The 2017/18 PFA W-League Report W-League Foreword The 10th season of the W-League was ground- player welfare are enshrined across the breaking for many reasons: we celebrated league. a decade of elite female club football, Melbourne City were crowned champions for That the W-League’s broadcast coverage the third consecutive season (an Australian is enhanced, making all games visible by Supporting national league record for women or men), leveraging new platforms. and players received significantly improved protections through their Collective That gender equality sits at the heart of all Bargaining Agreement (CBA). footballing decisions, driven by the principles of fairness and respect. the Players The first W-League CBA contributed to: That career longevity is maximised and • Players being remunerated to a more players’ potentials are fulfilled through an desirable level, with the clubs averaging extended and balanced competition. Building close to $247,000 in player payments That the Player Development Program is • An increasing number of players protected and built upon, supporting players attaining a full calendar of high quality in all aspects of their lives and creating club football and a steady flow of income resilient, happy and successful people. the Game by moving between the W-League and the National Women’s Soccer League The players have always been at the forefront (USA) of these issues because it is their careers and the careers of those to come that are • A more competitively balanced inextricably linked to the success of the competition, with the percentage of W-League. ‘blowouts’ hitting a record low The players continue to demonstrate both • A decrease in the number of matches an unwavering desire to enhance all aspects missed through injury, with the of the W-League and a willingness to make introduction of Minimum Medical personal compromises to grow the game. Standards Tools such as this 2017/18 PFA W-League • A direct and fast-paced style of play, Report allow the PFA and the broader industry resulting in more goals, shots and passes to track critical areas of the league’s progress in the attacking third than that of the and players’ livelihoods. National Women’s Soccer League and Women’s Super League (England) Warm regards, The players know how quickly football moves. Now that the foundations have been laid the focus turns to using our collective strength Professional Footballers Australia to push for a stronger industry, respected 2/55 Walsh Street careers and a world class competition. West Melbourne VIC 3003 To achieve all of this we need to be ambitious. Kathryn Gill | PFA Deputy Chief Executive p 1300 650 497 e [email protected] We need to work hard to make sure the www.pfa.net.au highest standards of high performance and 3 Contents W-League Collective Employment League Technical Injury Survey Bargaining Framework Assessment Report Report Agreement 7 9 21 33 41 CBA Summary & Snapshot Snapshot Snapshot Snapshot Compliance 10 22 34 42 Introducing the Player Payments Competitive Balance Goals Methodology survey widget 11 23 35 43 Where this symbol appears, you will see data and quotes from our major annual survey of Minimum Salary Coaching Stability Creation Season Overview W-League players. Every W-League player Comparison was sent a link to the online survey in the week following the 2017/18 W-League Grand Final. 12 24 36 44 Between late February and early April, 96 Player Analysis Broadcast Passing Location of Injuries players responded to the survey, although not every player completed every question. The survey covered a broad range of areas impacting a player’s career, from their 13 25 37 45 contract, to work and study outside of football, Foreign Players Scheduling Possession Minimum Medical to transition-readiness, to assessments of Standards their club, the W-League, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and the PFA. 14 26 38 W-League & NWSL Attendance Defending Relationship 17 28 39 Match Minutes Stadium Ratings Refereeing 30 46 Integration with A-League Professional Development 4 5 Summary The 2017/18 W-League was a season of milestones, celebrating a decade of elite women’s domestic football competition and the introduction of the historic 2017-19 W-League CBA: providing players, for the first time, with a minimum wage and significant protections as professional footballers. What is included in the CBA? The rights, responsibilities Insurance for all W-League Minimum Medical and obligations of the players Standards players, FFA and the clubs Collective Minimum Player Payments Grievance procedure to Partnership with FFA to and Maximum Player resolve disputes grow the game Payments Funding for the PFA Player Competition and Bargaining Development Program performance standards Agreement Compliance of providing fully professional standards for This shows a number of things: that the core W-League players and being fully compliant football function is most important to players, with all conditions of the new CBA. that there may be a lack of awareness about (or low expectations of) superior conditions It is evident that some clubs are performing elsewhere, and that players may be more better than others, while some clubs may willing to suffer inferior conditions than risk be performing excellently in some areas and uprooting their lives in such an uncertain poorly in others. career. W-League Survey Despite the various shortfalls in standards This final point suggests CBA compliance players suffered across the board, 80% of must be driven by central enforcement While the new W-League CBA has resulted players intended to stay at their current clubs, because players have limited capacity to in clubs remunerating players to a more and the biggest reasons players gave for not choose an alternate employer. desirable level, it is clear from our major intending to re-sign with their current clubs player survey that all clubs are falling short were personal/lifestyle choices and coaching. 6 7 Snapshot $246,665.33 181 average spent on total player total number of contracted payments per club players 43% 18.2% of players surveyed of W-League players have received more than the a full calendar of football, W-League minimum moving between the wage W-League and National Employment Women’s Soccer League 45.7% 7 of players were in their first clubs used their full allocation Framework year at their current club of foreign players While the introduction of the CBA has seen players remunerated at a higher level, work remains to be done in embedding professional operational standards across the league. 8 9 Player Minimum Payments Salary Comparison Salary Floor and Cap increase $10,000 Salary Floor Salary Cap 2017/18 2016 /17 $50,000 $150,000 2017 /18 $180,000 $300,000 $10,287 2017/18 $10,500 Total player payments: 2018 Club by Club W-League Survey In the Australian sports listed, only W-League $12,287 players are able to negotiate salaries above Salary Cap: $300,000 the minimum. 2018/19 Of players surveyed, 57% were paid at or below the $10,000 minimum wage. Players may have earned under $10,000 if $20,000 they played for less than the full season, for example. 2017 91.88% 85.54% 84.83% 83.80% 84.11% 82.47% 82.29% All figures in AUD. 74.13% NWSL approximate based on 72.95% exchange rate at time of publishing. Figures inclusive of superannuation besides NWSL. With the introduction this season of a minimum salary, each W-League club spent on average $246,665.33 on player payments, or 82.22% of the Salary Cap. Clubs 10 11 Player Analysis Foreign Players Total players Number of Foreign contracted Players in the 33 33 W-League 29 25 21 181Contracted Players 4Amateur Players 17 15 10 10 7 7Scholarship Players 2009 2014 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Total players used 2008 /09 2010 /11 172 25 5 26 2 23 20 20 21 20 21 18 19 21 21 19 19 20 The 2017/18 W-League season Club by Club 18 18 18 18 included 33 foreign players Breakdown 1 from 7 different countries Players Contracted Players Used Less: 86.7% “I think it’s more important to give Australian players a chance to play in their own league. It would mean that clubs would be forced to foster talent in their own states. Our commentators also have a habit of ignoring local talent to praise international players and those in our national team” Each club used 19.1 players on additional ‘free’ players throughout 59 players (31.4%) were in their first More: average, down from 20.7 last season. the season. The improved medical year in the W-League compared to The minimum wage may have standards also contributed to a 29% last season. 86 (45.7%) were in 10.7% “It will increase the level of the league and incentivised clubs to work with their decrease in matches missed through their first year at their current club, W-League Survey 2.7% cause it to be more professional.” initial rosters rather than recruit injury (see Injury Report, p40). up from 40%. Do you think the number of foreign players “Attract top quality players to improve per club should change? Less Stay the same More standard and profile of W-League” W-League NWSL Players & NWSL in the Relationship W-League: Club by Club 2017 NWSL Club Number of Players 2017/18 W-League Club There is a notable trend of NWSL players entering the W-League, with the vast majority of the W-League’s foreign players hailing from Melbourne Victory (1) North America.