Sean
Well-Known Member
http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/ffa-must-act-to-avoid-rugbys-ills/2008/04/14/1208025091340.html
FFA must act to avoid rugby's ills
Michael Cockring
RUGBY is in crisis, or so the story goes. Football has never been in better shape, and so it seems. But look beneath the surface and football is in grave danger of repeating rugby's mistakes. The question is whether the custodians of the game can head off the danger before it's too late.
The A-League season is over, the Socceroos are in recess, but football never stops. The glitz may be missing, but the energy isn't. It's there on suburban fields across the country every weekend. Those who pay to watch the A-League, or the national team, dip into their pockets again for the privilege of playing the game they love. Football's great strength - the one that nourished it through the hard times - has always been its participation rate. It's the envy of the other codes, which charge a lot less and give a lot more. Truth be told, football's staggering growth has been achieved by accident, not design. But luck always runs out in the end.
As the AFL gets ready to open the war chest for another assault on the hearts and minds of the uncommitted, the FFA needs to react. It can't spend money it doesn't have, but it can spend time. And this is the time - when the grassroots has roused itself - to start listening, or there's trouble ahead.
When Frank Lowy led the revolution in 2003, he drew a line in the sand. His lieutenant, John O'Neill, summed it up with typical panache. On one side was "old soccer". On the other was "new football". It was a philosophy for the time, but it served its purpose. It's time to put a divided game back together again.
Before the A-League, there was the NSL. For 27 years, it was the showpiece competition of the game. It had its faults, but it did have longevity. And in that time, for better or worse, it built up a foundation: generations of players, supporters, coaches and backers. Some of these people jumped across the divide and are involved in the A-League. Many others didn't, however, and the perception is strong that the NSL has been air-brushed from history.
The fact is it's still there. In second-tier leagues across the country, famous clubs such as Adelaide City, Sydney Olympic, South Melbourne, Sydney United, Brisbane Strikers and Marconi are still surviving. But they're not thriving, and many would argue that they're dying. It's not a matter of saving these clubs, per se. It's a matter of giving them - as well as emerging district clubs such as Manly United, Sutherland Sharks and Macarthur Rams - a reason to keep investing. Second-tier football across Australia is in crisis, and in the long term the A-League cannot exist in splendid isolation.
Which is where the rugby comparison is so striking. When rugby went professional 12 years ago, head office focused solely on the pointy end of the game: the Wallabies and the provinces. Clubs such as Randwick, Gordon, Eastwood, Brothers and Manly were left to wither on the vine. A decade of neglect has left rugby suffering in the numbers game. Fewer players. Fewer viewers. Fewer supporters. Less money. That's what happens when you weaken the rest of the pyramid. It cracks.
Football hasn't cracked up, yet. But after five years of apathy, the signs are worrying. Take Sydney Olympic for example. Last weekend, one of the best-supported clubs in the old NSL hosted Penrith-Nepean United in front of just 800 fans at Belmore. The faces in the stands were the same, but there were not nearly as many of them. In the halcyon days of Nick Politis, this club spent about $3 million a year on football. Now, it spends about 10 per cent of that. Yet the club still fields six youth league teams, which is six more than Sydney FC. Grassroots football still funnels into second-tier leagues around the country, and clubs such as Sydney Olympic continue to shoulder their share of the development burden. This is the sort of infrastructure which has been jeopardised by neglect.
There are signs that the FFA is waking up to the threat. John O'Neill was never likely to be a peacemaker, but Ben Buckley is making the right noises about the need to re-engage. The new national youth league was a missed opportunity to give second-tier clubs an incentive. But an FFA Cup - which is back on the agenda - might bring them closer to the fold. A national second division is an even better solution to ending the mutual distrust, and re-energising the second level of the game.
Sadly, though, there's a feeling the FFA prefers to play a risky waiting game. Waiting for the ethnic clubs to perish, so the pyramid can be rebuilt in a more corporate-friendly image. It's a fraught strategy. Who's to say if Sydney Olympic, or Marconi, disappear, there will be someone else to take their place?
The game has a history, it has an infrastructure, it has a soul and it should be proud it does. Rugby forgot all this, and paid a price. Football has to learn from those mistakes.
FFA must act to avoid rugby's ills
Michael Cockring
RUGBY is in crisis, or so the story goes. Football has never been in better shape, and so it seems. But look beneath the surface and football is in grave danger of repeating rugby's mistakes. The question is whether the custodians of the game can head off the danger before it's too late.
The A-League season is over, the Socceroos are in recess, but football never stops. The glitz may be missing, but the energy isn't. It's there on suburban fields across the country every weekend. Those who pay to watch the A-League, or the national team, dip into their pockets again for the privilege of playing the game they love. Football's great strength - the one that nourished it through the hard times - has always been its participation rate. It's the envy of the other codes, which charge a lot less and give a lot more. Truth be told, football's staggering growth has been achieved by accident, not design. But luck always runs out in the end.
As the AFL gets ready to open the war chest for another assault on the hearts and minds of the uncommitted, the FFA needs to react. It can't spend money it doesn't have, but it can spend time. And this is the time - when the grassroots has roused itself - to start listening, or there's trouble ahead.
When Frank Lowy led the revolution in 2003, he drew a line in the sand. His lieutenant, John O'Neill, summed it up with typical panache. On one side was "old soccer". On the other was "new football". It was a philosophy for the time, but it served its purpose. It's time to put a divided game back together again.
Before the A-League, there was the NSL. For 27 years, it was the showpiece competition of the game. It had its faults, but it did have longevity. And in that time, for better or worse, it built up a foundation: generations of players, supporters, coaches and backers. Some of these people jumped across the divide and are involved in the A-League. Many others didn't, however, and the perception is strong that the NSL has been air-brushed from history.
The fact is it's still there. In second-tier leagues across the country, famous clubs such as Adelaide City, Sydney Olympic, South Melbourne, Sydney United, Brisbane Strikers and Marconi are still surviving. But they're not thriving, and many would argue that they're dying. It's not a matter of saving these clubs, per se. It's a matter of giving them - as well as emerging district clubs such as Manly United, Sutherland Sharks and Macarthur Rams - a reason to keep investing. Second-tier football across Australia is in crisis, and in the long term the A-League cannot exist in splendid isolation.
Which is where the rugby comparison is so striking. When rugby went professional 12 years ago, head office focused solely on the pointy end of the game: the Wallabies and the provinces. Clubs such as Randwick, Gordon, Eastwood, Brothers and Manly were left to wither on the vine. A decade of neglect has left rugby suffering in the numbers game. Fewer players. Fewer viewers. Fewer supporters. Less money. That's what happens when you weaken the rest of the pyramid. It cracks.
Football hasn't cracked up, yet. But after five years of apathy, the signs are worrying. Take Sydney Olympic for example. Last weekend, one of the best-supported clubs in the old NSL hosted Penrith-Nepean United in front of just 800 fans at Belmore. The faces in the stands were the same, but there were not nearly as many of them. In the halcyon days of Nick Politis, this club spent about $3 million a year on football. Now, it spends about 10 per cent of that. Yet the club still fields six youth league teams, which is six more than Sydney FC. Grassroots football still funnels into second-tier leagues around the country, and clubs such as Sydney Olympic continue to shoulder their share of the development burden. This is the sort of infrastructure which has been jeopardised by neglect.
There are signs that the FFA is waking up to the threat. John O'Neill was never likely to be a peacemaker, but Ben Buckley is making the right noises about the need to re-engage. The new national youth league was a missed opportunity to give second-tier clubs an incentive. But an FFA Cup - which is back on the agenda - might bring them closer to the fold. A national second division is an even better solution to ending the mutual distrust, and re-energising the second level of the game.
Sadly, though, there's a feeling the FFA prefers to play a risky waiting game. Waiting for the ethnic clubs to perish, so the pyramid can be rebuilt in a more corporate-friendly image. It's a fraught strategy. Who's to say if Sydney Olympic, or Marconi, disappear, there will be someone else to take their place?
The game has a history, it has an infrastructure, it has a soul and it should be proud it does. Rugby forgot all this, and paid a price. Football has to learn from those mistakes.
