The Australian Football team has come a long way since 2006. From securing a Word Cup Finals appearance in which they were more than competitive in after controversially being knocked out in the final 16 at the hands of eventual tournament champions Italy to then qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, although with much less success than the our previous tournament. The alarming thing however, is when I look at the future of the Socceroos and have trouble to identify the next of Australia’s Harry Kewell's, Tim Cahill's, Brett Emerton's, Lucas Neil's or Mark Schwarzers. This got me me thinking, “where is the problem?” After a lot of pondering, I have come to the conclusion the problem is the A-league.
The A-league is a shambles. Teams have been brought in too early & too fast with seemingly little research and preparation. The majority of A-league clubs have, from the onset of the competition, Established themselves in not only the Rugby League dominated areas of North Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney and Newcastle but also the AFL dominated areas of Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. This could have only ever resulted in one way for the A-League…Minuscule attendance records, low fan-bases and becomes merely a playground for once star players, who have since passed their prime, to come to retire. Essentially the A-League is a graveyard.
The A-league is a shambles. Teams have been brought in too early & too fast with seemingly little research and preparation. The majority of A-league clubs have, from the onset of the competition, Established themselves in not only the Rugby League dominated areas of North Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney and Newcastle but also the AFL dominated areas of Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. This could have only ever resulted in one way for the A-League…Minuscule attendance records, low fan-bases and becomes merely a playground for once star players, who have since passed their prime, to come to retire. Essentially the A-League is a graveyard.
The A-league has also ‘shot it's self in the foot’ in terms of potential growth. By giving teams labels such as "Sydney FC", "Perth Glory", "Brisbane Roar" & “Adelaide United”, Clubs are covering the whole of the cities of which they reside which eliminates the potential of multiple clubs in the one city which has proven successful in their rival codes of NRL and AFL. By doing this, clubs are faced only with the potential to pick 25 players from the hundreds of quality players within their cities. As a result, The A-League loses out on many quality local footballers as they scouted and signed by professional football clubs abroad who are better enabled to provide the players with the opportunity kick-start their careers in Football.
Rather than naming the squads Sydney and such, why not split them into 4 districts North, West, South & East. Sure you may only start with say Sydney East and being the only Sydney team they can pick whoever they like from Sydney, However, the chance for expansion is there when required. On the topic of expansion, the A-league needs to grow much bigger should structure themselves around that of European leagues.
Rather than naming the squads Sydney and such, why not split them into 4 districts North, West, South & East. Sure you may only start with say Sydney East and being the only Sydney team they can pick whoever they like from Sydney, However, the chance for expansion is there when required. On the topic of expansion, the A-league needs to grow much bigger should structure themselves around that of European leagues.
In comparison to Australia, England is minuscule. Yet, they still enjoy the luxury of 82 additional professional clubs than their Australian counterpart. Now, these clubs don't have to be massive and I understand in England Football is the number 1 sport of choice, whereas Australian football must compete with the AFL and NRL, However, strategically placed clubs will improve the position of football in the Australian sporting landscape immensely. At least one extra team in South Australia and Western Australia and definitely extra teams in New South Wales and Queensland should see a boost in the competitiveness of the A-League Competition and, as a result, a boost in the supporter volumes of the A-league which could see them prove to be a strong competitor in the fight for Australian sporting supremacy.
Another option would be to make university football more professional, basing it on the American College Football League as it provides young football players a foothold into the professional football arena rather than the tedious travels and trials they may otherwise have to involve themselves in which often consumes significant amounts of time and money, both of which are commodities which University students are typically known to lack. In another view, University football would also encourage young Australians to aspire to attend University at the conclusion of their schooling life. Footballing Scholarships could be available and more prestigious to universities which has the potential to increase the quality of football of which is played in Australia.
Obviously in selecting the teams you will have to be realistic. They will have to have a decent ground with facilities close by and would have to be a relatively established team. Another theory would be taking the respective states best Premier League teams and placing them in a second tier competition, under the A-league and introduce relegation teams such as" Marconi Stallions & Blacktown City " Or the respective state equivalent of these semi-professional teams.
I know it's not quite as easy as that but we must attempt something to prevent the A-league from diminishing even further. The FFA needs to open their eyes and see what has worked for other places and we need to follow suit Otherwise this nation, which has always excelled at sports, will settle for mediocrity in the worlds biggest and best game.
No comments:
Post a Comment