For the first time in its 25-year history, Professional Footballers Australia will have an opportunity to contribute to the election of directors to the board of FFA.
This is a task of significant gravity, with boards being the corporate custodians of the game’s strategy and values.
In exercising its decision-making, the PFA wishes to be transparent and considered – demonstrating both to its membership and to the game’s broader constituents the framework through which it will assess candidates and allocate its voting.
This framework consists of 11 areas within which the PFA believes game must evolve in order to achieve its potential. The process of developing this framework will offer a valuable opportunity to engage all parts of the game in designing our collective future.
In addition to the electing of directors, the new governance model provides new opportunities for the PFA. This includes its right to nominate people for election to the board and the appointment of representatives within the FFA Membership.
To this end, the PFA Executive has nominated its Chief Executive John Didulica and its Deputy Chief Executive Kate Gill to act as the PFA’s nominees within the FFA Membership.
Furthermore, the PFA is proud to confirm that Lydia Williams, Elise Kellond-Knight and President Alex Wilkinson will act as the its nominees on the Women’s Football Council. To have three of game’s most successful and respected players serving the sport in this capacity is a great demonstration of the power of the new governance model.
Finally, the PFA has also supported the nominations of Craig Foster and Heather Reid AM to the Board for election.
In Craig and Heather, the PFA believes it has identified two people with a depth and breadth of understanding and service to football matched by few – traits that are a pre-requisite for the board of any sporting organisation.
Craig Foster, Socceroo
The dream of our game for the past 138 years has always been threefold.
To become the number one sport in a great sports-loving land.
To unite every community around our shared love of the game, creating common bonds and shared values that contribute to a future Australia.
And to reach for greatness on the international stage.
To achieve our shared vision, and embed our game's values and culture into the fabric of Australian life, we need to finally become a football nation with our own unique qualities, Australian ingenuity and innovation, a multicultural tapestry of communities and a way of playing that reflects who we are.
We will need to come together, heal past and present, bring our players back, respect and collaborate with our fans, develop a thriving and aligned football industry and build a grand vision for football to take Australia into the future.
I thank the players for their confidence and, if elected, would be honored to play a leading role in this transformation of football, and of Australia.
It is time that we put football first and build the remaining capability around this principle. A football culture, and football nation, is impossible without authentic and strong leadership capable of speaking to our people at all levels of the game, of articulating a vision for who we are and where we want to go, and who can unify the beautiful game.
Together, we are an unstoppable force and a glorious future awaits.
We just need to believe in our game and our people, and remember that, what is good for football, is good for Australia.
I hope you will come along for a wonderful journey in the beautiful game.
Yours in Football,
Craig Foster
Heather Reid AM
As the daughter of Scottish immigrants, I grew up in an environment that is often regarded as the birthplace of multicultural Australia. It was during my childhood living in the Snowy Mountains of NSW that I first saw men playing football and it was where I was encouraged by the young Irish workers to have a go at kicking a ball for the first time.
From that moment almost 50 years ago, I began a lifelong love of the world game as well as a strong appreciation for cultural diversity, the importance of team sport and the desire to instil fairness and access to opportunities for every participant.
As a player, coach and volunteer at every level, as well as a mentor, national team manager, professional administrator, committee member and Director on various Boards, I have a sound knowledge of every aspect of our sport from both sides of the table, from grassroots to national and international involvement.
Taking a broad approach, I want to ensure that football is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime and in any form without barriers like cost, access to facilities, regulation and discrimination.
As a change agent and leader I have high regard for values such as authenticity, integrity, excellence, credibility and trust. If we can achieve this together for FFA then we will see improved governance practices with greater transparency, accountability, financial scrutiny and ethical behaviour streaming throughout the sport.
Much has changed in our sport over the decades and none more so than for women. My own journey in this space is notable but there’s still a long way to go. As we stand at an exciting crossroad, we must do more to capitalise on having the highest number of players and being a prominent team sport for women. We must use our distinct points of difference to capitalise more on our strengths when it comes to pathways and in leading the way for social and capital change in Australia and as part of our membership of Asian football.
Through effective communication, consultation and research, we will find creative and realistic solutions to address the myriad of challenges that football faces in every corner of our sport. The football family must be heard so that we can build our strategies with a deeper common sense of purpose and a vision that encompasses a collective, courageous and loud voice for all.
Now is the time to embrace cultural and systemic change and lead the world game into the next decade of exciting growth, recognition, unity and prosperity from our own backyards to the international stage.
Yours in Football
Heather Reid AM
BECOMING A FOOTBALL NATION
Our game has reached its next major crossroads. The emergence of our players onto the global stage during the 1990s gave Australia football credibility. The landmark achievements of the mid-2000s added business credibility to our cause. The next step is our ongoing development of our unique football culture, by uniting and aligning the entire football ecosystem behind an ambitious whole of game vision.
At its foundation are two underlying principles that serve as a bedrock of our belief system: belief in our game, and our people.
This 11-point framework will produce better football, an authentic football culture from the community level to the professional game and articulate to Australia the unique qualities of our game that provide wonderful benefits to the long-term wellbeing, social cohesion, economic growth, cultural development and sporting achievement of our nation. Football can be nation building in a way no other sport can provide.
This is a bold agenda to become a football nation, which the legends of our game throughout our history have dreamt about for so long.
1 - Leadership
- Governance
- Alignment and unification of Australian football’s stakeholders
The recent governance turbulence has come about as unrepresentative models have led to division within the ranks of our own game. These range from political boards emanating from the amateur tier, to corporate boards which have excluded major stakeholders from decision-making, such as the professional game, the players, the women’s game, coaches, NPL clubs and one of the most marginalised yet critically important: our fans.
A fair and representative Congress model and new era of democratic decision-making and collective progress is essential for the game to flourish at all levels. This opportunity is upon us.
We must then align behind a unified vision for the game. That vision must satisfy multiple criteria. It must be collaborative and inclusive, outlining the mutually-beneficial path forward for all stakeholders. It must be underpinned by the highest quality of in-depth research and strategy. And it must be ambitious, with an agenda capable of finally unlocking football’s full potential.
2 - Infrastructure
- Community
- Stadia
- Homes for our elite clubs
Our communities lack football infrastructure on all scales. Our elite professional clubs don’t have the bricks and mortar institutions many National Soccer League clubs did. All major urban and regional centres should have Football Hubs to facilitate elite training, community programs, commercial activations and football administration. The supply of pitches and change rooms (including female facilities) must meet grassroots demand. And Cruyff Court-style urban pitches should be placed strategically in our neighbourhoods to facilitate both social engagement and talent development.
The FFA’s Whole of Football Plan rightly highlights the need for a national Home of Football, world class facilities at our elite clubs, massive expansion of grassroots infrastructure, and investment in alternative football venues. But the touted National Facilities Strategy has not materialised and we see little signs of progress outside of commendable but isolated work by some states. The return on investment in infrastructure at all levels of the game will take years to materialise, so the time to start is now.
Proactive relationships between head office, the clubs and state governments are essential. Football must better leverage the momentum and goodwill of women’s football in particular to advocate for political funding as well as our participation metrics and vision for the nation.
One of the foundational principles is Atmosphere, whereby professional matches are best played out of boutique venues that maximise the live experience while minimising costs. Unfortunately, our leagues have been handicapped by unsuitable stadia from the beginning.
Too many A-League clubs play out of cavernous arenas and/or suffer unfavourable tenant deals. Venues too readily compromise the quality of our product and control of our schedule.
For these reasons, bespoke football stadia would be a circuit breaker for the game. This can only be made possible by incentivising club owners to invest, which ties back to league independence, the football economy and unlocking Asia’s potential.
3 - Culture
- The First Nations
- The British Tradition
- Migration and Diversity
Australian football’s story is Australia’s cultural story. Few other institutions are as representative of the many communities that make up our society. Few sports reflect so intimately the diverse people and movements that have shaped this country over time. The British tradition, on which modern Australia’s laws and political systems were built, brought the game to these shores, fostered its early development, and continues to contribute greatly across the board.
The waves of migrants from post-war Europe, who arrived full of hope and with a love of football, have made their mark on the game as they have done in their new homeland. Today, football continues to be a rallying point for our emerging communities, as evidenced by the African and Middle Eastern heritage players representing our clubs and national teams, and football is becoming ever more popular and empowering for Aboriginal Australians, epitomised by the work of John Moriarty Football.
Let’s not pretend the story of either Australia or its football is perfect. But as global political rhetoric descends into divisive hyperbole, and our nation reaches for a new, compelling and inclusive narrative to carry it forward into this century, football is extremely well placed to be a unifying force for all Australians. The faces on every community pitch, around every stadium, and wearing the green and gold should, and do, reflect us as a nation.
The next chapter of Australian football is about aligning its stakeholders to create a genuine football culture. When this is achieved, we can become the next chapter of this diverse, sport-loving nation. This story should be told at every opportunity: to attract new people to the game, to leverage football’s unique power in the halls of government and the boardrooms of corporate Australia, and, most importantly, to continue to win the hearts and minds of Australians of all backgrounds.
4 - Universal Access
There must be an immediate review into the cost of football for our grassroots players, elite youngsters, coaches and referees when compared to other sports in Australia. People’s desire to participate in football is our most unique and powerful characteristic but it is unacceptable and unsustainable that this passion is used to subsidise other areas of the game.
It is the game’s duty to ensure access to football is universal, especially for emerging communities from football-loving cultures. Sport has a key role to play in engaging and empowering young Australians from diverse backgrounds, and football is often their sport of choice. In this way, we also empower children from all backgrounds to chase their dreams and produce our own unique football culture.
It is also imperative that no talented players and coaches are priced out of the best available development pathways. Our national teams and professional leagues cannot afford to filter out a single potential star on the pitch or in the dugout, and we must harness new technological tools and the innovative thinking of our best people to ensure that every player is identified, supported, monitored and given the optimal environment of joy as well as a chance to progress.
If the review identifies our upside-down economics as being out of step with other sports, we must make access to football a top priority in the reform agenda, with an aspiration to make grassroots football and development pathways open to all. This is also part of the power of football to assist with a socially and culturally inclusive nation with equality of opportunity for all.
5 - For the Fans
- The Club-Fan Relationship
- Atmosphere
- Game Presentation
- The Media and Digital Experience
A-League clubs have had mixed success with their fan engagement strategies, and those that found a winning formula have commonly failed to sustain their success long-term due to instability on and off the pitch, as well as a broad inability of the game to truly understand our fans, be able to work with them collaboratively and have a culture of responsiveness to their concerns and ideas. Our fans are among the most passionate in the nation, and we must harness both this love of the game and the immense creative capital to work together in harmony.
The challenge of facilitating a pulsating football atmosphere in inappropriately sized stadia has turned what should be a selling point into an Achilles heel for a number of clubs. But another part of the problem has been the A-League’s positioning with regards to active support. The league and clubs have used active support for promotional purposes but left many of those same supporters feeling disenfranchised due to over-policing and a lack of cooperation. We need a vision for match atmosphere and a plan to bring this to life with our fans. The concept that head office has the capability to drive atmosphere is flawed; it must be in partnership with our fan groups nationally.
The legacy of the transition from so-called ‘old soccer’ to ‘new football’ is a divided football family. Many feel the pursuit of the prototypical ‘mainstream’ fan has been prioritised ahead of enhancing the experience of the die-hards already in the stadia, or traditional football-lovers who feel left out or left behind. We need to unify the game, come together to respect our history and teach new generations about who we truly are and reach for a new future together.
Football’s popularity with youth and female audiences provides opportunities for technological innovation. Sports around the world are beginning to shift away from the traditional broadcast model and reach audiences via new streaming partners or their own channels. Football in Australia is perfectly positioned to connect fans with clubs and players in unprecedentedly direct, unfiltered and innovative ways.
6 - Transformation of Women's Football
- Making football the number one sport for women and girls
- National and global agendas
Our ultimate goal should be to move past references to “women’s football” and “men’s football” as separate entities. One day we will simply talk about football. But to get there, we must take urgent action to address challenges and opportunities specific to the women’s game, from girls kicking their first ball to our potential world champions.
The 2015 Matildas collective action highlighted the unacceptable conditions faced by our elite female players at both national team and club level. Despite having a significant head-start on other sports, the W-League was exposed as barely beyond amateur at a time netball, cricket and AFL were turbocharging the professionalisation of their women’s leagues.
The women’s game has an historic opportunity to reach for new heights by becoming the leading female sport locally and building the world’s best professional competition. Our elite players should enjoy a year-round football career with holistic education and wellbeing support. Hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup would accelerate this mission and amplify the transformative power of our Matildas throughout the rest of the game and society.
This is a bold agenda, and one which can also play a unifying role for our entire industry as well as contribute in a meaningful way to the development of our football culture. Gender equality is a key social principle and one in which football can show Australia the way. Our aim is for women’s football to fulfil its potential, establish itself as the number one sport for women and girls and create rewarding careers that reflect both the talent and sacrifices of our elite female players and coaches.
We must also lift our sights and campaign globally and ambitiously on women’s football issues, for instance for comparative prize money at FIFA tournaments and creation of a genuine commercial platform for professional women that can tap into the gender equality movement.
7 - Global Engagement
- Engagement in Asia, including cultural engagement
- A new business model for Asian football
- International success for club and country
- Futsal, beach soccer and the Olympic Movement
Investment in football is booming across Asia. It should no longer surprise Australians when our national teams or clubs are defeated by southeast Asian opponents considering the rapid improvement occurring there. China has attracted some of the world’s biggest stars. Countless European clubs, including some of the very biggest, are fuelled by Asian riches. Yet despite Australia having the huge advantage of sharing a confederation with these nations, we have, for the most part, not shared in this growth.
We must reimagine our football engagement with Asia both economically and culturally. The relationship must be authentic and immersive, not just transactional. Australia must play a leading role as football’s political and economic epicentre shifts from Europe to the east. When the full potential of the female and male Asian Cups and the Asian Champions League is unlocked, the opportunities for Australian football will grow exponentially. Australian football deeply embedded as a leading player in Asia in the fastest growing football economy globally is a powerful vision for us all.
Futsal and beach soccer are authentic, popular versions of football that happen to fit the profile of smaller, faster and shorter formats others sports are shoehorning into their programs. We should campaign for these formats to be included in the Olympic Games, which is a realistic aspiration given the increasingly untraditional sports being considered. Football in Australia could then share in some of the $23.4m in funding our Olympic sports receive from Sport Australia.
8 - Professional Game
- A-League and W-League Independence, Governance and Structure
- National second tier competition
- A roadmap for growing the professional footprint
- National alignment
- Football media
In 2003, the Australian Premier League blueprint produced by Professional Footballers Australia outlined a vision for a viable national professional league. The APL model was the result of significant investment by the players and became a catalyst for the creation of the A-League. Unfortunately, some of its key recommendations were not implemented. For example, the APL placed multiple teams in Sydney and Melbourne to target the largest population bases and generate local derbies, an outcome we see the benefits of today after failed expansion attempts elsewhere. The APL also insisted the new league be run by an independent commission, a position that was supported by the Crawford Report, and one which we may be belatedly moving towards now.
A-League and W-League independence can deliver a new vision for the professional game. The leagues will be better positioned to attract game-changing capitalisation. The governing body will be released to focus its full capability and energy of the grassroots and National Teams. Of course, it is essential that the new league structures include mechanisms that ensure the game’s broader interests are served by their success.
The growth of the professional footprint – both horizontally through expansion and vertically through the establishment of a second tier – is critical for three reasons.
Firstly, more teams mean more opportunities for young players, coaches and administrators, which is crucial for the development of our own human capital from within the game. It will allow us to identify talent, support and invest in our people – one of our two core principles.
Secondly, a geographically and culturally inclusive and aligned football pyramid will create a united and powerful Australian football ecosystem.
Thirdly, more clubs and more games means a bigger football industry and the development of a deeper, more robust and unique football culture.
Finally, football media is a critical ingredient of a football culture as the conduit to our community. Our media can shape the football literacy of the fans, hold the game accountable and participate in enhanced, robust debate on a larger scale. If critique is subdued, the game fails to create the strong, daily dialogue which is the diet of the football fan around the world.
9 - World Class Players
- Elite player and coach development
- Player pathways
Australia’s male players are not as prevalent in the world’s biggest clubs and best leagues as they once were. The current success of the Matildas and the legacy of the Socceroos ‘Golden Generation’ prove that Australia can produce world class players. FFA must become the centre of research into our game in all aspects, but particularly to understanding player development by studying the lives and careers of our best ever players to pinpoint the winning formula we may have lost over the years.
Pathways to glory are critical. Here, we will seek to establish universal principles for player development pathways, ensuring our clubs have a model that identifies world class benchmarks whilst enabling the production of the best players and best people possible.
Some areas for reform are already evident. Players in their late teens must play more professional match minutes. Football must be accessible for all and we cannot afford to let any promising youth player be priced out of the game. Our coaching pathways must be both world class and affordable. All this must be underpinned by a comprehensive plan to hone a uniquely Australian way of winning, informed by what has worked elsewhere but tailored to our specific geographical, cultural and structural circumstances.
10 - Football Economy
- Making the media rights agreement work
- Building long term wealth and sustainability
- Government and Advocacy
It is clear that the game has many priorities for investment and limited resources. No stakeholder underestimates the challenge of this balancing act. What continues to be of concern however is the lack of transparency and accountability in the allocation of resources. For example, work undertaken by the A-League clubs has identified significantly higher league operating costs compared to other leagues around the world. It is time for a full analysis of the game’s finances to enable an open and informed discussion about where money might be redirected most effectively.
In addition, the reliance on the next broadcast deal as a panacea for football’s economic challenges has proven misplaced when there is no guarantee the league’s metrics will demand a major uplift, particularly in an increasingly competitive, fragmented and technologically disrupted broadcasting market. Risk must be spread and other areas for building long-term wealth should be pursued. For example, leveraging the trusted and loved National Team brands is an important vehicle to creating greater economic strength while simultaneously uniting the nation, building on the core values of the players and creating a grand vision for the nation through football.
The loss of revenue outside the formal football economy is a disproportional challenge for football compared to other sports in Australia. Private academies and unaffiliated operators of casual leagues (for example, futsal) are among those who benefit from football’s appeal without contributing to its mission as part of the official pyramid. Australians’ appetite to play football is unparalleled, and better capturing players in affiliated competitions is an important step in finally converting our mass participation into economic and political power.
Policy-based funding can also be predicated on the social, economic and health benefits of the more than 1.6 million Australians playing football based on a Social Return On Investment (SROI) model such as the UEFA GROW program and a National funding strategy at all levels of Government as a matter of strategic priority. Some Member federations have already undertaken similar studies.
A national advocacy strategy is then required to identity, train and connect advocates across all levels of Government to promote the policy-driven benefits that football brings to society.
11 - A partnership between the players and the game
Our players, along with our fans, are the heart of the game. A career on the pitch is the most authentic, experiential touchpoint to what football is, how it is lived, the lows of injury and contract insecurity, the highs of international representation, titles and glory.
Our players collectively carry an immense amount of football knowledge, experience and understanding, as well as a deep connection with our fans, who believe in them and often have an emotional connection which lasts an entire lifetime. In short, our professional players are critical to the journey on which we are to embark as the connecting force between the past and present, and fan and game.
Football needs to institutionalise the promotion, education and nurturing of our players at all levels of the game, particularly the professional and international level, to create a future workforce in governance and administration, clubland and coaching, broadcasting and diplomacy domestically and internationally. Many of our most historic players and legends feel marginalised, which is a terrible indictment of the game they love and gave their life to. We need to bring our players back, provide them with the tools to be involved, invest in their post career development and respect their contribution as the key aspect of our football culture, and an underlying non-negotiable of a football nation. When we respect our players, we respect our game.