How the A-League could lure the likes of Ronaldinho and Miroslav Klose Down Under

Finally, the A-League is going to get fair dinkum about marquee players. Or at least it looks that way.

How's this sound? A $10 million marquee annual fund, centrally funded. Given the vagaries of the Australian dollar, I'd prefer at least half again, and preferably double. but we'll see. It's a start.

The fund buys each club one marquee per season. The general benchmark is 10 marquees at $1 million each. It may be that some get less, and some get more. Either way, it's progress. Big progress.

An idea to love?: Ronaldinho may be one of the players on the A-League marquee wanted list. Photo: AP

No player can be signed for longer than 12 months. Each player agrees to participate in a draft, so neither the player or the club knows who will end up where.

If, for argument, the Mariners end up with Ronaldinho and Sydney FC get an East European or an Asian, there will be those pushing for a tinkering of the rules. Can't happen.

The idea of a central fund is that it's about the whole of the competition, not individual clubs. Whether Ronaldinho is in a yellow shirt or a sky blue shirt, whenever and wherever he plays, everyone wins. That's the point.

Proven talent: Miroslav Klose has scored more World Cup goals than any other player. Photo: Getty Images

The suspense, the process, and the excitement creates a frisson building up to the annual draft, which becomes a show in itself. A live audience, live music, 10 superstars in smart suits waiting for their name to come from the glass jar. You get the picture.

All this becomes a perpetual cycle that markets the A-League at home and abroad in a way no amount of marketing dollars can replicate. That is, of course, pre-supposing that a genuine marketing budget can also be found.

When you hear one capital city club has set aside a marketing budget of just $26,000 for this season, you get an idea of just why the dreaded "metrics" around the competition have flat-lined.

Something has to give ahead of the new broadcast deal. This is it.

I've loved this idea for years. Once I even asked Frank Lowy to fund it as a Westfield promotion. He seemed interested, but nothing happened. It seems his son Steven might be more amenable.

For the first time the concept has been workshopped with club owners, who are definitely interested.  In principle at least.

At the end of January, just before the next FFA board meeting, it seems the idea will be fine-tuned again. Please, let it get off the ground.

What the last two seasons have proven is that genuine marquees are not an optional extra at this stage of the A-League's evolution.

To extract maximum value out of the next TV deal, they're a must.

There will be those, of course, who'll say it's pie-in-the-sky. No star player will agree to participate. Rubbish.

Yes, the A-League has been losing the battle in this market over recent years with the MLS, China and the Middle East, but while money is a key driver so too is lifestyle, and the quality of the football on offer. I'd wager we'd be presently surprised.

The European football economy is not what it was, and we constantly under-estimate the reputation of the A-League around the world. It's got cred.

So let's dare to dream. I will. Here's a list of potential players that needs to be streamlined for the inaugural marquee draft, which has to happen around May next year if it's to get off the ground for the following season.

It's not only about names, but variety. Players from across the globe, many of whom come from nations that have a latent support among the immigrant community in Australia.

We saw during the Asian Cup how this can translate into spectators, and viewers. Get the right players with the right passport, and people come out of the woodwork.

So who are they? 

Here goes:

TOMAS ROSICKY (35, Arsenal and Czech Republic)

ANTONIO DE NATALE (38, Udinese and Italy)

ROBINHO (31, free agent, Brazil)

FRED (32, Fluminense and Brazil)

ZE ROBERTO (41, Palmeiras and Brazil)

MIROSLAV KLOSE (37, Lazio and Germany)

AHMED KHALIL (24, Al Ahli and UAE)

OMAR ABDULRAHMAN (24, Al Ain and UAE)

SHUNSUKE NAKAMURA (37, Yokohama F Marinos and Japan)

JAVIER SAVIOLA (34, River Plate and Argentina)

ZHENG ZHI, (35, Guangzhou Evergrande and China)

ANDRES D'ALESSANDRO (34, Internacional and Argentina)

RONALDINHO (35, free agent and Brazil)

DIEGO MILITO (36, Racing Club and Argentina)

EMANNUEL ADEBAYOR (31, Tottenham and Togo)

GEORGIOS SAMARAS (30, free agent and Greece)

AIDAN McGEADY (29, Everton and Ireland)

DARIJO SRNA (33, Shaktar Donetsk and Croatia)

YASUHITO ENDO (35, Gamba Osaka and Japan)

SERVER DJEPAROV (33, Ulsan Hyundai and Uzbekistan).

Twenty eventually boiled down to 10. Let's go.