I remember Archie Thompson complaining that the players weren't getting paid full International wages. I imagine that had a lot to do with the end of our participation. Interesting enough that was when Mooy first came into frame for the National team. He hit a wonderful goal from a free kick and got the attention of Holga Osieck. For that fact alone it may be beneficial to consider rolling out an Australian B team once in a while.

Yeah, if I remember correctly, the FFA ended up being in the shitter for $30k per player.  Bill for the tourney was about $1M.

Given that it is expensive, qualifies you for nothing, has little standing or reward and grants a 'Roos cap thereby cheapening the shirt, why do it?
It was a highly paid holiday for 2nd rate players.  Archie claimed he was being "forced" to represent his country and should be paid accordingly.  I think it was his last appearance (and fuck him).
Also IIRC the PFA held out that they weren't ever going to back off and if we sent a team it was going to be full cap/full costs job.  Can it is the only sensible answer. 

Vietnam beating Philippines 4-2 on aggregate in the other semi, full game wearing number 10 for Iain Ramsay for the Philippines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfyD9cZ-JZM

Two legs of the final are on Tuesday 11th and Saturday 15th.

First leg just finished, 2-2 draw in front of 87k: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbXjAduBNxQ

Final leg is on Saturday 11:30pm AEDT.

Where's Chapman? Haha. Looking at this shows a lot of decent options for these potential Asian Cup spots. 

As I said there will always be others I've missed.

There is also Nabbout and Petratos.

I'm not sure which SK team Chapman plays in? With Spira unfit, he could be a CB option. 

I certainly like the idea of this Cup as there are always surprise performances and it creates opportunities for fringe players. 

Wouldn't even care if we sent an NPL + Asia team if disrupting the A-League is the only barrier. Just send a team ffs, we look so pathetic just picking and choosing when engaging with Asia suits us.

Awesome game..  Vietnam taking it to Malaysia away from home instead of parking the bus. Great atmosphere. Was an open game, both sides are good in attack but not in defense.  Vietnam need to maintain composure and they should be able to finish the job in the return leg in Hanoi on the 15th. Can't wait!

A full strength Socceroos side should be able to beat these top ASEAN sides. But anything less than full strength and they'll give us a run for our money.

Vietnam lifting the trophy after winning the home leg 1-0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgm8pY1IWfE

Open game despite the early goal, the underdogs Malaysia getting plenty of dangerous balls in the box.

Packed out 40k My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. Scott McIntire tweeting that tickets were going for $600USD on the black market.

GDP (PPP):
Australia: $1.246 trillion
ASEAN: $8.558 trillion

Rode on a Kawasaki to the Suzuki Cup and watched Honda play afew years back.

Have you ever had any thoughts on the longer term cost of cheapening a "Cap"?

Making the shirt available to whoever wants one, plus raising the ire of owners and fans during the A League season - haven't we just moved past that?
OTOH we could get Oprah over to do a TV special to hand out the shirts. Massive viewer count. 
The look of delight on Simon's face when he looks under his seat!

Personally I don't care for the whole cheapening of a cap argument. Not all international appearances are equally valuable anyway and only the hungriest players will make it in the end to the important squads that are selected for major tournaments and qualifiers. 

No I don't agree that it would cheapen the shirt. People said that about the East Asian tournament we went in but the list of players capped speak for themselves. People said that about the UEFA Nations League and it's done pretty well. Nobody complains when coaches experiment with players in the early stage of WCQs against minnows either.

As for teams being put out, well that would assume an XI of A-League players were picked and that the competition would be same format, and while in the current format actually allows a few windows for players to come back to clubs during byes and between finals I did suggest a different solution earlier that we could host and would fit our calendar beautifully.

Chris Beath refereeing the first leg of the final, so it's good to see at least one Australian involved. I doubt he's reffed in front of 88k before.

2nd leg was by Iranian Alireza Faghani who we'd remember from our 2015 Asian Cup final win. He also took charge of some pretty serious games at the last World Cup. It's good to see that the AFF takes it seriously and brings in the most experienced refereeing talent available.

IIRC that Iranian ref handled the situation very well.

Click on link for easier reading

“AFF to launch ASEAN Club Championship in 2020 featuring top clubs from Southeast Asia November 5, 2019 ASEAN club championship The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) has announced that the inaugural ASEAN Club Championship, featuring the top clubs from Southeast Asia, will kick off next year. The ASEAN Club championship (ACC) will feature 12 clubs from AFF Member Associations and will carry a lucrative purse of US$ 500,000 for the winners. “The ACC will be the next major competition in the region after the enormously successful AFF Suzuki Cup,” AFF announced. AFF also announced that they have held meetings with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who was recently in Thailand, to discuss the club competition and added that they have the full backing of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC Champions League 2019: Shandong Luneng 2-1 JDT (Safawi Rasid 59′) The association added that the winners of the ASEAN championship could earn a place in the final rounds of the expanded 24-team FIFA Club World Cup — the 2021 version of which is to be held in China PR. “The prospects of playing in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup is enticing and will translate to among other things greater investment by league and clubs in the region thus contributing to the further growth of the football ecosystem in Southeast Asia,” said AFF president Khiev Sameth in a press release. Sameth said that the AFF met FIFA president Infantino twice to discuss the ASEAN Club Championship — once in Thailand last week and earlier in Vietnam last month. “We took time to put this integrated and holistic plan together as there were numerous factors to consider, including ensuring no conflict in scheduling with the domestic leagues, FIFA and AFC fixtures including that of the expanded AFC Champions League,” the AFF president said. AFC Champions League 2019: Buriram United 1-1 Urawa Reds (Pedro Junior 13′) “We also had to look into other crucial matters like branding, prize money and format of competition. Then, there were the negotiations with the various commercial partners over the past months before securing the approval of the AFF Council,” Sameth added. “The ACC plan was finally discussed again at the AFF Special Council Meeting which met in Ho Chi Minh last week, specifically to deliberate and approve the details of the ACC and the Master Rights Agreement. I am pleased to share that the ASEAN Club Championship was unanimously approved by all the Member Associations that were present at the AFF Special Council Meeting,” he added. AFF said that further details of the tournament will be revealed on a future date. AFF has previously conducted a biennial ASEAN Club Championship in 2003 and 2005 that featured the champion clubs from the AFF Member Associations. However, the competition was later discontinued.”


https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/asian-football/1195231/aff-to-launch-asean-club-championship-in-2020-featuring-top-clubs-from-southeast-asia/

We are one of 12 nations that make up 
AFF

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN_Football_Federation#Member_associations

AFF Club Championship has previously existed. Once with 12 teams (2 from Indonesia, 0 East Timor, 1 from India on invitation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_ASEAN_Club_Championship

Not being quoted as being excluded is a positive start

However “12 clubs from AFF Member Associations” could be open to interpretation whether it means 1 from each or 12 total.

EDIT

From AFC - 
“Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) refers to recent media reports on the Asean Club Championship and the possibility of the tournament’s winner participating in the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup in 2021 in China PR. The AFC wishes to reiterate that AFC representative teams to the FIFA Club World Cup will only be through the AFC Club Competitions namely the AFC Champions League. The AFC confirms that it has received a proposal to organise the Asean Club Championship from the Asean Football Federation (AFF). While the AFC welcomes all efforts by the AFF to support the development of club football in the region, there are processes that need to be followed, especially in ensuring all outstanding issues are clarified before the approval.”

https://www.the-afc.com/media/afc-statement-on-the-asean-club-championship

From Singapore paper-
“Asean Club Championship to launch after getting AFC and Fifa backing A new Asean Club Championship football tournament is to launch in 2020 after being endorsed by the Asian Football Confederation and Fifa. As reported exclusively by SportBusiness last month, the championship is being run by the Asean Football Federation and was proposed by sports business entrepreneur Seamus O’Brien, who is understood to be taking charge of the commercial rights. The competition will be contested by 12 league or cup champions from AFF member federations.

The Straits Times reports that, although a member of the AFF, Australian clubs will not take part, so the competing clubs will come from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

The newspaper reports that the likely competition structure features two groups of six teams playing each other home and away, with the top two in each group advancing to semi-finals, followed by a final. The Straits Times also reports that commercial partners for the tournament have already been secured, and prize money of more than $1m is promised. Each team will receive a participation fee from the earliest rounds, and prize money will escalate as they progress through the tournament. The winners of the competition could potentially qualify for place in the newly-expanded Fifa Club World Cup, the AFF said in the press release announcing its new tournament. The AFF says the introduction of the ACC (Asean Club Championship) will help raise the standard of Southeast Asian national teams and enhance the profiles of the clubs and leagues in the region. AFF president Major General Khiev Sameth said: “The ACC will also help clubs improve their financial standing, promote sports tourism and enhance the football experience of the 650 million football supporters in our region.” Support from the AFC for the tournament was critical for the project. A previous incarnation, that ran in 2003 and 2005, was shut down after opposition from the AFC due to fixture congestion. In the press release announcing the deal, Maj. Gen. Khiev Sameth, of Cambodia, said: “We took time to put this integrated and holistic plan together as there were numerous factors to consider, including ensuring no conflict in scheduling with the domestic leagues, Fifa and AFC fixtures including that of the expanded ACL [AFC Champions League]. We also had to look into other crucial matters like branding, prize money and format of competition. Then, there were the negotiations with the various commercial partners over the past months before securing the approval of the AFF Council… “The ACC plan was finally discussed again at the AFF Special Council Meeting which met in Ho Chi Minh last week, specifically to deliberate and approve the details of the ACC and the Master Rights Agreement. I am pleased to share that the ACC was unanimously approved by all the Member Associations that were present at the AFF Special Council Meeting.” The AFF said it discussed the proposal for the tournament with AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in Tajikstan in September, then with Fifa president Gianni Infantino in Vientiane, Laos last month and again in Bangkok last week. Maj. Gen. Sameth said: “We shared our plans for the club championship with president Infantino and His Excellency Shaikh Salman and they were both supportive. We are deeply grateful to have the full support from Fifa and AFC.” Infantino was present in Bangkok when the AFF last week signed an MoU with the Asean political organisation to develop football-related social responsibility projects in the region. The AFF said further details of the ACC would be revealed at a later date.”

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/asean-club-championship-to-launch-after-getting-afc-and-fifa-backing/

Personally FFA should kick up a stink if we are not included and push for FFA Cup winner as an alternative. 

I assume this will replace the ASEAN Zone of the AFC Cup, but what about AFF clubs in the ACL?

Too much to hope for regarding Aussie involvement, sadly. Would have been perfect to have our top two or three go to the ACL and the next two into the AFF comp.

Sounds like AFC support the idea but need to confirm the details.

Hopefully it would be like Europe. So the eg second Thai team qualifies or if 2 qualify for ACL the third team plays.

A Thai team playing a minimum 6 ACL and 10 ACC matches seems overkill.

“The newspaper reports that the likely competition structure features two groups of six teams playing each other home and away, with the top two in each group advancing to semi-finals, followed by a final.”

Maybe it is also for all the teams that get knocked out of ACL qualifying. 

If none of our existing national sides would be realistically available to compete in the AFF Championship, it might be a good idea to field an Australia A side made up only of HAL players. It's not just a cricket thing either, quite a few football nations have/had national reserve sides.

Because a-league teams aren't already losing enough players

Unless AL changed to pretty much the rest of Asia Mar-Nov there will always be problems

3 points
- if FFA make clubs releases u23 every Jan why wouldn’t they have the same right for AL players? Foreign clubs can say get stuffed but the papers and social media and iirc pfa  in Aus give sob stories about players wanting to play for nt and it’s their dream etc. Even more of a case I would say if it is the actual NT. 

- it is a way to cap players. I don’t like free caps but you can chuck on a guy in 90th min against Myanmar who may play for another country. 

- Would have to look at the rules/contracts AL clubs play under. Whether going independent means they can tell FFA to get stuffed also because for FFA this is a revenue stream. They will want the strongest team possible to sell more tickets.

Last night the Vietnam U22 team won the SEA Games gold medal final game against Indonesia. Something they've never won in the tournament's 60 year history.  Its been a massive 2 years of continuous football improvement for Vietnam.

Men's senior team won the ASEAN Cup (Suzuki Cup),  and exceeded expectations at the Asian Cup. Currently top of their group in World Cup qualification having defeated UAE.

Women's team also just won the gold medal in the SEA games a couple of days ago.

U23 Team finished runners up at the 2018 Asian Cup in Changzhou, defeating Australia and Japan along the way.
Could their U23 team go one step further by winning the 2020 U23 Asian cup held in Thailand in January?

"They wouldn't let us in because they hate us!"

“Asean Club Championship prepares for inaugural season without Malaysian teams The organisers of the new Asean Club Championship football tournament are preparing to launch this year without the participation of Malaysian clubs. Football Association of Malaysia general secretary Stuart Ramalingam told SportBusiness today (Monday) that it was “unlikely” Malaysian teams would take part. Ramalingam said the FAM has several concerns about the tournament, including the potential for fixture congestion and the lack of a strong endorsement for it from the Asian Football Confederation. Under the original plan for the tournament, two Malaysian teams were to enter the first-round group stage. The competition’s organisers, the Asean Football Federation and agency Sports Partners International, are understood to have prepared an alternative structure without Malaysian teams, scrapping a planned qualification stage. The tournament will run from April or May – depending on whether the qualification stage happens – until November. A draw and official launch is expected to take place in February or March. Malaysia is the only one of the Asean Football Federation members invited to enter a team that declined to do so. The teams committed by the other federations are from: Indonesia (Bali United and Persebaya Surabaya), Thailand (Chiangrai United and Prachuap), Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), Brunei (Indera SC), Cambodia (Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng), Laos (Lao Toyota), Myanmar (Shan United), Philippines (Ceres-Negros) and Singapore (Tampines Rovers). Malaysian concerns Stuart Ramalingam told SportBusiness the FAM was not fundamentally opposed to the ACC and would like to enter the competition in future years if some of its “constructive” criticism was taken on board. He said: “The AFF Club Championship is a great initiative. We are supporters of the federation and the direction that is being taken. Our feedback is for positive and constructive input.” He added: “I think there’s a number of things that need to be sorted out and I doubt they can be [in time for this year]. We don’t want the opinion of FAM to be the reason why this doesn’t take off or is delayed, because I think it suits the requirements and needs of some of the Asean countries and the AFF themselves… “It’s not likely that we’ll participate this year. In following years, if the format fits, yes [we will participate]. My biggest objective is the development of Malaysian football. And we need a format that helps Malaysian football move forward.” Ramalingam said the current tournament structure creates too many new matchdays in an already crowded calendar for Malaysian clubs. He said he is concerned about the negative impact on the Malaysian domestic calendar, on Malaysian teams’ performances in AFC continental club competitions, and possibly on national team performances given that the clubs due to take part in the ACC have many national team players. Ramalingam warned that, by accepting the current structure, Asean federations were risking mistakenly putting commercial objectives ahead of football development objectives: “In the pursuit of commercial opportunities, are we also sacrificing development of the region? Because we are a region that’s playing catch-up to a lot of other regions.” One solution Ramalingam has suggested is that federations be allowed to enter teams that finish third and fourth in their leagues, instead of the first and second-placed teams or cup winners as currently planned. This would allow the top teams to focus on the established AFC continental competitions. Asean teams will receive more qualification slots for the AFC competitions from 2021. In the AFC Champions League, the total number of teams entering the tournament, including at the qualifying stages, is increasing by two to 54, and the number of teams in the tournament proper is increasing by eight to 40. In the second-tier AFC Cup, the number of teams in total is increasing by eight to 56, while the tournament proper will remain at 36 teams. AFC approval Ramalingam also said the Malaysian association was concerned that AFC was not fully supportive of the ACC. The level of the confederation’s support for the tournament is unclear. The AFC declined to comment on the matter last week when contacted by SportBusiness, referring to its statement in December in which it said: “The AFC confirms that it has received a proposal to organise the Asean Club Championship from the Asean Football Federation (AFF). While the AFC welcomes all efforts by the AFF to support the development of club football in the region, there are processes that need to be followed, especially in ensuring all outstanding issues are clarified before the approval.” The remaining processes required for the ACC to go ahead are understood to include agreement by the AFC to supply match officials, and the submission of application forms to Fifa by the competing federations for permission for their teams to take part in what is a ‘tier 2’ international competition. One industry insider said the latter was a “rubber-stamping exercise”. The AFF says Fifa has already endorsed the ACC. One consideration for the AFC will have been that the new tournament will compete for eyeballs, attention and commercial revenue with its own continental competitions. This comes at the start of a momentous commercial rights sales cycle for AFC competitions. The confederation’s commercial rights agent for the 2021-28 period, DDMC Fortis, has guaranteed it a huge uplift in revenue compared to the current cycle, and is facing a tough task to deliver this while turning a profit, given prevailing market conditions. A new property on the market could make the task even tougher. That being said, Southeast Asian markets account for only a small proportion of the total value of AFC media and sponsorship deals. Asean clubs are not major players in AFC competitions, which are dominated by clubs from more developed and wealthier leagues in north Asia and the Middle East. Part of the rationale behind the launch of the ACC is to give teams from the region a cross-border competition they have a chance of succeeding in. It is also hoped by the organisers that the competition will stimulate regional rivalries in Southeast Asia, in a way that rarely happens in the AFC competitions because the teams are often pitted against opposition from distant countries. Calendar challenge Fitting the new competition into the Asian football calendar has been one of the major challenges for the organisers. A previous Asean club tournament held in 2003 and 2005 fell apart after the AFC became unhappy about fixture congestion. The Malaysian FA is understood to have taken part in meetings last year at which the calendar was set out and discussed. That calendar and the competition structure – the original structure before adaptation for the withdrawal of the Malaysian teams – is as follows: April 2020 Qualifying stage, featuring four teams playing two, two-legged playoffs for two places in the first round group stage. One team each to come from: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines. The 1st leg will be played on April 21 and the 2nd leg on April 25. May-August 2020 Group stage, featuring two groups of six teams each Teams to come from Indonesia (2 teams), Malaysia (2), Thailand (2), Vietnam (2), Myanmar (1), Singapore (1), qualifiers (2). Three games played per matchday Top two teams in each group qualify for semi-finals Matchday 1 – May 9 Matchday 2 – May 29 Matchday 3 – June 24 Matchday 4 – July 11 Matchday 5 – August 29 September 2020 Semi-finals, both played on September 23 Group winners play at home October-November 2020 Final, played over two legs, on October 28 and November 4. If Malaysian teams do not take part, all four teams due to play in the April qualification round will go straight to the group stage. Clubs are allowed to register three foreign players in their squads and one additional Asian player. Players from the Asean countries are not regarded as foreign players. One of the big attractions for participating teams is the prize money on offer. All teams are guaranteed about $140,000 (€126,319). The winners will earn between $400,000 and $450,000, the runners-up just under $300,000, and losing semi-finalists just under $200,000. These are considerable sums in a region where the revenues generated by professional football teams are small compared to more developed markets.”

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/asean-club-championship-set-for-inaugural-season-without-malaysian-teams/

I think his idea would be good for Australian teams or team if they were invited.

The team that finishes 4th or GF loser if 5th or 6th.

But Old FFA didn’t engage enough with AFF. 

So I guess this doesn't replace the ASEAN Zone of the AFC Cup, and is in addition to it?

Either way, the next two Australian clubs that don't make the ACL absolutely should be involved.

Under our current ACL ranking imo p/o team if they lose and next or next 2. 


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_ASEAN_Club_Championship
“The following 12 teams from 9 associations confirmed their participation in the competition. Malaysia had direct two berths to the group stage but is strongly considering not to enter a team. Reportedly only the first and second-placed teams in the first-tier domestic league and the winners of the national cup is eligible to enter.^[

However Brunei's Indera only placed fourth in the 2018–19 Brunei Super League. Timor Leste also hasn't confirmed participation.

But Wellington shouldn’t be welcome