By Kieran Yap 11/10/24
Above: Former Canberra United defender Emma Ilijoski contributed to the PFA report.
The sky isn’t falling, but the league will be stuck on the ground while women’s football soars elsewhere in the world.
It’s 2021 and the women’s football community is calling for more investment
It’s 2022 and the women’s football community is calling for more investment
It’s 2023 and the women’s football community is calling for more investment
It’s 2024 and the women’s football community is calling for more investment.
The most recent PFA players survey of A-League Women players has been released, and the main change from other years is that the requests are only growing more urgent. The women’s game is growing, things are improving, but for the athletes themselves, the sport it at a crossroads, and even after a record setting season, the future is concerning.
Only 39% of A-League Women players responded that they would play as long as they could. The other 69% cited a range of specific reasons why their careers would be cut short. Of that group, 59% stated that salary was the biggest factor.
The league also increasingly skews younger than ever before. Only 10% of match time was played by players over the age of 28 last season. While its is a positive thing to give opportunities for young footballers, it also suggests that the ALW is not supporting career longevity.
Former APL CEO Danny Townsend spruiked ambitions for the domestic league to be one of the top leagues in the world, but the rise of the NWSL and USL Super League in the United States and this latest data suggest that this is now a development league, a strong and entertaining one. But those statements were not backed up by support where it was needed, both on an off the field.
The increasing exodus of Australia’s top talent is exciting on one hand, and it proves the strength of the league to some extent, but with a few exceptions, clubs are not cashing in on the ALW being a global shop front of football talent. Multi year contracts are increasing but still rare, and players are only paid for half the calendar year. 96% want a move to full professionalism by 2026/27.
Their counterparts in the A-League Men are paid a salary that supports their training and cost of living for 12 months a year. Despite the name change of the competition in 2021 to denote equality, the women’s league is paid only for the length of the season and according to a $600,00 per team salary cap.
As reported on Channel 10’s The Project, the league plans to have full professionalism in place by 2030 but has not released a roadmap to that as yet that any fan or player is aware of.
That does not mean that some are not working towards this but spending money in the men’s game is seen as an investment. Essentially the feeling since the 2005 launch has been that you need to spend it to make it. Conversely, sending on the women’s game has a whiff of charity about it, despite figures from around the world demonstrating it is an opportunity.
The growing figures in the A-League Women, and the proof in Matildas attendances, the women’s game is still made prove that it earned every cent thrown their way.
While there are no formal plans, those with invested interests are trying to find ways to give the players what they need faster within a system that is reluctant to help.
A 12-month program and payment is essential. While currently many players take a short break after the season then report for NPL duty, this could be formalized similarly to Western United’s relationship with Calder United.
Players could be kept on the books and employed by the club throuthout the off-season, to train and work with the NPL clubs. This still falls far short of what the men’s players enjoy but ensures that the players remain in the club system.
The drawback to this is relationships between NPL and A-League clubs are sometimes less than cooperative. With relegation a real possibility would coaches be happy to have playing time of ALW stars dictated to them by a parent club?
Another possibility is an off-season cup competition. This would give players a slower schedule, and allow them to stay training and competing. Unless of course they get knocked out in the first round.
The most obvious solution is to pay them for the 12 months like the men, start pre-season’s earlier, engage in more promotional activity and grow the league. A longer pre-season is favoreed by many coaches. It helps to improve chemistry and therefore the on-field quality, but also to reduce injury risk for the upcoming season.
Players are expected to arrive at pre-season in top condition, in essence they are working all year round, and that contracts end in June, then new ones begin in October feels like a loophole to avoid payment while still demanding professional standards in the off-season.
Even if arrangements were made to share responsibility and/or pay with an NPL team it is hard to picture the same being asked of say Douglas Costa or any men’s player.
Think of the furore around Melbourne Victory’s Daniel Arzani playing a lower league match in the off season. This is something that same league’s women players are expected and sometimes required to do during the off season with many playing at least half an NPLW season or other league even while under a multi year deal.
What it boils down to is investment, and it is a concept that A-League clubs clearly understand given their recruitment for men’s sides. The women’s game is growing at rate that should encourage more than is being directed their way (crowds were up 72% last season).
No matter what ideas are flying around, it should not beyond professional football in a league without the risk of relegation to find around $500,000 per club by 2026/27. Theoretically, transfer fees like the ones that Melbourne City attracted for Kaitlyn Torpey would mean that investing in the players would see returns.
Waiting will be more expensive, as the PFA report states, “incremental change could lead the league backwards.”
The investment needed goes beyond player pay though. 38% of players in the league said that the broadcast needed to be improved (more than those that wanted better training facilities.)
The A-League Women rarely has half time panels or pre-match introductions. The match day commentary team cannot be faulted, but it is hard to imagine flying all of them to record from a bunker in Sydney is the best and most cost-efficient method instead of staying in Melbourne to cover a game from the ground
That process may naturally change with a new production company, but more needs to be done to showcase the competition.
The return of Dubzone would be welcomed, but in its first iteration it was on during matches, actively encouraging new fans to avoid watching the actual games in favour of the panel show.
It was a curious decision that was made all the more odd when 10/Paramount removed the league from TV following low viewing numbers that the league’s own choices contributed to.
Upon its return, it needs to have a clear mission to promote the league, unashamedly and with joy. If it purports to be a “tell it like it is” style program but ignores the major off-field issues in the game as it did the notorious Grand Final decision, the conversion will be around its legitimacy and not its quality or achievements.
There are people within Channel 10 and the APL fighting within the system for better coverage and network TV broadcasting, and they need as much support as possible.
Whether on TV/streaming or in the stadium the matchday experience is paramount. The PFA report makes mention that the alternating between huge cavernous stadiums and “glorified training facilities” gives fans “whiplash.” It is a hot topic in Australian football, that appropriate sized stadiums are ideal, and while the APL has moved in this direction, it should continue to do so deliberately and regularly.
Majella Card of the Roar Corp contributed to the PFA report highlighting ley areas that the league should focus on for the best fan experience.
-use the same location so that fans have consistency.
-locations with pre/post game dining options
-accessible by public transport
-appropriate to crowd size to maximise atmosphere
-sufficient catering options and other facilities
-shade/cover or to schedule games in the late afternoon, especially in an Australian summer. It is safer for players, provides a more entertaining standard of football and is more comfortable for fans.
The weather is another hot topic, and although the pun was intended, this is a serious matter.
Departing Canberra United star Emma Ilijoski points at multiple drinks breaks, heat stroke, last minute schedule changes, needing medical attention after games and needing to recover from higher physical demands as just some of the issues with the heat.
Ilijoski called for more facilities such as, “ventilation, air condition and ice baths in changerooms, as well as shelter over team benches and stadiums suitable for the fans.”
It is a problem that players need to navigate with minimal help and then go to school or a part time job the following day. It is a brutal, unnecessary and avoidable challenge for Australia’s best footballers.
While the conditions, and pay for players have improved since the league’s inception. Things are not moving fast enough for player safety, longevity and the quality of the league. We have just hosted a World Cup and have another golden opportunity with an Asian Cup approaching in just over a year.
It’s 2024 and the women’s football community is once again calling for more investment.
By 2027 it might be too late, by 2030 it almost certainly will be.
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