"After hosting the 2023 World Cup, surely that was a statement to push the league, make it fully professional and pay the players what they are worth." That was Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter in January — and the fact that nobody in Football Australia has answered her says everything.
Every four years, Australians drape themselves in green and gold, pack out Federation Square, and briefly become the most passionate football nation on the planet. Then the tournament ends. And the A-League goes back to playing in front of rows of empty seats.
It's a cycle that's been running since 2006, and the governing body has never cracked it. Not even close.
The numbers are damning
The minimum salary for senior women's players in the A-League Women is $25,750. Scholarship players earn $12,800. That's not a negotiating position — it's an insult to players representing the country at a World Cup they hosted two years ago. Carpenter put it bluntly: it's "embarrassing." She's right.
The consequence? Stars like Sam Kerr and Steph Catley won't come home to finish their careers. Why would they?
The men's competition has its own ugly numbers. Just under 24,000 fans watched the Socceroos beat Cameroon at Accor Stadium in Sydney — a 95,000-seat venue that hosted 95,103 people for a pre-World Cup qualifier against Greece back in 2006. That's not just a dip. That's a collapse in cultural relevance.
The Socceroos' midweek game against Curaçao in Melbourne drew 16,764. Most Australians didn't even know it was on.
Structural rot, not bad luck
Western United had their licence put on a 12-month hold last August. The Newcastle Jets nearly folded over an unpaid tax bill. Two betting scandals have damaged the sport's image. A Professional Footballers Australia report from last October found 66 per cent of female players and 43 per cent of male players reported sport-psychological distress. This isn't a sport hitting a rough patch — it's a sport held together with tape.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea keeper Mark Bosnich called for the A-League men's competition to start from scratch this week on SEN Radio. When a pundit is advocating for demolition rather than renovation, you know the building is beyond a lick of paint.
The broadcast situation doesn't help. A-League coverage sits behind a Paramount+ paywall, with Channel 10 showing only the match of the round. That deal expires at the end of the current season, and there's no queue of networks desperate to take it over.
- No promotion or relegation system to generate stakes and storylines
- Fixtures scheduled in Brisbane's summer humidity, some kicking off before 5pm
- Women's games played at suburban grounds with limited transport links
- No Australian playing in the Premier League — the sport's most-watched window to the world
Nestory Irankunda is impressing at Watford in the Championship. Mohamed Touré is doing the same at Norwich. Both are a tier below the Premier League, which means most casual Australian fans have never seen them play. The days of Harry Kewell at Leeds, Tim Cahill at Everton, Mark Schwarzer at Middlesbrough — players you could watch on free-to-air against Arsenal on a Saturday afternoon — are gone.
When the Socceroos kick off against Turkey on June 14 in Vancouver, the public sites will light up again. The fever will return. But come August, the A-League season will be back, the crowds will be thin, the salaries will still be low, and Ellie Carpenter's question will still be unanswered.
