Like most Victory and Australian football fans, this author has been monitoring Harry Kewell’s mooted move to the A League with anticipation.

There is an element of concern over his ability to deliver on the pitch given his physical condition, and further caution given the controversy over some of his previous transfers.

Nevertheless there is no doubt given Kewell’s history as one of the pin-ups of Australian football he would be a marketing success.

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Kewell;s participation would be a shot in the arm for the A-League, which desperately needs to stop the rot. Not only general Australian sports fans are losing interest, but there is a growing feeling of apathy and alienation from previously committed fans. The 2006 goodwill has not only evaporated but transformed into hostility in some quarters as witnessed at recent fan forums around the country.

The reasons for this not only relate to poor policy decisions and implementation – A League expansion for example – but also due to perceptions (certainly outside Sydney) that a Sydney-centric culture exists at FFA Headquarters. Not only that, but as Jesse Fink alluded in his last blog, there is a perception that far from having the bigger picture of the games interest at heart, the FFA are more preoccupied with power politics and agendas of control. The Mirabella Cup is an excellent example

The Mirabella Cup among Victorian fans was viewed as a fantastic initiative to repair and strengthens grassroots bonds and great for the game in terms of the bigger picture. Yet the FFA barred Melbourne Victory and Heart from participating.

One suspects it has more to do with ensuring the “uniqueness” of their own competition so it is easier to sell to potential sponsors, and as such take more of football’s limited revenue pie for themselves.

This is a recurring theme throughout FFA decisions. Like the limited capacity for A-League clubs to attract sponsors, given that clubs are restricted by FFA regulations from having sponsors that compete with the FFA’s.

It is no surprise then that the A-League isn’t attractive to many investors and there has been volatility in A-League ownership over its short life span.



This of course takes one to the current Kewell saga, and the intriguing Sydney-centric football media’s response to it. In particular a curiously pro-FFA article by Phil Micallef has appeared on the SBS website. Naturally Micallef is entitled to his opinion, but his logic that FFA sponsorship regulations are good for the game is rubbish in regard to club sponsorship, and so Micallef’s opinion can be considered rather short-sighted.

Regarding the notion that the “FFA can’t allow any player to be bigger than the game”, there is a strong claim that there needs to be an effective pin-up to make the A-League more distinct from football in general.

Dwight Yorke in season one is a good example and naturally flexibility needs to be made for powerhouse players given their marketing pull.

Without strong characters or faces, there is limited marketing cut-through, and the A-League struggles as a result. Players that excite fans are part of the formula for long-term strong interest in the league.

As for there being fallout from Kewell signing a deal with Toyota, many AFL clubs and players have sponsors who compete with the AFL’s sponsors.

Micallef asserts that the “FFA are taking a longer term view of the games future” and that the Kewell stance is a “no-brainer” because they can live without Kewell but not the sponsors.

But putting short-term sponsorship revenue ahead of fan engagement proves short-sighted once again. Without interested fans, there are no major sponsors, no league, no game, and no hope.

Going back to Finks blogs, while I didn’t always agree, this one is quite interesting for the following.



“’Matters of contracting marquee players are between clubs and agents,’ an FFA apparatchik intoned with the expected level of greyness this week. ‘We have no plans currently to intervene in negotiations between clubs and their potential targets.'”

“Kewell would be ideal leverage going into any negotiations over TV rights…Whatever money was spent on him now would surely be returned many times over with the fat he would add to the final amount negotiated with the FFA’s broadcasting partners when the new deal is activated in 2013…He is a sports star who transcends the code, who is instantly recognisable, loved by people of all ages… Why wouldn’t FFA jump at the chance? …Well, obviously there are issues about where he goes and why and how it is fair to the clubs that miss out. But these are just excuses to not do anything”.

Now, I did not always agree with Jesse Fink, particularly his view of Kevin Muscat, but the irony on how the discourse regarding Kewell’s move to the A-League has changed has not been lost on this author.