'Slap in the face': Johnny Warren's family outraged awards night canned by APL

Johnny Warren's nephew Jamie Warren was "beyond disappointed" with the Australia Professional Leagues' decision to scrap the Dolan-Warren awards night.

It's been almost a week since the decision was made to kill off the awards night held in honour of one of Australian football's greatest pioneers but Warren has yet to hear directly from the APL why the event has been canned.

"That's one of the most disappointing things, the lack of communication. Uncle John has done so much for the game in the country, to make this call and not explain why is like a slap in the face," Warren said.

"The awards were supposed to be a showpiece event on the football calendar.

"The idea when David Gallop was in charge of the game was to have the A-League awards night as the pinnacle of the year, the night of nights.

"It gives our professional players the recognition they deserve and a celebration of what the entire game has achieved for the football family.

"So it's really disappointing to see it reduced due to funding.

"It's a night for the elite players in our game to be recognised. Other sports do it the right way and this is sad to see."

The decision to scrap football's Dolan-Warren awards night, usually held in the lead-up to the A-League Men grand final, comes after a financial restructure overseen by the APL's new administration this year.

Instead the player of the season in the ALM and the A-League Women will be announced during the halftime break on their respective grand final days.

Other awards will be announced digitally.

'This doesn't make sense to me. To find out the winner via a news report during halftime of the grand final is pretty disappointing," Warren said.

"For many players the grand final is the biggest game of their life. Also halftime is such a busy time, people go and get something to eat or go to the loo.....it just doesn't make sense.

"I don't know the financial implications of it all or where the APL is at, and I know they have to do it sometime, but not halftime of the grand final.

"No one is going to notice it then. The awards deserve to be front and centre, not something to be ticked off. Our elite players deserve the recognition and the awards night itself should be football's night of nights.

"We don't know the circumstances of it, but we hope the Johnny Warren Medal night, along with the Julie Dolan Medal, can come back bigger and better in the years to come."

The list of winners of the Johnny Warren Medal boasts some of the most influential local and foreign talent to shape the landscape of Australia football, with Mark Viduka, Scott Chipperfield, Milos Ninkovic and Thomas Broich all picking up the award twice.

It's similar for the Julie Dolan Medal, which has been claimed by the likes of Sam Kerr, Clare Polkinghorne and Michelle Heyman.

"It's imperative the tradition of honouring our greats continues," Warren said.

"We have always had honest and open communication in the past but that hasn't been the case with the APL to date, which is disappointing.

"When the unbundling of the leagues from Football Federation Australia happened it was always going to be a struggle.

"Once again I'm not privvy to the dealings or what's happening behind the scenes, but I always thought it was going to be a hard road.

"How many times do we have to learn the lesson of what happens when we don't work together for the good of the game?

"We've just had the most successful Women's World Cup probably in history. And this is where we're at.

"People need to be answerable to why we are where we are."

The APL was contacted for comment.