https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fox-football-podcast/id726594291?i=1000466625866

 FFA CEO James Johnson | 'Let's put football first' | 'Unifying' the game in Australia | The task at hand                    Fox Football Podcast             

 New FFA CEO James Johnson has sat down with Adam Peacock to outline exactly how he plans to build football in Australia back up.Johnson eyes the systems in Japan and Germany as 'relevant' for Australia's ecosystem and wants FOOTBALL back in the centre of the game's priorities... and that will feed commercial revenue. Basically, he plans to flip the cycle on its head.Here's more detail:
-'It's about bringing the sport back together' - aligning football in Australia again (1:00)
-Transforming the organisation to one that can operate in a global system or 'global player', like Japan, US & UEFA (3:00)
-'Putting football first' & 'optimising our football products' in order to then capitalise commercially (7:00)
-The A-League is 'unbundling' from the Federation (7:30)
-Johnson's preferred national models are Japan and Germany, and they're far more 'relevant' for Australia than the EPL model (8:00)
-A full look at the Australian football 'cycle' that Johnson wants to create (10-13)
-Johnson sees women's football as the greatest growth area (12:00)
-Johnson's vision for a 'domestic transfer system' to connect grassroots clubs to NPL to A-League - incentivise clubs to develop players, with a distribution coming back down. (13:00)
-Marketing the A-League, the national teams and the FFA (17:00)
-'Focus on getting domestic game right' (25:00)
-The modern challenge of having Australians getting opportunities in Europe (27:00)
-The types of players Johnson's a fan of (28:00)
-When Johnson learnt the importance and values from community (31:00)
-'Fans are our most important stakeholder' (32:00)          

Good interview, plenty of platitudes but lots of interesting stuff to listen to.

There's nothing overly new being said, he wouldn't be the first to mention the importance of becoming a global player in the game, but his examples or templates to follow are curious ones:  Japan, ok I can see that one, then Germany, hmmm, then UEFA, well, not sure how they're a template for us, and then the US, I cringe every time someone mentions the US as an example to follow.

Sports in Australia are over governed.

Frank took advantage of this and ran FFA like he was FIFA.

Who can name a chairman or CEO of any sport outside of Australia few... and most could probably name an American. 

To put football first is to set up a correct system. Then leave it the F alone.

Stop the micromanaging, rule changing, putting FFA first. The classic was Gallop flying down to hug Timmy at City. Stop the rot

i watched the interview on fox sports, it boggles my mind on why he wasnt in charge since the creation of the a-league.

So refreshing to have someone at the helm that just gets it. It boggles my mind that there are those out there that think the old regime did it better...  

As a representative of the City Group he would love world football to be structured like the MLS.  

-'Putting football first' & 'optimising our football products' in order to then capitalise commercially (7:00)
Agreed

-Johnson's preferred national models are Japan and Germany, and they're far more 'relevant' for Australia than the EPL model (8:00)
If he had said AFL instead of EPL I'd back this guy entirely. This is the biggest obstacle the game needs to overcome. It's not a hard sell that the Japan model is more relevant than the EPL, but it is a hard sell that the Japan model is better than the AFL closed shop invitational only teams salary cap for balance and rigged for commercial interest

The Japanese model for adding new professional tiers is certainly something we should follow.  They document what is required for inclusion in the new league, call for applications and select the applicants that best satisfy all of the selection criteria.  The criteria are quite detailed and include having the support of the local government where the club is located as well as the support of the football community.

The way the Germans structure the relationship between the DfB and the Bundesliga owner clubs is also a good model for us to follow.  The DfB and the Bundesliga owners (the clubs) agree on a treaty on how the leagues are to operate and then the owners delegate responsibility to a subsidiary entity to manage the operation of the leagues in accordance with the treaty.  The treaty is renegotiated from time to time.  This model is much better than the EPL model in that it fits easily within the FIFA model where all parts of football are required to be subordinate to the Member Association.

Thanks new FFA

Finally a person who gets the landscape of the game around the world, unlike the boofheads who tried to brainwash the public with how 'unique' we are and all of that jazz in the last 15 years and little to no effect for the progression of the national team both men and womens, Aleague and W-League and look how its taken that forward...

Putting the game first should the mantra at the FFA and this hasn't been the case till now, with this guy I feel optimistic about where the game can go especially in terms of the game's development at club land but also in terms of developing players which has left to dry under the wing of Buckley and Gallop.

With what to think where the game could have gone if 'the football first' mantra was the priority at the FFA at the beginning in 2004.

Its also encouraging how he's looking at Germany and Japan for reference points too unlike looking at the NRL and AFL where it has little to no relevance around the world.

If he wants to find advice and learn from the likes of Germany he should ask the DFB and Tom Byer if I was him.

So, all they have to do is say the right words in the correct order and everything will work out. Yeah and I have a bridge you might want to buy. Interested?

Id buy it just to push you off that bridge.

"Let's put football first"

Doesn't even mention pro-rel once in 36 minutes of interview...

In previous public statements he has made, it's pretty clear that it's not on his agenda for the short term.
I guess we all would all love to see a plan as to timing and how they are going to introduce it.
Maybe there are a host of things they need to do first (get rid of salary cap, 2nd division, transfer fees, etc)
I have been resigned for a while to the fact that we will not see P&R for at least 10 years, at least.

I think you might find its "not before 2034"...

Thanks new FFA etc *yawns

Smart no? More pressing issues with football in the short term to deal with wouldn't you agree? Unless you think pro rel will fix everything and should be addressed at every meeting, conference etc. haha. 

That just shows we have the right man for the job. He's prioritising the important things first.
Yes, promotion and relegation would be nice, provided the levels where it operates are only populated by fully professional teams, but it's really a "can wait' thing.

Apparently. Like...
1. replacing the countless millions in sponsorship the new mob have already lost
2. 2023 WWC bid
3. Growing the ffa cup
etc...

LOL !

Oh, so it's a "can wait" thing now...

Just as well too.

my God Libel..say something positive ...just once ...every single post is the negative of whatever is being said ...do you do this at home ?

Gladly.

Yes. As I’ve said consistently for the last few years promotion and relegation can wait. 

probably

Nothing wrong with prioritising the must address items asap, shift the tides and build some positive momentum for the sport.
The summary seems like a good starting point to me

If the sponsors are jumping ship what's the reason? After all if the game was lucrative they would be keen to continue no? Have the new owners wanted to remove them? Maybe, although  quite possibly unlikely all of them. 
We can assume it is the sponsors wanting to leave the game. Why? Many reasons. I don't know if the new mob will be any good. But the game itself is in a downward spiral and this definitely started from the old mob. This is indisputable. Pro rel etc. won't work if the fabric of the game is in tatters. Getting the fans and stakeholders together again is what will begin to bring the game back. So the points he raises are extremely valid and current. 

It's pretty clear to me now that a lot of those sponsorships were won via Frank Lowy.
I mean, who else could have wrangled $7  million per annum from SBS to show one game per week?
Whatever we think of his failures, and there were many, including handing the Chair to his son, he layed the best possible foundation for the A-League, and it's unlikely anyone is going to be able to progress from where he left off, quite simply, because they won't have his business and political clout.

2034 isn't as far away as you think. we are in the 2020's now afterall. that being said, I expect pro/rel to be in before the end of the decade.  

I agree that Lowy (Frank that is) laid the best possible foundations in that he brought the game into the mainstream, but disagree that the game cannot be progressed. On the contrary, Lowy's strategy was only ever going to serve as stage one of the games evolution, as he sacrificed player development for the cause of "new football". Mainstream now sees the A league as an entertainment option thanks to Lowy, but mainstream cannot be fooled over the lack of quality compared to overseas leagues. I think James Johnson will address this lack of quality by unifying the game and repairing the damaged player development pathways. Here's for hoping anyway.

Lowy was wonderful for our game and did everything right in those first few years . He got us off to a flying start.
However he was never going to be around forever so change was inevitable .
He then put his son in as a means of keeping his name attached to any negotiations on sponsorships etc.
I can see why he did. He was trying to keep the ball rolling . ( I genuinely believe he had the interests of the game at heart )
Unfortunately the game got to a point it needed to evolve and Lowy junior was not the right person to facilitate this .
He had to go .
Yes we have lost sponsorships etc since but there were many other factors at play there ..not just the loss of the Lowy name .
Now we are trying to claw our way back again ...two steps forward ..one step back ...that is normal for any enterprise.
Will Johnson take us forward ?
We hope so but if not he goes .....and we try again.

its a start ...did it hurt ?