With the season drawing to a close we farewell some great Champions of our game. Each club will lose significant players, whether it through retirement, a move to another club or the fact the club cannot reach an agreement with the player. As a fan I’m growing concerned by the player exodus throughout the league. Whilst player transfers are a football reality, the smaller squad numbers in our league highlight our player turnover and transient nature of the league.

Next season the league will enter dangerous waters with most clubs losing their international marquee from this season. I don’t see this as a major problem for the league, with the marquee concept not a long term consideration for most clubs. The marquee concept should be used to bring either a high quality player or marketing option to the club; preferably both. Long term marquees are very hard to come across, Thomas Broich is an exception to the rule. To me marquee players bring fans thru the gates, the rest of the squad keep those fans coming back to support the club on a weekly basis.

League officials have decided to reduce the amount of international players at the end of next season from five to four. You may not think this will impact clubs next season but if you look at the Stein Huysegems situation. The Belgium international is looking for a two year contract, whilst the club are only prepared to offer the striker one year. The 31 year old cannot be blamed for looking for some financial security but I think this is a prime example of how the restriction on international players could impact the league. Clubs will have to be more vigilant when signing overseas based players in the future but I think the new restrictions will have a negative impact on the league.

As a fan I don’t want to see a quality player like Huysegems lost to the league. The Belgium scores one in every three games and has brought some extra quality to the league. This isn’t solely based on the Stein situation, all clubs are currently going through this scenario but the Belgium highlights this plight.

What I propose is a 1-3-1 rule for the A-League.

One International marquee

Three Standard International players

One ‘Long Term International’ (LTI for lovers of an acronyms)

The first two categories remain the same, but I would like to see the introduction of a long term international. The idea behind this is to both reward player loyalty and keep some fan favourites in the league. The LTI would have to meet certain requirements, and would force clubs to think long term for at least one international player. The player must have been at the club for a minimum of two full seasons or played 30 games at the club. Obviously this could be changed by the FFA where they see fit.

The new restrictions were made in mind to benefit youngsters in Australia and our national team. One only has to look at the English premier league and the amount of ‘foreigners’ in the league and the continued failures of their national team. It’s a very difficult balancing act the league must perform but I think it’s a step too far and both the standard of the league and attendance numbers could suffer. Our salary cap restrictions and squad numbers are in place for the right reasons, for the financial security of our league but this makes it very difficult to compete both on and off the pitch.

If we want to strive to be the best league in Asia and continue to grow our league we shouldn’t close the door on opportunities that will help us achieve these goals.

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