Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs

"This paper examines the cancellation of Australia’s National Soccer League (NSL) at the end of the 2003-2004 summer season and its replacement with the new A-League competition. The shift to the A-League resulted in the ethnic community clubs, which had formed the backbone of the NSL for 30 years, being relegated to the state premier leagues... [t]he A-League used high minimum annual budget figures to “price” the ethnic clubs out of the marketplace. However, the “other” Eastern European ethnic element has not been completely assimilated into “Modern Football”. Hardcore supporters of the ethnic clubs continue to express dissent towards “Modern Football” by online forum postings, homemade fence banners, and the like."

"During the mid- to late-1990s, under the leadership of the English-born Mr David Hill (1995 to 1998), a concerted effort was made to “de-ethnicize”, “mainstream”, and “professionalize” the NSL... [e]thnic clubs to be forcibly removed from the NSL in the Hill era included Melbourne-based Brunswick, Sydney-based Parramatta Eagles (clubs traditionally associated with the Italian and Maltese communities, respectively), and the popular Greek/ Greek Macedonian club Heidelberg United from Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs.”

"In 2004 the NSL was disbanded by the then ASA (now FFA). Just prior to this, multi-billionaire, Frank Lowy, once owner of the Sydney City Slickers aka Hakoah and now the CEO of the Westfield property group, had been hired to restructure and reinvigorate Australian football. In October 2003, the ASA had appointed a Taskforce to investigate a replacement national competition, chaired by Sydney businessman and former Sydney City Slickers chairman Andrew Kemeny. The Taskforce received 110 submissions and released its results on 8 December 2003. Ultimately Tony Labbozzetta, Ange Cimera, and like-minded traditional club stalwarts were defeated and a corporatized national league plan was promulgated that involved expelling the ethnic community clubs to the premier leagues of the various states; utilizing a North American style “one-city-one-team” model; and encouraging new private-equity franchise teams."

You can download a copy of this research paper here: Download - Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs

You can read this research paper online here: Read - Football and its Discontents: The Restructuring of Australian Football and the Fate of the Ethnic Clubs