tier is to happen then it is vital that the cities with just one A-League team have a team in the second tier.

As with the MLS, the FFA and the A-League owners also have to be working towards dedicated football stadia, that the clubs own. This will give them and their fans a home, a focal point and also an opportunity to make money on a match day rather than lose it. In the case of Perth’s rectangular stadium maybe a sharing of the stadium could be arranged with a shared merchandise shop. They could even have the Western Force as a co-owner. Ideally the old stand would be knocked down and changing rooms erected dedicated specifically to each specific team.

Moving forward if the game is going to connect as a whole then the FFA Cup must be played at the grounds of the non-A-League clubs that qualify if they are drawn at home. They have earned that right. If their floodlights are not up to scratch then they should be allowed to play the match on the weekend. Also if there is money coming into the game from televising these games some of that money has to trickle down to these clubs. They have earned that and play a part in making this cup competition a success. The draw must also no longer be stacked to ensure that a non-A-League side makes the semi finals. Real football fans want a real competition, not manufactured ones. With second division teams participating in the competition, that would be the perfect time to make this a genuine knockout cup competition.

There are many good people within the game. Sadly it’s reputation over the years has been tarnished by those who have put themselves ahead of the game itself, or are there to simply to further their own careers. Others have used the game as a pawn in their business dealings. Those who elect many of these people need to be held accountable by the masses, or no matter what changes are made the game will never live up to expectations. It is no use bleating about it, it is time to stand up and be counted. There is no doubt football can compete with the other codes. The potential is there, but the leadership and the vision in the past has not been.

If the sport is to make a success of changing from a Summer season to a Winter season there is so much attached to making that work. Just switching seasons will not be a magic fix, and anyone who believes that is a fool.

It has become tiresome constantly hearing how the sport ‘is the highest participation sport in the country,’ as if that comes with entitlements. What that does confirm is that the sport has people who know the game, who are playing the game, who love the game, all potential customers and fans. Never has it been more important that the clubs within the national competition stand for something that these potential fans can connect with. Some of the clubs have to reconnect with the communities that they represent. Few in Football currently do. This is an area where the AFL and the NRL have it over football. Their clubs are strongly linked to the communities they represent, and as a result those communities support them. (Finding an Identity The Key Moving Forward)

So it doesn’t matter whether football is the most played game in the country, as those playing it are not currently engaged with the clubs playing at the highest level. One thing that the current A-League clubs need to be wary of is that many of the clubs that are likely to make up the second division, are community clubs. They have history on their side, and many playing the game know what they stand for. If the right clubs are selected to be a part of the Second Division, they potentially could swing support their way. In fact the second tier could end up attracting more support.

Certainly plenty to ponder above and beyond the changing of the seasons.