FFA CEO David Gallop believes Tim Cahill's move to Melbourne City is a monumental moment in A-League history and a sign of things to come.
Gallop was one of the men to help bring Cahill to the A-League, as the biggest player in Australian football announced his two-year deal plus a further year's coaching deal with City Football Group.
“It's the biggest player signing in the league’s history,” said Gallop.
“It’s a red-letter day for the code. For many Australians, when you think of Australian football, you think of Tim Cahill.
“Scoring goals, celebrating by punching the corner flag, hopefully we’re going to see plenty of that over the next couple of seasons.”
Great to see you in NYC @Tim_Cahill! Good luck at @MelbourneCity pic.twitter.com/5UL2Ah2Cdl
— David Villa (@Guaje7Villa) August 10, 2016
Gallop highlighted the star power the former Everton player brings to the A-League.
“We said we wanted marquee players to come into the league and he [Cahill] was definitely top of that wish-list,” he said.
“He’s a Socceroo, he’s the leading goal-scorer [for Australia], he runs onto the field and his teammates lift.
“You feel a buzz when Tim Cahill runs onto the field and we recognise he’ll bring something special to the A-League.
“All the networks recognise the name Tim Cahill and what he can bring to the league.”
How blessed are we to have the likes of @HarryKewell @Tim_Cahill @Guaje7Villa grace our beautiful city oh and mr Melbourne himself ME haha
— Archie Thompson (@10Archie) August 10, 2016
Gallop is now targeting more high-profile marquee players for the league to pursue in the future.
“Stars are what bring people through the gate and turning on their various broadcast platforms,” Gallop said.
“We’ll put that at the forefront of our negotiations.”
The FFA boss also hinted the A-League could still bring in further marquee additions for the upcoming season with the newly implemented ‘Full-Season Guest Marquee’ rule.
“It’s possible. We know that there are talks going on with a number of interested parties,” he said.
“It’s early days but there’s still an allocation available from our funs and this rule gives great flexibility around that.”
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