midfielder
Well-Known Member
Two very good articles maybe a bit the rose coloured glasses. Dan Silkstone wrote them in the age. They are both huge so will only copy the start of each and some key parts.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/brave-new-world/2008/12/02/1227980018039.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
THE Australian soccer revolution will be televised. In fact, it will be television-led.
Half a decade after billionaire Frank Lowy and rugby union administrator John O'Neill joined forces to nudge Australian sport's sleeping giant out of what resembled a coma, soccer is once again at a crossroads. But this time, the potential prize is glory and not just survival.
......The battle for survival has been won. Now awaits the battle for parity then perhaps, supremacy with Australia's other football codes. While crowd increases and sponsorship growth can add to the bottom line, and participation numbers continue to be strong, the chance for a leap forward ultimately rests with one area: television rights....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/get-this-right-and-there-might-be-no-stopping-us/2008/12/02/1227980018036.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
The future for Australian soccer looks promising; just how promising depends on a lot of factors. The FFA is targeting sustainable growth for its current clubs, hoping for average attendances of more than 15,000 and growing uptake of memberships.
If Buckley and his team get it right, by 2018 A-League teams will be featuring regularly in the final stages of a revamped Asian Champions League (to be relaunched next year). The lucrative prizemoney on offer will help fill the coffers of emerging superclubs like Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United. Their names will be known throughout Asia, and their sponsors will not mind at all.
A-League salaries will have grown thanks to a fat new TV deal and fewer mid-level players flee for the lower leagues of Europe. Top players return earlier, keen to finish their careers at home while they are still near the top of their game.
Australia's development system has been completely remade. How successfully this is done will go a long way towards influencing how good Australian football is on the pitch.
Steps are already underway. A new national technical director will soon begin work, charged with creating and enforcing a national curriculum, coordinating development with state institutes of sport and the flagship program at the Australian Institute of Sport.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/brave-new-world/2008/12/02/1227980018039.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
THE Australian soccer revolution will be televised. In fact, it will be television-led.
Half a decade after billionaire Frank Lowy and rugby union administrator John O'Neill joined forces to nudge Australian sport's sleeping giant out of what resembled a coma, soccer is once again at a crossroads. But this time, the potential prize is glory and not just survival.
......The battle for survival has been won. Now awaits the battle for parity then perhaps, supremacy with Australia's other football codes. While crowd increases and sponsorship growth can add to the bottom line, and participation numbers continue to be strong, the chance for a leap forward ultimately rests with one area: television rights....
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/get-this-right-and-there-might-be-no-stopping-us/2008/12/02/1227980018036.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
The future for Australian soccer looks promising; just how promising depends on a lot of factors. The FFA is targeting sustainable growth for its current clubs, hoping for average attendances of more than 15,000 and growing uptake of memberships.
If Buckley and his team get it right, by 2018 A-League teams will be featuring regularly in the final stages of a revamped Asian Champions League (to be relaunched next year). The lucrative prizemoney on offer will help fill the coffers of emerging superclubs like Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United. Their names will be known throughout Asia, and their sponsors will not mind at all.
A-League salaries will have grown thanks to a fat new TV deal and fewer mid-level players flee for the lower leagues of Europe. Top players return earlier, keen to finish their careers at home while they are still near the top of their game.
Australia's development system has been completely remade. How successfully this is done will go a long way towards influencing how good Australian football is on the pitch.
Steps are already underway. A new national technical director will soon begin work, charged with creating and enforcing a national curriculum, coordinating development with state institutes of sport and the flagship program at the Australian Institute of Sport.
