By AJF - 25 Oct 2020 8:06 PM
Independent A-League will prop up cash-strapped clubsThe A-League club owners will come to the rescue of financially struggling clubs to ensure next season will finish with 12 teams, after reaching an agreement to gain near-full control of the competition from Football Federation Australia.
The transition of ownership of the A-League to the clubs is set to be rubber-stamped within the next two months, once lawyers finalise the terms of the separation of the league from FFA. It means the 2020-21 A-League season will be operated, governed and owned by the A-League clubs for the first time since the competition's inception in 2005.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/independent-a-league-will-prop-up-cash-strapped-clubs-20201019-p566hv.html
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By Monoethnic Social Club - 31 Oct 2020 11:45 PM
+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+xThe MLS went through something similar in the early 2000s when one owner bought 1 or 2 clubs when the league was on the verge of death, this happened when the MLS become an independent league as well. And look how far they have come now, top level facilities and stadia, marquee players, great promotion and marketing and even better social media platforms, big crowds and now producing great young players for the top leagues of European football. We might not achieve the same as them but there is something to aspire too if the independent board and the clubs get the league right, its theirs by 60 days from now so there is no more excuses for them now they own the keys to the house. Aspiring to be like the MLS???? You and I have different dreams mate :) I’d take the MLS over what we have. At least they can produce players and have a NSD. Same here. They get good crowds as well. They managed and executed the new version of the MLS well from the get go. Our current lot can’t seem to get out of first gear. So you'd be (are) happy with that same system here? An AFL/MLS imitation franchise league? Clearly working for both the US and Australia, can't wait for our immense clashes in future World Cups. The rest of the world, judging by world rankings must be stupid. Like I said previously, I guess everyone has a different dream. The MLS has done everything better than us except for pro-rel, what's wrong to learn from other countries that have improved? Im sorry I just don't agree with you regarding MLS. I may be proven wrong in the next 50-100 years but I really can't see them ever developing a national squad that will ever compete against the rest of the world for titles, let alone make tournaments. Even the US women's team, who have been the number 1 performing side for ever basically, are now being over run in the rankings after European countries have finally pulled their thumbs out regarding the women's game.... using clubs in the age old, non-franchised way.... Someone said the US Soccer Development Academy system started in 2007 akin to what we have with the FFA NC and Aleague/NPL academies. Fast forward to 2020 and have players at first team at top leagues in Europe and playing. McKennie (Juventus) Adams (RB Leipzig) Pulisic (Chelsea) Reyna (Dortmund) Weah (Lille) Sargent (Werder Bremen) Also there is Alphonso Davies who came from the MLS in Canada and has done very well for Bayern Munich. Regardless of its issues its starting to nurture some very good players, i think MLS should encourage to develop more players for first team football rather than sell them overseas as they developing a level for the top clubs in Europe but maybe its not in their business model? As for business model, the whole MLS is an entertainment concept, think of it as a giant TV production company. You couldn't be more wrong. MLS makes barely more money from TV than the A-League, and that's with 15 times the population (they want to change this, but it's evidently a hard nut to crack). The vast majority of club revenue comes from fans coming in through the gates. And there are some big success stories there. Seattle and Atlanta have populations comparable to Sydney and Melbourne, and get crowds of 40-50k per game. Portland is akin to Brisbane or Perth, and has sold out every single game in its 25k stadium. Most clubs are also building their own stadiums, which is the model a lot would like to see in the A-Legue. That is certainly better than playing in suburban grounds with small crowds in a fully open system. At some point the traditionalists have to accept whilst the system like the MLS may not be ideal, it is what the business of sport demands. Better for who exactly? Apart from maybe Hajduk and Dinamo the rest of the Croatian 1st division plays to NPL like crowds in old dilapitated municipal stadiums (no disrespect to these clubs) put aside your maniacal ethnic hatred for a second and tell me which system has produced the best results, USA or Croatia? And you can go through dozens of Croatia-like examples before you even bother giving the MLS the time of day.
Yup. But some just want safe smoke and Daryl Braithwaite f#ck me. Heheheh
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