We are having Euro-vision right now but what about Soccer down under?
‘The Euros’ are on and soccer fans in Australia will be up all night cheering their team (or teams) on. The Euros (the nickname for the UEFA European Football Championship) are held every 4 years, in the same year as the summer Olympics, and intervening between the FIFA World Cup years. Like the Eurovision song contest, Australians become nocturnal during the Euros, even though (unlike Eurovision) Australia not actually competing.
Fortunately, Australia is a multicultural country, so even with Australia not competing, fans can choose the nation of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. For example, there was amazing excitement in Australia when Greece won the Euros at underdogs in 2004 beating Portugal (who also have a big following in Australia), as well as when Italy won the last tournament. Name any team in the Euros and there is a sizeable community providing an instant fan base in Australia. For those of us of mixed background, we can pick any number of countries - I have eight for example - which provided some useful bandwagon hopping!
The Euros are much like World Cup time but on a slightly smaller scale. At World Cup time, a Socceroos or Matildas match will mean late nights and huge crowds gathering in front of big screens in Federation Square and the like. But for the late nights and excitement about the big tournaments once every 2 or 4 years, what’s the state of soccer (association football) down under?
First, the good news. In terms of the national teams, it’s a golden age mainly due to the women’s team, the Matildas, leading the charge. There was the excitement of the FIFA Women’s World Cup last year with 80,000 plus crowds watching the ‘Tillies’. Just seven years ago, I wrote a piece about the Matildas getting 16,000 at a friendly against Brazil at Penrith, and I thought that was a big deal then! In a phenomenon I dubbed ‘Matildanomics’, we saw the economic benefits of the World Cup with Football Australia (FA) anticipating $400 million in total benefits, including 3,000 full time jobs and 60,000 international visitors to the country. The Matildas have now secured more funding as Australia has just been awarded hosting rights to the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup.
The men’s national team, the Socceroos, are also popular having made every World Cup since 2006, including the last tournament in Qatar, thanks to the ‘grey wiggle’ goalkeeper, Andrew Redmayne. In fact, in Qatar in 2002, they made the last 16, as they did in Germany in 2006, keeping fans up at night along with the travelling fanatics who make their presence known at every World Cup. A new film on the first Socceroos team to make a World Cup (in West Germany in 1974), who were mainly amateurs, shows how much the sport has come in 50 years.
As well as the popularity of the Matildas and the Socceroos, in terms of grass roots participation the game is having a growth spurt. Participation for both girls and boys is up, with FA expecting 407,000 new participants just for girls by 2027. Again, its ‘Matildanomics’ or ‘the Matildas effect’ at work with FA implementing ‘Legacy23’ to boost community infrastructure (soccer pitches, training facilities and change rooms) to cater for the big rise in participation.
But then, there’s the bad news. The A-league that runs the domestic competition is in financial trouble. After splitting from the FA in 2020, on the promise of private equity and club independence, the league’s governing body, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) is trying to plug a $100 million funding hole and cut its grants to the clubs by 80 per cent. There has been issue over the broadcasting deal, and the ill-fated decision (later reversed) to sell the Grand Final to Sydney for five years. That would have denied to the Central Coast Mariners the change to complete its historic ‘treble’ against its home fans in Gosford (thankfully they did).
However, the 2020 split may also be reversed, to bring the A-league back into the FA fold. As former Socceroo, A-league player and leading Adelaide business figure, Bruce Dijite told the ABC:
“Football Australia has never been stronger. The A-league has never been weaker…in five years’ time, if the game was operating as one, I think it would be in the strongest possible place.“
In conclusion, the game has enough going for it to grow and prosper, but it does have to acknowledge some of its structural difficulties that need reform.
Also recognising that soccer is one of four football codes in a democratic and diverse Australia would be better for the followers of the games. We are lucky in Australia to have so many football codes to choose from and all deserve our respect. I was good mates with the late Les Murray, SBS legend who probably was the individual who did the most to popularises soccer within Australia. I always impressed by his view that whilst he loved soccer, the world game, as a refugee to Australia who loved his adopted country, he appreciated that his mates in Wollongong loved their rugby league and others loved Aussie Rules. He thought it was essentially democratic to choose the game you liked most (or even more than one).
So, sit back and enjoy the Euros, I know Les would have wanted you too.
You can watch Tim Harcourt and Bruce Djite being interviewed on Soccer Economics by Kirsten Aitken on the ABC’s The Business’ here:
Watch here
Professor Tim Harcourt is Chief Economist at the UTS Centre for Sport, Business & Society (CSBS) and host of Footynomics – The Economics of Sport. He specialises in Australia’s economic engagement with the Global Economy particularly Asia, Latin America and Emerging Markets. Tim has worked in both public policy and research roles in International Trade, Labour Markets, Climate Innovation and the Economics of Sport.
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