Football in Australia is played by just under two million players males and females combined according to AusPlay statistics.
That is three times the participants of cricket in Australia, and twice the number of players in AFL.
The questions then are: Why is football so underfunded? Why is it that any incident in the game is so overblown in the media? Why is it that in the professional ranks, football is not at the forefront of sport in this country?
Could it be that the powers that be at Football Australia are not as public relations savvy as those in the AFL and NRL?
Why is it that Football Australia does not have the courage to promote the differences in football when compared to AFL and NRL?
Why is it that football continually wants to mirror the AFL and NRL?
Why is it that the authorities insist on having a Finals Series culminating in a Grand Final, and then have the temerity to call the winner of a consolation mini-tournament at the end of the season the champion.
Every football fan in the universe knows and accepts that the champion team in football is the team that accumulates the most points over an entire season!
Why do we need to copy the AFL and NRL?
I am sick and tired of people telling me that Grand Finals are an “Australian cultural” thing.
Football is a global sport, and we compete in international tournaments.
Why not promote the differences in our game?
Why do we continue insisting on our national competition (the A League) mirroring that of the AFL and NRL?
Why do we not highlight the excitement of promotion and relegation battles associated with football worldwide?
The beauty of football is that every club, big or small, can climb up the ladder based on results and not franchises.
The national competition was destroyed some 40 years ago when ethnic clubs were replaced with newly established “franchised” clubs who were licensed and awarded guarantees of top flight football with no relegation.
In essence, clubs were prevented from getting promoted into the top tier. Again, this was emulating the NRL and AFL plans.
The bottom-line is that the game needs to be financially supported by government.
Take the success of the Matildas in the World Cup in Australia as an example.
The promises made in terms of return on investment as generated by the Matildas were then dispersed among other sports.
As it stands, there are more questions than answers – together we must accept that when better is possible, good is not enough.
