The PFA released their inaugural report on the A-League on Monday, outlining a number of key issues affecting the competition. 

A big finding from the report included the trend of player churning across the league, which the PFA admits is a major concern. 

A whopping 53% of players were coming off contract last year, with 34% of those under the age of 22. 

PFA CEO John Didulica highlighted the large numbers, and drew concern over what that means for A-League players and their families on a year-to-year basis. 

"The trend of player churn continues to have a significantly negative impact on players and, in many instances, their families," Didulica said in the report.

"More than 50% of players are coming off contract each year, dictating a constant state of change and transition.

"This environment of anxiety is counter-productive to the players, the clubs and the industry. The global nature of football ensures it will always be fluid.

"However, that every A-League club used more players over a 5-year cycle than the world’s biggest clubs – who play more than double the matches – shows the current employment framework and the salary cap that sits at the heart of it, is simply not working."

Melbourne City were the biggest culprit, using almost 100 different players in the past five seasons. This number is significantly more than most major clubs in Europe, despite them having many more league games a season and a bigger roster to choose from. 

The PFA's report looked into several other issues, including match scheduling and pitch quality. 

A number of concerns have been raised in previous seasons about playing matches on international breaks, as well as the lack of flexibility for clubs participating in the AFC Champions League. 

Brisbane Roar suffered most from that in the 2016/17 season, having breaks of three days or less between games on five different occasions. 

"The resistance to flexible match scheduling continues to be a concern," Didulica said.

"Whilst we have seen steps in the right direction, the players and Australian football continues to be diminished when A-League matches are played on international breaks and clubs competing at the continental level are not given appropriate recovery time. 

"Each sport in Australia is building a 12-month calendar, it’s time for the A-League to build a calendar that drives football – not one that is reverse engineered around other sports."

Didulica added: "Pitch quality continues to regress; yet we all know that a quality surface is
fundamental to performance. To see 30% of our showpiece stadia rated by the players across the season as averaging less than 3 out of 5 should not be tolerated by the sport.

"Many of these challenges can be solved through a sensible discussion while others need a long-term plan with a host of groups working together.

"The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in two seasons – we need to ensure that when the next opportunity to re-design the competition is available, the players’ voice is heard and we can influence those areas that are fundamental to pursuing a career as a footballer: the right to an employment framework that creates a positive career path; safe and equitable match scheduling; and performance standards on match days and at training that allows players to maximise their development as footballers."

To view the full report, click here.