It has now reached that critical point in the domestic football calendar where the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) – the sporting body in charge of the A-Leagues – must capitalise on the momentum set by an impressive Socceroos showing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Without a doubt, the onus is on the APL to transform the buzz generated by the Socceroos into fans itching to be a part of the action both at the ground and at home. The storylines well and truly write themselves. For example, images of Central Coast Mariners starlet Garang Kuol’s near-equaliser late in the game against Argentina will remain entrenched in the minds of Socceroos fans for some time, and now they have their chance to witness the dynamic youngster in the flesh in an F3 Derby this weekend against the Newcastle Jets to further solidify their connection to the player and game as a whole. To put it plainly, Kuol’s denial by the arm of Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez may have signalled the end of the Socceroos’ campaign, but it marks a whole new beginning for Australian football.
As confirmed by the APL, the restart of the A-League Men’s competition will see returning Socceroos celebrated with guards of honour in Sydney, Central Coast and Brisbane, on pitch presentations, and signing sessions (where fans will be encouraged to wear their Socceroos jersey) in and amongst a plethora of physical and digital marketing.
Accompanied by a slogan – “Where Socceroos Are Made” – and campaign image showcasing each member of the Socceroos squad that has come through the A-League Men, the restart of the season is perched readily to add to the resurgent crowd numbers already notched this season.
To learn more about the APL’s efforts to make the most of the good will earnt by the Socceroos, APL CEO Danny Townsend chatted with Soccerscene to gain an insight into how the A-Leagues will effectively embrace the fearlessness and pride elicited by the Socceroos to take the game to new heights.
How does the APL plan to capitalise on the momentum set by the Socceroos following their 2022 World Cup performance?
Danny Townsend: We’ve got many a different strategic initiative aligned to try and convert those interested fans into the A-Leagues, both short, medium, and long-term. But I think the important thing is we’ve put into place the foundational requirements to take advantage of it from the unbundling almost two years ago.
We’ve built a strength that will enable us to connect with those fans, bring them into our stadiums, and give them a product that they can engage with well into the future. That starts with the financial security of the professional game which we managed shore up through our capital raise process with Silver Lake, but also the media deal with Paramount that assured that the financial performance of the game was underpinned for the next five years. Those two things then enabled us to invest in our KEEPUP network and digital proposition that will allow us to connect.
So, there’s not one single solution to transferring that interest but there’s certainly a lot of strategic initiatives that will play out to take advantage of it.
With the returning A-League Men season set to celebrate the competition’s World Cup participants this weekend, what was the APL’s thinking during the Socceroos’ journey to the Round of 16?
Danny Townsend: There’s a lot of different sorts of emotions that you experience at that time, I think one of them was validation. The A-Leagues owners have committed over the long term both financially and with other resources around developing young football talent, and with 65% of those players in Qatar coming through A-League academies it was something that we could all be proud of obviously. Especially having the 8 players there – who set the record for the most current A-League Men representatives at a World Cup – was great, but also having 21 of those players actually having played in the A-League as part of their football journey is something that again demonstrates that we are on the right track and we really need to continue to sustain that commitment to development. But certainly, the young players playing in the A-League Men and Women are the Socceroos and Matildas of the future.
With the A-Leagues now being run by the clubs for nearly two years, what opportunities do you feel this has opened up in terms of development pathways and providing chances for youngsters to come through?
Danny Townsend: Well, I think that we’ve got to remind ourselves that the A-Leagues academy systems are only 7 or 8 years old, so we’re seeing players coming through now who’ve had the majority of their football education in the A-League setups and I think the results are a consequence of that investment.
Although, that investment shouldn’t sit squarely on the shoulders of 12 private investors, it needs to be a collective effort from FA, the government, ourselves, and other stakeholders in the game to ensure that our men and women youth teams at national level remain competitive on the world stage and continue to have a greater impact on the global game. And that’s something that only football can do. The scenes we saw across the country over this last month are really a result of us competing in what truly a global game and competing at the highest level. So, it’s going to take sustained investment and collective effort and we’re certainly playing our part.
Just touching on those scenes across the country, has there been an effort to capitalise on the interest of those Socceroos supporters at the live sites and potentially give them discounts to games or free tickets? What’s the approach been like to that?
Danny Townsend: It’s more so engagement. We certainly want them to come to our games, and you’ve only got to look at the demographic of the majority of those live sites are a reflection of what’s strong about our game. We’re the number 1 sport for under-35s in the country and they’re largely those populating those sites along with late teens and early-20-year-olds who are demonstrating what joy can come from supporting football. And we need all of those fans to pick a football team; to pick an A-Leagues team and go out and support them week in, week out because that atmosphere that was existing in those live sites exists every weekend across the country in the A-League.
So, we’ve got the capability now from a digital and data infrastructure standpoint to capture them, engage them, and then deliver them a live experience that keeps them coming back. We’ve got plans for ticket offers and the plan for this weekend around encouraging fans to come out and recognise those Socceroos and watch them play in the flesh across the country, so there’s an opportunity to plan ahead.
Obviously 16 years ago the Socceroos qualified for the Round of 16, and now, the 2022 group has matched and arguably bettered their efforts. How is the APL looking to embrace and broadcast this generation of the Socceroos? What’s the message you want to put across to football fans and casual sporting fans alike?
Danny Townsend: I think it was a validation of the fact that we’ve always known the A-League to be quality. Graham Arnold mentioned it in his press conference that, for whatever reason, the perception is that the A-League in Australia is not at a high standard but we’ve proven that it is. He has the best oversight of leagues because he’s watching them week in, week out in his role as the Socceroos head coach, and he’s made it clear that the A-League is up there with that second tier of competitions in Europe.
So, we’ve got a lot to be proud of in terms of what our domestic product is, we just need to get behind it as a footballing public and give it the credit it’s due and go watch it. Because when you watch it, you’ll realise that it is great quality and there’s some really exciting talent developing here that’s playing week in, week out.
Obviously, the APL as an organisation do not want to linger on the past in terms of how the sport was previously governed, but what have you learnt from previous administrations that you want to improve on in terms of capitalising on this type of momentum?
Danny Townsend: It just takes investment. We’re at the beginning of an investment cycle for the game and that’s why we raised the capital. We wanted to ensure that we were able to do the things that we know the name game needs to step change and realise its potential. We don’t have the luxury of a multi-billion-dollar broadcast deal like the other codes have, so we’ve got to craft our own economic future and we’re doing that through things we’re putting in place.
It is a parallel effort on many different levels to grow the game and we can’t do it alone; we need to do it in partnership with the FA. There’s been a lot of talk about the cost of playing at grassroots level and it’s our responsibility to work with FA on inverting that pyramid and really generating the dollars at the top of the pyramid and having that trickle down rather than the opposite.
So, there’s lots to do, and I think the FA played their role in the journey of the professional game for many years and that set the foundation for us now to take that forward, and we’ll continue to work with them on developing the game further.
We’re excited about what the impact of the Socceroos’ performances all means for this weekend’s games. And as we’re heading towards the traditional summer school holiday period, which is a strong attendance period for us, I think we’ve got some wind in our sails and the Women’s World Cup next year will be another benchmark moment for the game that will be huge. So, lots to look forward to.
