I've spent a lot of time recently thinking, reading and talking about the issues (perceived or real) that we currently have in Australian football.  And it's all come together in a blog post I've written that offers some solutions and will hopefully encourage more discussion and possibly even some action. 

Feedback is very much welcome.

It's a huge post, so I won't post it all, but if anyone is interested you can see the whole thing here - http://thepeckingorder.com.au/tpovision/

The reason it's so long is because I've covered pretty much anything I thought to be relevant:


Here's a quick snapshot:

Love it!!

Looks like a great read, good work.

Very good. As per stadium criteria you could almost go off UEFAs. 

A-League category 3
2nd Division category 2

  

Article 70 -  Press conference room and mixed zone

1
 Within the stadium, a press conference room or a dedicated section of the media working area must be available, equipped with a desk, camera platform, podium, split box, sound system and chairs.
2
 This room or section must have at least 50 seats for the media representatives.
3
 A space must be available between the dressing rooms and the parking area reserved for the team buses that can be converted into a mixed zone.
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100%

Excellent work mate. That crowdfunding thing really got me thinking about our options. There's something like 100k+ A-League club members, and surely at least another 20k worth of people who are football fans with no A-League ties (like me). So that's like 120k people, and that's possibly being too conservative of a guess. At all levels it must be near 200k at minimum.

Let's say we set up a kickstarter with perks (with the help of prospective clubs) depending on how much you contribute individually, like:
$10 contribution: Official recognition on the kickstarter and registration as a fan for club of your choice
$25 contribution: Ticket for the opening match of a club of your choice
$50 contribution: Fan merch (like a scarf or shirt) from club of your choice
$100 contributon: Season ticket for home games of club of your choice
$200 contribution: Season ticket for every game of a club of your choice
$400 contribution: Three year ticket for all home games of a club of your choice
$800 contribution: Five year ticket for all home games of a club of your choice
$2000 contribution: Lifetime season ticket for all games of a club of your choice
$3000 contribution: Lifetime season ticket for all A2/A3 League matches
$5000 contribution: Play for the club of your choice in a friendly, plus lifetime membership
$10,000 contribution: (Something worth that much money)
$20,000 contribution: ????
$50,000 contribution: ???? + All of the above perks

If every current football fan already involved in a club at any level (let's say, 200k people) chipped an average of $200 each then that's a total of $40 million ($40,000,000!) crowdfunded. Holy fuck that's a lot!

Just gave it a first read, really inspiring stuff! Already gotten a share on the Expand the A-League facebook page.

One thing I would suggest is a mechanism for new clubs to apply for the A2-League and A3-League as it is formed, or places they can apply to as the whole pyramid is implemented, as I'm not sure if you mentioned that possibility. Considering there are a few consortia willing to stump for a new A-League team from scratch right now, I'd be sure that there'd be more takers for a lower cost A2 or A3 model. This isn't to say that enfranchising existing clubs with this model isn't also the way to go as well.

Condensing the top levels of the NPL into five conferences is also a great idea, although to avoid confusion I might have gone with NPL West, NPL South, etc, to avoid confusion with the actual state NPLs, but that's a minor quibble.

And that's if you limit it to A-League members.  Plenty of people who would be involved in the A2 and A3 wouldn't currently be in that group.

If I got lifetime membership to any A2 League games, regardless of the teams involved, I'd pay $5k.  Surely I can't be the only one.  

We just need to be a bit more creative.

Exactly!
I'd happily pay $5k for a lifetime membership for Wollongong Wolves if it also meant that it could open the gateway to the top flight. Heck, if there's 10k people like you and I who would do that then that's $50,000,000 (50 MILLION!!!) right there. If there was a way to start this as a crowdfunding campaign with broad reach and transparent use of the collective funds then we seriously should look at something like this.

Beware we are in a unique country incapable of using innitiative. 

Great read.

Need to go over it again to see if I can pick any weaknesses in the plan, to be able to give you constructive feedback, but after one pass I can only say, wow, how good was that?

Bravo.

If all the stakeholders of football in this country managed to raise $50 million in crowdfunding to achieve this dream, that would be the most delightful irony of the FFA bs that we're #unique. Imagine the looks on the faces of Gallop, the Lowys, any other detractors of the open football pyramid, and all the naysayers from other Aussie sports (including a certain poster on these forums, not naming names ;)) if we achieved the entire dream through an avalanche effect of fan contribution.

In all seriousness, we should be considering this, but perhaps expecting smaller scale results. If the NPL clubs, the AAFC, and existing fans discontent with the way things are all pooled some money together, it would be a tidy amount I reckon.

Stellar effort, Mr Shorter.

One further bit of feedback, I'm not sure what your position on allowing transfer fees between clubs, but especially with your plan of #scrapthecap, it could be another source of revenue for smaller A-League teams as well as those further down the pyramid and might be a good point to add speaking to the financial viability of A2/3 League clubs.

Fair comments.  I deliberately left the specific make up of teams out of the discussion because I know it's one of the things that people tend to get hung up on.  And to be honest, it doesn't make a difference to the structure itself.  

But it'd be an important next step, defining the criteria and letting existing and new clubs to apply on that basis for the initial season.

I agree 100% with adding some sort of transfer fee between clubs.  It felt almost like a separate issue though, which is why I didn't touch on it.  I'll think about how to add a comment though, because it's a part of the overall thing.

Similar to reducing kids registration fees and coaching courses.  Both important to the future of the game, but maybe not directly related to the pyramid system.

Fair points. :)

Aussieshorter right now:

Excellent contribution, thanks for putting this together!

Question: Who controls the new combined state leagues? Do NNSW and ACT just let Football NSW run things as they do now and just concentrate on their existing leagues as a feeder to the bigger states?

Probably something for others to decide because I'm guessing not all State feds would be willing to accept change :)

My view is that it'd be very simple to just let NSW control the conference and ACT/NNSW run their league as they do now.  The only difference to the way it works right now, is that you might end up with one ACT team and one NNSW team in the NSW Conference.  And that's not even new - in the past Adamstown Rosebuds (NNSW) and Monaro Panthers (ACT) both played in the NSW State League.

absolutely incredible. well structured and a good read. at the moment i believe the ffa are looking at the mls route, however the japanese route needs to be investigated.

Hey mate just wondering what your plan would be to engage regional and unaffiliated leagues? You touched a bit on the regional but maybe expand that section and how you would fit it into your pyramid scheme. I always believed our regional areas are our heart beat and key to unlocking the true potential of Australian football.

Yeah, it's a tough one.  I think they should be involved in the pyramid only to the extent they want to be.  Instead of having the regional league themselves linked, I'd encourage the teams to join the structure and add more tiers.

I use Queensland as an example of why adding regional leagues to the pyramid won't work.  In reality, most of the teams in the leagues like Wide Bay or Central Queensland would struggle to fly around the State and get thumped by Brisbane clubs.  Being promoted would only hurt them if it was forced.  Not every club can become a professional club, and we need the small community clubs.  So I think it's important to let them stay at that level if that's what they want.  

Instead, let the ambitious clubs apply to join the State League, even if that means they form new regional teams.  Similar to what is happening now with QLD's second tier being formed.

The important point is that no club is excluded from the pyramid.  Any club can apply and join at the bottom.  It should be encouraged, but not forced on them.

Yeah man 100%

Crowdfunding is an excellent idea to inject cash, and is something that has been done with great success already in this country - the land for Knights Stadium was purchased through crowdfunding:

The land at Somers Street, which had been a Village drive through cinema, was bought and developed largely through donations and volunteer work from the local Croatian community. The idea was that if 1000 people each donated $300 that would equal $300,000, more than enough to purchase the land.

Wikipedia

I think ACT can stand alone in their own Conference, in your structure you have Tasmania in their own. Providing viable pathways for smaller states is important for an all of nation plan as no association will ok something that they think will make it harder for their teams to rise to the top. NSW and Vic will naturally always be the strongest, but finding a way that others can feel like they are viably [participating and not there to make up the numbers is also important.
Unfortunately I didn't make reading it all to the end last night, but I hope that one of the requirements for a Pro License was a Youth Academy?

I think you'll find that he had Tasmania with Victoria in his joint conference. :)

Oops, my bad. Still, smaller states will see that layout as putting a further layer in between them and A3. I'd keep the current pathway to the playoff level, npl equivalent that they already enjoy. I don't think this would disadvantage the bigger states, but would help ensure support from tas and act football associations

Why not combine NNSW, ACT and NSW/ QLD and NT/ Vic and Tas/ WA and SA instead of having a third tier and then having the NPL.

I made a comment in the post about this issue.  If you were to take away all the self-interest of the current structure (I don't mean that in a bad way - their entire job is to look after the interests of their region), a Conference system would be ideal.  The reason we use the idea of a pyramid or a funnel is because there should be fewer teams at each tier.

But the existing associations will be resistant to change if it disadvantages them, as you say.  If leaving ACT, TAS, and NNSW at the same level as the other States is what it takes to make it work, I'd accept that. It's not ideal, but it's not absolutely critical either.  

My argument would be that if the ACT Champion wins a playoff game and finds themselves in the A3 League, they need to be competitive.  And what happens if in the next year another ACT team wins promotion?  Are they both competitive?  If it's too big a step up in terms of quality and professionalism, they need a stepping stone.

What would you do with Northern Territory?  If we're talking about a long term vision that includes every single club in Australia, they need a pathway.  But they're not at a level where they can go straight to an A3 League.  It's the same thing, they need a stepping stone.

Expansion of the A-league and even a second division would help alot