100% this.....  AFLW is going to create clubs and players out of thin air in 6 months ... meanwhile FA has 100s of clubs with women's teams Australia wide and 1000s of players already playing the game but ..... something something, ethnics out, no money for travel, don't want to dilute the talent pool, who is going to pay to broadcast it etc etc ad nauseam.

You need a vision which is lacking at top end.

This what happens when you focus more on metrics rather than growing the game through development which was been profound in the last 16 years.

I think that the approach needs to fit the sport. AFL(W) does the exact same thing FFA does. Its ALL about the metrics. Bums on seat, money from merchandise, food and memberships. Vision, planning and development is ONLY about growing the financial footprint of their game... They do not have a need to develop a better playing pool for their national team to compete on the world stage (they dont have one). FA, APL and PFA are all following the same "unique" methodology and expecting a better outcome going up against the outside world that doesn't have these limitations in their thinking..... Sadly though, as we have seen this year, things are changing in the football world at a rapid pace also.

 Mate, the game we both love was born nearly 200 years ago out of the unionist/socialist ideals of a labour movement wanting something to do on their new found one day off a week. Working in the mines and factories of 1800s Britain Mon-Saturday meant Sundays were Church –Football – Pub = Happy Workers. The “money” was happy with this arrangement going as far as organizing the first clubs/leagues. When they started seeing the commercial potential in charging crowds to watch and then even paying players to play the game so that they could charge even more people to watch the game spread around the whole world. What we are seeing today is the natural evolution of the late-Victorian British capitalist system coming full circle. Football is a political, ideological, capital tool used to push agendas and make money now….. The owners want TV rights money and merchandising opportunities not Barry the Manc from the housing estates paying 15 pounds to sing “Glory Glory Man United” with his mates for 90 mins.

The horse has bolted as soon as clubs went from being not for profit, member owned sports clubs to being owned by private enterprises, countries or investors. Even the Bundesliga 51% fan ownership rule is a joke now. When a club like RB Leipzig can have Red Bull own 49% shares in the club and then key company personal “own” a vast majority of the remainder of the 51% of the club then that ceases to be a club and is a business…. The FA and British Government can have as many Royal Enquiries as they want about implementing a similar rule in England but do you not think Abrahmovic, Sheik Mansour, the Glazers, the Boston Red Sox crew etc etc wont be able to buy back and control what they need from their clubs?  Its all a scam.  Look at the Man City fanbase, who had 100+ years of absolute failure to now praising the benevolence of one of the most horrific, suppressive dictatorships in global history all because they are winning trophies and silverware … Give the masses what they think they want and all will be forgotten. Bread and Circuses just like the last days of Rome ……
 
 Messi “having” to leave Barca is actually the death knell that many don’t want to acknowledge in my opinion. If a club like Barca is on the verge of collapsing with debts of almost a billion and Inter Milan winning the Serie A but bankrupting themselves to do so and now “fire selling” Lukaku and all their other players…… There will eventually be a Euro Super league made up of the top 12-16 teams backed by enormous wealth and it wouldn’t surprise me if it also becomes a cross Atlantic league with US franchises like Atlanta FC and LA Galaxy etc……  Every half decent player will be playing in these 16 teams on massive wages and the rest of the millions of clubs around the world will in essence become feeder clubs developing players to sell to this league to keep afloat. The franchise Aleague/MLS closed shop system is here to stay and despite me and thousands around the world recoiling in horror at the thought, there are billions of young kids who see nothing wrong with “consuming” soccer in this way…..
 
Good news is that most leagues around the world will benefit from disassociating themselves from the arms race that is “Sport Entertainment” and domestic competitions will become a lot more valuable to the local football supporter. Bad news is that the billions of Asian kids buying Messi tops and US kids subscribing to “Super League Streaming TV” will keep this tier locked away from the rest for ever.  It will however mean that clubs like Everton, Villa, Palace etc in England experience growth. Clubs like Marseille and OL in France, Roma, Sampdoria, Napoli in Italy and the list goes on….
 
Totally random thought but dig out an old movie from the late 70s, early 80s called Rollerball with James Caan (Sonny from the Godfather) about what the future of live sport looks like… that’s were I see football heading and it depresses me badly.

 AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL – SOUTH MELBOURNE HELLAS FOR LIFE. ... sorry for the rant he he he.

Not a rant. Good post.

Interesting. I feel like you view me watching the a league like I view my friends watching the EPL.perhaps we are all not different 

That's where it's heading.
If you want to watch the best 200 players in the world (with a total salary cost of $20 billion annually), then it's pretty clear they are all going to end up in the one super league funded by the richest people on Earth.
Top premier League clubs are the only clubs who don't need to do it in a commercial sense - but every other "big" club in the world has no choice.

Appreciate it... were not that different you and I

Where will they get an extra 100 players from? They already have players in the comp who had never played a game before in their life. 

Mate, not at all.. Its totally not a personalised thing and I strongly believe everyone can watch whatever the hell club or league they want ... its all soccer in the end yeah?
My enjoyment and connection to the game is one thing and yours is another. To be honest I dont understand yours (very generalized "yours" here Im talking about fans of franchise clubs both here and in USA and to some degree even the fans of the big corporatized European clubs these days) because  I value the feeling of being part of a community, a tribe, a family of like minded people who place their club and their group above all others - in a sporting sense of course.
I feel that my club represents how I view the world (mostly) and I appreciate the fact that I have the opportunity if not always the willpower to have a say in how it continues to do so. One franchise per city, owned by a foreign investor, with an Americanized blah name and carefully market researched colours does NOT represent me and never will. 
But thats my feel on it and not necessarily the right or wrong one. I have friends who also very strongly follow EPL teams (in fact 99% of the guys I go to watch Hellas with are extremely passionate about their Reds or Spurs or Hammers or whatever) and I totally understand their connection... Having an undying illness for a soccer club is a beautiful thing bud, no matter what the explanation or justification for it is... Let your friends follow whatever teams they want its not up to fans to convert people to follow the Aleague, its up to each individual club in the Aleague to do this themselves, to MAKE people follow them for life, to get sick in their stomachs on a Friday night before a derby and to weep with joy just for getting a point away to the top of the table team.... Australia NEEDS more established clubs, all connected and more opportunities for all to engage. Not just a property developer with a foreign investor group on board pitching the "gotta support the Aleague (pick a team any team who cares) otherwise you hate football"
For whatever reason(s) you follow Melbourne City I applaud your passion and commitment and (I doubt it will happen now) will love to welcome you to my "house" to play the FFA cup tie when it is allowed to proceed. Dont worry about the Eurosnobs and NSL bitters and whoever else everyone thinks are bringing down the Aleague 

Yeah they've got it all over us that's for sure. It helps they have massive deep pockets but contrast them with, was it CCM?, that wanted to put a W-League side in and the FA kiboshed it. FFS.

This is the game.
Ways to get government to contribute funds for sporting infrastructure.
Ways to get sponsors to give you money for whatever reason.
Ways to get more money out of broadcasters.

I might not be paying enough attention, but aren't some of those players "who've never played before in their like" stars of the Gaelic code from Ireland? There's a tradition of Gaelic/AFL crossover in the men's game (Tadhg Keneally is the biggest name), it's not that big a jump

There are some footballers  who have crossed over.  Former Matilda, Brianna Davey, ended up joining a team.  For  a while, they were even talking about trying to recruit Sam kerr.

I'm sure Kerr has had more than enough of the AFL's culture for one lifetime via her brother.

It's their competence that's the problem. It's why no one hates Union.

It was an urgent rearguard action to stop football from receiving more access to grassroots facilities to meet the needs of the women's game which was exploding in popularity. It was a bit of a hail Mary, but they had the resources and clout to pull it off. They've had over a hundred years to start a women's league, but only acted when the Matildas were making headlines in Canada and Cately was on the front cover of FIFA alongside Cahill and Messi; it was the only move.

If AFLW was the defensive maneuver, AFLX was the counterattack. Even the most one-eyed AFL fan knows that their sport will never stand a chance overseas, it was all about taking over grassroots facilities. Fortunately, that one didn't take.

AFLX has Brisbane Olympics exhibition sport written ALL over it.....  

Last time the AFLW expanded they hit the local Melbourne NPL clubs and Netball clubs pretty hard for players for their comp.... 

Good on the AFL(W) for doing what it is doing, i honestly couldnt care less about womens AFL and honestly outside of the matildas in major comps i dont care about womens football 

But the AFL executives have something football executives havent had since the NSL was disbanded vision on growing the game from a community level. 

im not a fan of the FFA the new mob are slightly better but imho until we got P/L the Australian FA are useless 

Ironically, the organisation thats been pushing back against that global super league structure and protecting international football and its domestic competitions is the one thats historically been at the centre of the corruption and been driven by greed and excess...

FIFA - who'd have thought.

Is AFLX the transgender version of the game ?

Simples really. FIFA does NOT want to lose control over the billions in revenue that will follow this new rival mafia clan. Its not about protecting international football its about not losing control of the market.......

Yes, it's very much a question of control.
Precisely why we see FIFA try and take control of all forms of football, regardless of how small and niche the variations might be.
I can recall the very early years of futsal, circa 1983 to 1985, they were attempting to become a separate sport with a separate governing body, but in the end, got roped in and placed under the control of FIFA.