18 January 2006

Structural Changes?

The Age has reported that the FFA is considering a later start to the competition next season, but not a later finishing date nor a longer format with more games played.

The later start (October 6 has been mooted) will be countered with the absence of a mid-season break in December due to the non-participation of an A-League club at the Club World Championships, if indeed that tournament remains in existence.

Pay TV rights holder Fox Sports has indicated its preference for a relatively short season, nixing the players union's hopes for a longer one. In defence of Fox, the FFA has come up with the rather bizarre notion that over-familiarity with opposition clubs will turn supporters away, thus agreeing that three home-and-away matches between each club is better than four. I find this lack of faith in the tolerance of fans quite disturbing, and have to believe it's a rather thinly veiled disguise for a different concern. This is pure speculation, but perhaps it's the fear of ongoing (training, matchday) expenses exerting too much pressure on a club drawing tiny gate receipts and thus leading to an insolvency.

Something we can hope for, at least, is a straight reversal of the home-and-away fixtures from this season, which for instance has seen Sydney and Adelaide come to Melbourne just once each during the regular season.

Other suggested changes include keeping the squad size limit of 20 players, while re-examining the requirement for three of those players to be aged under-20. Hypothetically, a club may need to release three overage players simply to make room for three new underage signings just to meet the restriction. Obviously that is a costly and undesirable situation. Over time, we're probably going to get closer to a youth or reserve league for the involvement of fringe players. Working out a cost-effective and competitive format will be quite difficult. And of course the FFA also needs to keep in mind what will happen once expansion becomes a reality. Further down the track, a B-League with a promotion and relegation system could evolve. All of these factors will no doubt entail an emphasis on the development of youth, especially if some kind of Aime Jacquet and/or Guus Hiddink-inspired revolution sweeps through the country.

The implementation of what The Age has called a "rookie list" would be a small step in that direction. It seems most clubs already allow promising young players the chance to train with them, sans any form of contractual obligation. A fellow like Ruben Zadkovich is essentially a Sydney FC player in waiting, with only the league's player restriction rules (and the lack of an injured first teamer) standing between him and a contract. Incorporating a standby system into the regulations would allow the league to scrap the dodgy injury replacement system and give juniors and other fringe players the opportunity to rotate in and out of the side, on and off the list. Maybe what's needed is a new tier in the contract system - a division between full-time and part-time players, with perhaps a bunch of currently full-time players having their contracts downgraded to make way for a similar number of new part-timers. The FFA could set minimum and maximum numbers of players for each, while the market can determine the level of pay needed to satisfy the player and the additional restriction of the salary cap.

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