100-page FFA plan to arrest A-League decline, build on FFA Cup success

[Nergal]

 

FOOTBALL Federation Australia gets a lot of flak at times (much of it deserved), but sometimes it’s fair to remember the good things too — and Tuesday night at Leichhardt Oval was a timely reminder.

I’d go so far as to say the introduction of the FFA Cup is the best piece of work the Federation has done since gaining entry into the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.

At a time when the sport seems as hopelessly divided as ever over the congress issue, the Cup action was a welcome shot in the arm.

Cairns’ near miss against Sydney, and especially APIA Leichhardt’s win over reigning A-League champions Melbourne Victory, resonated so keenly because the games provided (in spades) the one thing that is all too often lacking in our senior football here in Australia.

Narrative.

Not just the obvious David versus Goliath, but (in APIA’s case) old soccer against new football, the tired part-timers against the pros in pre-season, and in Tasuku Sekiya, the kitchen hand from Japan who stole the show, when it was all supposed to be about his storied countryman, Keisuke Honda. Choose your own headline.

Victory fans may have every right to disagree, but it also speaks volumes to their size and success story over the last decade, that they are seen as such a prize scalp. It is why the result has created so many more waves than (for example) Bentleigh Greens’ success over Wellington Phoenix in the last round.

Now of course, comes the big test - how to build on these precious moments that burn so brightly but (in football’s case) seem to fizzle out all too quickly.

In fairness to FFA, there are those behind the scenes working very hard to try and arrest last season’s A-League decline.

I can exclusively reveal the governing body has compiled a 100-page report entitled “Vision 2020” — the recommendations of which are already being put into practice.

In no particular order, there is the Under-23 intra-league loan system, the strategic targeting of marquees (which ties in with greater engagement with Asia, and has resulted in the arrival of the aforementioned Honda), allied to a change in funding for such marquees.

In effect, this means Honda will cost Victory about the same as they paid for Besart Berisha - recognising the market value of a Honda-type player.

Ticket and membership prices have also come under extensive review - we should see some positive changes in that regard, including potentially, a new “Player Pass” initiative, which will give significant concessions to youngsters who already have to fork out to play for their club.

Perhaps most significantly of all, there is to be a concerted push to re-engage with active fans, and new innovations to improve the whole match-day experience. Hallelujah.

Hopefully, these things are just the start - and with the expansion race hotting up, we may just have some real buzz around the start of season fourteen.

Longer-term, it is incumbent upon the game to harness the power of what we saw at Leichhardt Oval (and Barlow Park) earlier in the week.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a true pyramid of Australian football?

I know all the arguments against - geography, finance, culture, stadiums - the list goes on.

But the arguments for are just as compelling.

There is a rich seam of talent to be mined at NPL level, and so what if some of the clubs aren’t as big as Victory or Sydney? Sporting competitions don’t always have to be equal - in fact, inequality (as we saw in the Cup) brings a very vital part of the romance to life.

APIA showed such brilliant spirit, which is an apt reminder as we chase marquees (not that they aren’t welcome of course), that it’s about driving that passion for the jersey - not the player who wears it.

Furthermore, the size of a club should never be seen as being immovable.

For example, in 1987, Burnley were in Division Four in England - they averaged 3,364 as they avoided the drop into non-league by virtue of a win on the season’s final day. Thirty years later, they are in the Premier League with average crowds of over 20,000, in a town with a population of just 73,000.

Ambition needs to be catered for; history remembered and celebrated, and (with the right safeguards put in place to protect the current ecosystem), given the opportunity to re-emerge.

Just as importantly, under-performance requires sanction - a proper sporting meritocracy, without false protection measures.

Victory experienced that on Tuesday - a poor display, and they paid the price, and were gone. That’s the beauty of football.