Rules Pointless Unless Adhered To

Sports administrators in the main are very sensitive people. The want all the praise but are not keen on criticism. One would have thought heading into a field where you are never going to keep everyone a happy a thick skin would be a prerequisite.

What is a major concern to sports lovers and participants is the inconsistency being shown by those running the various sports.

Rules and regulations are put in place by the various governing bodies yet none seem to have the courage to enforce those regulations; some sports enforce where it suits.

A prime example follows the introduction of a new side to a state competition. One of the conditions of entry so NTFS has been led to believe was that the new side would not go out and target players from existing clubs and entice them to the new club with incentives. Yet the feeling among a number of the existing clubs is that this is exactly what has happened. One club official claiming that the departing player was honest enough to share the deal he was being offered and explaining why he was leaving.

When this was taken up with the game’s governing body the club was allegedly told “What can we do?”

If you as a governing body are not going to do anything why put rules and regulations in place? When creating these rules it would be wise to outline the consequences of clubs or individuals breaking these regulations and the sanctions that they face. In this instant surely a fine or a deduction of points would have been the ideal way to show that such behaviour would not be tolerated?

Of course the ignorance of some clubs, run in the main by volunteers is a major cause of the mismanagement. Clubs are not aware of many of the rules or the constitutions under which they are operating and as a result people obtain positions they are not entitled to and no one says a word. In one sport one man currently holds three official positions, one with a club, which precludes him from holding one of his other positions, yet has anyone said anything?

They say we get the politicians we deserve, it would appear that sport is getting the administrators it deserves. Each club should take the time to read the rules and regulations as it is in their long term interests that they are adhered to. It may not affect your club now but it may down the track, so if one club steps out of line the others have an obligation to stand as one a nip that breaking of ranks in the bud.

If in this busy world that we live in they feel they do not have time to do such things they would be wise to elect a representative  whose sole job is to monitor such issues and ensure for the good of the clubs and the sport that rules and regulations are adhered to. They currently cannot rely on the administrators to carry out this role which in truth should fall under their remit.

If the administrators are not prepared to ensure that everything is run by the book, then is it any wonder that anarchy is sticking its head above the parapet?

The Blame Game

For many becoming an ex-player in any sport is a very hard thing to come to terms with. Former Olympic swimming Gold medallist Neil Brooks wrote an excellent piece on this subject that was published on the WA Today website, entitled “Keeping Sports stars off the scrapheap of Life.”

The warning signs have been there for a long time. David Frith wrote a fascinating book, “Silence of the Heart” trying to explain why cricket has in every country where Test cricket is played, a higher suicide rate amongst ex players than the national average.

Brooks raises some very pertinent points, and shows how sport has changed dramatically. “I think most of us realise that professional sport is big business and if we are truly honest, the players and competitors, for the better part, are nothing more than interchangeable replaceable components of a machine driven by ratings points, sponsorship dollars and power brokers who in many cases have never swum a stroke, laced up a boot, swung a bat or made a free throw,” he wrote.

Never was a truer word written, but one has to question whether clubs have a duty of care to their players and how long that duty of care lasts. In the USA and Canada there is a duty of care when it comes to injuries, and some players have successfully sued clubs for financial compensation for their careers being shortened by a club rushing them back into a team before an injury has healed properly; the reason being they needed that player out there to make a final, or win a crucial game to keep the finances clicking in.

We talk of how our servicemen are broken down and re-built into skilled men and women who can react and defend our nation and its people, yet when they leave the forces they are not, for want of a better a word, “re-programmed” to enter the civilian world; some, as has been very clear, struggle to make that adjustment, especially those who have been forced out of the services due to injury.

Sport is never going to be the same as a military situation, but there are comparisons. Sportsmen live a very different life in many cases to the rest of us. Their careers are short so, in many cases the rewards are high. Sometimes the price paid physically for those rewards is equally high, with innumerable operations at an age twenty or thirty years before most non-athletes, as well as a life on painkillers to combat arthritis.

Coupled with that is dealing with the fact that in many cases they have to find a new career, and that the spotlight has shifted and they are no longer a star. As Brooks highlights, this is a major problem to many. “I have seen first hand when you have a certain skill set that is considered to be rare, speed that is not deemed to be normal for the species and are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, then more often than not indiscretions off the field, in the pool or on the court are often have a blind eye turned to them and there is no shame in covering things up if it means keeping the talent on the paddock, playing the game and securing the points and lifting the silverware.” For many athletes that lack of protection post career leaves them extremely vulnerable and exposed, yet had they been punished for their indiscretions like a normal citizen, or told that they were not acceptable, that transition to a normal life would have been made easier.

Jobs for ex sports stars are not easy to come by. There are only so many coaching opportunities at the highest level, and not all are cut out for that. There are more at a lower level but the pay and the profile you have is a long way down from where these players have been used to, many feel it is beneath them. As for the media, some are fortunate to pick up media work; some get work even though they lack the skills set. It was the late George Gruljusich who bemoaned the fact that many an ex player was thrown on television and radio without serving an apprenticeship, and learning their trade. In sport it would never happen so why does it in the media?

In fact Ian Chappell who uses his knowledge of the game to predict what will happen rather than telling viewers what has happened, is frank and honest when he says in his book Chappelli:Life Larrikins & Cricket, “the only way to be any good and have a long career as a commentator is to treat it as a real job.” He continues by saying “Being an ex captain gives you some leeway. People like to hear what the past captain thinks and also to gain some insights into the team. For the ex-captain, this is a handy period. It gives you time to grow into the job, but once the honeymoon is over you then survive purely on ability.” How true this is, listen to the English Premier League experts and very few are the big name players. The best are the players who were never in the limelight, often players who worked hard to keep their place at the top and were students of the game. The truly gifted players rarely make the transition from player to commentator.

The question is should clubs and managers do more for their players? If they step out of line should they take the appropriate action and not cover up the misdemeanour? Should they help players obtain a skill and teach them how to manage their inflated incomes so that they have some money left over when they are finally discarded? It all comes down to that issue of a duty of care.

Ultimately clubs cannot be responsible for the actions of individuals, but if they are going to select young players and bring them into their club as teenagers then they should take on some responsibility in their grooming and education, its called in loco parentis.

A literal translation is “in the place of a parent” and this is a legal term that refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. One area that it applies is in allowing institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit, although not allowing what would be considered violations of the students’ civil liberties. There is no reason why a sporting organisation should not be held responsible in the same way as a school or college.

As Brooks continued in his article when talking about indiscretions off the field, “The problem is, this kind of behaviour becomes the norm to a young athlete and they develop a mentality that as long as they race well, play well and win at all costs then what happens off the field doesn’t really matter because someone will be there to pick up the pieces, sweep it under the carpet and make things right – but of course it does matter.”

It is definitely a two-edged sword. Young athletes have to realise that their time at the top is fleeting, and that one day it will come to an end. They also have to realise that that fame and recognition will diminish as the years go by. The game does not owe them a thing, as the game has rewarded them with the trappings that go with being a sports star for however long they managed to stay in the limelight. However the clubs can help their cause with a little more honesty, a little more governance and a little more responsibility. After all these are people that you are dealing with, not commodities. Far too many big sporting organisations have forgotten that fact. These people hurt, bleed and cry like the rest of us.

Hopefully with athletes like Neil Brooks, who have been at the top and fallen from that great height, speaking out, people will realise that some onus must be placed on those who earn off the back of these athletes, their managers and the clubs they serve. These people need to ensure that when the athlete can no longer run, and has to retire, they have prepared them for rejoining normal society as best they can. Rather than what is happening now the door closes behind them and the clubs and managers forget all about them as the next generations are coming through, and leave them to fend for themselves. Sadly some teenage prodigies struggle to cope in a world that is totally alien to them.

Can Politicians Deliver on a Promise?

Britain’s English Premier League may be the most watched league in the world but is not without its issues. The disconnect with the fans since clubs became public listed companies has been clear, the foreign ownership has also widened the gap between the traditional supporters and the clubs.

The British Parliament has looked to step in and return football to the fans, although not surprisingly football’s power brokers do not want to relinquish their iron clad grip just yet.

The opposition sports spokesperson Labour’s Clive Efford, who happens to be a lifelong Millwall fan and also a qualified football coach, spoke out last week. The MP for Eltham in Kent backed proposals to bring more people power to football.

The current Government in Great Britain has stated that it “is already completely committed to helping supporters have better engagement with the clubs they support and more of a say on how they are run. This is exactly why we have been working to establish a working group on the matter.” Sports Minister Helen Grant was quoted as saying last week.

The current plans mean that fans could hold the owners of their club to account on all issues on and off the field. Efford is quoted as saying, “we have reached a tipping point in the way football is run.”

Whether the Politicians will get their way and return football to the people is another thing, FIFA does not take kindly to Political interference in its sport, and countries such as Kenya have received international bans as a result of political interference.

However the goal to give fans a voice in every boardroom and the chance to buy shares in the club they support are positive moves for the good of the game. Certainly many clubs in various codes in Australia would welcome similar moves.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, whether FIFA steps in or not and also whether the clubs actually back the recommendations based on an in-depth study into the game.

Standing Up For Your Team

There is a whole generation of football fans who have grown up not knowing what it is like to stand and watch a football match. There are many who believe that they are fortunate. To others that was the real way to watch football.

Debate has raged in recent months on the prospect of safe standing areas being re-introduced into football stadia in the UK.

Research company Sportsfan carried out a survey to see what the fans felt about such a move. Incredibly 74% of those questioned said that they were in favour of safe-standing areas being re-introduced, while 80% believed it would improve the atmosphere at live matches.

Two other interesting findings were that 57% of those surveyed believed that it would make attending games cheaper to attend while 38% felt it would see clubs create a more communal and friendly atmosphere.

The overall feeling was that it was time to bring back the traditional way of watching football, and as many fans claimed they already stand in front of their seats, especially at away fixtures, it would be wise to make it legal and safe. The other view was that it would also mean increased capacity at grounds which would benefit those clubs who regularly “sell out” as fans unable to get tickets may now be able to watch the games.

The Bundesliga was used by many as an example of a league that operates safe standing effectively.

Not surprisingly those against such a move, 80% claimed that they had concerns over safety aspects, while 63% felt that there would be a negative impact on those bringing children to a game or attending as a family.

Understandably many who remember Hillsborough expressed the view that Liverpool fans could not justify the decision to return to standing. Although interestingly many surveyed felt that football stadiums which allowed standing prior to the Hillsborough tragedy offered safe standing. There is no doubt that some grounds facilities were far better than others, and as was revealed post Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday had failed to implement the safety requirements that had been requested and the FA had failed to check that they had been made. A typical case of administrators making rules but failing to police them. The only other major concern for those not in favour of standing room returning was a potential reduction in visibility of the pitch and players.

This was simply a survey but it will be interesting to see if these findings are used when a decision is made by the Football and ground safety authorities. There are many who grew up watching football on the terraces who would welcome such a move; this writer is one. However what happened at Hillsborough must never be forgotten and must never happen again, safety must come first and clubs must have all safety measures and procedures in place before such a move is made.

Certainly one thing that would need to be looked at is the ability to exit the stand. In the bad old days once you were in, you could not leave until ten minutes from the end of the game, and often in the “Away supporters” ends, not for a half hour after the game had finished. This caused a major crush and when the gates were opened a surge of bodies that frequently saw people pushed over.

Will we see standing return in England, maybe, but one feels it is still a number of years away.

Farewell Game Exposes Flaws

For a long time this site has tried to highlight the lack of honesty in the media coverage of football in Australia and it would appear that finally the public are beginning to wake up and question the information that they have been and are being fed.

Former Socceroos boss Holger Osciek we are led to believe requested the FFA line up friendlies against the number 4 ranked team in the world Brazil and number 16 ranked France, to gauge exactly where his team sat. Australia is currently ranked 59th in the World. In both of those games Australia was thrashed 6-0 and the depth of talent was found to be wanting. Osciek was sacked and replaced by the best of the Australian coaches in Ange Postecoglou, a man who was being lobbied for as the next national coach almost a year earlier by sections of the media. (Two P’s For Top Job )

Unfairly Postecoglou was hailed as being the man to turn Australian football around; after all he produced a team at Brisbane Roar the like of which Australian football had not seen for a very long time, if ever. The trouble is international football is very different to running a club side. When you are running a club side in a league competition, you have time with the players, you learn what makes them tick, who gets on with who, who is a hypochondriac, eating habits and individual preparation rituals. As an international coach you do not have the luxury of that time with the players. In a short space of time you are expected to mould a group of players from a myriad of clubs around the globe, all playing different styles of football and the players playing different roles, into a cohesive unit on the pitch. This is why many successful club managers have opted not to take on an international role.

Postecoglou’s first game in charge was against Costa Rica where a slightly fortuitous goal, courtesy of a deflection off Junior Diaz, saw the team win 1-0. His second game against Ecuador saw the team put in an impressive first half performance which resulted in a 3-0 lead at the break. The second half was as bad as the first half was good, not helped by the sending off of goalkeeper Mitch Langerak, the Socceroos conceded four goals to lose 4-3. Much attention was focussed on the first half and many scribes put the defeat down to the sending off, yet the truth was the team’s naiveté and inability to keep possession was their undoing.

Leading up to last night’s farewell fixture before the team leaves to compete at the World Cup in Brazil it was worrying to see on social media supposed fans saying that the Socceroos would beat South Africa upwards of 3-0. Some expected a 6-0 thrashing of the team from Africa who had left eleven regular players at home.  How could they possibly have thought this possible? South Africa are ranked just six places below Australia at 65th. Sure, they did not qualify for the World Cup, but Africa has some very good teams in its Confederation and only five nations from the 52 who took part in qualifying will be in Brazil.

Post match, after what was a far from impressive performance, where again ball retention was very poor and certain players were greatly exposed there are still ‘experts’ and sections of the media talking up individual players and the performance. The truth may hurt, but sometimes people need to hear the truth, and that is that this generation is simply not as good as the previous one, and the development of players in this country has been neglected; or more likely the standards of the past have not been maintained, because there has been too much tinkering and change for the sake of it.

This may well have been a farewell game before the World Cup, but the lap of honour at the end of the game and on field presentations were galling. This was not a good performance. To see players smiling and laughing after such a performance just did not seem to fit with the amount of work they need to be do to reach the standards the footballing public now expects. Expections based on the performances of the past and also the information that are given.  To be fair Postecoglou was quick to admit that work needed to and would be done. Surely laps of honour should only ever follow outstanding performances and tournament or qualification winning games, they should never become de rigeur, or they lose their value, last night it just seemed plain wrong.

There is no doubt the squad misses the talents of Rhys Williams and Robbie Kruse in both defence and attack, but it is a fact that they will not be in Brazil due to injury.  It now comes down to those selected to fill the void. There is no doubt it will be interesting to see how the games in Brazil are wrapped up should the Socceroos be on the end of humiliating defeats. Based on this form this could well be the case, the biggest test will be to see how much spirit this group of players has. Australian teams have always been renowned for their endeavour, and never say die attitude, their pride in the shirt and their country. Unless Postecoglou can work a minor miracle they are going to have to dig deep on that spirit to see them through, as based on recent performances they will not survive on their talent alone.

Cashing in

Nearly every football club in Australia is looking for money to stay alive. Many have no idea what they are entitled to, others do, but have been struggling to get their hands on what they are eligible to receive.

To prevent the big clubs poaching players from smaller clubs and enticing the best players with money, cars, houses and the like, FIFA brought in rules and regulations to ensure that the clubs that developed ‘that player’ were compensated for their time, and their investment. The aim was to encourage the smaller clubs to keep developing talent.

With a large number of Australian clubs being run purely by good-hearted volunteers many clubs have no idea of their entitlements, and some simply have not taken the time to pursue monies due to them.

The truth is across Australia semi professional and amateur clubs are owed what one expert believes is millions of dollars; Money that would be an undoubted windfall for many of these struggling clubs.

The “Solidarity Mechanism” in FIFAs rules and regulations is very clear on a club’s entitlements should a player who has played at a club since the age of 12 sign a professional contract.

From the age of 12-15 the club is entitled to 5% of any compensation paid to his former club. This is to be “deducted from the total amount of compensation and distributed by the new club as a solidarity contribution to the clubs involved in his training and education over the years.”

If the player has been at a club from the ages of 16-23yrs of age the compensation goes up to 10%.

FIFA state that “Training compensation is due when: i. a player is registered for the first time as a professional; or ii. a professional is transferred between clubs of two different associations (whether during or at the end of his contract) before the end of the season of his 23rd birthday.”

FIFA is very clear on the timelines for payment, “the deadline for payment of training compensation is 30 days following the registration of the professional with the new association.” In Australia it is fair to say that many clubs have not received payment within that timeframe.

One problem for many of the smaller clubs in Australia is the – as far as we can deduct, unwritten – agreement between A-League clubs and State League Clubs (now NPL) that only a one off payment of $5000 be paid for a player making the step up as a full time professional. However each club that the player has been at would still be entitled to their slice of that $5000.

FIFA’s regulations state “Training compensation shall be paid to a player’s training club(s): (1) when a player signs his first contract as a professional, and (2) each time a professional is transferred until the end of the season of his 23rd birthday. The obligation to pay training compensation arises whether the transfer takes place during or at the end of the player’s contract.“

If a player is re-signed by a club no further monies are due, only if they change clubs.

Interestingly talking to some A-League clubs they too have stated that they have not received any training compensation fees for young players who they have developed through their youth teams and who have signed for another A-League club.

FIFA has introduced the Transfer Matching System (TMS), where all of the details are now submitted electronically when it comes to International transfers. A FIFA Spokesperson advised Not the Footy Show “Any payment actually made in relation to the international transfer of a professional player must be entered in the Transfer Matching System (TMS).”

This will show how much compensation has been paid, and when, by the club that the player is with now, to all of his previous clubs.

This is good news for clubs around Australia as the wait for compensation has been a long and slow one. Clubs have in the past been forced to apply via their state body, which in turn applied to the FFA, who then went off to the club overseas for compensation. The FFA then apparently took a percentage of the money by way of a “handling fee” and then processed the money back along a similar path.

According to FIFA, the Association of the country concerned “is entitled to receive the training compensation which in principle would be due to one of its affiliated clubs, if it can provide evidence that the club in question – with which the professional was registered and trained – has in the meantime ceased to participate in organised football and/ or no longer exists due to, in particular, bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution or loss of affiliation. This compensation shall be reserved for youth football development programmes in the association(s) in question.”

Not the Footy Show made two attempts to contact the FFA in relation to the current system and their views on the TMS, and also for feedback on the fact that a FIFA spokesperson advised us that transfers and compensation contact “is left at the discretion of the various stakeholders concerned.” No response was received and nor was an acknowledgement of our request.

The one problem that A-League clubs face in all of this is that apparently their franchise contract states that they must work through the FFA and not directly with an overseas club, even though that is in direct opposition to FIFA’s regulations. To bypass the FFA could see them in breach of their agreement and risk expulsion from the league.

Based on this information however, clubs developing players need no longer apply for training compensation via the FFA but have every right to go directly to the club concerned. It is important to remember that should a player transfer from an A-League club to an overseas club, the non-A-League club is entitled to the stipulated fee, which can be taken from the monies received for the transfer. The other piece of good news for clubs around Australia is that FIFA does not put any timeline on how long after the signing of a player you can claim the funds owed, just that you should receive them within 30 days.

It is time clubs paid a great deal more attention to FIFAs rules and Regulations, as it could end up being the lifeline many require, especially with no money filtering down to the NPL clubs, and operating costs rising.

 

 

 

 

 

Time to Stop The Merry-go-round.

As the search for a new coach at Perth Glory narrows one has to feel that the club is on a hiding to nothing; that is unless they appoint Guus Hiddink.

The club will never be able to appease all of the fans no matter who they choose, unless the could lure Hiddink to NIB Stadium. If they select a foreign coach, unless it is a high profile one, who in turn will cost a great deal of money, there will be questions asked of his pedigree and how long will he take to adapt to the Hyundai A League. A league that is very different in terms of challenges from many around the world, with a salary cap, no transfers, and no youth academies to bring through the next generation of players.

If the club goes with a coach who has already had A-League experience and who is obviously out of the League at the present time, questions will be asked as to why he lost his job at his previous club and his results at that club will be analysed. No doubt disgruntled former players will air their views on his ability and immediately the new coach will have to prove himself; unless he has a strong enough character to rise above such pressures.

The truth is football fans are rarely happy with the decisions made by their clubs. Some fans will want a foreign coach, some will want a local coach, while others will want an established proven coach from the A-League or NSL. The club can never win, unless the coach proves to be successful, and then everyone forgets.

There was a time when Manchester United fans were calling for Sir Alex Ferguson’s head, a fact that is conveniently forgotten after so many years of success.

Therein lies another issue, sticking with a coach. If, as Perth Glory have indicated they have gone through a thorough and intensive process to ensure that they have the best man for the job, then give that person time. Not 18 months and stipulations on where the team must finish in the league. Ian Ferguson and Ron Smith both lost close to ten games by a one goal margin, both were good coaches who lost some of those games due to poor refereeing or bad luck. The truth is the team was never that far away from being successful. The margin between success and failure is so finite in football. Sometimes you have to look beyond results, even though it is a results driven business.

Outside of the Glory’s recruitment drive one has to look at the overall scheme of things in this country when it comes to coaches and ask why would anyone follow that career path? The FFA and state bodies are pushing people to climb the coaching ladder, demanding that coaches cannot coach at certain levels unless they have set qualifications. However With those qualifications comes the expectation of work.

Yet the opportunities are few and far between. The top of the coaching ladder is the Pro Licence, and the FFA has told those who have achieved that level of qualification they want them in the system. Yet rejected some of those very same people for a key position in Australian development, and gave the role to someone who did not have a Pro Licence at the time, and who it is believed did not apply for the role when it was advertised.

There are now many around Australia with A-Licences – the next one down from a Pro-licence – many with aspirations to coach in the A-League or overseas, yet when clubs in the A-league look overseas rather than within Australia their opportunities diminish. Their credibility is also indirectly harmed.

The reason that they have been overlooked will invariably come down to experience. “The NPL/State League is very different from the A-League,” will be the reason given, and that is a fair comment, yet how will they gain the experience necessary to make that step up?

The FFA is supposed to have strong ties with the Netherlands and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the German FA (DFB) which the FFA stated “incorporates the sharing of technical information and coach development, the exchange of information and best practices in football management.” Why are we not seeing the cream of each NPL/State league’s coaches being given the opportunity to go to either of these countries and gain more experience? IN fact why are we not seeing A-League administrators not going and gaining experience in best practices in football management? That may prevent them all recording losses each year.

The other question has to be why are A-League clubs not assisting and working with these coaches to improve their knowledge and expertise? After all they will benefit at the end of the day, as the State Leagues/NPL is where they recruit from and if the coaching is better the players will be better when they eventually come to the A-League clubs.

There may be many an outstanding coach in the State/NPL competitions, yet they will never be given a chance purely because no one at the top of the game is prepared to explore the possibility, or even work with them initially to polish that possible rough diamond. Instead clubs at the highest level will recycle coaches with A-League experience or alternatively look overseas.

This cycle has to be broken and a new approach taken, especially if we want more Australian coaches to follow Ange Postecoglou into the national team role.

It is not one club’s fault that the game finds itself in this situation, but there has to be a change of attitude soon. Just as clubs look to find the best young players so too should the FFA and clubs be identifying the best up and coming coaches and nurturing them.

Time To Underpin Those Underpinning Football.

According to the rhetoric the National Premier Leagues are the new era of Football in Australia, it will take the game to a new level. So many cliches but very little to support the words as they float away on the wind.

The truth is the competition in each state has simply been give a new name, a unified name. A name to satisfy a requirement for a second tier competition “underpinning the A-League.” It is rather an intriguing word choice as if you look up “underpinning” in the dictionary it states two definitions which the administrators continually try and ignore; “Foundation for something” and “supporting structure.”

For over one hundred years the state league clubs in the main thanks to, and not as many would want you to believe, their ethnic roots have kept the game alive in Australia. It has been these clubs who have supplied the next generation of A-League stars, not the A-League clubs who have against their will been forced to invest in a youth team.

It is great news that these clubs who have been manned by  hundreds of people over the years who have given hours of their time for free to keep the game and their club alive, finally have a competition that makes all that hard work worthwhile; yes there have been at every club people who have put themselves ahead of the club, but if you look around in most cases they have gone and the club remains.

The sad thing is the NPL is not all that it should be and those people cannot rest easy knowing the future is bright. There is little or no investment from the FFA or Football West to make those clubs involved feel that they are part of a ‘new dawn,’ of something the like of which we have never seen. There has been no financial carrot for teams to strive to win that inaugural NPL title, just a play off place against a South Australian team due to cost restrictions and if they win that the possibility of taking on the big boys from the big cities on the East.

What about the promotion of this great new era? There has been next to nothing, a web based video and a breakfast shown and seen by those who have already bought into the idea and the concept that this re-branding will in fact carry the game forward.

There has been talk that the new NPL will attract bigger crowds than the old State League, yet how will that be so when nothing is spent on promotion? The West Australian newspaper carried a picture from the launch breakfast, but how much space will the game garner on a match day for previewing the fixtures and how much on a Monday reviewing the games?

Many will say what little chance does a state competition have when the Perth Glory struggles for coverage. Others will say its only a state competition so doesn’t warrant coverage, yet the WAFL will have sometimes four pages in the paper and that is a state competition. The difference is Australian Rules Football pays or has paid in the past for some of that space in the paper to ensure that they get the coverage they feel their teams and their sport needs to attract high profile sponsors. The WAFL crowds are not much better than some of the better State League football crowds yet they garner more coverage because they have invested in it. The perception then is that the game is thriving and killing other state competitions.

As Perth Glory are struggling for stories in the paper, and as a part of the NPL, a league that they have stated they believe their future relies upon, why have they not combined with Football West and bought newspaper space in order to promote their club and the league that they believe is so vital to bring through the next generation of players? We are constantly told that the relationship between the two is the best it has ever been, so why not a collaborative approach to gain the sport more publicity?

Sadly it all comes down to cost. Neither organisation wants to invest in something as intangible as publicity, so both fall back, like so many organisations on social media. The thing is to make social media work for you, as those who use it successfully will tell you, you have to spend money. Simply posting messages to your Twitter followers and your Facebook friends is almost pointless. For these people have opted to “follow” you and “Like” you so they probably already now what time you are playing, against whom, where and when. They are already committed to the game.

The NPL is a good concept. It has the potential to raise the profile of the game as a whole across the country, but with no marketing plan and no media strategy to pull people through the gates it will struggle. It will die if this responsibility is left solely at the feet of the clubs, as they simply do not have the resources available. With the right plan and the game’s administrators “underpinning” the League in its infancy, they may grow to a position whereby they can take over that role, but not at the start.

Finally the sad fact is that even if the standard of the football improves dramatically, thanks to the coaches that have been given a piece of paper to say that they understand the philosophy of football, it will take a while for the crowds to come, as how will they know that the game has improved? The only way will be via word of mouth.

It is time for less talk and time for actions to speak louder than words. No doubt the clubs, the coaches and the players are about to give their all to the NPL. So too should the administrators across the country promoting and gaining the league publicity. As without out this investment all of the pain to get to this stage will have been for nought, and that would be a great shame.

Underpinning The Top Level

The new year is well under way and football fans have a great deal to look forward to with a World Cup in Brazil. Closer to home they have the new National Premier Leagues to look forward to. A competition that is going to link the top semi-professional leagues around the country.

It is important to remember why this league has come about, it has been forced upon the game in Australia because those running the game at the time Australia was bidding to be accepted into the Asian Football Confederation promised a second tier competition to the A-League by 2013. Hence the unwillingness to listen to the concerns of clubs around the country and the “we’ll adapt as we go approach.” Building something on shifting sands is never a wise decision.

It is interesting to note that the NPL should come into being in 2014, the same year that the Australian Rugby Union will be launching the National Rugby Championship. Although created for very differing reasons, both sports realise that the second tier competition is lacking and that without it the elite teams suffer.

Let us go back to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Australia was on top of the world in sport, maybe not in football just yet but that was just around the corner. Sports science was the buzz word and anyone that worked in the field in Australia was much in demand as the rest of the world clamoured to match a nation that punched well above its weight.

Australia looked to keep one step ahead of the rest of the world as key personnel headed overseas and started running international programs for other nations. One of the innovations was to hive off talented youngsters and keep them in a controlled environment, control their training, eating habits and game time, the idea being that at the end a supremely fine tuned athlete would emerge. Very similar to some Eastern Bloc regimes just without the steroids. Many of these selected athletes were not to perform with the clubs from which they had been plucked, as the fear was if they played amongst lesser talented individuals their standard would drop back to theirs.

The major downside of these controlled environments, apart from some young players getting ahead of themselves, is that you are unable to gauge how the finely tuned athlete will perform when the chips are down, or in a an overly physical environment. Do they have the inner strength the physical toughness, not just the muscle, to get the team across the line.

It was baseball coach Yogi Berra who coined the phrase ‘Baseball is 90% mental the other half is physical.’ With time the word ‘baseball’ was replaced by the word ‘sport.’ The funny thing is that 90% of coaches along with their athletes spend 100 percent of their time working on the physical and tactical sides  of their sport. The reason being that mental edge cannot be taught. Some people have it, some people don’t and it has nothing to do with lifestyles.

In the era mentioned, when Australia was at the top in rugby union and cricket, players played for their clubs, if they were lucky they were picked for their state side. They were not guaranteed a long term place in the side, they had to perform on a regular basis in order to earn that right. If they couldn’t cut it they were back playing with their clubs. What is more important in both of these sports when there were no test matches international players would be playing at their clubs, that in turn helped aspiring players learn what was required to make it to the next level. Nowadays in cricket they hardly ever play for their states teams let alone their clubs. 

The problem with the academy system is you have as a club committed to a player, you may be able to create this magnificent specimen of an athlete, -as this is how all sports people are classed now – but how do you know that athlete can perform? The only way is to throw them in the mix, but then many coaches are loathe to do that at the highest level because their job could be on the line if the athlete fails and the team loses.

Australian rugby has realised this predicament, and that is why they have created the National Rugby Championship. This will give those fringe players, as well as the academy players a chance to show what they can do in a real game situation, without harming the integrity of the Super 15 sides.

Australia were superb in this Summer’s Ashes but that victory covered over a great number of cracks in the game and the talent pool. One of the things that the rest of the world admired about Australian cricket of yesteryear was how they seemed able to pluck players at random from the Sheffield Shield competition and these players were able to perform at Test level. That is no longer the case.

Football has to accept that with the dawn of the professional era in Australia, the gulf between the A-League and the new NPL players is widening. It is already bigger than it has ever been. Ex Socceroo and A-League coach John Kosmina spoke out about this in 2011, and stated that the FFA needed to invest money at this level. The NPL will see negligible investment from the FFA. The points system is also going to be detrimental to the development of quality players capable of making that step up to the next level; the players points system penalises players as they get older, as they are worth more points and teams can only field a side with a set number of points.

The points system is a protectionist move to ensure that the young players who they have had in their development programs – and in some cases whose parents have spent thousands of dollars in the hope that their son will make it to the big time – get to play senior football. The State League competition, or NPL as it is now, is not and never should be a development league! If you turn this competition into a development league you will end up starving the A-League of genuine talent. That is unless you want the A-League to be a development league for overseas clubs?

As rugby has realised the second tier needs to be highly competitive and in that environment the cream will rise to the surface. One problem Football faces, being governed by FIFA rules, is getting around how fringe A-League players on full professional contracts can compete in a separate competition, run by a different body without terminating those contracts. FIFA have advised Not The Footy Show previously that there is no such thing as dual registration, so that is not an option.

There is no doubt that Football needs an improved second tier competition and to have it linked nationally is definitely a great move, however as touched on before, geography and costs should not play such a big part in the play-off series to decide who Australia’s champions will be. By bowing to these influences you are tampering with the integrity of the competition as well as hampering the natural evolution of teams and players. Essentially by giving in to such constraints the FFA opens itself up for accusations of skewing the competition in order to get what they want out of it.

Respected Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger several years ago threw down a challenge to any coach who could identify a 13 year old and guarantee that they would play at the highest level when they reached adulthood. There are too many variables to be able to guarantee such things, yet the FFA and its development pathway seem hellbent on proving the likes of Wenger wrong.

Skill and preparation will get a player so far, as rugby has discovered. However the reality is that sport is 100% mental, a player’s thoughts influence his actions, and then those actions influence their thoughts. Ultimately it is in most cases the mental side that separates successful athletes from those who do not reach their full potential. The cold reality is unless you place an athlete in a real competitive environment you will never find out how good he is and whether he can cut the mustard.

Two sports taking very different approaches to underpinning their top competition, it will be interesting to compare rugby and football’s development over the next few years and how the Super 15 franchises and the A-League Franchises compare in terms of onfield performance and standards. As for Cricket, let us see which path they chose to go down in the future for Australia will no doubt have to re-visit the way it is doing things away from the Big Bash League.

 

Letting the Game Down

Football West will hold their AGM this evening even though it was called outside of the rules set down by the corporations act, which their constitution says they are governed by.

It should be a very interesting affair if those elected by the clubs, players and officials are truly representing those parties, as there is a great deal of discontent in the football family. However many question whether the Zone reps and Standing Committees will ask any questions let alone the hard ones as many clubs have never seen their representative.

What is a major concern to many is that the State League Standing committee which is the area where there the biggest changes to the structure of the game are expected has not met prior to the AGM to discuss concerns or key issues going forward. In fact the word is that they do not plan to meet until the new year around 06 January.This is disrespectful to those that they are supposed to represent and should be unacceptable. How can the clubs allow this to happen?

This is where the current structure falls over. This is the one time in the year where those with the power to ask questions and be heard, as well as have those concerns minuted, yet they let those they represent down by not taking the time to discuss key issues before their meeting with the board.

People wonder why the clubs are pushed down paths they do not want to go, and the game moves in directions that are the opposite to the ones advocated by the masses, but if those elected to represent you fail in their obligations is it really any wonder?

Quite simply these actions have confirmed what many already knew, that these bodies are not representative of the people they purport to stand for. The system or the personnel need changing.