The APL/FA Management Thread

[Luke]

Who would fund jets mariners etc. in an independent league ? not to mention sharing revenues to help develop grassroots youth development and what not 

[agoalie]

Simon Pearce thanks. 

[jw1739]

3 hours ago, Luke said:

Who would fund jets mariners etc. in an independent league ? not to mention sharing revenues to help develop grassroots youth development and what not 

It's a chicken and egg situation. Who is going to invest in the A-League now, when it has no vision for growth and is stifled by restrictions and petty decision-making? We are extraordinarily lucky that City Football Group decided to invest here - both in our club and consequently in the league itself. IMO what FFA needs to do is to take the brakes off to encourage investment in both our existing clubs and new ones. Then we will obtain growth, and be better able to address the issues that you mention.

[Luke]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

It's a chicken and egg situation. Who is going to invest in the A-League now, when it has no vision for growth and is stifled by restrictions and petty decision-making? We are extraordinarily lucky that City Football Group decided to invest here - both in our club and consequently in the league itself. IMO what FFA needs to do is to take the brakes off to encourage investment in both our existing clubs and new ones. Then we will obtain growth, and be better able to address the issues that you mention.

 

What's stopping Cfg investing now ? 

[kingofhearts]

We should go after Gillon Mclachlan!

[jw1739]

10 minutes ago, Luke said:

 

What's stopping Cfg investing now ? 

Don't understand your point there - CFG already has invested, and continues to do so (e.g. with the construction of the women's facilities). I'm simply suggesting that the lack of vision and the way the A-League is currently run are disincentives to investment by other parties in, for example, Central Coast and Newcastle.

Edited March 10, 2016 by jw1739

[Luke]

1 minute ago, jw1739 said:

Don't understand your point there - CFG already has invested, and continues to do so (e.g. with the construction of the women's facilities). I'm simply suggesting that the lack of vision and the way the A-League is currently run are disincentives to investment by other parties in, for example, Central Coast and Newcastle.

And i'm perhaps being a little specific and asking more directly indeed is there anything in writing that states A-league clubs can't invest in youth development marquees facilities stadia, womens teams etc. ? 

[NewConvert]

9 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Don't understand your point there - CFG already has invested, and continues to do so (e.g. with the construction of the women's facilities). I'm simply suggesting that the lack of vision and the way the A-League is currently run are disincentives to investment by other parties in, for example, Central Coast and Newcastle.

 

9 hours ago, Luke said:

And i'm perhaps being a little specific and asking more directly indeed is there anything in writing that states A-league clubs can't invest in youth development marquees facilities stadia, womens teams etc. ? 

I agree with you both.

There is now nothing in the rule books that prevents the existing owners or new investors to put money into the game/club (Luke). The question is why would they? What would be the return in investment? how long till pay off or until the clubs become an ongoing concern without further capital injections? (JW)

JW is correct in saying that the FFA does not seem to have a business vision or plan for the A-League. This is because of two reasons: first, the transition from Fran to Steve as chairman has progressed relatively smoothly but it was obvious that Frank was making time for a while and Steve has yet to come across as someone in command; the second, is David Gallop who as CEO can and should provide a strong vision for the game and be a competent administrator but sadly is not up to the task. It took far too long to get a sponsor for the Socceroos and has yet to find investors for the Jets - lacking in negotiating skills. As far as vision is concerned he reduces himself to making glib statement to the press rather than formulating clear policy for the FFA, A-League and the clubs. The feeling that the administration of the game is floundering or becoming stale is beginning to overwhelm.

I suppose that Steve Lowy announcing a review of the role of the head of the a-league is a first step but I do wish that the review is quick and the right candidate be appointed.

[Tesla]

20 hours ago, Luke said:

Who would fund jets mariners etc. in an independent league ? not to mention sharing revenues to help develop grassroots youth development and what not 

Well they'd be funded by TV money, prize money, sponsorship, memberships, gate receipts, etc.

If thats not enough, if they have a good business plan i'm sure they can obtain financing via either debt or equity.

If that still isn't enough, they can fold or move to a region that can sustain an A-League team.

Of course, if we get rid of the salary cap, and the minimum salary total that each team has to pay, it will be a lot easier for these teams to be financially viable when they can pay out a level of salary they can afford rather than having to pay 90% of the salary cap (or whateve it is) regardless of their financial situation.

Either way, there's little point constantly propping up teams that are never going to be viable. At most there should be a fund tol be used to take over a bankrupt team until the end of the season, and then they can either be sold, moved or folded.

[Luke]

2 hours ago, Tesla said:

Well they'd be funded by TV money, prize money, sponsorship, memberships, gate receipts, etc.

If thats not enough, if they have a good business plan i'm sure they can obtain financing via either debt or equity.

If that still isn't enough, they can fold or move to a region that can sustain an A-League team.

Of course, if we get rid of the salary cap, and the minimum salary total that each team has to pay, it will be a lot easier for these teams to be financially viable when they can pay out a level of salary they can afford rather than having to pay 90% of the salary cap (or whateve it is) regardless of their financial situation.

Either way, there's little point constantly propping up teams that are never going to be viable. At most there should be a fund tol be used to take over a bankrupt team until the end of the season, and then they can either be sold, moved or folded.

 

And that's the issue. The A-league is partly about developing markets and regions that require long term planning and at times patience you can't necessarily get that when everything becomes fixated on results and quick fixes at the expense of longevity 

[jw1739]

So now we lose both Mooy and Wilkinson for the match against Wellington. Two players who are key to our chances for the season. I've heard the arguments from both sides but I'm firmly of the opinion that FFA should observe the "international breaks" as other leagues do for international matches. Scheduling one or two midweek rounds or extending the season by a couple of weeks are two options to accommodate the breaks - perhaps there are others - but neither seem insurmountable to me.

[thisphantomfortress]

17 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

So now we lose both Mooy and Wilkinson for the match against Wellington. Two players who are key to our chances for the season. I've heard the arguments from both sides but I'm firmly of the opinion that FFA should observe the "international breaks" as other leagues do for international matches. Scheduling one or two midweek rounds or extending the season by a couple of weeks are two options to accommodate the breaks - perhaps there are others - but neither seem insurmountable to me.

It's insane that we still have this issue. It really removes incentives for the clubs to sign players who are playing for the national team

[n i k o]

17 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

So now we lose both Mooy and Wilkinson for the match against Wellington. Two players who are key to our chances for the season. I've heard the arguments from both sides but I'm firmly of the opinion that FFA should observe the "international breaks" as other leagues do for international matches. Scheduling one or two midweek rounds or extending the season by a couple of weeks are two options to accommodate the breaks - perhaps there are others - but neither seem insurmountable to me.

The good thing is we have Chapman back in the squad. This will also give Caceras an opportunity to play a more creative role which will be interesting seeing as he's had such a crippling start at the club. 

[jw1739]

This is a classic. Presenting Adelaide with the Premier's Plate in an empty stadium. http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/backlash-over-closed-door-trophy-debacle#:f1regEeQM1RTAA

[n i k o]

I don't understand why they couldn't wait until after they played their last game. I'm hearing it was done at the discretion of United. I'd be more inclined to present it at a training session with fans. At least make it look like a somewhat important achievement. This is a fuckup of spectacular proportions. 

[belaguttman]

6 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

This is a classic. Presenting Adelaide with the Premier's Plate in an empty stadium. http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/backlash-over-closed-door-trophy-debacle#:f1regEeQM1RTAA

That's terrible but really FFA are so hopeless I was almost expecting them to post it

[Harrison]

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.

By SBS
 

26 SEP 2016 - 3:32 PM  UPDATED 26 SEP 2016 - 3:44 PM

 

Gallop's comments were made in a letter to FIFA who were in Sydney last week to pressure the FFA into governance reform. 

The travelling party from FIFA had two days of meetings with the FFA after Australia's football governing body was deemed to have breached the FIFA democratic requirements.

In a report published by The Saturday Paper, FIFA insiders have major concerns with the democratic process in Australian football with the belief that the FFA has frozen out stakeholders such as clubs, referees and players from the running of the game.

However, FIFA's visit has not been a welcome one as the FFA and Gallop attempted, unsuccessfully, to have the meeting postponed under the belief it would impact television rights negotiations. 

"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,” Gallop said in his letter to FIFA. 

"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."

Whistleblower and former FFA head of public and corporate affairs, Bonita Mersiades called for fans to be given a bigger say in the FFA's governance.

“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,” she said.

FIFA has pressured the FFA to implement changes before their annual general meeting in November.

Last year's elections featured Steven Lowy, son of Frank Lowy, elected as chairman unopposed. This was in-spite of FIFA'S warnings to the FFA to apply the necessary revisions prior to the elections.

Acting general secretary of FIFA, Markus Kattner expressed concern about the FFA's continual refusal to implement change.

“FIFA and the AFC [Asian Football Confederation] are surprised that FFA would attempt to further delay the implementation [of the required rule changes].” Kattner said from Zurich.

He also dismissed the notion that collaborating with stakeholders is detrimental to the business side of the game.

“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.”

Edited September 28, 2016 by Harrison

[jw1739]

We, the fans, have been saying this for years.

[n i k o]

FFA and A-League club owners establish joint consortium to restructure the league

For the first time since the establishment of the Football Federation Australia in 2004, clubs will have a major say in the governance of domestic football after forming a joint consortium to restructure the A-League's administration. 

A landmark meeting in Melbourne took place on Wednesday morning, in which all 10 A-League club owners agreed to establish an eight-man committee that will oversee a plan for expansion and financial remodelling of the competition. 

For the next five months, a committee involving four representatives each from the clubs and the FFA will look to trim the hefty financial losses for the owners by devising a new governance system for the competition. The foundation of this venture follows years of the owners' frustration at losing money, said to be in excess of $200 million collectively since the start of the competition 11 years ago. 

Despite a bullish history when it comes to relinquishing power to the clubs, the FFA appeased the owners by expressing newfound willingness to make significant structural change. The new FFA board will give the clubs an equal opportunity to end the contentious centralised merchandising, finding a true valuation of the A-League and increase revenue streams from within the game. This follows the governing body allowing two representatives of the club owners to be involved in the negotiations of the new A-League broadcast deal.

[KSK_47]

7 hours ago, n i k o said:

 

Despite a bullish history when it comes to relinquishing power to the clubs

I read this as "despite a bullshit history" lol. Probably more accurate

[jeffplz]

All I got from that is that sportsubs is goin, and club websites are finally gonna be unique

[jw1739]

19 minutes ago, jeffplz said:

All I got from that is that sportsubs is goin, and club websites are finally gonna be unique

IMO SportSubs is not an important issue at all. If, for example, City is going to take over the sale of its own memberships it's going to have to be a damned sight more responsive than it is on "City Voice."

I rate a far more important issue as being the sale of walk-up match tickets. Ticketek is hopeless as is suddenly closing ticket windows at AAMI when there is still a waiting queue.

I wonder whether the four club representatives will consult club fans?

[Tesla]

Seems the whole collective website thing has been a pretty big fuck up tbh. It probably cost a fuckload to have a custom CMS built for it and the sites always been poor.

[jeffplz]

28 minutes ago, Tesla said:

Seems the whole collective website thing has been a pretty big fuck up tbh. It probably cost a fuckload to have a custom CMS built for it and the sites always been poor.

The concept can still be executed well. Look at the websites for some MLS clubs, including one's that don't even exist yet. They fucking put it over ours.

 

http://www.nycfc.com/

http://www.atlutd.com/

https://lafc.com/

[jw1739]

I look at the NYC one fairly regularly. They get a decent video of their latest match, home/away/win/lose/draw up very quickly after the match finishes.

I also still follow my home town club in the English National League (South). Their video for a home match is usually runs for about 8 minutes.

These seemingly little things stimulate interest in the game.

[Nate]

"Football Federation Australia have denied Western Sydney Wanderers' attempt to sign former Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva according to a report by News Limited."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2016/12/23/ffa-reject-wanderers-attempt-sign-eduardo-report?cid=trending

 

Deadset, the FFA look so stupid regarding the guest rule, Eduardo would probably be one of the top 5 players in the league and has Premier League/International football background. Seriously, who else do they expect to lure to the A-League? Stop stunting the growth of the league and get as much quality in ffs.

[hakz7]

15 minutes ago, Nate said:

"Football Federation Australia have denied Western Sydney Wanderers' attempt to sign former Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva according to a report by News Limited."

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2016/12/23/ffa-reject-wanderers-attempt-sign-eduardo-report?cid=trending

 

Deadset, the FFA look so stupid regarding the guest rule, Eduardo would probably be one of the top 5 players in the league and has Premier League/International football background. Seriously, who else do they expect to lure to the A-League? Stop stunting the growth of the league and get as much quality in ffs.

Yeah exactly. It's not like Cahill has significantly helped grow (our) crowd numbers so a player like Eduardo or Diamante coming in wouldn't be considered unworthy of a Guest Marquee slot in comparison...

[n i k o]

Shambles. Then again this could be a positive. Make so many bad decisions on behalf fa the clubs that they break off and form an independent league. 

[belaguttman]

Da Silva and Diamante would make great marquees and that's how they should have been signed, they aren't guest players

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, belaguttman said:

Da Silva and Diamante would make great marquees and that's how they should have been signed, they aren't guest players

Agreed. Let's face it, the "Cahill Rule" was created solely for Cahill. We only signed him purely as a lever to use to get what we wanted from FFA. If we didn't have that to gain we wouldn't have signed him at all.

[Thrillhouse]

i'm completely fine with the rule, player needs to be a big name/big career and the ffa have stuck by those guidelines + chuck in promoting the game
cahill's done his promoting with ads, constant interviews and actually cares about the rest of the league and is watching it. When we played brisbane up there the attendance was up 7k on the week before
yes both would of been good marquees but not guest
diamanti a little bit stiff but eduardo not even close
 

[Geo400]

The rule is designed so that only players that are known to dinky Di Aussies whose only football intake is the odd Socceroos game and 10 second highlights package on channel 9 news from Europe. Therefore Eduardo doesn't quality, what a shambles lol.

the Cahill novelty factor has already worn off because football fans aren't stupid, they know Timmy is just a passenger during the game and his odd poachers effort once every few weeks is all you will get out of  him, world class strikers and playmakers would put bums on seats once and then get them coming back again and again. If you don't follow our club you would only rock up to watch Cahill once and never bother again, in fact this is happening here in Melbourne.

[jw1739]

6 minutes ago, Geo400 said:

The rule is designed so that only players that are known to dinky Di Aussies whose only football intake is the odd Socceroos game and 10 second highlights package on channel 9 news from Europe. Therefore Eduardo doesn't quality, what a shambles lol.

the Cahill novelty factor has already worn off because football fans aren't stupid, they know Timmy is just a passenger during the game and his odd poachers effort once every few weeks is all you will get out of  him, world class strikers and playmakers would put bums on seats once and then get them coming back again and again. If you don't follow our club you would only rock up to watch Cahill once and never bother again, in fact this is happening here in Melbourne.

That's true, but it's only the guest rule that has changed, and it's only for this season according to FFA. The rules for the two marquees have not changed. If clubs have filled their marquee positions with players who don't put bums on seats, well they can't really blame FFA for that can they? AFAIK we had already committed to both Bruno and Colazo as our marquees, even if they hadn't formally signed, and we were the only club prepared to take Cahill. As pointed out, it hasn't brought us big attendances, yes we've won the FFA Cup but we're only fourth in the league, so the benefit to us isn't really on the field.

[n i k o]

Two quality players that will raise the standard of the league have been turned away. You can talk about metrics and parameters of guest marquees but in the end the football in Australia, at least in the short term, loses out. 

[Nate]

3 hours ago, n i k o said:

Two quality players that will raise the standard of the league have been turned away. You can talk about metrics and parameters of guest marquees but in the end the football in Australia, at least in the short term, loses out. 

exactly, if Eduardo and Diamanti don't fit the parameters then I'd argue the parameters are wrong. 

[Tesla]

I'd say a large reason both have been denied is because Cahill's vi$ion already accounted for most the fund.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Tesla

[n i k o]

Hopefully will be the beginning of a revolution....

 

 

A-League owners not ruling out action against FFA over TV rights windfall

Pay day: FFA chief executive David Gallop addresses the media during a press conference where he announced a six-year ...
Pay day: FFA chief executive David Gallop addresses the media during a press conference where he announced a six-year deal with Fox Sports worth $346 million. Photo: Getty Images
A-League club owners are demanding Football Federation Australia provides them with a majority share of the windfall from the new TV deal, citing years of losses and propping up other areas of the game. 

Fairfax Media understands the clubs will patiently await confirmation of their slice of the $350 million deal but have not ruled out taking action against the governing body if they do not receive a significant improvement of their share.

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Sources suggest the clubs may enter a dispute with the governing body if they feel they are undervalued in the broadcast deal, despite being told they are set to receive an increase on their current percentage. 

The 10 club owners are putting forward a united pitch as part of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association and are determined to retain the overwhelming majority of the A-League TV rights within the competition. 

"Do you see what is happening to John Grant in the NRL at the moment? Nothing is off the cards," an owner said. 

The first instalment of the TV rights partnership includes Fox Sports purchase of the A-League and W-League for $57 million a year for six years and the free to air (FTA) rights are likely to be sold after February. Informally, stakeholders have been told to anticipate a combined broadcast agreement worth about $70 million a season once the FTA rights and the international broadcast rights for the A-League are sold early next year. 

The players, via their union, have already been told they will receive a raise of the salary cap from $2.6 million a club to $2.85 million, as well as a 30 per cent share of any increase from the original broadcast deal, which was valued at about $40 million a season. 

However, club owners are frustrated with FFA after been left in the dark as to what percentage of the TV revenue they will receive as part of the deal. It is understood the clubs are lobbying for most of the revenue and will argue the bulk of sales relates specifically to the A-League and should remain within the competition, rather than go towards FFA to fund other areas of the game, particularly the national teams. 

Despite a significant increase from the previous deal, sources suggest some club owners are not happy with the TV deal. One owner suggests it is "disappointing" while others are frustrated at being informed of the first instalment just hours before the public announcement. 

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/aleague-owners-not-ruling-out-action-against-ffa-over-tv-rights-windfall-20161223-gthgg4

[jw1739]

I know that this is "old news" but it is worth a read nevertheless.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/how-ffa-scored-32-own-goals-in-18-months-and-ceo-david-gallop-still-kept-his-job/news-story/b53bedbf39ee441ba5d8ac804ddf9e3a

[Shahanga]

On 25/01/2017 at 4:05 PM, jw1739 said:

I know that this is "old news" but it is worth a read nevertheless.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/football/a-league/how-ffa-scored-32-own-goals-in-18-months-and-ceo-david-gallop-still-kept-his-job/news-story/b53bedbf39ee441ba5d8ac804ddf9e3a

Hadn't read this earlier. 

Its a long list isn't it? Some of those decisions are mind boggling. 

[jw1739]

Isn't it this month that we're supposed to see the criteria for the next expansion clubs? All seems to have gone quiet on that front.