Another Word On Player Payments

This subject has caused a lot of discussion.

Some feedback from thse that have spoken to me in the last few days (and there has been plent of it!):

One thing is clear thus far, from those that have approached me to discuss the matter (on this Blog and on the sidelines - futsal and football) - many, many people resent the idea of having to work hard in a voluntary capacity to raise money to pay players for players who train twice a week and play on Sunday. These same people see it as a waste of time and effort, something that does not "develop" the game. Most of the same people, seem to also be of the view that once you get into "serious" football (they use the Canberra United players and a representative  Mens team from Canberra in the NSW or Victorian Premier League as examples), then we should expect to give players some remuneration. Our local Premier League doesn't qualify they say, for that sort of consideration. They have been unanimous in one comment thus far - Capital Football doesn't do enough to "develop" football, they make Clubs and players pay for just about everything to be part of Football and playing Football is an expensive business now for every player at every level of the game and by that they mean parents as well as young adults with full or part time jobs.

However, its worth remebering that when we talk to "Clubs", that is club officials with their "Club" hat one, they are more cautious. Every Club wants the best players they can get and most club officials are hard headed enough to know that players will shop around to get what they can by way of match payments - if they are on offer.

Its importnat in this discussion not to demonize the players - if some one offerred you $150 a match to play what you love doing, in good company, with  a better chance of a premiership, you'd probably take the money too. Players wont change this situation - only Clubs can do that.

Some further observations on player payments by me:

This is a tough subject. I admire Belconnen United and Canberra FC because over many years of effort by many, many people, they have built an incredibly solid structure to support football.  They are where the rest of us want to be. And they do demand good football as an outcome.

I have no interest in any Club that get a big handout from a large sponsor every year and have nothing to show for it and no interest in Junior Football. A Club official in a junior club a few weeks ago told me that he had been approached to allow a PL CLub to store equipment in the off season in their shed. "This Pl CLub didn't even have a shiiping container to their name to store their gear and they are going to help us?" he said in disbelief. They have no place in Premier League Football.

The status of "Premier League Club", should be held in high regard, because with it goes some serious community football responsibilities - not just the winning of a Premiership. Both Belconnen United and Canberra FC have the football power to do great good for Football in the ACT - they are / have been involved in some terrific community / charity works. And so they should. A much better use of funds than sticking dollars in players pockets at our level.

My difference of opinion is over the need to pay players to play at the Captial Football Premier League level. It brings a lot of unpleasant stuff with it. I guess the explanation for its happening is simple enough - if you have the money to spend on player payments, to secure a stronger playing roster and win a Premiership, then its an easy step to take.

But its still a very dumb thing to do in my opinion.

Better to have players who want to play, because they want to play, and want to play for your Club and stay with your club. Money, by way of player paments gets in the way of everything - most importantly - Club loyalty. Once it starts at community level football, you can never be sure that the players are with you because you pay them or because they like football at your Club or both. Players' attitudes change and not for the good.

If you want to pay anyone, pay the Coaches a little something and the person in every PL Club who does what might be called the PL manager / Coordinators job - you can bet this will be a net positive investment, because they never stop working for the Club and players, and nearly always put their hands in their pockets to cover off on little expenses and cost during a season. They are worth every penny you pay! There are equivalents in every football club at every level. They are the real football heroes in my book.

Payments to Players Cripple The Game In The ACT

Why do Clubs pay players in the Premier League? Why?

The answer is simple enough some would say - so that you can get the best playing roster and become a strong chance to win the competition.

But where does that money come from - the money that goes into the players pockets?

Well for most Clubs in the Capital Football Premier League it comes from a few sponsors, donations, raffles, canteen takings, sale of gear, Club functions, not to mention reigstration fees for each player (and what do clubs get of that) and the like. Every dollar is counted and counted upon to keep the Club afloat. Its all hard graft for a few motivated people in the Club.

The Clubs with a licence to play in the Capital Football Premier League must satisfy Capital Football that they can meet the costs of campaigning in the Premier League. Easy for them to say, but do they have their collective fingers on the pulse? What does it cost a Club to run four teams in the Men's Premier League? Good question. A little bird told me that some were surprised when told by a Club that had a good season, that it was just hanging on by a thread and faced the same daunting challenge again to find the money to go around again. What planet are some of these people on? How many Board members go to PL games (mens and womens) in season or the Summer 20s (another cost to Clubs and one that should have been absorbed by Capital Football, but that's another story and I'm easily distracted) and so on? You don't even get a shoulder to cry on, much less an ear to bash!

I know some things for sure - its costing more each season, the money is getting harder to find and more and more players are looking for a pay day. Out here in Clubland, we are all getting a bit worried. Player payments are a pox on our game.

At the end of every season in the Premier League, Clubs with money eye of the emerging talent and make offers. One young player told me four weeks ago that he had been approached to go to another PL club for $260 a game and another for $170 a game. If you were young and offerred this moent would you (or I) move - I guess so. This causes lots of problems for some PL Clubs.

Another aspect - that small group of Club officials and supporters that make it all possible for players to play, go looking for a minimum of $40,000 per season for a Premier League Club licence per season. Some officials argue the figuer is now closer to $70,000 per season if you want to cover all the contingencies and that's before you get to player payments of any significance.

Now we are not talking Manchester United type payments to PL players. What is said to be paid (and this is hard to verify with real precision) is not big, big money, but try finding $100 per player per game a season. And that's before you cover off on the training costs - we train (and play sometimes) on absolutely crap playing surfaces and when we try to relocate to good ones such as Hawker enclosed or the AIS, it costs Clubs money. You don't get any help from the FFA, CAPital Football or anyone else in solving this basic football problem.

So why on earth would most of the Clubs in the Capital Football Premier League, without a huge sponsor or a licenced club behind them, get entangled in the business of paying players to play? It can only lead to the Club collapsing and leaving the Premier League. That's the history for every code of football, including our poor, but not so old A League competition. The Youth League players don't get a living wage and the our very own Canberra United plays for the love of it. And yet, we think its a good idea to pay players in the Capital Football Premier League?

I'll tell you why - because the few clubs with money / resources put together the best playing rosters. These few Clubs can pay per game, and they pick and choose the players they want from across all the clubs that are prepared to go to them (and not all do). Well that's there good fortune, but it reeks havoc on the competitive nature of the teams across the competition and the survivability of those other Clubs. That should worry Capital Football and Capital Football Board because it worries the hell out of the other Clubs that are not well resourced and float on unpaid volunteers.

We have a variety of structures among our Premier League Clubs - some have a junior club based, others make arrangements to get it from elsewhere. This structural difference raises many questions, but I'll confine myself to one releveant to the issue of paying players. Why would a big Junior Clubs form a united "super Club" if there was a real risk that the revenue earned via the junior football contributions (and thats where the real money is people), could be consumed by player payments to Premier Legaue players, who play for no more sunstantial reason than a boy or girl in the Div 3 Under 13s within the same Club? Well, you would have to mad to get into that sort of arrangement.

Paying players robs the game of resources at Club level necessary to grow the game and develop all the players. We are not a professional football environment where player payments are concerned, but all Clubs do their level best to make it so in every other way - with less and less each season. That too should worry the Capital Football Board.

This week I interviewed the President of the Goulburn Strikers, Graeme Welsh about rumours I had heard about the Strikers.

The usual Club stuff - playing roster, coaches for next season and so on. They started well in 2010 and fell away and we all know how that feels. Its always accompanied by a certain amount of finger pointing, blame shedding and if onlys. Things change all the time at Club level. I was struck by the "statesman" like approach of Graeme Welsh (as I was by his predecssor Shane Wilson), very experienced bloke, not easily fooled or flustered was my impression. When we got to the subject of Clubs poaching players with offers of match payments and he made more sense than I have heard in a long time. Four things he said hit home for me when it comes to paying a player in our league (I would summarise as follows):

1. The money you take is money from your club and your mates
2. If you want more money, get another job
3. We are not really professional (in terms of paying players) until the players start bringing in gate receipts (we have A league clubs that can't do that).
4. Don't ask your mates to pay you for doing something you enjoy.

If it was me, I would stamp out player payments now. Capital Football needs to sort out the ever widening gap between the haves and have nots in the Mens Premier League, and do a lot more to reduce costs to PL Clubs. Clubs that are successful right now against all the financial  odds, will fall if we don't find a way to contain the costs associated with playing football. Start with player payments - its a good start.

Listen and form your own opinion.

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