A-League News Thread

[mus-28]

Can't see the Brisbane deal going through. The bloke heading the bid is a bit of a cunt by the sound of it. Has been bankrupt twice, traded while insolvent, owes money left, right and center.

[jw1739]

4 hours ago, Shahanga said:

Aren't Sydney owned by that Russian fella?

isnt Brisbane in the process of becoming Australian owned?

with the departure of the Bakries we are the only KFC look alike.

He's certainly the majority owner, but I'm not sure that he is the sole owner.

Edited June 18, 2016 by jw1739

[Tesla]

Anyone see the news about Naumoff retiring after doing a medical at his new club in Spain and a heart condition was discovered?

There were some interesting words from him:

Quote

How long this condition has affected me is unknown, and how this condition was not discovered during my time as a professional in Australia is a question for another day.

Pretty disappointing as I've always thought the medical side of things is one area in our football that Australia excels in. 

If the PFA wasn't too busy trying to extract every cent they can from the FFA and club owners maybe they would have thought about pushing for mandatory tests like the ones Naumoff did in Spain before someone dies on the pitch in the A-League.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Tesla

[jw1739]

46 minutes ago, Tesla said:

Anyone see the news about Naumoff retiring after doing a medical at his new club in Spain and a heart condition was discovered?

There were some interesting words from him:

Pretty disappointing as I've always thought the medical side of things is one area in our football that Australia excels in. 

If the PFA wasn't too busy trying to extract every cent they can from the FFA and club owners maybe they would have thought about pushing for mandatory tests like the ones Naumoff did in Spain before someone dies on the pitch in the A-League.

Manuel Almunia (amongst others, Arsenal and Watford) retired because of the same condition. It was picked up when he went for a medical with Cagliari. Prima facie it would appear that none of his previous clubs picked up the condition, which I find surprising. My reading suggests that an echocardiogram has about an 80% chance of picking up the condition.

As a matter of interest, who conducts medicals for local players joining Melbourne City? Some international players (e.g. Fornaroli) seem to arrive via medicals etc. in Manchester, but I wonder how thorough the local medicals are?

[Tesla]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

Manuel Almunia (amongst others, Arsenal and Watford) retired because of the same condition. It was picked up when he went for a medical with Cagliari. Prima facie it would appear that none of his previous clubs picked up the condition, which I find surprising. My reading suggests that an echocardiogram has about an 80% chance of picking up the condition.

As a matter of interest, who conducts medicals for local players joining Melbourne City? Some international players (e.g. Fornaroli) seem to arrive via medicals etc. in Manchester, but I wonder how thorough the local medicals are?

I think they were previously just sent to doctors/specialists outside of the club but it's probably in house now?

Do we have a club doctor or do we just have physios?

Actually I just found my answer and possibly your answer, the club is looking for a first team physio and it basically says they would be in charge of the medical department http://www.melbournecityfc.com.au/about/jobs/bzc5qpvt98s71b7i98mu4wrj4

It also says in the job description is "Screening of players and potential recruits of the club" so I guess they would do the medical, with maybe some parts of it outsourced to doctors/specialists outside of the club.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Tesla

[thisphantomfortress]

Greg O'Rourke the new head of the a-league, says he wants expansion during his tenure.

[jw1739]

"We conducted a world-wide search for the best person to take the A-League forward and we've got the perfect fit for the position." Not an actual quote, but I'm sure I'll read something like it if I look.

Former Football NSW chairman. Sydney-centric FFA as usual.

[n i k o]

Ben Williams has retired. 

[Chris p]

Good Referee. 

[n i k o]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/referees-retirement-met-with-widespread-celebration/news-story/6608f6fb4ba2918289dda25e247f7b92

[Shahanga]

He was the worst ref in the A League for mine. The problem wasnt his refereeing in general play, it was his rush to make game deciding decisions for penalties and red cards, most which looked plain wrong. 

I try not to bag refs, it's a tough job, but for mine old mate Ben needed to count to 10 first before he dished out a red or a pen.

[Jovan]

33 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

He was the worst ref in the A League for mine. The problem wasnt his refereeing in general play, it was his rush to make game deciding decisions for penalties and red cards, most which looked plain wrong. 

I try not to bag refs, it's a tough job, but for mine old mate Ben needed to count to 10 first before he dished out a red or a pen.

2nd. Delovski was worse.

[n i k o]

42 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

He was the worst ref in the A League for mine. The problem wasnt his refereeing in general play, it was his rush to make game deciding decisions for penalties and red cards, most which looked plain wrong. 

I try not to bag refs, it's a tough job, but for mine old mate Ben needed to count to 10 first before he dished out a red or a pen.

Bit of an insight into the opinions of players and coaches that have been involved with him. 

 

 

[n i k o]

Apparently 50k tickets have been sold for the Sydney derby already and they're predicting there'll be 70k odd in total. Great for the game in general. 

[n i k o]

Does the aleague season start soon? 

FFA doing a bang up job again of marketing the sport. Fuck they're pathetic. 

[bt50]

34 minutes ago, n i k o said:

Does the aleague season start soon? 

FFA doing a bang up job again of marketing the sport. Fuck they're pathetic. 

Their marketing sucks. Abysmal.

What i will say in their defence is that they dont have two cents to rub together and have to be extremely careful on how they spend the money they have. I know marketing is usually an investment, but i appreciate why they have a cautious approach as well.
Comparing it to the marketing of an NRL or AFL is a pointless exercise as FFA clearly cant compete from a $$$ point of view.

[KSK_47]

3 hours ago, n i k o said:

Does the aleague season start soon? 

FFA doing a bang up job again of marketing the sport. Fuck they're pathetic. 

They spent their entire advertising budget on Cahill

[bt50]

A-League clubs chasing $6m salary cap to go with new TV deal

Val Migliaccio, @val61, The Advertiser

29 minutes ago

A-LEAGUE bosses want to increase the salary cap to $6 million per club to coincide with a new television deal.

FoxSports has until Friday to renew its deal with the A-League and is lobbying a free-to-air TV partner as part of the new contract.

In 2005 FoxSports signed a $120 million A-League agreement over seven years and increased it in 2012 to $40 million per season until 2017.

It’s expected two other broadcasters will enter the bidding war if Fox Sports allows the exclusive deadline to pass. Pay TV provider BeIN Sports and Optus are reportedly waiting in the wings to bid for Australia’s premium soccer competition.

An FFA source claimed clubs may be able to get a financial ‘uplift’ from the new TV deal.

But A-League club officials have claimed they haven’t yet delivered their $6 million salary cap expectations to FFA.

This season FFA will deliver $2.6 million per club which covers the current salary cap as part of the old deal with clubs forced to spend 90 per cent $2.340 million for up to 23 players.

But concluding a $6 million per season deal for each club will see the A-League make significant financial strides.

The A-League could make up ground on the AFL, which this year had its salary cap set at $10.6 million while rugby league’s salary cap is worth $6.8 million.

But a new A-League TV deal is expected to fall short on last year’s record AFL $2.508 billion broadcast contract. The AFL will rake in almost $418 million a year over six years until 2022.

Rugby League’s $1.8 billion TV deal, which was signed off last year and starts in 2018, is 70 per cent higher than the existing rights.

[hakz7]

Wow, massive upgrade that'd be.

[Tesla]

The goal is surely to double the current deal given the climate for sporting rights at the moment is very good, assuming same amount of teams. Should be even more if expansion is in the works. If they double it, $6m salary cap is definitely a possibility. In fact, the salary cap should just be ditched TBH if that kind of money is coming in.

[haz]

5 hours ago, Tesla said:

The goal is surely to double the current deal given the climate for sporting rights at the moment is very good, assuming same amount of teams. Should be even more if expansion is in the works. If they double it, $6m salary cap is definitely a possibility. In fact, the salary cap should just be ditched TBH if that kind of money is coming in.

We'll run away with the league, which i'm not complaining about

[johnno cpfc]

Just as long as Optus don't get the rights,  i won't mind if Be In sports get a share. If Be in get a go we could be expanding our games to be seen in Europe over a much larger area.

 

[mus-28]

Not sure what a cap increase of that magnitude would achieve once the PFA get their grubby mits onto it. It may increase the quality of some of the foreign players but will only result in paying the likes of Broxham, Hoffman, Warren, etc double what the earn now to do the same mediocre job. It would be wiser to spend some of the extra money to get these clubs sustainable and investing in facilities. 

[Nate]

I honestly think this is the most talented and exciting composition of players in the A-League probably since the 2012-13 season when we had the likes of Del Piero, Ono and Heskey. There's a really strong calibre of foreign players this season and many of the returning domestic players are of a really good standard as well imo.

Even if spazzos like the ones mentioned above earn more than they deserve, more salary cap money is only going to further improve the standard of the league and make it more competitive in the global (particularly Asian) football market.

[Young Polak]

A-League bosses believe that an independent panel to run the competition will be introduced sooner rather than later leading to the eventual establishment of a separately run A-League.

By 

Dave Lewis

 

28 SEP 2016 - 9:22 PM  UPDATED YESTERDAY 10:39 AM

After the establishment of the Australasian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA) comprising of representatives of all ten clubs, the Football Federation Australia can expect a fiery meeting between the two parties on 12 October, as the clubs prepare to table their demands.

With the ability to set up their arguments against the backdrop of FIFA's call for the FFA to bring its constitution  into line with statutes employed by its member associations around the globe, the APFCA are convinced that the increasing pressure from the global body and the Asian Football Confederation will only enhance their mission for grater autonomy.

Club bosses - who are also seeking a seat on the FFA board and a doubling of the $2.6 million salary cap once a new TV deal has been signed off - are in uncompromising mood after CEO David Gallop sought to have meetings between FIFA and FFA stakeholders shelved while also suggesting clubs "don't act in the interests of the game of football in Australia as a whole" in a letter leaked to the media.

 

 

 

 

 

Clubs don't 'act in game's interests' says Gallop

Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop has stated A-League teams are not "clubs in the more traditional sense" and are more focused on the bottom line than growth of the game.

 

"The end result of what is being sought, and sooner rather than later, is an independently run league like everywhere else in the world," said an APFCA source.

"It's really a case of when, not if, this will happen, perhaps along the lines of the English model, where you have the FA and the Premier League.

"Obviously when something similar is launched here you would have a close relationship between the two bodies but both would have their independence."

The clubs are particularly disturbed by the federations ongoing bid to avoid FIFA scrutiny and Gallop's comments on their values and aspirations.

"The statements attributed to David Gallop in that letter simply demonstrate the sentiments of the FFA," added the source.

"The bottom line is that the FFA feels other aspects of the game are better equipped to drive football forward than the A-league.

"The clubs don't share that belief... especially since the A-League generates around 80 per cent of the game's revenue yet gets back only about 40 per cent.

"The FFA claims the A-League is their top priority but there is nothing they have dome to back that up."

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clubs are hell-bent on receiving a larger slice of the pie as the FFA seeks to double the value if its existing TV  rights deal from $40 million to $80 million amidst on-going  negotiations with Fox Sports and other parties.

"The reality is that unless the clubs are better funded we are bit going to be competitive and nor will the product." the source continued.

The clubs, according to the source, feel FIFA has "a lot of sympathy" for them in their push for reform and will be forced to cede their iron grasp on the game.

The source also added that the club's united face has been five years in the making, adding: "Perhaps the timing wasn't quite right before but it's natural that we should have a body representing us, because the FFA certainly don't represent us, although they are supposed to represent every aspect of football."



http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2016/09/28/independent-league-inevitable-claim-club-chiefs?cid=inbody:postecoglou-calls-for-aleague-expansion




 

FFA come under fire from A-League and NPL

 

 

A-League club owners have reportedly set up an association as they push for an independent commission to run the competition.

Source: 

AAP

28 SEP 2016 - 9:07 AM  UPDATED 28 SEP 2016 - 9:07 AM

The power brokers, who have created the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association, also want the idea of the commission officially placed on the agenda for their meeting with Football Federation Australia next month, according to News Corp Australia.

The move comes after a letter in April from FFA CEO David Gallop to FIFA was leaked, where he pushed to have meetings between clubs and the global governing body postponed due to concerns they would come at the same time as broadcast negotiations.

The talks eventuated last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Clubs don't 'act in game's interests' says Gallop

Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop has stated A-League teams are not "clubs in the more traditional sense" and are more focused on the bottom line than growth of the game.

 

Meanwhile National Premier League club Sydney United have also threatened to "take matters into their own hands" if the FFA continue to stall on creating a nationwide second division competition.

United will host Edgeworth Eagles in Sunday's final at Edensor Park but the former National Soccer League club want more opportunities to play on the bigger stage.

"We, as a club, have been very patient, but time has run out," club boss Sam Krslovic told Fairfax media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We did the right thing at the start of the A-League, we supported the establishment of a new national competition even though we weren't part of it.

"But we've had enough, it's time for the game to evolve."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2016/09/28/independent-league-inevitable-claim-club-chiefs?cid=inbody:postecoglou-calls-for-aleague-expansion

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by Young Polak

[HEARTinator]

Interesting read below. An independent A-league can't be far away. If not CFG could tell the FFA that they'll walk away from Australia and that would cause heartburn at FFA HQ.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/sport/2016/09/24/fifa-pushes-football-federation-australia-reform/14746392003777

 

FIFA pushes for Football Federation Australia reform

Jack Kerr

It may not be long since FIFA itself was rocked by scandal, but now soccer’s world governing body is in Australia to push through reforms to Football Federation Australia.

Football Federation Australia top brass found themselves in rare company in Sydney this week, with a delegation from one of the most corrupt organisations to ever put on a sporting event here to lecture them on good governance.

There are ever-so-slight breezes of reform blowing through FIFA these days, thanks to last year’s intervention by the FBI. But the management of Australian soccer has been raising eyebrows in Zurich since even before the world game’s disgraced leader, Sepp Blatter, was finally forced into resignation. In March last year, FIFA found Football Federation Australia to be in repeated breach of the standards statute, the document outlining governance and democratic requirements for the sport’s national federations. Members of the FIFA administration were so concerned they flew out from their Zurich headquarters for two days of meetings, specifically so they could restate their decision and demand the necessary reforms be made.

“The current FFA Board is no less ‘stacked’ than the former Soccer Australia board was. It’s simply stacked another way.”

Chief among their long list of concerns was the lack of democratic process in the Australian federation. Despite regulations to the contrary, soccer players, clubs and other stakeholders have been frozen out of the running of the game, or given minimal say at best. Instead, the subordinate state bodies control all but one vote at annual general meetings.

As unlikely as it may seem, FIFA has been working to improve the governance of its 211 national federations in recent years. Even China and Saudi Arabia have been brought to heel. Australia, however, has proven less amenable. 

One FIFA insider said Australia’s refusal to co-operate with FIFA’s demands put it on a par with North Korea, and said its ongoing resistance meant there was a very real prospect it could be suspended from world football. This comes as Ange Postecoglou’s squad is preparing for the most crucial phase of its 2018 World Cup qualification.

FFA’s current structure is born of a good place. It’s the product of 2003’s Crawford report, the inquiry that led to the dissolution of the old Soccer Australia – a body riddled with conflicts and drained of money – and the creation of the shiny and new Football Federation Australia. There’s no doubt it has served the local game relatively well over the past decade, as evidenced by the rising fortunes of the Matildas, the Socceroos and the A-League.

But the honeymoon came to an end for founding chairman Frank Lowy as details of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding scandals came to light. Lowy was replaced by his son, Steven, shortly before last November’s annual general meeting.

FIFA had originally told FFA to implement the necessary reforms in time for the AGM vote. Instead, a headhunting firm was brought in and rejected the bona fides of alternative candidates for the board put forward by the state bodies.

“The current FFA board is no less ‘stacked’ than the former Soccer Australia board was,” says whistleblower and #NewFIFANow activist Bonita Mersiades. “It’s simply stacked another way.”

It certainly appears that way to those watching from Zurich. Talks of reform were to restart in April this year, and FIFA requested meetings be arranged with the players’ union and club owners. FFA chief executive David Gallop baulked at such suggestions, however. In a letter seen by The Saturday Paper, dated April 11, he requested FIFA put off meeting with the very parties it wanted to give voice to until a later, unspecified date.

Of major concern to Gallop was how any reforms might upset the negotiation of a new television broadcasting deal. “The importance of getting this negotiation process right and ensuring we secure the best deal for the sport cannot be overstated… The environment in which we conduct our broadcast marketing and negotiations needs to be optimal.” Later, he argued that for FIFA to meet with players and clubs constituted “an unacceptable risk”.

“What is also critical to appreciate about our governance model is that the A-League clubs in Australia are not ‘clubs’ in the more traditional European or South American sense. They are all privately owned … and as such are ‘for-profit’ entities whose objective … is to act in the interests of their shareholders (and in doing so build the sales value of their asset) and not act in the interests of the game of football in Australia as a whole.”

FIFA’s acting general secretary, Markus Kattner, responded from Zurich that “FIFA and the AFC [Asian Football Confederation] are surprised that FFA would attempt to further delay the implementation” of the required governance reforms.

He reminded Gallop that November’s elections had been allowed to proceed “in good faith and on an exceptional basis” – but that there was an understanding reforms would be carried out as soon as possible afterwards.

Suggestions that dealing with stakeholders was bad for business were rejected emphatically. “In our experience, such a dialogue is in no way detrimental to the stability of national football. In fact, it stimulates development and stability. Moreover, FIFA and AFC cannot treat FFA in a more favourable way than other AFC member associations.”

The nightmare scenario for FFA is that when the clubs have a stronger voice, they will demand the A-League be run independently, as the leagues of England and Germany are. While not exactly a cash cow, the A-League does, by some accounts, generate 80 per cent of FFA’s revenue.

And thanks to the A-League’s success, FFA is dealing with the types of cashed-up and connected owners that Australian sport has never known before. Melbourne City is pumped up on petrodollars straight out of the Gulf. Brisbane Roar is owned by Indonesia’s elite Bakrie family. The Newcastle Jets were recently acquired by a Chinese technology company valued at $1.6 billion.

“The A-League has three owners whose combined wealth, and influence within FIFA and the AFC, are beyond anything FFA has encountered amongst A-League owners previously,” Mersiades posted online last week.

But it’s not just clubs expecting a voice. “[The standards statute] requires that member associations are effectively representative democracies,” said John Didulica, head of the players’ union, before this week’s meetings. “From our perspective, players are a fundamental part of the matrix within the sport. So it stands to reason that the players have a really important role within that representative democracy.”

#NewFIFANow would also like to see fans represented. “Fans are the biggest stakeholder in the sport, who choose to spend their money on being an active fan, and should have a mechanism for real involvement,” Mersiades says.

It’s not thought fans have such representation anywhere in the world. However, in countries such as Spain and Germany, where clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are member-run, fans do indirectly have a voice.

Some of FIFA’s original concerns have already been addressed, and further changes were agreed upon in Sydney this week, with more stakeholders to be given a say. Whether that will see the elite clubs given greater voice – they currently share between them the same voting rights as Football Northern Territory does – is yet to be determined, FFA says.

“When I was elected chairman of FFA in November last year I said that football was moving from its foundation stage to a new phase of growth and evolution,” said Stephen Lowy after the meeting. “We can and we should consider changes that give all stakeholders the best chance to achieve their potential.

“At the same time, FFA stressed at all the meetings that the future success of the game depends upon a disciplined and stable governance structure that serves the interests of the game overall.”

“In broad terms, the game has taken some great leaps forward,” said Didulica. “[This week’s meetings were] a timely opportunity, 13 years on from Crawford, to revisit the model that was implemented … and see how we can set the game up to take another step forward.”

[Blackout]

Had to laugh at Brisbane Roar. Apparently Aloisi scored a penalty or something a few years ago, I hadn't ever heard it mentioned it before.

http://www.a-league.com.au/youve-gotta-have-a-team/article/hyundai-a-league-launch-youve-gotta-have-a-team-campaign/q0f7qbjckrhu192az5ahwl9dc

[thisphantomfortress]

15 minutes ago, Blackout said:

Had to laugh at Brisbane Roar. Apparently Aloisi scored a penalty or something a few years ago, I hadn't ever heard it mentioned it before.

http://www.a-league.com.au/youve-gotta-have-a-team/article/hyundai-a-league-launch-youve-gotta-have-a-team-campaign/q0f7qbjckrhu192az5ahwl9dc

The kid wasn't even born haha

[KSK_47]

Who the fuck is this Yoshi kid i am seeing all over my social media? I thought the HAL was announcing a sponsorship deal with Nintendo or something until i worked out they were talking about some kid

[Jimmy]

On 04/10/2016 at 6:21 PM, KSK_47 said:

Who the fuck is this Yoshi kid i am seeing all over my social media? I thought the HAL was announcing a sponsorship deal with Nintendo or something until i worked out they were talking about some kid

 

[haz]

Journalist and columnist Rebecca Wilson dead at 54

The Daily Telegraph

4 minutes ago

LEGENDARY journalist, columnist and broadcaster Rebecca Wilson has passed away.

The award-winning sports journalist at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph lost her long and very private battle to cancer this morning.

Her husband John Hartigan and sons Tom and Will this morning said:

“Our amazing Bec lost her long battle against breast cancer early today.

Rebecca Wilson and John Hartigan - Champions of the West Ceremony at Rooty Hill RSL. Picture Craig Greenhill

“She passed away peacefully in the family home in Sydney while surrounded by her loved ones.

“Courage has always been a significant part of her DNA, no less in her desperate battle against her insidious disease.

“Rebecca kept knowledge of her illness a closely guarded secret. The majority of her friends, colleagues and indeed members of her family were unaware of the extent of her illness. She did so to limit their suffering.

The legendary columnist was also a loving mum to Tom and Will, pictured here in 2009.

“We are so proud that she was so fearless in her chosen role as a sports journalist. She brushed aside evil trolls, bullies and organised crime figures to prosecute her craft.

“She proved that women had an equally important role in sports journalism as her male counterparts.

We dearly love and miss our Bec.”

[mus-28]

Negative articles about football have just gone down by 50% overnight.

[hedaik]

1 minute of flares at the 54th minute for every ALeague game as a sign of respect

[strider]

 

edit: allahu akbar

Edited October 6, 2016 by strider
god is great

[Jimmy]

What the fuck?

[Dylan]

Soccer hooligans are to blame imo

Edited October 6, 2016 by Dylan

[GreenSeater]

Already seen way too many jokes about this on Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the day, no matter your opinion on her articles, she was a human being with a husband and two kids who has passed away after a horrible illness. Not something to joke about imo.

[thisphantomfortress]

30 minutes ago, GreenSeater said:

Already seen way too many jokes about this on Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the day, no matter your opinion on her articles, she was a human being with a husband and two kids who has passed away after a horrible illness. Not something to joke about imo.

Sadly to be expected. She was a provocateur so everyone is acting like the wicked witch of the west is dead.

It is a shame people can't be respectful at the very least for her families sake.

[KSK_47]

3 hours ago, GreenSeater said:

Already seen way too many jokes about this on Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the day, no matter your opinion on her articles, she was a human being with a husband and two kids who has passed away after a horrible illness. Not something to joke about imo.

Out of likes but would like this a thousand times if i could

[Tesla]

I'm with my boy DL on this, death does not absolve us of what we did when we were alive.

Not that I'm dancing on her grave or making jokes about her death, but the fact is she was a massive cunt, and she died a massive cunt.