Does a salary cap ensure a competition is more evenly balanced? That's the question raised by a recent study conducted by the players union into the last two seasons of the A-League that will be unveiled on Friday.
A comparison of the technical play of the A-League against the German Bundesliga, the J-League of Japan and North America's Major League Soccer reveals a limit on club expenditure does not necessarily guarantee a more competitive league.
Quality divide: There is a 33-point gap between Sydney FC at the top and the Reds at the bottom.Credit:Getty Images
The mid-season report conducted by Professional Footballers Australia suggests the gap between the strongest performers in the A-League and the challengers is significantly greater than that of the other three competitions, two of which have no salary cap in place. Japan and Germany operate without any restrictions on wages yet are more tightly contested. The MLS uses a similar salary cap to Australia yet remains the most competitive competition, suggesting player wage restrictions may not be the greatest influence on results. "Reports such as this provide the sport with an opportunity to benchmark the A-League against other leagues from around the world and to gain invaluable insight regarding the competition's international standing," PFA chief executive John Didulica said.
"The findings in relation to the competitiveness of the A-League, and as a result the efficacy of the salary cap, are interesting and we will continue to monitor this."
Long way between cellar and penthouse: Darmstadt's Jerome Gondorf takes rare aim at Bayern Munich's goal in a clash between the Bundesliga's also-rans and its glamour club.Credit:AP
Over the last two seasons, the wooden spooners have won less than a third of the points the premiers collected in the A-League. Newcastle Jets collected just 17 points last season while Melbourne Victory won the premiership with 53 two seasons ago, while Central Coast Mariners finished with just 13 last season as Adelaide won the title with 49.
The disparity in the A-League appears to be growing this season with Sydney FC on 44 points after 18 games while the reigning champions, Adelaide, are anchored to the bottom of the table with only 11 points.
Should that trend grow, it will exceed the points ratio of the last two J-League seasons where the gap between the champions and bottom teams is around a third, despite no salary cap in place and teams playing seven more games than the A-League. The gulf between Chelsea and Sunderland in this year's English Premier League is similarly a third of the points tally.
Bottom-placed Hannover finished last season's Bundesliga with just less than a third of the points Bayern Munich won, though this year's league is expected to provide a worse gulf in results due to Darmstadt's horrendous campaign providing them with just one fifth of Bayern's points.
It's suggested other factors than player wages may contribute to the competitives of the league. In the salary-capped MLS, league tables have been far tighter, with the bottom-placed club in the salary-capped MLS amassing approximately half the points of the winners.
The data suggests recent years of the salary capped league haven't lead to more balanced results however, the lifespan of a high-performing team is short and cyclical. The A-League may not be as tightly contested as first thought, though teams do not spend long at the top and those who spend the cap or use marquees, tend to bounce back from poor seasons almost immediately.
Year-on-year performers in the A-League are far fewer than other leagues, indicating the true benefit of the salary cap may not be in the uncertainty of individual results, but in the eventual champions each season.
Dominic Bossi is a football reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.