have you seen what's happened to victory's attendances when they are doing poorly?  Like now?

 Do you think there is a correlation between winning games and match day attendances, memberships, viewership figures? 

Do you think clubs need a base level of support in those areas to remain viable?

I think that is a common misconception. Take away the centralised income and expenditure model as well as  the cap and the Mariners and Jets become targets for investment.

Oh c'mon!  No-one in their right mind "invests" in football clubs.

The difference between top and bottom seems to be about 30%. If 70% of a team's base support is not enough to be viable then why are they in the league?

Its ridiculous to say that the league can't evolve because our smallest teams need to be the best in the country

Small teams should be a welcome part of the A League but if they can't be viable unless they are guaranteed success then we need to look past them. And I can guarantee you if Wollongong, Canberra or Tasmania were offered a spot in an open league they wouldnt say "Yeah, nah, we cant win so nobody will watch"

Exactly. If WU threw $15m just for an A League licence, then why would CCM and NCJ go down the sink? We have seen in some of CCM away games, and even for smaller clubs in the EPL the lure of big teams

The think that is killing CCM and NCJ is forcing them to compete upwards and match MV and SFC for expenditure

Short term Yes, long term No

This but throw in merchandise sales, sponsorship, etc.

Fans can only take so much. CCM have been through hell and back over the last 5 years and fans are turning away. If they are forced into finishing last every year, even some of the most diehard fans will lose interest. It is honestly so disheartening to see your club forced into eternal mediocrity simply because your club isn't owned by a loaded sugar daddy. Even UEFA were considering bringing in a form of salary cap a while back.

As for Bluebird's point about following the Roos and not AUFC, it's not ironic at all and a ridiculous attempt at a gotcha. Success can be bought in club football. You can't go and buy a bunch of players from elsewhere to play for your NT. 

Actually, they want it gone, based on John Didulica's opinion.

The only thing FIFA was going to do was create that committee and chose the people for it that would compliant to follow the FIFA regulations

Ultimetly whoever is in charge they a vision where everyone can aim for, winning the world cup would not be a bad starting point.

The game badly needs a vision and this has been missing since 2005, as everyone has been doing their own thing.

If Japan can aim for one, then why can't Australia? Excuses....

I think we can, because Leicester wasn't supposed win the PL right? But much like Leicester's season, pretty much everything needs to align for us to win - major contenders having squads among the weakest in their history, luck, everyone completely united, etc.

Winning a world cup is about performing at your best under pressure. We have teams from other countries where the players face that week in week out. We have the capability to win the world cup because we are a wealthy nation, we have a can do approach to things, we have a genuine love of sport and wanting to be the best. However we are only the best in sports that generally no one else in the world plays, that's not going to cut it I am afraid. 

I hope you are not suggesting that there was a worthwhile vision before 2005.  The only vision before then was to preserve the status quo.

Been saying for years the league isn’t doing enough to promote in Europe. I watch on Youtube My Football. It’s not on tv.

from a commercial view a 20 team league would be good. That included the 4 SE Asian teams..,,, if you could get sellouts at right sized venues. This is because of the tv times. Perth are the latest before the early EPL game. Another Perth team wouldn’t help. Perth as a city hates the soccer.

Also could keep finals as it would appeal, Euro fans watch domestic and NHL, domestic and NBA and NFL so finals aren’t foreign.

But would prefer pro rel with minimum stadium demand. This wouldn’t be achievable with SE Asian teams as they wouldn’t want to be relegated.

Imagine a successful football country even considering an online conversation where destroying their own top league was an option.

Must consider the clubs do not have full control of the league. So we will not see full investment until that happens.
I'm guessing FFA in it until the TV deal is up for negotiation.

"Under the current six-year broadcast deal between Fox Sports and Football Federation Australia, which expires in 2023, Fox pays about $57 million each year "

So time will tell, but minor tweaking will continue till 2023.

Imagine a successful football country with the decades and decades of in-fighting and politics that we do ...... no, me neither. 

One of the things you seem to be forgetting is the A League is the highest possible league of football one can play in this country before exploring overseas options. Why should it be watered down to the level Gosford and Newcastle can compete at? If two u12s teams want to join an u16s league, thats fine, but dont expect the u16s teams to then field u12s. CCM and NCJ knew they would one day be punching above their weight before submitting a bid and going through the hoops required to prove financial viability. If they will fold just because they cant win that's a substantial oversight

Secondly, the A League is professional. Of course money drives it. Being upset that money will play a role in a professional league would be like being upset that teams score goals or wear kits. The AFL / NRL use a salary cap to regulate the market of player payments. We dont control the market which makes the salary cap a big fat nothing. Our "fairness" balance is limiting the number of imports so clubs can't stack their playing list with a bunch of Brazilians. We have already seen the impact imports can have on the league and we arent even in the highest market

And yes other leagues are looking at a salary cap but not to make sure team 20 can compete with team 1. Its about controlling the ridiculous player payment figures that we see being thrown around

Not all salary caps are the same. There is a difference between doing something and doing something properly. The AFL / NRL and proposed ones in Europe leagues serve a real point. We have surpassed a stage where we need one because we no longer have one team in the major cities and our player pool has grown beyond what was available after the collapse of the NSL. And we are long before a stage where teams are paying ridiculous money for players just to win our league

Wanting to see our game held back because you'll feel sad if two small teams cant be the best football team in all of Australia is everything that is wrong with our game. There is strong evidence many fans dont feel the same way

I am glad they are listening to their members as the previous strongly held opinion was that the salary cap was the only thing preventing the A League clubs from paying their players a pittance. They also believed that it was the most effective way to drive up player wages in Australia. They of course were wrong.


A League clubs don't generate income through merchandise, the FFA does and then distributes it via the dividend payment made to each club.Sponsorship is direct club income, one of the few forms of revenue they can bank on next to corporate sales.

Also success cannot be bought in Australia for a football club due to the restrictions that are placed on the finances of all clubs in order to create an artificially "level" competition - I think a better description to "level" is mediocre, as in it encourages mediocrity rather than excellence.

Removing the Cap makes sense if we want a free market and teams to reach their true potential.
However without transfer fees and promotion and relegation from a second division,we would not have a true football pyramid with a free market.That would be dangerous.
Small teams need a way to the top.If it isnt with buying expensive players they have to be able to develop and sell players.
The smaller teams have to have an incentive to keep playing well when they are no hope of winning anything.The threat of relegation is a proven  way of dealing with the bottom dwellers.

So Adelaide's run in the AFC Champions League was "mediocre"?

Wanderers winning it was "mediocre"?

Roar under Postecoglou were mediocre?

Every starting player in the 1-2 loss against World Champions France in 2018 having played in the  A League was also  "mediocre"?

How are those questions exactly relevant?

How good are CCM? What does WP actually do for Australian football? What is the purpose of PG having the oldest playing list? Why can't I get a cevapi at an A League game?

The relevance is obvious.

You're talking about a league and capped system that is- what- 15 years old and in that time has produced 2 teams that played in the final of the AFC Champions league, one of whom won it. The best in Asia!  In what sense is this encouraging "mediocrity"?

The same League produced all 11 players that took it up to the current World Champions AT THE WORLD CUP.  How is this "mediocre"?

As far as the Mariners go, 4 of that starting 11 in that game played for them including the captain.  And don't get me started on their domestic achievements under Arnold who went on to coach the NT.

Melb City spend more than anyone else and have no where near the achievements of excellence of the Mariners.  

The purpose of PG havng an older squad is to win the league, same as everyone else.

What does Cardiff and and Swansea add to English football?

Cevapi are made with meat slightly above pet food grade.  

dp

That's the case as of now but isn't that changing now the league is becoming independent. 

They could ,should do a better job of sharing the wealth to these clubs who have carried the game for a bloody long time 

All of these are one offs, I know we had this discussion before with the Socceroos at the World Cup but how does a salary cap got to do with Socceroos players as being mediocre? 

Overall it’s just a mission statement where everyone in the game can follow and put their energy and resources into.

Whatever mission statement it is for Australian football it needs to clear and everyone be on the same page and historically it’s being a struggle even with Lowy in charge. 

We aren't like the rest of the world.  Football at the elite level here is a minor sport so there isn't much money in the game.  The salary cap is a mechanism to moderate player costs so that the clubs have money left to allocate to all of those other areas of the business that are essential for the operation of a professional club.  Has it worked is another question.