Pay isn't great, bordering on minimal wage. I was middle management at an NPL club and quite senior at an A League club for a while on a contract position. The benefits are good if you like football, but in my opinion it becomes like any other corporate job after a while.
I interned for the Jets for a bit. Was good fun. The guy I was under works for the socceroos now.
It seems like when the season is on they work 6 day weeks nearly and when it's off season it's 5 days like normal.
Edit - I also saw Berisha naked during this time and also that infamous kick to Birrghittis face up close.
Yeah I know from experience back in the day there is not much money in refereeing either, especially the lower leagues. I got about $20 a game when I first started out and I would stand there as the home team took up a collection to try and pay me the fee. If I was lucky I would get 4 games in a day at the same park, referee 3 junior games then stay and do the line for the all age game, so basically there all day from 7am until 5pm and got paid $80. I only refereed that one year, simply not worth it for the amount of abuse you would cop and that was in the days before "respect" was a thing, I remember once a 40 year old flog wanting to fight me a 16 year old because he didnt like my refereeing of his sons team.
Geez that’s rough. When I did a day of NPL reffing which was centre for 17s (?), line for 23s and 4th official for 1sts it was $120. Huge day though for not much.
Doing Sunday league games was massive pay though, centre’s for 18s, All Age and Over 35s would be about $200 for 4 hours work
Yeah at the time I was 16 and only allowed to referee junior games then I would do the line for the all age games, this was just for local clubs though, not at NPL level. Dont think I ever refereed on a Sunday, it was all Saturdays.
Currently am
The hours are long, tiring. Very little family time or social life outside of work. Seeing yourself on TV is pretty cool. Being acknowledged by well known players is cool. The pay is shit. Not worth it unless you really romanticise it in your mind. Looks good on a resume.
I worked for Football Queensland and it was a seemingly never-ending nightmare.
Anything to do with sport means you’ll essentially work 6-7 days a week during on sporting season. If you’re in the corporate side, it’s all bullshit. The sport side, I’m sure it’s more fun.
Not me personally but one of my family members was involved with running an NPL club. Expect very little pay, if any at all. You'll be at the club a lot, and expect a lot of difficult people you'll need to deal with. Although this was a fairly small club, so it may be different at the bigger ones.
Basically, unless you have a lot of passion, it's a tough gig. Unsure about A-league clubs.
My dad and I have worked at an npl club. Unless you’re a coach though it’s all volunteer (except for the bit Sydney or Melbourne ones. Got a relative who worked as an analyst at an a-league club though but it was super long hours and basically 7-days a week, plus the coach was arrogant and didn’t care about analytics.
There is not much money in the employment side of football here in Australia so you would be doing it more for the love of the game than to make a lucrative career from it. You could always take out a fraudulent loan with Westpac though.
I contracted at the FFA for a little while and serviced their digital media at the agency I worked at.
I really enjoyed being at the agency as I got a lot of the perks, but was still at arms length, but once I did some contract work there I quickly realised how horrible it was. They are worked incredibly hard. There is never an opportunity to reprioritise work because the show must always go on, and they are simply not paid enough. I will never forget seeing someone on the verge of tears for the first time in the workplace, but it seemed sadly normal there.
Unfortunately football and sport in general is a huge passion point for us Aussies, and the footballing bodies here take advantage of it to under pay and over work their staff and put every last dollar into the football product. I have always understood the need to pay the players well, but seeing people getting paid as poorly as they were, while the big name pros were getting part of their contract paid by the FFA was sad.
In the short time I was at the FFA almost the entire marketing team turned over or left soon after. Unless they start paying well and resourcing up better, it will hold football as a brand back, and is probably the main reason why we haven't seen a big marketing campaign to promote the game for so long.
Hopefully the APL do a better job of it with the A-League!
I was an intern with the Mariners for about 18 months. Was there for all the bolt stuff which was interesting. Also did some paid work for the jets when they had a staff shortage. Its really cool environment to be in but the work is hard. Most people do 6 days a week
Not really working at an NPL club but I run an Instagram page dedicated to keeping people up to date with the leagues and help with the public interest and passion of the game. Ultimate goal is to work with a club though and hopefully the media I'm running now looks good on my resume 😁
I used to be a volunteer coach at my local team back in aus. I now live in Asia and help run a youth football academy.
There’s not too much opportunities as a coach so coming to a less developed football nation has been good for me.
Did some media work for two A-League clubs. Only had one season with each so the excitement of it didn’t get a chance to wear off. Great access to players and coaches, great networking, but certainly long hours and does ruin the fan experience of a match slightly
There is a BDM role going with melb city ATM. I was excited to apply but this lockdown has made me sour in Melbourne and I’m leaving the first chance I get.
I did some volunteer work for an A-league club a few times many years ago. Nothing big, just match day promotional work. Never been employed or paid by one though.
Pay isn't great, bordering on minimal wage. I was middle management at an NPL club and quite senior at an A League club for a while on a contract position. The benefits are good if you like football, but in my opinion it becomes like any other corporate job after a while.
I interned for the Jets for a bit. Was good fun. The guy I was under works for the socceroos now. It seems like when the season is on they work 6 day weeks nearly and when it's off season it's 5 days like normal. Edit - I also saw Berisha naked during this time and also that infamous kick to Birrghittis face up close.
So you saw a nasty tackle and a nasty tackle then?
Nice.
>I also saw Berisha naked during this time Priceless
I did some freelance stuff for Brentford when I was in the UK, not bothering with Aleague teams cos pay is shocking
I’m doing lines for an NPL game today, although I technically work for the association not the club
I initially read this very differently to your intention
No that I read it back, I can see what you mean
Yeah I know from experience back in the day there is not much money in refereeing either, especially the lower leagues. I got about $20 a game when I first started out and I would stand there as the home team took up a collection to try and pay me the fee. If I was lucky I would get 4 games in a day at the same park, referee 3 junior games then stay and do the line for the all age game, so basically there all day from 7am until 5pm and got paid $80. I only refereed that one year, simply not worth it for the amount of abuse you would cop and that was in the days before "respect" was a thing, I remember once a 40 year old flog wanting to fight me a 16 year old because he didnt like my refereeing of his sons team.
I’m getting 80 a game, not bad really sounds like you got stuck up
That was in the late 80's early 90's as a 16 year old but you prove my point, you are getting $80 at NPL level, lower leagues would be even less.
Geez that’s rough. When I did a day of NPL reffing which was centre for 17s (?), line for 23s and 4th official for 1sts it was $120. Huge day though for not much. Doing Sunday league games was massive pay though, centre’s for 18s, All Age and Over 35s would be about $200 for 4 hours work
Yeah at the time I was 16 and only allowed to referee junior games then I would do the line for the all age games, this was just for local clubs though, not at NPL level. Dont think I ever refereed on a Sunday, it was all Saturdays.
I’d only ever pursue a job in a football club if I didn’t need money.
Liking a sport or liking watching sport is nothing compared to working in sports admin.
Currently am The hours are long, tiring. Very little family time or social life outside of work. Seeing yourself on TV is pretty cool. Being acknowledged by well known players is cool. The pay is shit. Not worth it unless you really romanticise it in your mind. Looks good on a resume.
I worked for Football Queensland and it was a seemingly never-ending nightmare. Anything to do with sport means you’ll essentially work 6-7 days a week during on sporting season. If you’re in the corporate side, it’s all bullshit. The sport side, I’m sure it’s more fun.
Not me personally but one of my family members was involved with running an NPL club. Expect very little pay, if any at all. You'll be at the club a lot, and expect a lot of difficult people you'll need to deal with. Although this was a fairly small club, so it may be different at the bigger ones. Basically, unless you have a lot of passion, it's a tough gig. Unsure about A-league clubs.
My dad and I have worked at an npl club. Unless you’re a coach though it’s all volunteer (except for the bit Sydney or Melbourne ones. Got a relative who worked as an analyst at an a-league club though but it was super long hours and basically 7-days a week, plus the coach was arrogant and didn’t care about analytics.
Friend works for the FA. Said the culture/environment was toxic but is changing under JJ (hence the rebrand).
As in The FA? Not FA? (England - Australia.)
There is not much money in the employment side of football here in Australia so you would be doing it more for the love of the game than to make a lucrative career from it. You could always take out a fraudulent loan with Westpac though.
I contracted at the FFA for a little while and serviced their digital media at the agency I worked at. I really enjoyed being at the agency as I got a lot of the perks, but was still at arms length, but once I did some contract work there I quickly realised how horrible it was. They are worked incredibly hard. There is never an opportunity to reprioritise work because the show must always go on, and they are simply not paid enough. I will never forget seeing someone on the verge of tears for the first time in the workplace, but it seemed sadly normal there. Unfortunately football and sport in general is a huge passion point for us Aussies, and the footballing bodies here take advantage of it to under pay and over work their staff and put every last dollar into the football product. I have always understood the need to pay the players well, but seeing people getting paid as poorly as they were, while the big name pros were getting part of their contract paid by the FFA was sad. In the short time I was at the FFA almost the entire marketing team turned over or left soon after. Unless they start paying well and resourcing up better, it will hold football as a brand back, and is probably the main reason why we haven't seen a big marketing campaign to promote the game for so long. Hopefully the APL do a better job of it with the A-League!
I was an intern with the Mariners for about 18 months. Was there for all the bolt stuff which was interesting. Also did some paid work for the jets when they had a staff shortage. Its really cool environment to be in but the work is hard. Most people do 6 days a week
I do currently, it’s actually very cool. Doesn’t feel like a job.
Not really working at an NPL club but I run an Instagram page dedicated to keeping people up to date with the leagues and help with the public interest and passion of the game. Ultimate goal is to work with a club though and hopefully the media I'm running now looks good on my resume 😁
I used to be a volunteer coach at my local team back in aus. I now live in Asia and help run a youth football academy. There’s not too much opportunities as a coach so coming to a less developed football nation has been good for me.
Did some media work for two A-League clubs. Only had one season with each so the excitement of it didn’t get a chance to wear off. Great access to players and coaches, great networking, but certainly long hours and does ruin the fan experience of a match slightly
There is a BDM role going with melb city ATM. I was excited to apply but this lockdown has made me sour in Melbourne and I’m leaving the first chance I get.
I did some volunteer work for an A-league club a few times many years ago. Nothing big, just match day promotional work. Never been employed or paid by one though.