A Blueprint for an A-League Marquee

Phill Chadwick reports about the A-League's proposal to introduce a marquee player system and ponders if it is indeed good for Football.

I was watching some men erect a marquee in my backyard the other day. It was for my brother-in-law's birthday party. A very simple, but effective structure. The whole thing was finished within an hour. But when that marquee went up, we knew the party was not far away.

The A-League has also chosen to bring in marquees to make our football party all the more exciting.

But what is this strange beast, the Marquee Player?

According to a recent A-League statement:

"A Club may apply to FFA for approval of a Player as a Marquee Player

When looking to approve a Marquee Player, FFA will consider:

The number of appearances for a national representative team and how recent those appearances were;

Experience in international football leagues, including the number of years, the number of appearances, the standard of the league and how recent that was experienced;

The international or national profile of the Player and his potential marketability for the Club and the A-League;

The ability and potential of the Player to contribute to the development of his Club and members of the team; and the value of the Player’s most recent player contract.

Payments to Marquee players do not fall under the Salary Cap."

All that is pretty dry, and I think that the real requirements for a marquee should be more along the lines of what those players are really here for.

A marquee should score highly on most of these areas:

He should be a striker or a creative midfielder.
He should be recognisable to the non-football sports lover.
He should be glamorous.
He should be a personality.
He should be expensive.
He should be exotic.

The genius of the marquee concept lies in the ability of this football code to draw on a world-wide pool of talent. We are not restricted to just a few, mainly Commonwealth countries.

The only reason to have rules favourable to the use of the marquee is to expand the supporter base and to generate media interest in this competition. The FFA have chosen to use the game's greatest assets, its players, to achieve this goal.

Strikers and midfielders are only a part of a successful team. But, other than, say Lev Yashin or Gordon Banks, who would buy a ticket to watch a goalkeeper play? Again, with the exception of, say Roberto Carlos or Beckenbauer, we don't turn up to watch defenders do their thing. The public want to see goals scored and beautiful play. Only strikers and play-making midfielders really capture the imagination, particularly of newcomers to the sport.

Since the main role of the marquee is to raise the profile of his club and the game as a whole, someone with an established profile is the ideal. If not a personal profile, then a player from a well-known club, or footballing country will immediately have that recognition factor.

To compete with well-known players from other football codes, dull, hard-working and solid just won't do. A bit of glamour, and that touch of red-carpet style will be needed. Preferably with a gorgeous female partner to attract the cameras. Or a single man, with a reputation. What we want is exposure in the society pages as well as the sport pages. A-List celebrity to go with A-League quality.

Television, Radio and Newspaper journalists should be lining up for interviews. We are looking for someone with an easygoing personality, comfortable with the media and able to handle the ill-informed question with humour and grace.

What gets media coverage more easily that the Lifestyles of the rich and famous? Unless he is well paid, even ridiculously well paid, he is just another professional. Those on huge wages command another level of interest. He should be photographed in an expensive car as often as possible.

A huge pay packet signals to the sporting public that this sport is serious about quality. While bargain-basement players may get the job done on the field, only the very expensive can command the attention of the celebrity-obsessed press. Pay him as much as you can afford, and then some.

Australians are used to seeing our local boys as superb athletes in all sorts of sports. That is nothing new. What will spark their attention is a superb athlete from a different background altogether. For my money, a returning Australian player is not the ideal marquee, unless he is already a household name.

Probably only Harry Kewell would qualify. I think a touch of the exotic, European, African, South American, or Asian is what is required. That sort of point of difference sets our game apart from the others. AFL fans think an Irishman like Tadg Kennealy is a curiosity. Football needs to show its global credentials.

Of course, if he is going to be under the spotlight, a good-looking, athletic young man will help to attract the photographers lenses. Alternatively, some other visual attraction would help, like a strange hair style or some weird facial hair.

There is my blueprint.

Quite a list of exacting requirements, isn't it? Surely such an ideal would be hard to find. Well, yes, but look at the defining marquee player of the inaugural season, Dwight Yorke.

A striker and a creative midfielder;
A well-known former Manchester-United star;
A man-about town, known as "All Night Dwight", with a reputation to suit;
A cheeky and engaging personality;
The most highly paid individual at any club;
A Trinidad native; and instantly recognisable both on-field and off.

And, last but not least, a very good player, willing to put in a real effort.

In recruiting Yorke, I think Sydney were spot on and found exactly what this competition, and that club needed in a marquee. I cannot imagine a more suitable marquee player. In future years, we may well look back and thank Dwight Yorke for his pioneering contribution.

Other marquees had less of an impact, although Shenqing Qu at Adelaide United certainly ticked most of the boxes, and was money well spent. It is just a pity that the extra cash could not be found to tempt him to continue his A-League adventure.

This coming season will feature more marquees. Lets hope that some of them can have the same sort of impact that Yorke had, and help raise the profile of Football even further.

My backyard marquee has now been removed, and with it the last traces of a great party. Let us hope that footballing marquees will let our A-League party roll on for years to come.

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