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Saturday 3 December 2011

Finally some sense: FFA and PFA need lesson in business - quick!

The Smith Report outlined what we already know:

The FFA are a financial management basket case - similarly the PFA.

How else to explain the loss of player wages, clubs and owners in the last 7 years?

In 7 years football has received and earned more money than ever, and yet the professional A-League clubs have spewed out more money, more owners and more clubs than we could ever have imagined.

Well I'm sick of seeing the FFA pour football money into failed clubs - and if clubs are losing $20/25 million per year - only an idiot and the PFA would say that we should keep increasing wages - or even maintain them.

Football in Australia at all levels has been pretty naive - nay thick - these last seven years. How much money have we thrown away?

It happens in the A-League, in your local league, It rips the game of any long term future; in Canberra it's even worse. No-one watches players in the ACT and yet they can get over $400 per game - but that's another pathetic story.

In the A-League - the focus here - we've seen the fantastic FFA/PFA and mad-cap owner schemes. Pay players way more than we can afford and hope what - the team wins, a few more get through the gate at your club, or owners simply continue to pour money in before they walk or are broke. Brilliant model isn't it.

And besides if wages go up and the revenue base doesn't it makes it even harder for any new clubs to enter. And shouldn't we be aiming at getting more clubs not less into our league in future?

Seems to me the whole football family needs a lesson in basic business - revenue = costs or thereabouts.

We tried the PFA/FFA model - spend as much as you want.

Owners at:

Jets, Brisbane, Fury, Auckland, Wellington, Victory, Sydney FC, Perth, Central Coast, Adelaide all gone or going.

What does the PFA and it's members think of that? Did that help the long-term security of their members?

PFA can shout all they want but getting more money ain't no good if the revenue model across the FFA, the clubs, etc is a basket case.

Yep we can all wait for the TV deal - let's hope there are some clubs left by then - but even that will only - possibly - cover current losses.

Will the PFA not demand more as soon as the deal comes in?

Would be nice if FFA actually scrutinised clubs business models when they enter the league - from what I've seen they have been a basket case in leadership.

And the PFA - yep get a great wage model for you players - but really reducing the Salary Cap is a must - reducing the minimum wage no way. Now you work out how that can be done!

And then all your members might be paid for longer.

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