---

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226356681050

A-League confidence stems from comparisons with US development

BY: JOSEPH HEALY From:

The Australian May 16, 2012 12:00AM


THERE is no doubt that recent events surrounding soccer and the A-League in particular have provoked a wide variety of views.

At times like this, an important leadership quality is the ability to move from the dance floor to the balcony and look at what is really happening.

We need to focus on the opportunity that is in front of us so we can unlock the huge potential that the game has, sitting alongside the other great sporting codes we are fortunate to have in Australia.

From my perspective, what we have seen in the A-League is broadly what we should expect at this stage in the evolution of the competition. Remember - the A-League is only seven years old.

When I reflect on the current state of the game, I am generally encouraged and very confident about its future. We have just witnessed the best A-League season, with average attendance up 23 per cent on the previous season, and our national team, the Qantas Socceroos, is well positioned among the top 20 football nations.


While we have made great progress, it's important to reflect on the many lessons from recent times and build on those lessons in crafting the future of the game. The game's professional administration, as with any business, has to continue to learn, adapt and especially listen to those with constructive contributions to make.

We know that the future sustainable success of our national team is heavily dependent on the growth and success of the A-League.

I also believe that the strength of soccer in Australia has real economic value to our nation, particularly in a football-crazy Asia, where this common link and passion for the world game creates the basis for developing relationships. No other sport in Australia has the same regional or global ability to build bridges across cultures and languages.

The basis for my confidence is found in the comparisons between our game and the development of soccer in the US.

The parallels are highly informative, as are some similarities in the cultural developments of both nations reflecting a significant immigration history, particularly from a football-dominated sports culture in Europe

Like the US, in general terms the game is less well attended in Australia than other forms of football and in the case of the US, baseball. This is in contrast to the vast majority of nations around the world where soccer is the major sport.

The progress of Major League Soccer in the US, however, provides a useful roadmap for thinking about the A-League. The MLS has had a rocky modern history since its inception in 1996, with the game really taking off in terms of public interest in the late 1990s following the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 1994.

The Americans also saw the potential to develop the women's game as a significant driver of growth of football's popularity. That popularity was also greatly assisted by television coverage of domestic and global matches being complimented by news and other media coverage, promoting greater public interest.

An important development in the MLS has been careful cost controls, including player and stadium costs, but it still took more than a decade before some clubs became profitable.

While there are some material differences between the two markets, there is enough in common to see the MLS as a useful model for the development of the A-League.

The comparisons also extend to the fact that both national leagues embraced teams from neighbouring countries, New Zealand in the case of the A-League and Canada in the case of the US. Both nations have soccer as the most active team sport, with more than three million participants in the US and an impressive 1.7 million here in Australia.

Given the population difference, our progress is remarkable.

While the A-League is making great progress on the field, changes to the business and economic model are needed and owners do need greater say in the league's strategic direction. In my experience, there is always more that can be done, with stakeholders working together for the benefit of the game.

Sport, as with business, needs thoughtful, passionate leadership at all levels. Leaders understand the importance of standing back and looking at what is really happening and what needs to be done.

Real leaders know that building something worth having, worth the full support of all in the community, is not easily achieved. They also know that staying the course and listening to constructive advice from key stakeholders along the way is critical.

I'm very confident that despite current growing pains, we are making good progress and on track to build a strong A-League, which is critical to having a strong national team.

The 1.7 million Australians who participate in the game want soccer to grow and prosper. This vision is what unites us as a football community, and what will make us stronger.

Joseph Healy is a director of Football Federation Australia and group executive, business banking, at National Australia Bank

---

---

Japan welcomes Socceroos challenge
May 11, 2012 06:46:10

Japan wants Australia to take part in the East Asian Cup to raise the level of the competition, the Japan Football Association's vice president said.

Kozo Tashima reacted positively to a request from Football Federation Australia (FFA) to join the four-team tournament, formerly known as the East Asian championship.

"We need to think about how marketing and business operations will be affected but it would raise the level of the competition," Tashima told a news conference.

"We would like to let Australia in as soon as possible."

Australia ditched Oceania to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006 in order to compete against stronger opposition and boost its World Cup qualification chances.

The next East Asian Cup will be held in China in 2013.

China, South Korea and Japan enter the tournament automatically while the fourth team have to qualify. Hong Kong took part in 2010, when China won the title.

---

---

Former Socceroo defender Craig Moore considers move abroad due to lack of post-playing career jobs in Australian football
The former defender misses full-time involvement in the game and wants a leading front office role, but has discovered that such opportunities are hard to find in Australia


He made his name as a player during a decorated 13-year stint abroad. Now, Craig Moore is considering returning overseas to continue his career in the game.

One of Australia's greatest-ever defenders, Moore had spells with Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in England, Greek Super League club Kavala, Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach and most prominently in the Scottish Premier League with Rangers.

During his time in Glasgow, he made over 200 appearances, helping the club win 12 domestic trophies.

A former Socceroos captain, Moore made 52 appearances for his country, before retiring as a player immediately after the 2010 World Cup.

The Australian Hall of Fame member has dabbled with coaching since then, co-founding the Viva Soccer program for children up to the age of 16.

But coaching is not where Moore, now 36, sees himself full-time.

"My future… I'd like to, if I was to start an involvement with a club in Australia, it'd be more in a football director sort of role," he told Goal.com.



Moore's playing career was a sparkling one, but he is now seeking his next move off the pitch.

"That is something that is quite appealing. You have a good relationship with the manager, [and you'd] be in a position where you're contacting and chasing up the leads that the manager's given you, in terms of players coming in and going out of the club.

"I think, especially when you start looking at European markets and all that sort of stuff, I think with the reputation I have over there, it's good to have that presence.

"A phone call coming from someone like myself can maybe be the deciding factor in getting a player to a club or not. That's something that's appealing to me."

But Moore, who played with the Brisbane Roar from 2007 to 2009 and has been back in Australia since ending his professional playing career, knows those sort of roles are rare at A-League clubs.

Paul Trimboli - linked with a move to home-town Melbourne after Ange Postecoglou's appointment at Victory - has held a general manager of football role at Brisbane Roar for one season, while John Didulica's work as Melbourne Heart's football operations manager has proved invaluable in the club's first two seasons.

Gary Cole had the same title during his six-season tenure at Melbourne Victory, contributing to two titles before his sacking. He is now director of football at league rivals Sydney FC, but there are few similar roles available around the competition.


"... Unfortunately it's very difficult to try and find a role at the moment and it's not going to get any easier, either."

- Craig Moore
And with money at A-League clubs scarce and the sort of jobs he is after even scarcer, Moore is considering moving back overseas.

"Because I don't want to coach, it doesn't leave too many roles," Moore said.

"The reason why overseas has been mentioned is because it is very hard to get into the game here, whereas there are far more opportunities in the UK.

"I still have a reputation over there and I still have a lot of friends, whether they be British or based elsewhere in the European community, that are heavily involved in football at the moment.

"If you're not looking at coaching there's scouting roles… there are many things you can get involved in where you're at least involved in the game.

"… I miss the involvement. It's something that has been a big part of my life and something that still excites me, but unfortunately it's very difficult to try and find a role at the moment and it's not going to get any easier, either.

"It's just one of those ones at the moment. You just never close any doors. If, for example, an opportunity did come up overseas, then I'd be silly not to look at it."

Moore revealed he had had discussions with Football Federation Australia on a liaison-type role with overseas-based Australian players, aimed at helping to build rapport between players, federation and clubs.

"I think that's important, because as a player there were stages throughout my career when seeing a familiar face or someone that represents your national body, that's important. You feel that you're a part of things and you're being thought of," he said.

"But also the relationship with the clubs, I think, is a very important one [area]. If we had those sort of relationships, then someone like Tommy Oar, who wasn't playing regularly at Utrecht could have been playing in our Olympic qualifiers.

"It's just about building relations. Not always will you get them over the line, but I believe that that is something that we could do and would certainly be appreciated over there.

"It just gives you a better opportunity to possibly get the players you need for the national team, which is very important."

---

---

Even though the team was not involved in the two issues that were finally resolved on the last matchday of this season, common decency demands we open this report with new - and old - league champions Borussia Dortmund. That's because their 4-0 victory over Freiburg completed a campaign the likes of which the Bundesliga has not seen before.

Even Freiburg, who had been unbeaten since February and had conceded only six goals in their previous ten games, never stood the slightest chance against a team that put the finishing touches on the best second half of a season in league history: fifteen wins, two draws.

The result also means Dortmund are unbeaten in 28 games. This is another record as regards a single season and the team may now also have a chance to break the overall record. (It's held by Hamburg, who went unbeaten in the final 18 games of the 1981-82 season and then the first 18 of the following campaign, for a total of 36.)

In addition, the win on Saturday brought Dortmund's points total to 81 - the best since the Bundesliga started back in 1963. The old record had been set by Bayern Munich way back in 1972, when they collected 24 wins and seven draws, which equals 79 points under the modern three-points-for-a-win rule.

All of which tells you that the question why favourites Bayern didn't do better than finishing as distant runners-up misses the point entirely. The Munich giants conceded only 22 goals and collected 73 points. This would have been enough to win the Bundesliga in eight of the last fifteen seasons. Bayern's league campaign was not spectacular, but it was not disappointing, either. It's just that Dortmund were well and truly in a league of their own.

This state of affairs makes the traditional end of the domestic season, the cup final on Saturday, even more of a showpiece, as it pits the best sides in the land against each other. Dortmund could set a club record by winning their first double and equalling a German record by becoming the first team since Frankfurt to defeat Bayern three times in one season. Bayern will be looking to end their miserable run against their new rivals - "It's about time we give them the stop sign," is how Bastian Schweinsteiger put it - but of course they still have a much, much bigger game coming up. "If losing the cup final means winning the Champions League final, I'd sign that here and now," Arjen Robben revealed.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns...ir-own?cc=3436

---

---

FFA Chairman Frank Lowy will be appearing on Eddie McGuire Tonight on Fox Footy on Sunday May 6 from 8:30pm to discuss the challenges of running a football league in Australia.

Lowy will be on McGuire’s show where he is likely to face questions about what has been a tough year in football circles in Australia, which has included the demise of Gold Coast United and the drama concerning the licence of Newcastle Jets.

Also likely to be on the agenda will be the formation of the new Sydney Club and how fan forums have helped shape the club.

The discussion is sure to me a must for all football fans in Australia.

---