For the love of the game: most Southern league players happy to play for nothing
Survey results are coming in and 85 per cent of players in the Southern league say they don’t want to be paid if a shortened season goes ahead.
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The message from players in the Southern league is clear: we’ll play for nothing.
On Tuesday league officials sent a survey to the SFNL’s 4500 players about their intentions for the 2020 season and more than 800 replied within 24 hours.
About 80 per cent said they would play if a season could be salvaged from the coronavirus restrictions.
And 85 per cent said they would be happy to play for no match payments, easing financial pressures on their clubs, league CEO Lee Hartman said.
The league had already announced that salary caps would be slashed for an abbreviated season.
If nine home-and-away games are played, Division 1 teams will have match payment ceilings of $37,500. Division 2 will have a cap of $27,500, Division 3 of $18,750 and Division 4 of $12,500.
But clubs who have sounded about players about going amateur have received a good response.
Hartman said it was heartening that most players wanted to play and were prepared to play without payment.
“I think it shows they’re chomping at the bit. They just want to get out there,’’ he said.
“Obviously there will be financial implications for clubs about running the show but I think the players want to do it more for the social side of things and the competitive nature of football.’’
While many clubs have worried about the financial impact of a shortened season, especially in the absence of crowds, leagues have also been affected.
The Southern league put up $250,000 to be part of the Moorabbin redevelopment, depleting its cash reserves.
It also makes a six-figure sum out of the finals, and will miss out on valuable income if this year’s finals series is reduced from four to three weeks.
“Not having games, it’s had an impact on our cashflow position,’’ Hartman said.
“We’ve been lucky enough that our major sponsors have stuck by us and helped us with their contributions.
“We’ve also had to put staff on Jobkeeper, and that will finish in September, so we will be tested after that.’’
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He said crowds remained a crucial issue for local football.
“Obviously so much income is derived from spectators turning up to the finals and paying their entrance fee,’’ Hartman said.
“There is obviously a massive cost to put on finals, when you look at security and police and gatekeepers and ground rentals and umpires and footballs. But that income from finals no doubt sets us up from year to year.
“Every football league is the same. It’s not the best model but that’s what it is at the moment, and if we can’t have spectators there it’s probably not viable, to be honest.’’