Tasmanian A-League team, local expansion and rectangular stadium all on the cards for new Football Tasmania CEO Tony Pignata
Football Tasmania’s new CEO has revealed his grand plans for the world game in the state, including the desire for a national team and a rectangular stadium. See the full Q&A.
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New Football Tasmania CEO Tony Pignata comes with a wealth of experience at both organisation, club and government level.
Just a little over a month into his new role, the former Perth Glory CEO already has big plans for the growth of the world game in Tasmania.
Q: Tony, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today. How’s the move to Tasmania been so far?
A: Thank you. It’s been enjoyable so far. I’ve only been to Launceston prior when Perth Glory played there but been in Hobart for six weeks and enjoyed the city and surroundings and loving the role.
Q: Why the move to Tasmania to take on the role of Football Tasmania CEO?
A: It was just the vision of what Football Tasmania wants to do. That’s in terms of bringing up the level of football and the opportunity that presents to get an A-League (men’s and women’s) license. I also had a really good break after leaving Perth and felt like it was time to get back into football. I’ve been in and around football for 20 years so I have a good understanding of the landscape. I just need to now get a good understanding of the dynamics of the game in Tasmania.
Q: How has that been so far?
A: It’s been good. I’ve spent time talking to a lot of people, clubs, presidents and various individuals involved at club level. In November we are going to host a workshop with the NPL and WSL clubs to understand what they require from us. I’ve also been speaking with people under those leagues just to get a brain dump of everything to make sense of what is needed right across the game in Tasmania.
Q: Has anything surprised you from what you’ve been able to learn so far?
A: Yeah, there is a couple of things. Maybe the right word isn’t lack of ambition but I have found that clubs are happy to just do what they’ve been doing in the past but I really want to lift the level of football here in Tasmania. That’s increasing the NPL to a 10-club competition, increasing the WSL to eight clubs and eventually turn the WSL into an NPL women’s competition as well. We need to see what that would look like and if clubs can satisfy the NPL requirements. The NPL regulations are set by Football Australia, not us, that’s important to understand. But we really want to grow the game both for boys and girls. We saw what the Matildas did at the World Cup and I think the potential for the growth of the game is huge and with that we need facilities. I’ve been banging on about that and met with the government and opposition on that.
Q: Touched on facilities there, and we will get to that, but how do you see the state of junior football in the state?
A: I think junior participation is strong but what we want to do is keep them in the game all the way through with that pathway. Teenagers can often drop off but to make sure that doesn’t happen we need facilities and a strong pathway. We don’t run an NTC (National Training Centre) program here and we need too. We have to see what the requirements are and how we get the funding for that and then you will see more and more development in the players. That in turn will see more Tasmanians on the national and international football stage.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you see as creating more infrastructure for the game across the state?
A: We are the highest participation sport but we just don’t get the funding that other sports get. We just want to have the facilities to cater for players and not turn them away. That’s what we are talking to the government about. We need that community hub built and are working on a feasibility study to present to the government around how that will look. We’d love it to include a show pitch that can cater for 10,000 fans where we can play our finals and get the Matildas or Socceroos to play there. That’s what we are working through at the minute.
Q: How have those conversations gone with the government thus far?
A: Yeah, really positive. Like any government though, slow. We like to get things done but I understand it takes time. We will do all the work required to present to them a really strong cause and from there we will keep pushing.
Q: You touched on expanding the NPL and WSL earlier, how do you see the state of those competitions at the minute?
A: I definitely want to expand both but at the same time I want to develop and improve the clubs already there. I’d love to look at a promotion and relegation system coming in. Every other state in Australia has that so we need to see if that’s achievable here. A lot of people are telling me no, but let’s see. It will take a little bit of time but I think it’s something we need to work towards. The catch-up in November will be great to get ideas from clubs and also for me to present my own. I want to be open and honest with everyone and hear what they have to say.
Q: Is leaving both competitions in better place than when you found them a real legacy piece you’d like to leave?
A: Yeah there are a few legacy pieces I want to leave here. One is that, grow both competitions and make the WSL into an NPL women’s like every other state, and then improving the game from a facilities perspective like we touched on earlier.
Q: Is delivering an A-League side to Tasmanians also something you want to be remembered for?
A: It’s one of the main reasons I took on the role. We’ve had discussions with the APL (Australian Professional Leagues) about it. Auckland and Canberra are the next cabs of the rank but we have spoken to the government about the opportunity about getting an A-League side. Tasmania can have an A-League team that can be well supported from both a commercial and fan point of view. We can hold our own and build a team that all Tasmanians can be proud of and I think the model that we are proposing, a community type side, backed by our local clubs and players here is a really good one.
Q: Discussions have no doubt already taken place on where that team would be based?
A: Yeah that’s something that we’ve also discussed with the government and the show pitch at the community hub I mentioned earlier would be perfect for an A-League club to play out of. I know there has been discussions about the new AFL stadium at Macquarie Point that we could play games there but that’s probably not for us. We could hold a grand final there for sure, but for week in and week out, a show pitch is what we want.
Q: Any idea of the location of that show pitch and community hub?
A: That’s all a part of the feasibility study and something that will be worked through.
Q: You mentioned the proposed Macquarie Point stadium before, why the reason to not play games out of there?
A: The A-League wants clubs to now play out of rectangular stadiums. We are in discussions with the APL around how strict they are on that but from what we know, it’s pretty strict.
Q: Do you think Tasmania and the government can handle two new stadium builds in such close proximity time-wise to each other?
A: What we are proposing is probably one-twentieth the cost. There are a lot of options when it comes to a rectangular stadium.
Q: We’ve seen Western United play games in the state the last few years. Are you keen to continue to bring more A-League content to the state until we get our own team?
A: No. We want to channel all our funding and energy into getting our own A-League side. And I think enough is enough. Tasmanians are probably sick and tired of hearing about us wanting in. It is time now that we step up and have our own team.
Q: Tony, thanks for the chat. Really appreciate the time.
A: No problem, thanks Ryan.
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