Football News » Editorial » Editorial November 2010
Editorial November 2010
Soccerphile Editorial - November 2010
Why the World Cup Bid is so important to the A-League
It was supposed to be the dawning of a new era in Australian sport. When the A-League kicked off in 2005, the launch was intended to end years of bickering and internal strife within the Australian football community.
Fast forward five years and it's hard to know whether the A-League is dying the death of a thousand cuts, or threatening to rise like a colossus and take over the Australian sporting landscape.
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but Australia's highly factionalised media does a good job of confusing those with only a passing interest as to the direction the game is headed.
Doom and gloom is always just around the corner according to certain media outlets, who paint a picture of a barren football landscape where fans prefer to stay home and watch the English Premier League on TV.
They point to the near-bankruptcy of expansion club North Queensland Fury, the troubled regime of former Newcastle Jets owner Con Constantine and the embarrassing 2,000-strong crowds watching unpopular Gold Coast United go around in a state-of-the-art new stadium.
Certainly there are some major concerns. With North Queensland's licence currently held by Football Federation Australia, the lack of cash flow saw coach Ian Ferguson and marquee player Robbie Fowler depart for Perth Glory in the off-season. Worse still for the Fury, they've been told they cannot re-sign players until a new financial backer arrives, leaving rival A-League clubs to swoop on their dwindling playing stocks.
A similar crisis looked to be on the cards at Newcastle Jets, only for the FFA to strip the licence from controversial former owner Con Constantine and award it to mining magnate Nathan Tinkler - one of Australia's richest men.
Tinkler now looks set to pour millions into the embattled Jets, but he faces some stiff competition from Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer. However, Palmer has proved more serial complainer than generous club benefactor, and his constant threats to save cash by closing three sides of United's recently constructed Skilled Park have put him offside with fans and given ammunition to those who say he doesn't have the best interests of the A-League at heart.
Yet, for all those who insist the A-League is on its last legs, there are just as many who believe the competition is a sleeping giant ready to awake from its seemingly comatose state.
The catalyst is supposedly Australia's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which some analysts believe will give the country's fledgling domestic competition the shot in the arm it needs to truly establish itself in a crowded sporting landscape.
Comparisons to Major League Soccer and the J. League are common, and it's clear many Australian football fans believe a successful World Cup bid will boost dwindling attendances and launch the game towards greater public awareness.
It's an all-or-nothing approach which ignores an obvious question: what happens if Australia fails in its bid to host the World Cup?
That's a question some of the more circumspect members of the Australian football media have been asking, but they've received short shrift from FFA officials who have poured tens of millions of dollars into the bid while the A-League languishes.
The widespread neglect of the current A-League campaign is readily apparent: marketing has been non-existent, supporters are routinely ignored and the fixture list is so haphazard it appears to have been scheduled entirely at random.
Kicking the season off when rival codes were in full swing didn't help, but even in a less crowded sporting calendar, A-League clubs are still struggling to draw fans through the turnstiles.
The winning World Cup bid can't be announced quickly enough for those hoping to see the FFA pour more time and resources into the A-League, however there's still a feeling of widespread optimism around the game in Australia.
Should Sepp Blatter tell a worldwide TV audience the World Cup is coming down under, expect football fans in Australia to celebrate the belated dawn of a new era.
But it will be a much cooler reaction should the World Cup travel elsewhere, as reality sets in that the A-League must stand on its own two feet – something it has so far struggled to do.
| Editorials 2007 | Editorials 2008 | Editorials 2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010
|
|
