New A-League clubs chairman Paul Lederer promises united front

Paul Lederer will lead the A-League clubs through a period of change promising to unite soccer’s various interests.

Western Sydney Wanderers part-owner Paul Lederer, the new chairman of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association. Picture: Mark Evans

Western Sydney Wanderers part-owner and chairman Paul Lederer has promised the professional game will be fully committed to supporting every facet of the sport from the grassroots to the top tier after he was elected as the new head of the A-League clubs.

A successful businessmen, Lederer takes over from former chairman Greg Griffin, who led the long, and at times bitter fight for governance reform of Football Federation Australia.

Lederer’s election is seen as the first significant step towards the A-League becoming an independent organisation in time for the start of the 2019-20 season. Following changes to FFA’s constitution, the A-League clubs will now become one of the most powerful groups in the sport in this country.

However, speaking to The Australian soon after being elected unanimously as the head of the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA), Lederer said his platform for the game will be based around co-operation and uniting the game at every level.

“The game has been fragmented and I want to see an end to that,” Lederer said. “We have to work in with everyone in the game from the FFA, to the states, to the PFA, to the grassroots, to the women’s game.

“It’s time to move forward and to make this game of ours what is should be.”

A-League independence, which means breaking away from FFA’s control, will see the clubs take a bigger share of the revenue they bring in through sponsorships and broadcast deals.

But Lederer is adamant it won’t come at a cost to the important pillars of the game such as the grassroots and the national team programs.

“No, no, no. That is not going to happen,” he said. “Yes, a lot of people have invested (in A-League clubs) and lost a lot of money.

“But I can assure you, we are all committed and are all united … we have never been more united on this subject because the grassroots is the lifeline of our game.

“Everyone is aware of that, we are conscious of that and we know what we have to do.

“We want the W-League, the grassroots, everything to work the way it should.

“We are not isolated and we are not greedy … that sort of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Lederer confirmed that APFCA will push hard for an independently run A-League to be in place in time for next season.

Under the terms of the Congress Review Working Group, a collaborative New Leagues Working Group is to be formed to establish the framework for a new operating model for the A-League. The report is due by the end of March.

The group will be made up of representatives from the state federations, clubs, Professional Footballers Australia as well as board members and management of FFA.

In accepting the role, Lederer paid tribute the outgoing Griffin, a former chairman and shareholder of Adelaide United until the club was sold to overseas interests in March.

“Greg Griffin led APFCA superbly during some very difficult times,” he said. “We owe him a deep debt of gratitude for the work he put into the association and for never flinching in the face of some very personal attacks.”