Michael Lynch reports. That they have plenty to be angry and frustrated about goes without saying, given the advantages soccer enjoys but fails to capitalise upon. But in spite of all these positive factors it is Australian soccer's negative issues that more readily come to mind. While the Socceroos have high visibility and excite plenty of interest, the sport at NSL level struggles badly for recognition in the mainstream marketplace. Seven is content with a one-hour highlights show screened in the early hours of Wednesday mornings.
Soccer still struggles badly for corporate support.
The national league, for the second year running, has no naming rights sponsor. Clubs find it difficult to attract sponsorship from the big end of town, and a deal with Telstra, much discussed in the summer, has yet to materialise. It is against this background of mounting frustration that next Monday's meeting is scheduled to take place. Tana, a Western Australian fast food millionaire, has long been at loggerheads with the game's governing body over its managerial and marketing strategies and what he characterises as a lack of professionalism at the top. In the past he has been the only club chief prepared to stick his head regularly over the parapet as the focus of criticism of the sport's rulers.