With so much negative comment from forums and pro football media I doubt if professional football can survive. Mainstream media has never been interested except for negative stories. I, for one, would have thought given the current circumstances that more support would be forthcoming to FFA and, particularly , the new CEO from those with an interest in the game. Alas not!

We’re probably in a positive news cycle right now, there’s plenty of positive news articles, social media commentary and in forums like this. It’s not all positive of course (especially on forums like this) but on balance, more positive than negative. 

Multi? 20+ pages :D

No, it will just be negative for another 100 years for many.

the football "family " is its own worst enemy. Everyone talks about the good of the game but really means what's in it for them. that will never change. A $350 million tv deal and regular season games of 60,000 plus fans was a "failure", and letting in the tin pot clubs and P and R in small stadiums ie boutique will make it better. Ridiculous.

I've never bought this idea about "negative news".
It's a nonsense.
The majority of all news is negative, and that's why it leads the FTA TV ratings each night.
The real concern is NOT negative news, but when people cease talking about you. Then you have a real issue.
For example, how much negative news is the Australian cricket team copping right now?
How much negative news are all the pampered tennis stars copping right now?
How much has Rugby Australia copped the past decade?
How many scandals does the NRL and AFL sit through every season.  Never ending.

As long as the sport of soccer is the most popular world wide, interest in Australia will never completely die. Maybe the professional competition here is suffering but that only really hurts 12  interchangeable investment groups. The participation side of the game is ticking along strongly underneath that and there will/should always be kids in a park kicking a round ball around on every pitch in this country, 99% playing for tin pot clubs.

Agree, however the NSL and it’s clubs was overwhelmed with negativity and met its demise, for the better may I ad.

TBH we have never driven our own narrative and made many positive articles. If you looks at the EPL or AFL they are great and discussing their history and remembering and celebrating it, we have some great stories that arent told. So the media is left to fill the void with whatever they see. Truth is they will report what people discuss. 

Even the a-league has no narrative when teams compete week in and week out against each other. The EPL and other leagues have a new narrative every week, some people will be villians but that is what every story needs. The best example is when NJ and WSW played each other, apart from game day there were no articles discussing the player/coach defections, previous legends of the clubs weren't asked for a quote, it really was like any other week.

It is something that football needs to drive first, then the other media outlets will jump onto the story if its big enough. 

It is darkest before the dawn. Whether this time is different for football we will see, but I am pleased at the small things that are evident that our game is progressing.

1. Second Division close.
2. Young Players performing in the elite stage - not just one or two, either
3. Women's World Cup 2023
4. Socceroos back on the paddock soon, and competition for places hotting up.
5. Number of Aussie coaches in the A League
6. JJ as CEO is the best we have had for a long while
7. Positive reaction of home and away fans to Brisbane Roar in a right sized stadium. More of the same elsewhere would be good.
8. Getting the 11 principles up and out there seems to have galvanised the FA to some positive action. 
9. Macarthur on the paddock, and prospects of additional teams for the A League
10. Roar on the TV tonight

The negativity from our sport has been justified, many poor decisions were made that badly effected the development of the sport and our overall competitiveness in the global game.

The suits spend so much time and effort trying the game to be like the NRL and AFL, but the major problem with that is they dont have to worry about competing around the world like football has to deal with 365 days a year!

Many people have said the aleague should be a catalyst to sell the game to the world through player and coach production which ultimately helps our national team compete but its been anything but that.

And now we have payed the price for it, now finally we have a CEO who gets our game who is being through it all as a player and previously as an administrator at FIFA and is probably the first person that is trying to get the game aligned with the rest of the world, thought actions such as like the global transfer system, aligned of the football calendar which is common place around the world.

Its a shame the previous CEO's, admin had little clue with how the football world operates but I do have hope for the future because of the football centred approach the FA board, JJ are trying to bring in finally.

Im sure people will whinge and complain after all thats why there is forums and social media but if more good work can be done then we will see less noise, it seems to me there is alot of pettiness in our game whether it be anti-aleague and anti-NSL or whatever label you could make up and I dont think this will never end sadly.

This is why an more unified approach is needed, its also a shame the old the FFA tired so much to divide the sport with the fans and the old clubs that have represented our sport for a long time and its perfect material for the media and active voices in the game.

I don't follow cricket at all, but I know that India just beat Australia in a practice match at the Gabba.
(And for what it's worth, the news articles I saw seemed to be talking about how "exciting" the match was, rather than how bad Australia is.)
Do you reckon someone who doesn't follow football knows that the A-League & W-League are even underway? Or could tell you which teams are doing well/which ones aren't?

That's the difference.

I'd honestly say I'm move positive about this season than any of the previous seasons. The issue for me has been 2-3 teams playing sub par football meaning potentially 3/5 games would be bad to watch. This season has been significantly better to watch, Newcastle even with 3 losses don't look bad and 3x wooden spooners Mariners have honestly looked quite good in all 3 games unlucky to lose last night.

Passiveness and inaction with how the game is promoted, protected, run, expanded and innovated is the real danger. 

The Moody Blues had an album titled... A Question of Balance...

Nothing is perfect, and if mistakes are made,and they have, then it needs to be stated...

Without negative articles then change will not occur and you can be stuck with a bad / poor position.

Having said this, equally there is an argument that total negativity does lead to decline...

Herein lies the dilemma, yes bad needs to be outed... and bad gets way more clicks than good..

JJ has been slow but seems to be moving in the right direction....

My reading of the Tea Leafs & Tarot Cards is Indy-AL, needs to step up... and take the broader Football community with them ... including  the biggest group i.e. the players who don't watch the A-League ... players who don't watch are the low hanging fruit ... reports I have read say up to 80% of the playing base don't watch the A-League whereas in other codes the percentage of players who watch their codes is around 85% .. 

Connecting to the unconnected player base is where the mega leap will come from... 

Given the ownership group of Indy-AL, they appear capable.... 

The next 18 months will be critical...  media and say a more positive media / match driven if possible is very imp[important in connecting to the unconnected player base ... 

How we connect is open for debate, some say P & R... some say expansion.... some say both...

Hands up for me it will be a combination of things, including successful national teams, better media, more teams, ....deep down in my soul there is no simple solution no simple thing to do that will connect to the unconnected... lots of hard work, and lots of things... but certainty the media has its part to play in getting out positive and good news stories... 

If that you play Fortnite at least you can now play as *insert name here _______

From watching Aus teams in the HAL in November,  and this AL season, I think the standard is improving . Maybe we have a paucity of emerging keepers of a high enough calibre and not enough  central strikers of sufficient quality, but there are some tasty, young ball players coming through the ranks. 

There are many young whizz kids, who've come through the programs established by Han Berger et al, about 8 years ago. Even previously old school Arnie  has stated that in the underage national team training camps , players can do things with the ball never seen in Aus football before.

The greatest issue I have, and probably why I post on here, is that almost the entire football milieu in this state is solely interested in European football over domestic Aussie football. If the latest bid to get a Tassie team is successful it will change local  interest though.

I'm usually a polite person, but I'm just getting sick to death of  a few elderly mates, usually expat Poms, wanting to talk to me about football in their  home country. Nothing seems to generate any interest for them  in Australian association football, apart from  preseason friendlies by European teams. 

i only agree with this part of your statement

 Mainstream media has never been interested except for negative stories. 

I spent hours last night a debating with a cricket mate, B, about the quality of the A L. He is only one of two mates, outside the local football milieu, who is interested in the A L and  football in Aus. He attends big Socceroo games too.

In cricket we both don't have great technical insight, because we  haven't played for a significant period of time, or coached. We need to use stats and data to present a case, and need to listen to former top level players and coaches who we know in the cricket members  to provide profound insights.

His arguments to denigrate the current A L were all about perceptions and declining crowd numbers - and - sadly former players in the media talking the game down compared to their eras.

There is a dichotomy developing. There are many former players, Socceroos and Euroroos, who are  involved in coaching. These guys are working hard developing players - and- have had to study a lot of coach education where the game has changed immeasurably since their playing days.

Of course these guys are not football career medical pundits, usually having temporary and transient media roles, because they are always about to commence their next coaching assignment. They also know  more about contemporary football than their former peers who haven't had to undertake coaching accreditation.

All the Aus  players who now coach, are much more aware of what they didn't know as players in their epochs, compared to the modern player. Pundits like Slater, Bozza, Zelic, Speed, Harper, don't have  anything like the analytical ability that coaches  Ange, Muscat, Foster, Aloisi, Okon, Rudan, etc, do when they've provided insights on media panels.   

I can't convince my mate, B, that the product he is seeing  is better than it was. I'm intending to sit down with him with video replays of the A L  13 and 14 years to show him how it has changed, using football specific performance criteria.

He contends lower crowds and less interest in the A L extrapolates to a worse onfield product. He is 100% correct that A L crowds have declined. I've countered that we both watch a lot of Shield cricket live, where in terms of live spectators the Shiled  is a basket case and has declined. Yet is Shield cricket a worse infield product than 15-20 years ago?

It is a shame that when crowds were peaking in seasons 3-5 of the A L, that we could not have the current football product of last winter season on 2020 and what I've seen so far this season, shown in front of those big A L  crowds of seasons 2008, 2009, 2010.

The aura of football declined with the Gallop tenure, and the schism between FFA upper echelons and the A L club lobby. We've never regained the momentum from that schism, whilst cricket Big Bash and women's' AFL have really generated spectator interest in summer.    

Do the comments made by Simon Hill (noted in a separate thread) reflect somewhat on where we are. The media have downplayed the development of Football in Australia to protect their long term interests in NRL, AFL and cricket. The infiltration of significant individuals from those sports into the political milieu  has significantly enhanced their capacity to extract money for their games. Even getting something as necessary as the National Team games on the anti siphoning list has been beyond us.

Again, does the current situation suggest that we are treading water until Fox are a distant memory? Whilst the political and administrative side of the sport is in limbo, the game is providing great highlights each week. The youngsters that have been given minutes show that the progression of the game to a more technical level is happening. 

One of my pet projects is the state battles that could be played out during the international dates in the calendar. Yes, there would be some "easy" games, but over time it would be a galvanising force to get the whole country behind Football. 6 States plus 2 Territories and northern NSW gives us 9 teams, and 4 games per round. Games could be played 2 each on consecutive nights over 9 rounds, having a home and away fixture in back to back years so that each team played 8 home games over 2 years.

this guy gets it