‘Business as usual has failed’: A-League players’ scathing survey as Aussie football’s issues laid bareHalf of all players who responded to a new survey are dissatisfied with the job the Australian Professional Leagues are doing running the A-League Men’s competition .Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offerThe report, compiled by Professional Footballers Australia , doesn’t make for pretty reading for the APL, who are the administrators of the men’s and women’s competitions.
The report focuses specifically on the 2023-24 season and a record 191 of the A-League Men’s 308 contracted players, which included at least 13 from each club for that period, responded. “Regarding developing a vision to improve the league, 46% of players had ‘low trust’ in APL,” the report continues.PFA shared the results of the survey with APL and Commissioner Nick Garcia is confident the organisation is getting the competition back on the right path.
Adam Taggart of the Glory reacts during the round five A-League Men match between Perth Glory and Western United at Allianz Stadium, on November 22, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. Throughout the 2023-24 season the PFA held meetings with players from every club.Of nine key themes that emerged each player ranked what they thought should be the top three priorities to help the competition grow.
“In discussions with the players, what is clear, is they want the broadcast to be more visible,” Busch told Fox Sports News. The report also sighted “Melbourne Victory, which is recovering from the fallout from the derby incident in 2022-23, and Perth Glory and Newcastle Jets, which now have new owners.”In 2023, clubs spent USD $9.63 billion on transfers worldwide according to FIFA’s global transfer report – an increase of 48.1% on the previous year.
“Prior to 2022-23, collective transfer receipts tended to be around $2.5m on average per season. All of a sudden, the shape of the domestic men’s football economy has transformed.”A concerted effort to bring young players through into the first team and making sure those players aren’t lost on free transfers due to short-term contracts has become the business model.
A PFA report published in February, which looked at the formats, claimed “that the ACL has not been delivering value for the majority of its players and clubs. For both groups, the costs of participating have generally outweighed the benefits.”