Wellington Phoenix  players take some heat relief

As I sit here at midnight on a February evening in the stifling heat and humidity of a Sydney beachside suburb, I feel most uncomfortable. Sweat is dripping off my brow and the last thing I would want to do at the moment, is chase a ball around a football pitch. If, however I was an Australian male or female professional footballer, this would be my lot from October through to April, not in the relative cool of midnight but in the much warmer hours of the day.

By 1984, crowds attending the Australian National Soccer League (NSL) were on the decline. Desperate times called for desperate measures. When the switch from playing football in winter to the warmer summer months was mooted that same year, then NSL General Manager, Stefan Kamasz, stated that the push to change to a summer season (which didn’t materialise until 1989), related entirely to the diminishing NSL crowds. The proposed switch to a summer soccer season was completely driven by negativity – a fear of competition from the other football variants.

During an SBS televised debate in 1984, Eddie Thompson, the former Australian national team coach said that playing in summer, would mean that soccer would only have to compete with cricket for spectators and media coverage. Thompson also said that “cricket was not everybody’s cup of tea,” although I would have expected no less a comment from a Scotsman.

No longer does soccer have competition solely from cricket and a couple of tennis tournaments. Without leaving our living rooms, we can now watch a range of sports from all around the world, including cricket’s Big Bash League, baseball, NBA, UFC and various forms of racing. When newspaper coverage of National Rugby League and Australian Rules Football can exceed four pages in their non playing months of November, December and January, the battle for print media exposure is still clearly evident.    

         The 1984 Summer Soccer think tank – SBS Television

Now in 2019, attendances at A League matches are on a worrying downward slide and TV viewing audiences are not holding up any better. Eddie Cochran in 1958 sang that “there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.” As far as our current attendance blues are concerned, my partial cure would be to revert to playing our football primarily in the winter months, a more natural climate for the world game.

Playing Australia’s foremost men’s and women’s football competitions, the A League and W League in the summer months when heat and humidity will sap the energy of even the fittest of professional players, does not make sense. U.S. WW2 General George Patten said “fatigue makes cowards of us all” and there is no doubt that the often oppressive conditions in summer, detract from the player’s energy and performance. To improve crowds, we need to provide a better product that will thrill and excite the crowds. Playing matches in excessive heat will not increase the speed nor intensity of the games and consequently the match as a spectacle will suffer. The essential drink’s breaks in extreme conditions also creates an unwelcome disruption to the traditional flow of the game.

  American tennis player Jack Sock suffering from extreme heat stress

The original intention with summer soccer was for all games to be played in the evenings when it was expected that the temperatures would be more moderate. This has not been the case however, with late afternoon kick offs commonplace and the Women’s League starting even earlier. A recent A League fixture between Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar kicked off at 7.30 p.m. and yet the temperature was still thirty one degrees Celsius. Global warming is a fact that we cannot ignore. In NSW in January 2019, average day and night time temperatures in thirty two centres, were the highest ever recorded. If we continue to play professional football matches in the increasingly hot Australian summers, the health risks for our players could be dire.

The summer soccer protagonists claimed that football fans wouldn’t want to go out at night in the winter months. The Australian winter in the major cities /football centres is not harsh, in fact it is quite mild during most months other than July and August. Football spectators in the colder climates in Europe have coped successfully with winter seasons for over 100 years and if local fans have to wear a coat and scarf to go out and watch a football match, that should not deter them.

     Brisbane Roar take time out in the sweltering Adelaide heat

Proponents of a summer soccer season also contended that grassroots players – men, women and children who would not be playing in the summer, would therefore be more inclined to attend the senior professional competition games. I disagree and suggest that when the youngsters themselves are playing in the morning or early afternoon, they are more likely to be in the mood to attend an A League or W League game. When temperatures exceed thirty degrees Celsius in summer and the children’s football boots are gathering dust in the bottom of their wardrobe, I would say that the beach or a swimming pool would be theirs and their parent’s first consideration.

The availability of grounds from March to November should not be insurmountable with the current push towards “boutique”/ smaller grounds. If rugby and AFL competition at the major venues was an issue, there would be a number of smaller suburban stadia that could accommodate crowds of 15,000 – 20,000 people. Australian soccer cannot presently command crowds of 30,000 spectators consistently, so large capacity arenas are not necessary at the moment.

        English fans enjoy their winter football

Our “winter” football season should extend from early March to mid November with no break. This would align us with the seasons of our Asian Football Confederation colleagues and would provide for an off season of around three and a half months. This would be far more practical than the current five month layoff. The popular Football Federation Australia (FFA) Cup could take place during the season with the final taking place at season’s end, similarly to the English FA Cup. Both National Premier League (NPL) and A League clubs would then have equitable preparation for the cup competition, unlike the present situation. Also, any Australian club progressing to the latter stages of the Asian Champions League would not be disadvantaged, by playing an Asian opponent, when out of season. With the breaking news of the FFA considering a shortened 2019-20 season to cater for the A League expansion, this would provide the ideal opportunity to launch winter football in March 2020.   

Association football has thrived throughout the world for 140 years. In Australia, it’s time for us to stop worrying about competition, cease consistently looking over our shoulders and take all the steps necessary to focus on advancing our game in this country. It’s time to admit that the summer soccer experiment has not worked. Reverting to a winter football season for our men’s and women’s premier competitions would help raise the the standard and intensity of matches, improve player comfort and safety and bring our national leagues’ season into alignment with the rest of the football community, both in Australia and in Asia.

© David Jack  2019

 

 

                                         A DIFFERENT NATIVITY

‘Twas not the night before  the Christmas, in fact not even close, 57 nights before to be precise, but don’t let that get in the way of a good Christmas story. It was 30^th October 2004 and on this day crowds had come from near and far to celebrate the wedding of Kylie (not Minogue) and Dean (not James) but despite the absence of Hollywood royalty, it was as grand an occasion as Dee Why had witnessed for at least two and a half weeks.

An English born finance broker / band manager (let’s call him “David”) had been secured by the groom to perform a dual role at the wedding. Dean thought that he would engage David as chauffeur on this day as, for one crazy year of his life, David drove a Jaguar. Dean also asked David if he could get some of his friends to create some melodic (sometimes) noises on musical instruments at the wedding feast because, if nothing else they were very cheap.

Now David shared one character trait with the infamous hussy, Fanny Hill. He could not say “no” and although his vocabulary could be voluminous, the one word that was missing was “no”. David accepted the chauffeur and musician role, only telling Dean the night before the wedding that he did in fact no longer drive a burgundy Jaguar but a 1994 blue Ford Fairmont with no air conditioning.

Back to the Christmas story.  The ceremony in the Dee Why church was considered a necessary evil before the dutiful guests could toddle off to the Grand (exaggerated for effect) Cromer Gold Club for beers and champagne. This was to be their reward for enduring the church ceremony.

Just when the guests in the back row of the church were nodding off and those in the front row wished they were in the back row so they could nod off too, a fair young lady stood up amongst the crowd like the bright star rising in the east (Christmas reference). Without having to contend with the traditional discordant sound of a church organ, the fair young lady sang out in a manner so melodic, so clear, so beautiful that even those in the back row stumbled to attention.

David, the footballer / finance broker / chauffeur / entrepreneur was enraptured by the beauty of this voice and thought that he could possibly use this fair young lady in one of his enterprises and it wouldn’t be as chauffeur’s assistant !

After the nuptials were confirmed, the fair young lady and her mother joined the motorcade in a ticker tape parade, through elated crowds on the streets of Dee Why, eventually arriving at the Grand Cromer Golf Club. But for many an hour, David sat on the dock of a bay called Long Reef waiting for the ecstatic Kylie and Dean to have 100 gigabytes of pictures taken on the seashore. This place is called Long Reef because if you go there with bridal parties to have pictures taken, you don’t leave the reef for a Long (Long) time.

David eventually arrived late at the Grand Cromer Golf Club, setting a poor example for his fellow musicians who have honourably mimicked his tardiness to this very day.

The evening passed without incident until Dean, a garrulous Kiwi and sad to say, a relation of mine, decided on that day that they would each break the Guinness World Record for the longest and most mind numbing speeches in the history of wedding receptions. The speeches only ceased when paramedics arrived to treat a number of guests for extreme dehydration (no drinks had been served for 3 hours) and utter boredom.

Normal alcohol service eventually resumed and the band played songs that would remain popular (with them at least ) to the present day.

David then cast his mind back to the church and the beautiful voice of the fair young lady. Being from a Catholic upbringing and having been starved of female companionship at school for nine long years, David approached the young lady cautiously. David discovered that the lady with the beautiful voice was called Amanda. At first David wondered whether Amanda’s parents were an unimaginative couple because in 1970’s, the first name in the Book of Girl Baby Names was always “Amanda” but upon meeting them some time later, it became clear that in fact they were both quite intuitive.

But I digress. David asked Amanda (not, if she would marry him because he had already used that line with another Amanda) but if she would like to sing a song or two with the band. Amanda’s mother encouraged her daughter to accept the offer or at least turn the water into wine as they were still suffering from dehydration, but Amanda calmly said to her mum, “my time has not yet come” (biblical reference). When David asked the question, Amanda’s first thought was “yes, if you give me $1,000” but she relented and said “yes” to the man who couldn’t say “no”

That evening at the Cromer Golf Club, Amanda sang in that self same melodic, clear and beautiful voice that she had exhibited in the Dee Why church. Even today, I can still visualise Amanda singing in the church, calm and composed, that very bright star in the east (final Christmas reference). The 30^th October 2004 was a day on which a precious union of music and friendship was born. It was indeed a special day, not just for Dean & Kylie Miller but for me.

“For you, ( I hope) there’ll be no more crying,
For you, (I hope ) the sun will (always) be shining,”

                                                                   Christine McVie

December 24^th 2013    

© David Jack 2013 

   

 

Too many years have passed since 1966 but for football fans in England, that year came to a climax on Saturday 30^th July, the day on which England won the World Cup.  As a young boy living in England at that time, that World Cup held special memories for me, memories that will remain with me forever.

At the time I was a football mad 12 year old Manchester United supporter. In late 1965 my father, then a football writer with the News of the World, inexplicably decided we should move from our comfortable home, 20 minutes drive from Old Trafford to a small town 40 miles away called Thornton Cleveleys.  Dad chose to purchase a newsagency in this little village which was certainly not a centre of high commerce in Lancashire. The rationale for the unexpected newsagency venture was never shared with our mum Rose or the 7 children. We can only assume that Dad thought that he would enjoy getting up at 4.30 a.m. every morning, work 14 hour days and deliver newspapers in the wind, rain and snow. This business venture would not be provident for me on World Cup Final day 30^th July 1966

Football was in my father’s blood and despite the business purchase he would continue to work as a freelance football writer in conjunction with selling newspapers and 20 packs of Woodbine cigarettes. Of course Dad was in the press box at Wembley Stadium on that special day in July 1966 to watch the historic match. It was a match of such footballing significance that England had never before contested nor has since. On that day, others would be left to manage the demands of the Thornton Cleveleys newsagency.

By early 1966, I was coming to grips with our move from Manchester, accepting that my Old Trafford visits would be more infrequent in the future.  Our new home did however have some advantages for a United fan, as manager Matt (later to be Sir Matt) Busby frequently used to take his squad to nearby Blackpool, to prepare for games. The team would stay at the Norbreck Hotel on the beachfront and my friends and I could sit and watch United training on the lawns of the hotel. Soon to be England World Cup heroes, Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles, would be playing 5 a side games only metres from where we would be sitting and interaction between players and onlookers was quite common. What a stark contrast with 2013 when spectators were charged $15 at Allianz Stadium Sydney, to watch from a distance, the same club train. But I digress.

The 1966 World Cup drama unfolded before a ball had been kicked with the cup, then known as the Jules Rimet trophy being stolen from it’s temporary home in London. It was later found wrapped in newspaper in a London suburban garden, by a collie dog called Pickles. The portents were there for what was not going to be an ordinary World Cup competition.

For English football fans, the cup opened with much expectation, possibly too much as England were kept scoreless against Uruguay. For a Manchester United fan however, it was inevitable that Bobby Charlton would light the fuse on England’s road to World Cup glory. In England’s second group match against Mexico, a typical Charlton burst from inside his own half ended with a 25 metre piledriver into the Mexican net. It was a wonderful goal and despite an unimpressive win over France in their final group match, England qualified for the quarter finals.

The 1966 World Cup drama unfolded before a ball had been kicked with the cup, then known as the Jules Rimet trophy being stolen from it’s temporary home in London. It was later found wrapped in newspaper in a London suburban garden, by a collie dog called Pickles. The portents were there for what was not going to be an ordinary World Cup competition.

For English football fans, the cup opened with much expectation, possibly too much as England were kept scoreless against Uruguay. For a Manchester United fan however, it was inevitable that Bobby Charlton would light the fuse on England’s road to World Cup glory. In England’s second group match against Mexico, a typical Charlton burst from inside his own half ended with a 25 metre piledriver into the Mexican net. It was a wonderful goal and despite an unimpressive win over France in their final group match, England qualified for the quarter finals.

The Brazilians came to England as favourites. My father who in Sweden and Chile had seen Brazil’s previous World Cup victories, rated Pele, Garrincha and company very highly. Unfortunately aside from a magnificent Garrincha free kick scored against Bulgaria, the Samba Boys struggled. Pele particularly, suffered brutal treatment from the Bulgarians and Portugese and as in Chile in 1962 he was on the peripheral for the tournament.

I attended one match in the tournament, a group game at Old Trafford. Eusebio da Silva Ferreira the greatest player to have come out of the African continent, scored for Portugal in a  3-0 victory over Bulgaria. That Lancashire based group witnessed one of the best ever world cup matches when Hungary beat Brazil 3-1 to knock out the favourites. I clearly remember watching on black and white television, the Hungarian’s second goal – a stunning volley by Janos Farkas after Florein Albert and Ferenc Bene combined beautifully. This will go down as one of world cup’s greatest ever goals.

 

My World Cup memories include a slight North Korean player named Pak Doo Ik scoring the only goal of the game at Middlesborough to send the Italians packing. Italy, boasting the legendary names Mazzola, Rivera and Facchetti were outplayed by the marauding North Koreans who could have scored three that day. The English, at that time not big fans of Italian football, were only too happy to report on the tomato pelting The Azzurri faced upon their return to Italy.

The West Germans and the Argentinians cruised through their groups, the Germans inspired by Franz Beckenbauer, yet to be crowned Der Kaiser. When the Argentine captain Antonio Rattin was sent off (somewhat harshly I can say 47 years later ) in the quarter final against England at Wembley, relations between the two nations sunk to depths only surpassed by the Falklands War, many years later. England manager Alf Ramsey branded the Argentine players “animals” and Ramsey physically intervened to stop players exchanging shirts at full time.

Portugal’s amazing 5-3 quarter final victory over North Korea and four Eusebio goals meant that England would have to face the in form Portugese in the semi final. There was minor controversy when the game was conveniently (for England) switched from provincial Goodison Park to Wembley. England had played all their games at Wembley but if this move had upset the Portugese (which certainly it had), the English press weren’t reporting it. Once again Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton was the matchwinner scoring both goals in the semi final as England beat Portugal by the odd goal in three. We all looked forward to Saturday 30^th July 1966 and the final against West Germany.

I had been brought up on boy’s magazines, The Victor and The Rover, where invariably the cover story centred around some act of heroism by a British soldier almost always against the Germans in World Wars 1 or 2.  Being an avid and gullible reader, I had the utmost confidence that, as in the comic books, England would beat West Germany to win the World Cup final just because we were the “good guys”. That the home country were to wear Manchester United red in the final was one good reason to expect an England win.

In July 1966 The Kinks were on top of the pop charts with Sunny Afternoon but on the Saturday morning of the match, there had been drenching rain at the Empire Stadium in London. By midday however the rain had cleared for what all England hoped would be a very sunny afternoon.

Helmut Haller, a dynamic blonde striker opened the scoring for the Germans after 12 minutes. England equalized soon after through Geoff Hurst, the find of the tournament and when his West Ham colleague Martin Peters put England ahead in the 78^th minute, all of England sensed our time had come for football glory. The 90^th minute and West Germany are awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty box. When the ball is deflected more than once and ends up within the outstretched foot of Wolfgang Weber, we prayed for a miracle but goalkeeper Gordon Banks was beaten.  It was 2-2 and extra time beckoned.

When Weber slid home this agonising, 90^th minute equalizer at Wembley Stadium on 30^th July 1966, forcing the World Cup Final to extra time, not one of the six regular paper boys fronted to the Thornton Cleveley’s newsagency to deliver the Saturday afternoon papers. Our mother Rose said to big sister Theresa and I “the papers must go out  – off you go”. Despite my pleas, I missed that historic half an hour of football.

I’m on my Raleigh pushbike and delivering newspapers like a paper boy possessed. Ninety eight minutes into the match and the redheaded Alan Ball makes another exhaustive run down the right touchline and cuts the ball back. Geoff Hurst kills the ball and crashes a shot against the underside of the crossbar. Surely the ball was over the line. “No” say the Germans. Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst consults with his Russian linesman and without hesitation the linesman nods in the affirmative and the goal is awarded.  It’s 3-2 and the German players are distraught – England euphoric. To this day the Germans won’t accept that this third goal was legitimate

West Germany continues to press for an equalizer then Bobby Moore releases Geoff Hurst  into the West German half. Alan Ball, socks around his ankles, is away to Hurst’s right but Hurst ploughs ahead towards the West German penalty area. Spectators are already on the pitch when the BBC’s Kenneth Wolstenholme utters possibly the best known words in the history of football commentary “some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over – it is now” as Geoff Hurst smashes the ball past the weary Hans Tilkowski.  Jubilation for England – utter despair for the courageous West German team.

As a music lover, I consider myself blessed to have been brought up in England in the swinging sixties but also as a football fan, I could have wished for nothing better than to witness the country of my birth, England win the World Cup in my homeland.

 

England had won the World Cup, my parent’s customers got their newspapers and I got paid two shillings for the paper round. Even Pickles the collie dog had reason to be happy, being invited to the official England World Cup celebrations. Of course I did eventually get to see that magical thirty minutes of extra time and have relived the tournament many times, courtesy of the wonderful documentary “Goal”

As a music lover, I consider myself blessed to have been brought up in England in the swinging sixties but also as a football fan, I could have wished for nothing better than to witness the country of my birth, England win the World Cup in my homeland

A World Cup win for Australia ? More on that later

David Jack

Copyright 2014

 

 

 

 

THE TURF 16th November 2013

ADP’s DIVING PROBLEM

by David Jack  :  November 16, 2013

Alessandro Del Piero has been a great footballer and would probably rate in the top 5 Italian players of all time. He continues to deliver in the A-League, not the playground of the most technical players but nevertheless a league that is fast and physical. In A-League History “Il Pinturicchio’s” goalscoring record is quite outstanding on a goals per game average.

There is however an aspect to his game that is dividing fans and football purists. Alessandro Del Piero is suffering from the “Humpty Dumpty” syndrome. He can’t stop falling down and all the king’s horses and men, in the form of Fox Sports and SBS Football commentators are not just turning a blind eye to this aspect of his game, but praising him effusively for this practice.

Whether he is impeded by an opponent, runs into one or kicks a player in the lower leg so that he can fall over (don’t laugh), Del Piero can achieve the same result – a free kick. In modern football apparently this practice, known as “drawing the foul” is called a skill. You will probably find it on page 13 of “Football in the 21st Century”.

Del Piero’s play acting is described by his coach, Frank Farina as the sign of a “genius”. Farina’s theory is glowingly supported by the TV football networks. Of course these stakeholders all have a vested interest (TV ratings) in putting the most positive spin on the antics of the Italian “genius”.

It’s clear that Del Piero no longer has the pace to go past players, so rather than lose the ball, he will collide with an opponent or in the case of the comical goal he scored against the Newcastle Jets earlier this year, the defenders will collide with themselves. Let’s stop this façade. A player falling over at the slightest touch is not a skill to be lauded or the sign of a genius. It’s gamesmanship to be kind, cheating to be blunt.

One concern with Del Piero and his Humpty Dumpty tactics is that young Australian players are going to imitate Del Piero and attempt to “draw the foul”. (I really dislike this phrase) The other important concern is that the number of “fouls” committed on Del Piero has a detrimental effect on the match as a spectacle. I love to watch a good football match with flowing moves and attackers using their skills to beat defenders. Where there are maybe 40 free kicks in a game however the match becomes much less enjoyable.

I think back to the days of Garrincha, Pele, Stanley Matthews, Johan Cryuff and George Best, all wonderful dribblers of the ball. These truly great players would never have let an opponent bring them down, if at all possible but would delight in the many ways in which they could go past their opponents and in the case of Best, often beat the same player twice.

The Del Piero “brand” itself guarantees that 90% of his tumbles are rewarded with a free kick primarily because he is Alessandro Del Piero. Referees have double standards and should treat Del Piero exactly as they would other players. Jeronimo Neumann from Adelaide United, going to ground in similar situations, would accumulate many cards but Del Piero is apparently immune to censure. Del Piero is not the only guilty player but is the most prolific in earning free kicks. There are many A-League players, including Thomas Broich and Matt Simon who also come to mind for exaggerating the extent of the tackle. I do not condone their behaviour either.

The A-League undoubtedly needs players of the calibre of Alessandro Del Piero – football superstars who can generate crowds and help grow the game in Australia. What Australian football doesn’t need is the boring spectacle of a game stopping every 90 seconds because Humpty Dumpty has fallen off his wall again.

Copyright 2013

By nature I am a very upbeat, positive person – the eternal optimist – so it goes against the grain for me to state that Australia will never win the World Cup. It is possible that FFA boss David Gallop could be right in predicting that eventually our brand of football will become the national game, but to win a World Cup is beyond all imagination.

I say this because Australia does not have a football culture, a pre requisite for winning the premier international football tournament. We have thousands of very talented boys and girls who love their football for 5 or 6 months a year but for most, that’s where it stops. I know that there are organised Futsal and 5 A Side competitions in the off season but participation rates are a fraction of those in the winter season. With a great climate and so many alternative pastimes (not least FIFA 2015), young Australian footballers have other distractions. As such they are not normally found honing their soccer skills in the warmer months. Until large numbers of kids voluntarily go down to the local park every afternoon to play with their friends, this country won’t produce truly great players.

Football in Europe and South America engulfs the lives of millions of people. Many people in South American nations have long endured great poverty and the only relief for most was, and still is, a football. In fact many kids did not even have a football but like Pele, made do with a grapefruit or a sock stuffed with newspapers and tied with string. Football became ingrained in the lives of South Americans and it was from their impoverished environment that many wonderful South American footballers emerged. Today the poorer nations, notably in Africa, are producing exceptional footballers. Like Pele, the first and greatest ever African footballer Eusebio, learned to play with an improvised football – newspapers wrapped up into a ball. Life expectations in poor African communities are very minimal but football can provide a means for young Africans to achieve status and financial security. Football is now the primary sporting recreation of most African nations and has become part of African culture. It is quite possible that the World Cup winner could be an African nation in the not too distant future.

Though my family was not poor, I was the product of a “football culture.” As a boy in England, my life revolved around football. My grandfather captained England and is acknowledged as one of that country’s all time greats. My father was a football writer for 35 years and naturally I fell in love with the game very early in life. I grew up watching the best players in the U.K. and occasionally those of other nations and I tried to imitate them whenever I could find time. I would play in the driving rain and the snow and it was this devotion that consumed me. I was always in trouble because of football, whether coming home from school late with another pair of shoes destroyed, arriving after dark from playing at the local park or covered in mud from pretending I was a goalkeeper. I was obsessed by football to such an extent that we used to play football in the guard’s compartment of the train on the way to school. I loved football and though my career may not have panned out as it could have, living in a football environment was a major factor in my football development.

I have lived in Australia for 47 years and although we have produced some very good players, to be fair there have been very few exceptional ones. Our Australian kids are coached from the age of 5 & 6 but no amount of coaching is going to produce a Pele, Messi, Maradonna or Best. We have numerous private coaching academies and district representative coaching organisations around the country. You can write your coaching curricula and playing systems until the letters and numbers fade on your keyboard but no amount of textbook coaching is going to enable young Aussie players to embrace the spirit of the game, so important for producing outstanding players. If Australian parents were unable to take their children to training and games, would their offspring be prepared to travel regularly on public transport to play their football? I don’t believe that they would but I am sure that their counterparts in Africa and South America would find a way to get to their football match. It comes back to having a real love of the game, being part of a football culture. Unless the neighbours to the right of you and to the left of you are football fanatics and the bus driver asks you for the Sydney FC result, the football vibe will never become part of this nation’s DNA.

Can we create a football culture? Not the least of our obstacles is our geographical isolation. This and financial limitations, makes it extremely difficult to attract the best European and South American stars at the peak of their careers. Players who could inspire our young players, and prove real drawcards for the footballing public. Australia can provide short term financial gain for a few select marquee players, Alessandro Del Piero immediately comes to mind but with all due respect, the Del Piero who wore the Sydney FC shirt, was well past his peak. If he was to have come here 15 years earlier, his impact on Australian football would have been immense.

The established media is another barrier to developing a football culture or mindset. Though Rugby League registrations are at an embarrassingly low level and Rugby Union is not growing at youth level, the sporting media is still reluctant to give football enough coverage to make Australians more conscious of the round ball game. Though the game in this country has come a long way since the days of being viewed solely as a game played by immigrants, our brand of football still needs to be accepted by the wider community to become a dominant force in the Australian sporting environment.The Hyundai A League is currently at a level that will satisfy diehard Aussie football fans but not the unconverted. There has always been a core group of supporters for Australian club soccer but the A League needs a decided lift in the ability of the players and the consequent improvement in the standard of play to be able to poach fans from other football codes. Once this happens we are on our way to having a football culture. The popularity of soccer in Australia could then eclipse that of the other football codes, save AFL in Melbourne. This may in turn lay the seeds to create a football culture in Australia and a possible World Cup win. In the meantime, I will not be ordering my “Australia – World Cup Winners” tee shirt just yet.

David Jack

Copyright 2014

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GUEST AND MARQUEE  PLAYERS IN AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL

The signing of Spanish star David Villa by Melbourne City for an alleged 10 game stint prior to the 2014-15 A League season was thought to be the icing on a cakeful of guest / marquee players who have turned out for Australian clubs over more than fifty years. Aussie signings didn’t appear to come much better than Villa. A then current Spanish international and World Cup squad member, Villa was still scoring goals for the reigning world champions. How could a player of Villa’s quality be anything but a huge success, a massive fillip for the local game ? Well Villa’s Melbourne City stint was cut very short and with such a name player failing to produce the goods, it’s worth looking back on our football history to assess whether the presence of overseas “stars” has produced a positive return for the local game ?

I first appreciated the value and pulling power of an overseas guest player in the winter of 1968 at L. M. Graham Reserve Manly, a suburban football ground that now doubles as a dog park. On that Sunday afternoon Takis Loukanidis, capped 26 times for Greece came to Graham’s Reserve. I was a 14 year old youth player with Manly and our senior team were playing Pan Hellenic, one of the big drawcards in the old NSW Federation Division One.

Arriving late in the week, Loukanidis did not play that Sunday afternoon but that did not stop 4,500 fans turning up in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Greek star. At half time Loukanidis took a stroll around the pitch perimeter before entering the public toilet. I clearly remember 300 Hellenic fans following Loukanidis around the ground and parking themselves outside that very unfashionable men’s toilet. The presence of Loukanidis doubled the probable crowd figure that day and one benefit of a guest player was immediately evident.

At 30 years of age, this was Loukanidis’s first stint in Sydney with Pan Hellenic, the best supported, but perennial underachievers in the NSW Federation. Hellenic came second that season, their highest position during the Pan Hellenic (pre Sydney Olympic) years. Loukanidis was an inspiration to the team and at 30 he was still sharp. Loukanidis’s magnetism swelled the Hellenic crowds and the regular chant of “Takis Takis” reverberating around their Wentworth Park home ground almost carried them to a first ever premiership. Loukanidis returned to Sydney the following year as player coach, but a year older his impact was less profound and Hellenic struggled for much of the season. As a guest player Loukanidis was a success, helping to improve the performance of Pan Hellenic and boost their gate receipts.

Takis Loukanidis is only one of dozens of notable overseas players who have had played for Australian clubs with varying degrees of success. The first foreign players to have an impact on the local game and possibly the greatest from a playing perspective, were Leo Baumgartner, Walter Tamandl and Karl Jaros. Having toured Australia in 1957 with the crack Austrian club, F K Vienna, Baumgartner and Tamandl fell in love with the Australian beaches, the climate and the way of life and were not swayed solely by the size of the promised pay packet.

With Baumgartner, Tamandl, Jaros and another Austrian Herbert Ninaus, (Sydney based) Prague swept all before them in the NSW Federation First Division in 1959, State Federations being the highest level of competition at that time. These players all in their late twenties and at the peak of the ability, helped to grow the crowds and raise the profile of Australian soccer. The overall standard of football also improved as other clubs were compelled to recruit overseas to match the performance of the glamour club, Prague. This was a golden era for Australian football and the four Austrians and the well supported “migrant” clubs were largely responsible for the good health of the sport.

Age does weary old footballers however and the aura of the Austrian stars and FC Sydney Prague dimmed in the mid sixties and  crowds suffered. It was at this time that BBC   Match of the Day started to screen in Australia and local football fans became infatuated with the British game. Over the next 10 years, a who’s who of British football appeared fleetingly for Australian clubs. Ray Clemence, Bobby Charlton, Francis Lee, Charlie George, Trevor Francis, Malcolm   Macdonald, Kevin  Keegan, Paul Mariner and Ian  Rush were just some who came here, principally for the purpose of earning a few bucks. Most of these played one or two games and did very little for the local game. Just about all were past their best.

Admittedly they drew a few more spectators through the turnstiles but when appearance money, accommodation and air fares were taken into account, the host club and Australian football saw little benefit for their financial outlay.

Non British imports also arrived to show their wares. Former Italian stars, the then 36 year old Francesco Graziani (Apia Leichhardt) and 34 year old Nicola Berti (Northern Spirit) were largely ineffectual in the old National Soccer League. Likewise Argentine Osvaldo Ardiles at 33 played just one game for St. George in the NSL – what was the point ? Local clubs were always looking for that big pay day and on field success, but the impact of these former World Cup stars was minimal on both fronts.

In 1983, a 37 year old George Best, the greatest footballer to have played for an Australian club, made four appearances for Brisbane Lions. Best a former European Footballer of the Year who effectively had retired over 10 years earlier, was a shadow of the wonderful player who dominated British football for nearly a decade. Best increased the gate takings during his brief stay but his impact on the pitch was minimal and Brisbane Lions were none the better for his four outings. The primary purpose of Best’s visit down under was obvious when, on the same trip he turned out for Dee Why a second division NSW State League team against Manly for the sake of a $5,000 match fee. I played against Best that night and although the 2,000 odd spectators enjoyed what was an entertaining game, the presence of a once great footballer on a poorly lit Cromer Park Dee Why, left no legacy for Australian football.

The inception of the Hyundai A League brought the “marquee” player – not just a short term guest player but a longer term proposition signed for a season or more. In 2005 the former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke was one of the first and still most successful of the marquee players. Not only did his presence with Sydney FC draw the crowds but his contribution on the field was a catalyst for the club taking out the inaugural A League competition. Yorke scored 7 goals for Sydney FC that season and was the ideal pin up boy for the new league.

Yorke was replaced at Sydney by the Brazilian Juninho. Early on Juninho lit up Aussie (now Allianz) Stadium but a malicious tackle by a Los Angeles Galaxy defender in a meaningless exhibition match, virtually ended his playing career with Sydney. Subsequently Sydney FC employed Nicky Carle, John Aloisi and Brett Emerton on the big money but none of them performed at a level befitting the salaries they were earning. Crowds were average and Sydney FC’s performances likewise.

Not too many clubs earned value for money with their marquee players. Marco Flores was an exception at Adelaide United but when the same club recruited the former Brazilian star Romario briefly in 2007, his almost comical quest to score his 1000th goal, overtook any other apparent reason for his inclusion in the Adelaide line up.

Romario’s fellow countryman, Mario Jardel was signed as the Newcastle Jets marquee in 2007. Jardel arrived with a big reputation but unfortunately an even bigger waistline. It was claimed that Jardel had been working very hard on his fitness prior to joining the Jets, however to see his midriff bursting the stripes of a Jets shirt gave lie to this. Eleven appearances, mostly off the bench with no goals was a sad return for a one time Brazilian international.

Former Liverpool star Robbie Fowler was a qualified success in his spell with North Queensland Fury and Perth Glory but with the Fury disappearing from the A League and Perth Glory unconvincing after his departure, there was clearly no long term benefit for Australian football. Shinji Ono performed well for West Sydney Wanderers, Emile Heskey less so for Newcastle Jets. Both  players however were in their thirties and they would have been more influential had they arrived a couple of years earlier. Ono and Heskey do deserve credit for the manner in which they promoted their clubs and contributed to the image of the local game. William Gallas likewise at Perth Glory was a handy acquisition though old enough to play local over 35 football.

Harry Kewell, the long time darling of Australian football fans, less so football journalists, arrived back in Australia in August 2011 as Melbourne Victory’s marquee. Kewell returned to much fanfare and expectation but sadly for Kewell and local fans, injury and later family illness cut short his playing stint. When he turned his back on Victory after a truncated unprofitable stay, the journalistic knives were out again.

Alessandro Del Piero, the best credentialed of all A League marquees delivered on many fronts. Certainly in a his first season, sales of Sydney F.C. replica shirts boomed, crowds both home and away surged and the football world at large sat up and took notice of Australian football. Sydney F.C. fans fell in love with “Il Pinturicchio” and Del Piero fell in love with the harbour city. In his first season despite his 38 years, Del Piero showed why he had long been the sweetheart of Italian football. In ADP’s second year a series of niggly injuries, a number of poor team performances and grumblings on the terraces saw the aura of the former Juve superstar dim. Del Piero’s on field contribution became marginal and despite a couple of trademark goals and the occasional marvellous touch or pass, the “use by” date of Alessandro Del Piero was now there for all to see including a few fawning media commentators.

While few could doubt that the Del Piero marquee project had been a success, that success was tempered by the massive cost to bring him to Sydney FC. The signing of Del Piero could also have been indirectly responsible for the downfall of coaches Ian Crook and then Frank Farina both of whom encountered difficulty in building a successful modern football team around an ageing superstar. Compared to his welcome in September 2012, the Italian star almost sneaked out the back door following a disappointing 2013-14 season finale. Del Piero’s sojourn to Australia however was instrumental in advertising our domestic competition to the world.

When looking for the prototype marquee player, you need look no further than Brisbane Roar’s Thomas Broich. If the success of a marquee player is measured by on field results, the former German Under 21 international is by far the best example we have seen. Arriving in Australia at the relatively young age of 29, the two time Johnny Warren Medal winner has been a superb player for Brisbane Roar. Primarily due to Broich, Brisbane Roar has been the most successful team in the history of the A League. Yes, Broich has been well paid but he has also paid his dues to Australian football.

Is there a future for the marquee in Australian football ? Is it practical or prudent to pay a massive amount of money for one player who will often be on the wrong side of 30 ? Is the Hyundai A League a retirement village for once talented footballers or have overseas guest or marquee players still got something to offer the local game ? I believe that we should persist with the marquee concept but it is critical that clubs source the right type of player at the right price at the right age. It is imperative that the player can perform consistently at an exceptional level as well as having the “name” and the capacity to attract more patrons to our football grounds. Any more Mario Jardels would be an embarrassment to the Hyundai A League. If however, every club could unearth a Thomas Broich or fund an Alessandro Del Piero or a David Villa, crowds would surely grow, playing standards would lift and Australian club football would prosper.

David Jack         Copyright 2014