It has, for some time now, been the focal point of many an Australian household. It’s not the barbecue, the swimming pool, or the backyard shed. No; it is of course the television. From boxy 1970s sets that refuse to die, to the modern flatscreen plasmas of today, chances are that the majority of you sitting here reading this article have had the ‘tube’ connected to your brains for a good period of time.

With a new TV deal fast approaching, it seems like a good time to discuss the old family friend, and how I think we could be using it to better the knowledge, acceptance, and attendance of football in this country.

Highlights

A game between Coventry City and Southampton in the late 90s doesn’t sound particularly spectacular - and let’s be fair, it probably wasn’t much to look at either. But the two minute highlight package, watched as a part of the English Premier League summary show at 7:30 on a Monday night on SBS, was enough to glue arses to couches across Australia.

Ten or so matches, crammed into an hour that included all the round’s goals and one or two games with extended highlights, was a feast of all-action football soaked up by families around the country. Names like Bergkamp, Henry, Viera, Fowler, Ince, Cole, Giggs, Sheringham and Le Saux, showing their wares to Australian audiences every week; what’s not to like?

Fast-forward to today, and you’d probably be struggling to find something similar on Australian free-to-air TV. Sure, One HD and SBS have a smattering of local and European football - but where’s the glitz-and-glamour summary of the week’s happenings? It certainly didn’t seem to exist when I left the country; and it seems to me like it had been missing for a while. 

Compare this with Britain, where incidentally people also complain about the lack of football on ‘regular telly’, and you’ll see they have the FA Cup, League Cup, European Champions League, Europa League - all live - and shows like Match of the Day, Football Wrap, and a dedicated 24/7 sports news channel (they also have a channel named Dave which shows nothing but Top Gear, comedy, and sport - but I digress...)

Now, allow me to address a couple of points which you may be about to write a very angry comment about;

  • Yes, I know that England is not Australia, and that the sporting and TV landscapes are vastly different.
  • No, I do not care if you and yours have Foxtel, and nor do I care that I could have it if I sacrificed n beers per month. I like the odd brew, and when I was hooked on the EPL wrap as a kid my family wouldn’t have been able to justify the cost of pay TV. I’m not going to pretend that nobody is in that same situation now. What’s more, while I’m ranting, my folks wouldn’t have gotten Foxtel anyhow - because apart from a few exceptions, it’s about 50 channels of utter toss.

You’ve no doubt guessed by now that I’m a fan of putting an A-League highlights show on free-to-air TV in Australia. As it was the EPL package on SBS which originally sparked my interest in the game beyond our shores, I’m a big fan of modern kids watching a locally-produced A-League version of the same product. If nothing else, it gives them something else to watch besides 50 Cent, coked to his nostrils, blowing away some ‘nigga’ while stabbing a prison guard and calling for his ‘hoes’ - one of them no doubt being Rhianna dressed in, I don’t know, a belt or something. Am I 25 going on 50 or what?

Imagine 30-60 minutes showing every goal, sending off, and controversial event from the previous week’s games. Maybe, if Foxtel were feeling generous, they’d even allow the showing of some extended highlights as opposed to what we see on sport reports around the country. The remaining time on the show could be filled with discussion and analysis, national youth league and W-League reports, and maybe some information on the state leagues or upcoming fixtures.

Sure, the whole of Australia could just get Foxtel, or go down to their local Foxtel-fed pub. But why do that when we could bring football to the whole of Australia right now?

Bringing Asia Home

I believe another means through which television could be helping the A-League is in the form of the Asian Champions League. Whether the xenophobes, nostalgics, or wishful thinkers like it or not, Asia is now our home in the world of football. Not Oceania, not Europe, but Asia - the most populous confederation in the world. As a result, shouldn’t we be taking a bit of interest in our nearest neighbours, and closest of rivals?

The ACL is one of these things that the average Australian football fan acknowledges with little interest unless their own team is participating in it, and Joe Public has no knowledge of it whatsoever. Chonburi? Suwon? Changchung? Perak? Al-Ittihad? Persepolis? As far as the general public is concerned, these are the names of fantastic new cocktails and exotic perfumes.

It’s amusing that more people in Australia probably know the result of some match between an English side and the Romanian league champions than a match played in what is essentially their own backyard. Of course, this isn’t surprising - the European leagues are the most prestigious and lucrative in the world. Therefore, the leagues and clubs get more exposure and are more well-known than say, Liaoning FC or Pohang Steelers. But, as supporters of the game here in Australia, we should be doing more when it comes to taking an interest in our neighbours. 

To do so would be to learn more about the players and clubs that make up the Asian confederation, and our potential opponents in the ACL. It’s fine to go along to a game between Victory and Guangzhou for example, but it adds to the experience if you know they have a really dangerous winger on the right, and that Matthew Kemp or Evan Berger are going to have their work cut out this evening. Let’s face it - it’s hard to know what to feel or expect when Asian One passes to Asian Two, before cutting it through to Token Brazilian. Doesn’t quite work, does it? It’s much better when you’ve names and stories to go along with them.

It would be great to see more coverage of Asian football on TV; to gradually release our hold on what has been the traditional bosom of Australian football - Europe. Now I’m not saying swap the EPL for the S-League; far from it. But why can’t we grow our footballing boundaries? By all means, watch the ‘big three’ leagues in Europe. But mix it in with some J-League; some Middle Eastern matches featuring highly-paid Australians; or some of the ACL matches that an Australian team isn’t involved in.

To force Asian football into the Australian conscience seems a hard ask; but TV can help it happen. Even SBS and Foxtel neglect to cover Asian games as much as they could. Given the high number of ex-pat Japanese, Chinese, or Singaporean people in my home state alone, you’d think a bit of Asian football might have a market; especially around the time of the ACL. It’s a lofty goal, but I hope that one day we speak about the Asian Champions League with the same reverence that we give the European version. If people think that football will one day be the dominant sport in Australia, then what’s so ridiculous about that?

The Opiate of the Masses

TV is the consumer drug of choice for pretty much every household around Australia. Not everyone with a TV has Foxtel however; so while we should be thankful for their injection of funds into our game, there’s a section of the population suffering some severely depleted football coverage. If we were to get an A-League highlights package and more free-to-air shows concentrating on the round ball game, we’ll get more people interested and coming through the gate on matchday. It’s not a silver bullet to attendance issues - that simply doesn’t exist in the current market - but it will help.

Furthermore, if we want to feel more at home in our confederation, we should be taking more of an interest in it. Is it any surprise that AFC delegates have a low opinion of us when we sneer at their own countries’ standard of football? Yet how many ACL titles have Australian teams won? Educating ourselves about our new home will go a long way to making it a more comfortable habitat.

Finally, while it is a massive cost to the clubs involved, wouldn’t it be good to see some advertisements on the telly for the next home game, or even to back up a membership drive? Perhaps this is something that the FFA can look at subsidising, but it would just ram home the message that yes, you do have a football team to support - and yes, there is something for you to do this Sunday afternoon.