‘Business as usual has failed’: A-League players’ scathing survey as Aussie football’s issues laid bare

Half of all players who responded to a new survey are dissatisfied with the job the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) are doing running the A-League Men’s competition (ALM).

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The report, compiled by Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), doesn’t make for pretty reading for the APL, who are the administrators of the men’s and women’s competitions.

PFA co-CEOs Kate Gill, who has since left the organisation, and Beau Busch weren’t shocked by the level of unrest.

“Following a series of damaging missteps, that is hardly surprising,” they say in the report.

“The players are concerned that the management of the leagues has apparently become adrift of any discernible strategy, guiding principles, or effective accountability measures.

“In pursuit of this, the players are clear that they are unwilling to continue to be subjected to the consequences of decisions taken by management if they are denied the means of influencing them. Business as usual has failed and should not be accepted by any stakeholder.”

The PFA survey has become an annual health check on the top level of the domestic game, and while the players’ opinion of the APL is undoubtedly the headline act, there are some signs of growth in key areas, for clubs who continue to bleed money.

The report focuses specifically on the 2023-24 season and a record 191 of the A-League Men’s 308 contracted players, which included at least 13 from each club for that period, responded.

These are the key findings.

PLAYERS SCATHING OF THE APL

The APL clearly has some work to do to get the players back on side.

On the final day of 2020, the A-Leagues were ‘unbundled’ from Football Australia (FA).

It meant the responsibility for running the elite level of the domestic game would fall to what would become the Australian Professional Leagues. A statement released by FA at the time said: “APL will take over the operational, commercial, and marketing control of the Professional Leagues and all revenue generation responsibilities.”

In short, Football Australia would be the regulator, but largely focus on national team programs, and the APL would be charged with revitalising the domestic competitions.

It’s clear the players hold a dim view of their efforts so far.

“APL has a significant trust deficit among ALM players,” the report says.

“Half of ALM players are dissatisfied with how APL has performed in its management of the competition, including 27% who are very dissatisfied.”

Perhaps of concern for head office is the fact these responses were given before APL was forced to slash the annual distribution to the clubs from close to $2 million to just $530,000 for the current season, in a bid to try and fix a worrying financial situation.

“Regarding developing a vision to improve the league, 46% of players had ‘low trust’ in APL,” the report continues.

“Only 11% had ‘high’ trust in APL to find the answers.”

PFA shared the results of the survey with APL and Commissioner Nick Garcia is confident the organisation is getting the competition back on the right path.

“We note this survey was completed in May when there was a lot of uncertainty about the league,” Garcia said.

“We have worked through a lot of these challenges over the last year to stabilise the league and improve all revenue streams, and we continue to work with all stakeholders on our new league strategy to help us drive sustainable growth across the leagues.”

“We take these points very seriously and the players’ priority focus areas are among the key points we are aiming to improve with the new league strategy. The players are some of our most important stakeholders and we are committed to growing the league in a sustainable way to ensure a healthy and growing ecosystem for our sport.”

PLAYERS RANK TOP THREE PRIORITIES

Throughout the 2023-24 season the PFA held meetings with players from every club.

In those discussions they were asked what they believed was impacting the league.

Of nine key themes that emerged each player ranked what they thought should be the top three priorities to help the competition grow.

58% chose broadcast. The APL has an agreement where at least two games of the A-League Men are broadcast on one of Channel 10’s free-to-air options with the rest on streaming platform Paramount+.

51% ranked atmosphere in the top three and 41% thought the visibility of the league needed to improve.

Several players also told stories of being asked “when does the league start,” when it was already underway.

“In discussions with the players, what is clear, is they want the broadcast to be more visible,” Busch told Fox Sports News.

“They feel that it needs to be able to be found, it needs to ensure that it is at the level of other broadcasters in relation to other sporting codes.

“We’re in a battle for eyeballs and fans and we need to ensure it is the requisite quality.”

CROWDS RISE BUT STILL SHORT OF PEAK LEVELS

Attendances are still below levels seen prior to the pandemic, particularly what the report calls the “peak period” between 2012 and 2017.

“Average attendances for regular season matches rose to 8,076 from 7,553 in 2022-23. It’s positive to see an upward trajectory, but crowds have still not recovered to their pre COVID levels,” the report says.

“We must remember, though, that the league added two new clubs during the pandemic. Western United and Macarthur FC had the lowest average attendances, so they pulled down the league mean.”

The report also sighted “Melbourne Victory, which is recovering from the fallout from the derby incident in 2022-23, and Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets, which now have new owners.”

TRANSFER REVENUE NOW KEY FOR AUSTRALIAN CLUBS

In 2023, clubs spent USD $9.63 billion ($14.3 billion AUD) on transfers worldwide according to FIFA’s global transfer report – an increase of 48.1% on the previous year.

Australian clubs banked a record amount with $17.5 million entering the various coffers around the competition – breaking the previous mark of $10 million set last year.

While the huge amount of money flowing around the global football economy is nothing new, widespread interest in Australian players and Australian clubs altering their mindset to take advantage of this revenue stream is.

It has become so vital to the survival of clubs the report notes “this revenue source now exceeds broadcast income, an extreme reversal from previous years.”

“Prior to 2022-23, collective transfer receipts tended to be around $2.5m on average per season. All of a sudden, the shape of the domestic men’s football economy has transformed.”

A concerted effort to bring young players through into the first team and making sure those players aren’t lost on free transfers due to short-term contracts has become the business model.

“The PFA’s analysis of match minutes finds that the ALM is giving outsized opportunities to young players who are more likely to attract fees. Taken together, the evidence suggests that this trend can and should continue.”

That last point could be vital moving forward.

A-League clubs are enduring the toughest financial circumstances of their existence, but with a revenue stream not tethered to a broadcast deal, enjoy an advantage the NRL and AFL doesn’t. The fact the global football economy never ceases to produce mind-boggling numbers also means this type of income should be sustainable.

The report found “that the ALM’s better-than-average players should be consistently attractive for the Scottish Premiership, the MLS, and Asia’s top leagues. If you count Saudi’s leading clubs and also add Scandinavian leagues to this bracket, those markets account for around half of the players sold (including loans with fees) and half of the revenue received in 2023 and 2024.”

ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ELITE NO LONGER A FINANCIAL BURDEN

Competing in the Asian Champions League and second tier AFC Cup, which was won by the Central Coast Mariners in May, proved to be a costly exercise for Australian clubs.

A PFA report published in February, which looked at the formats, claimed “that the ACL has not been delivering value for the majority of its players and clubs. For both groups, the costs of participating have generally outweighed the benefits.”

The Asian Football Confederation was already in the process of changing its flagship club competition at the time of the report and introduced the top tier Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) and the second tier Asian Champions League Two (ACL2).

Both competitions now have a larger pot of prize money on offer, but the ACLE is the only one which all but guarantees a club will profit just by taking part.

The Central Coast Mariners, as reigning A-League Men Premiers, are currently second from bottom and winless in group A in the ACLE, but will pocket USD $800,000 (approximately $1.2 million AUD) just for taking part. Another USD $100,000 ($150,000 AUD approximately) will be deposited into the bank account of the Gosford based club for every group stage victory.

If the Mariners turn their fortunes around and win the ACLE, however unlikely given their start to the campaign and resource deficit compared to their opposition in Asia, their total prize money from the competition would be just over USD $12 million ($18 million AUD).

“Clubs still need to cover most of their own costs, and those costs are extensive,” the report says.

“But with this new group stage windfall, our clubs should be able to come out ahead at a minimum, with significant upside if they win even a few matches. In a sense, qualification to the ACLE now represents quasi-prize money for our Premiership winners each season.

“The champions would also gain entry to FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup, which would reportedly recoup that amount many times over.”

Sydney FC, as winners of the 2023 Australia Cup, earned a spot in the ACL2.

The Sky Blues currently have two wins and two losses to sit second in group E.

They, in contrast, must go deep in the competition to see financial returns.

“The new ACL2 is more in keeping with the old AFC competition formats, where the upside is reserved for the finalists,” the report continues.

“Participants in the six-match group stage will receive USD $300,000 ($460,000 AUD) plus USD $50,000 ($76,000 AUD) for a win. Teams which exit in the semi-finals will receive USD $780,000 ($1.2 million AUD approximately) plus any win bonuses from the group stage, so only the finalists will surpass an ACLE group stage participant.”

Prize money earned from the continental competitions will be one area of focus when negotiations around a new Collective Bargaining Agreement get underway.

Under the current deal, which runs until 2026, players agreed to “essentially play for free” in the group stage, according to the report, to ease the financial load the old formats placed on the clubs.

Now, with a new river of revenue available, for the ACLE at least, the PFA believe “this concession is no longer appropriate.”