Walter Pless on Football

Football Federation Australia CEO, in Hobart

Thursday, 11 October 2007

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What brings you to Tasmania?

We’re here to meet with Football Federation Tasmania and give them an outline of our FFA strategic plan for the next four to five years and, in addition to that, to look through some of the specific initiatives that we hope to develop, particularly in the area of game development and community football development and talent identification programs that we want to initiate and work with the Tasmanian Football Federation to implement.

Does the FFT strategic plan mesh with the FFA plan?

Well, generally, the goals are generally similar. Obviously, we have a more broadly national focus where we’re the competition manager of the Hyundai A-League and, we have some slightly different responsibilities. I think in the areas of game development and the broad promotion of the game, they’re pretty consistent. That’s something we’ll talk about.

One could argue that Tasmania is the sort of forgotten State. How does FFA see that? Do we have a role to play?

I spent my teenage years growing up in Tasmania. I certainly know where the State is and have spent a lot of time here. No, I don’t think it’s a case of forgotten State. In fact, I think the game has come a long way here in recent periods and the young team, as I understand it, did very well in the national championships just recently, so we’re hopeful that Tasmania produces a number of A-League players and, hopefully, future Socceroos.

We used to, but that seems to have dropped by the wayside. What can FFA do to help us regain that lost ground?

I think it works at a whole range of levels. The Tasmanian Institute of Sport is up and running and that will help in terms of advancing of our preparation of the more talented end of the player pool. I think some of the reforms that we will outline to the Board today in relation to the way competition formats work in the early age group and how we can maybe move towards a different structure of competition formats for young players will develop better players for the future as well. Improved coach education, improved referee education, retention programs, facilities development. Really, it operates at all levels.

Are we talking about small-sided games for youngsters here?

Yes, that’s certainly an initiative that we’ll talk about at length with the Board, and we have with all the other member federations around the country. We are looking to implement that on a national basis over the next few years.

You’ve been in the job almost a year now. You had big shoes to fill. How is it going?

I think the game has still got really positive momentum coming off the last two or three years. We’re in the first year of a four-year World Cup cycle, so we haven’t had a World Cup year to put the halo over the game, but the A-League continues to grow in its importance in the sporting landscape. Crowds are growing, audiences on television are growing, so that’s very good for the game and, next year, on February 6, we start a very long qualification program which is a first in Australia for football, so everyone is getting geared up for that.

My impression is that the A-League isn’t quite what it was last year. Crowds are down a bit, aren’t they? Some clubs don’t have shirt sponsors as yet.

No, crowds are up about 17 per cent across the board. In particular, Wellington is driving a lot of that growth, as is Newcastle. Crowds are moderately up in both Melbourne and Sydney, so that’s positive. You know, I think there’s always a lot of debate about whether the game is better one year to the next. I think you’ve got to wait to see the whole year and not judge any one particular phase of the year to see whether that’s true. We’ve had some very good-quality players come into the league, you know, Tony Popovic, Craig Moore, Danny Tiatto, players of that quality, Juninho, so the calibre of players is growing all the time.

Is there any chance of Tasmania - this is the old chestnut - having an A-League side in the future if there is an expansion?

Well, we’re undertaking a major review of the expansion opportunities. At present, we hope to have a report completed some time in the early part of next year. Clearly, we will factor in every State and Territory around the country where the game is played, so, you know, if someone in Tasmania came forward with a proposal that was appealing, we’d have to review it. And, certainly, we’ll review every major population centre around the country and, of course, Tasmania is one of those.

If I can now get on to the national team, the young Celtic player, Scott MacDonald, typifies the sort of problem we have. He is scoring goals by the hatful for Celtic, had a huge impact in Europe, but the first time he’s asked to make himself available for Australia, he’s got a hamstring strain, doesn’t show, and three days later he plays for Celtic and stars. How do you see that sort of problem being solved?

Well, we were hopeful Scott would play, but, you know, he had a legitimate medical reason why he couldn’t and our doctors reviewed that at the time and there was nothing to doubt the bona fide of it and I guess he had a very speedy recovery. But, we look forward, you know, I mean it’s great to see someone like Scott doing so well and, you know, hopefully, he’ll be pushing for selection the next game.

Is this the sort of problem countries like Australia will always face, the club versus country issue?

I think we do and I don’t think… there’s no a perfect solution. You know, countries in South America face it, countries in Africa face it, and countries in Asia face it. We all have a club versus country issue. Ours is exacerbated by the fact we’re twenty-four hours away, so I think we’re always going to have some of those issues. But, I think, on the most part, we get the best available players.

Has a final decision been made on the next national-team coach?

I can say we are hopeful of making an announcement shortly.

Our first venture into Asia was very disappointing. Do you think we can improve for the important World Cup qualifiers?

Well, I think there is an improvement to be had. I think we were all disappointed with the results in the Asian Cup, but, to the team’s credit, its last two games were much better than where we started. But, we’ve got some plans in place to continue to improve and, when the new coach is in place, he’ll obviously have his own views and his own plans, and I think we need to allow him to announce those and outline what sort of plan he wants to adopt.

When it comes to World Cup qualifiers, is there an opportunity for a game against one of the so-called lesser countries to be played, say, in a regional centre such as Launceston?

I wouldn’t rule it out. In fact, I think we were very pleasantly surprised by the crowd at the pre-season game this year for the Hyundai A-League. I think Tasmanians love their sport and they love their international sport. I think we saw that a few years ago with the Rugby World Cup, so, certainly, it’s in the mix.