Cristiano Ronaldo is the talk of the footballing world, even in Australia after last week’s revelation.
With the Manchester United superstar’s future at Old Trafford beyond uncertain following a controversial interview, Australian Professional Leagues (APL) CEO Danny Townsend said the A-Leagues is “in dialogue” to bring the five-time Ballon d’Or winner Down Under.
It would be a major coup for the competition, which boasts Portugal and Red Devils great Nani (Melbourne Victory) and former Premier League striker Charlie Austin (Brisbane Roar) this season.
But there is more to APL’s strategy than just Ronaldo, who is on World Cup duty with Portugal, and marquees.
James Dodd is joined by APL boss Townsend on a quick-hit edition of the A-Leagues Podcast to discuss Ronaldo, the season so far and big plans for the A-Leagues.
Listen below, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you consume your podcasts
“We have been very clear about our strategy as it relates to our marquee players. We think they have a role to play in the growth of our league,” Townsend said.
“We don’t do gimmicks. We’ve always had an ambitious strategy around growing the professional game for men, women and youth and this is just one part of that we need to get right.
“Nani has had a great impact on the league so far, Charlie Austin has been fantastic. Some of the content he is putting out is really driving engagement and interest.
Why wouldn’t we go after Cristiano Ronaldo? He is certainly one of the greatest footballers of all time. Not just on the pitch but off the pitch, what he brings to the sport is phenomenal. If we were able to bring him to Australia, it would be a game-changer.
Discussing the marquee strategy in more detail, Townsend said: “It’s the popular thing people want to talk about when it comes to strategy because it’s probably pretty obvious. But when you look at what we’re doing across the league, it’s just one minor part of the broader strategy.
We made a commitment that this isn’t just a flash in the pan. We have a diverse range of footballers in our league and it would be remis of us not to look to the top of the tree and focus on marquees but equally look at the bottom of the pyramid and bringing through young talent is a very key part of our strategy.
“You can see the number of Under-23s playing first-team minutes in the A-League at an all-time high. It’s also lighting up the league at that level. It’s a long-term commitment to having high-calibre players playing in the league.
“We have Nani. We’ve said we will be looking for more and we will continue to do that.”
The Socceroos and A-Leagues’ pathways
The FIFA Men’s World Cup has the Isuzu UTE A-League front and centre with the Socceroos squad.
With Martin Boyle dropping out of the tournament due to an injury and Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio being drafted in, it means there are eight ALM players in Graham Arnold’s squad – Mathew Leckie and Jamie Maclaren (both City), Garang Kuol, Jason Cummings and Danny Vukovic (all Central Coast Mariners), Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC) and Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin.
Of the 26-player roster after Boyle’s withdrawal, 21 have come through the A-Leagues at some stage in their career.
And it is the same with the Matildas, who had seven Liberty A-League representatives in their last international fixtures against Sweden and Thailand.
It is a big time for the Liberty A-League and women’s football in Australia, with the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup set to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“Any time you get players representing your national team who have come through your system, it makes you proud because it shows you’re doing a good job across the board,” said Townsend. “That’s not me, that’s the clubs and academies and all the effort that goes into building great footballers, both men and women.
“What you’re looking at there is a maturation process for our league to go through to be able to put seven/eight players on the plane to Qatar. But it also demonstrates the coach in Graham Arnold believes in the A-League as a league that national-team players should be playing in. It’s definitely great. We’d love for it to be 23 of them but in reality that’s not going to be the case.
“Our goal as A-Leagues clubs should be to get as many players representing their country – men, women and youth. Then we need our clubs to be competitive on the continental stage, playing in Asia.
“We just want our players going onto Europe or wherever else in the world, playing for the biggest clubs because that demonstrates our pathways are working.”
A-Leagues All Stars
The 2021-22 season saw the return of the A-Leagues All Stars.
After an eight-year absence, the reprisal of the All Star concept saw the visit of LaLiga giants Barcelona in the lead up to the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final in May, and it was a hit.
More than 70,000 fans packed into Accor Stadium to see the A-League Men’s best fall narrowly short of Barcelona 3-2, in a contest that saw Garang Kuol dazzle on the global stage.
“We certainly have a plan around the All Stars,” Townsend said, looking ahead to the 2022-23 version and beyond.
“Those tent pole matches, whether they be All Stars matches, international tours – you see the Sydney Super Cup games at the moment, the APL have a strategy there to work with the stakeholders that are currently involved in those tours to ensure they serve the domestic market well.
The no-sherrin policy will be put in play to ensure when these big clubs come to town, they build the game for domestic audiences to keep coming back.
‘We’re well on the path’
The APL’s vision is still in its infancy, but there has been clear progress.
Just look at the ground-breaking new docu-series – A-Leagues All Access, the Isuzu UTE A-League and the Sydney Derby prior to the World Cup break, the Liberty A-League and the introduction of ‘Dub Zone’ and the ‘Liberty Pass’, plus the launch of fantasy and tipping across both A-League Men and A-League Women.
While there is work to do Townsend stressed: “I’m naturally inpatient but fans have to be patient.
“We’re not going to move the needle dramatically week by week, but we’re going to continue to make incremental gains and ensure that football does meet its opportunity, that is to be the most watched and entertaining league in the country by 2030.
It’s been our stated objective from the beginning and I think we’re well on the path.
