The Long and Winding Road - Robert D. Macdonald

Published in SMAANZ Newsletter (2001). No.3, 1-2
The Long and Winding Road
Robert D. Macdonald and James Skinner
Since the 1974 appearance of the Socceroos in the World Cup Finals, association football
(hereafter soccer) has been on a four-yearly cycle of public anticipation and excitement followed
by disappointment and disinterest. Despite excellent grassroots interest and junior participation
in soccer (see Figure 1), public interest in the National Soccer League (NSL) has been a continual
problem for the management of the NSL and Soccer Australia.
Figure 1. Selected Australian Sports: Participation Rate (‘000s) 1998-99.
Age Group
Sport 18-24 25-34 35-44 45+ Total
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Australian Football 68.7 66.1 20.3 - 157.4
Basketball 142.5 74.1 31.9 5.6 254.1
Golf 169.7 329.3 273.7 558.4 1331.2
Netball 186.8 165.1 72.5 14.2 438.6
Rugby League 38.3 35.4 - - 81.2
Rugby Union 37.0 23.3 5.8 - 72.3
Soccer (indoor + outdoor) 139.5 124.8 57.4 20.1 351.3
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Source: ABS Cat. No. 4177.0, Table 5.
Survey data from Sweeney Sports indicates slight long-term growth of consumer interest in
soccer both in terms of attendance and television viewing between 1988 and 2000 (Hirons, 1998;
Stensholt & Way, 2001), but this must be considered in the context of the other major sportsentertainment
codes in the Australian marketplace. In the winter, the airwaves are dominated by
the Australian Football League and the National Rugby League on free-to-air (plus Rugby Union
on Foxtel) television and the radio. Facing such competition, the NSL switched to the summer
months in 1989-90 (also to align the league with the European season) but is still swamped by
International Cricket and Tennis. Comparative attendance data was not available but casual
observation suggests that NSL and NBL attendances may be similar – far less than for the AFL &
NRL Premiership seasons and the elite tennis, cricket and rugby union fixtures.
Several issues have combined to make soccer such a difficult product to develop at the elite level
in this country. Factors such as the failure to retain or attract high quality athletes, tension
between clubs and supporters stemming from ‘traditional’ European political, racial and cultural
conflicts, financial instability and poor senior-level management have been prominently reported
in the sporting and business sections of the Australian media in the past year. Difficulties such as
Bobby Despotovski’s controversial gesture, the Eastern Pride fiasco, the reluctance of Harry
Kewell to play for Australia and the election of Tony Labbozzetta are just recent manifestations
of long-standing problems.

Despite the excitement surrounding Wollongong’s Championship success, NSL season 2000-01
is not likely to generate fond memories for the management of Soccer Australia. The Bobby
Despotovski incident highlighted the latent racial tensions despite attempts by David Hill to ‘deethnicise’
the NSL in the 1990’s. Despotovski was accused of making gestures towards the
crowd that were derogatory and provocative to elements of the Melbourne Knights crowd. The
violence following this incident ultimately resulted in Despotovski and his Perth Glory coach
Bernd Stange being physically assaulted as they attempted to board the team bus.
The problem of racially-motivated tension must be resolved before the NSL can assure
prospective supporters of a safe afternoon or night of entertainment. However there have been
mixed results with the introduction of ‘non-ethnic’ clubs to the NSL. While the Perth Glory
(Despotovski notwithstanding) has been a success story of Australian sports management, the
financial woes of the Carlton Soccer Club and Eastern Pride further smeared the NSL’s
reputation. After questionable business planning reliant upon revenue from international player
transfers, Carlton went into receivership and were omitted from the NSL. The Eastern Pride,
based in the financially marginal Gippsland region was temporarily deducted all competition
points by Soccer Australia for failing to pay its $50,000 NSL affiliation fee. These points were
later reinstated after new Soccer Australia Chairman Tony Labbozzetta brokered a peace deal.
Further difficulties relating to the payment of player wages also fuelled speculation that the
Australian Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) was planning a rebel league. Although
PFA Chief Brendan Schwab has registered the trademark ‘Australian Premier League’, progress
has been made in the collective bargaining negotiations between Soccer Australia and the PFA.
These agreements cover both the NSL and international representative teams. Unfortunately
senior ex-patriots such as Harry Kewell, often under pressure from their European clubs, are still
reluctant to represent Australia in ‘minor’ international competition.
This is a symptom of the critical underlying problem for Australian soccer. The international
labour market for soccer players is a classic example of the skill stratification which emerges
when leagues are in competition for playing talent. The tradition and history of soccer is in
Europe (South American complaints are noted) and these social forces fuel a mass migration
towards Europe as the central destination for players from across the world (Maguire & Stead,
1999). This represents a major problem as, for example, the Soccer Australia update from July
11 alone, listed 40 Australians involved in international trials and transfers (Soccer Australia,
2001). This talent drain must be understood in conjunction with the effect of ready consumer
access to the UEFA tournaments and major domestic competitions via pay television. Australian
soccer fans face a relatively small cost differential when choosing to ‘upgrade’ their consumption
choice to a higher quality sports-entertainment product. Unfortunately this problem cannot be
resolved.
The corporate or consumer attractiveness of the NSL has suffered by continual changes to the
composition of the league. After going through the process of developing criteria for the
selection of only 12 clubs for the 2001-02 NSL season, Soccer Australia reversed their initial
decision to cut the Brisbane Strikers and Canberra Cosmos from the league. This backflip must
be seen in the context of the recent decision of the Federal Court to find in favour of the South
Sydney Rugby League Club, who alleged the NRL had breached the Trade Practices Act 1974
(Cth) when applying criteria which resulted in Souths omission from the NRL. Under fear of an
internal revolt from state federations and board members, newly elected Soccer Australia
chairman Tony Labbozzetta oversaw the readmission of the clubs to leave a 14 team league for
2001-02. This has not resolved tensions at board level, and the new Chairman faces an uncertain
future. An Extraordinary Annual General Meeting of Soccer Australia has been called in an
attempt to spill the board later this year.

With on-going changes to the international player transfer system and domestic administrative,
financial and legal concerns, Soccer Australia, the NSL and the PFA face major challenges to
sustain elite level soccer in Australia. In Australian Soccer’s Long Road to the Top, Michael
Cockerill commented that “Australia’s place in this increasingly complex football world remains
uncertain. … Given its [Australian Soccer’s] chequered history, it should be capable of learning
from any mistakes” (1998, p.166). Recent events suggest otherwise, but for the sake of
Australian soccer we certainly hope so.
References:
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999). Participation in Sport and Physical Activities: Australia
1998-99, (ABS Cat. No. 4177.0).
Michael Cockerill (1998). Australia Soccer’s Long Road to the Top, Lothian Books: Port
Melbourne.
Martin Hirons (1998). Special Report on Australia Rules, Basketball, Soccer, Rugby league,
Rugby Union. Sweeney Sports Research Consultants: Melbourne.
Joseph Maguire & David Stead (1998). Border crossings: Soccer labour migration and the
European Union. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33(1), 59-73.
SBS World Soccer Website (2001). http://www.theworldgame.com.au.
Soccer Australia Website (2001). http://www.socceraustralia.com.au/aussiesabroad.
John Stensholt & Nicholas Way (2001). Football’s king hit. Business Review Weekly, 23(14), 46-
52.