Soccerphile Editorial - July 2011
Australian A-League: Football at the crossroads
Football is at a crossroad in Australia. The game's governing body, Football Federation Australia, recorded a $5.8 million loss in the last financial year and more than $45 million of taxpayers' money was squandered on futile bids to host the World Cup. Meanwhile, a host of big-name stars are turning their back on the A-League.
The FFA's problems kicked off as soon as the curtain fell on the 2007-08 A-League campaign. Record crowds flocked to A-League stadia to watch the Newcastle Jets battle their way to an entertaining championship, while Adelaide United would later defy the odds to reach the Asian Champions League final. But the FFA failed to capitalise on popular support, and by 2011 attendances had fallen sharply - despite the addition of three new clubs.
One of those new clubs, North Queensland Fury, has been kicked out by the FFA amid a hailstorm of criticism. The game's governing body argued the Townsville-based side were no longer financially viable, although the FFA itself has propped up a host of ailing A-League clubs – including current champions Brisbane Roar. Fury's ejection unleashed a groundswell of bitterness from disgruntled A-League supporters, who blame the game's governing body for botching expansion plans and mismanaging funds.
The failure to add a team in western Sydney - one of the heartlands of Australian football - especially rankles. After giving Sydney Rovers the green light to enter the competition in the upcoming 2011-12 season, the FFA recoiled in horror when it became clear Rovers lacked the start-up capital to get off the ground. The abortive outfit were swiftly wound up and the FFA came in for a renewed round of criticism after overlooking rival bids at the expense of the cash-strapped Rovers.
A major disadvantage faced by the FFA is trying to overcome a hostile mainstream media. To that end, they've appointed Kyle Patterson as their new head of communications, a man with eighteen years media experience as a broadcaster with the football-loving Special Broadcasting Service.
Patterson's appointment was viewed by many as a step in the right direction and he proved his mettle in a much-publicised stoush with Melbourne radio shock jock Neil Mitchell, as the pair engaged in a heated radio exchange following minor crowd scuffles at a recent friendly between the Socceroos and Serbia.
Nevertheless, some Australian journalists are wary of Patterson's new role. In the build-up to Australia's bid to host the 2022 World Cup, senior journalists revealed they had been called into FFA chairman Frank Lowy's office and asked to tone down negative reporting. The FFA even threatened to sue the Fairfax Media group after two investigative reporters published damaging allegations about the conduct of Australia's World Cup bidding party, only for the FFA to retract the threat once Qatar had been awarded hosting rights.
Some media analysts see Patterson's appointment as a way for the FFA to keep tabs on dissenting voices, but there's little doubt the organisation needs someone with football nous to keep the wolves at bay in the face of unrelentingly negative headlines, with Melbourne's Australian Rules-dominated media market leading the way in its consistent attacks on the round-ball game.
Patterson's name was in the headlines again when Harry Kewell's agent Bernie Mandic accused the FFA of botching a deal to bring the erstwhile Galatasaray star to the A-League. After devising a convoluted revenue-sharing scheme, Mandic accused Patterson of leaking details to the media, prompting the unlicensed agent to threaten to pull out of any deal. The “will he, won't he” saga has dragged on to the point fans have turned against Kewell, with many feeling player and agent are more concerned with boosting personal finances than the struggling competition.
The machinations are a headache for FFA CEO Ben Buckley, who survives in the job despite almost weekly calls for his dismissal. Buckley is a former high-ranking Australian Rules executive who marketed himself as the man for negotiating complex television deals. With the A-League's exclusive contract with Pay-TV network Fox Sports expiring at the end of the season, many in the game are fearful the FFA's botched expansion plans and a humiliating World Cup bid defeat have driven down football's commercial value.
So far, FFA chairman Lowy has stood by Buckley's appointment, but should the much-maligned administrator fail to secure the A-League's financial future with some desperately needed TV revenue, many will pinpoint Buckley's appointment as the catalyst for football's painful self-implosion.
There is still three months until the new A-League campaign kicks off, in which time the FFA will hope to patch some of the many cracks in its crumbling façade. The 2011-12 campaign is a crucial one, not least because the financial viability of the league is ultimately at stake.
If Frank Lowy thought he would be lauded as the saviour of Australian football when he took over as FFA chairman in 2005, he perhaps overlooked the challenges of revamping the sport in such a challenging market. Football in Australia is at a crossroad, but so far the FFA have shown few signs of reliably knowing which path to take.
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