Former CA exec Damien de Bohun new A-League boss
Football Federation Australia (FFA) have announced the appointment of former Cricket Australia (CA) official Damien de Bohun as the new A-League boss.
De Bohun will join the FFA after seven years in charge of game and market development at CA to start his second stint with the A-League, having held the position of operations manager from 2004 until 2005.
De Bohun replaces Lyall Gorman who vacated the role to take up his post as executive chairman of new A-League club the Western Sydney Wanderers.
FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said he is thrilled to have lured de Bohun back to the A-League.
“Damien has a wonderful mix of senior executive experience in the sports industry and a life-long passion for football,” Buckley said in a statement.
“I’m delighted to have secured a high-calibre executive in Damien. I know he has the right skills, energy and football administration knowledge to implement our goals for a stable and sustainable A-League.”
De Bohun, whose first foray into football administration was as chief executive of Football Federation Victoria in 2003, said he’s excited by the challenge.
“Football has always been a big part of my life as a player, coach and referee,” he said.
“But it’s the professional challenge of managing the A-League that has me most excited about the new role.
“I think the current structure of the A-League provides a very solid foundation to build on the growth in attendances, TV audiences and memberships last season and I can’t wait to get started.”
De Bohun will begin his new role in early August.
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July 6th 2012 @ 12:10pm
nordster said | July 6th 2012 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
A former ‘operations manager’ …just the kind of pen pusher i was hoping for. Zero media profile! Perfect if they want the media to cover actual football stories. I feared they would go for gallop or something…
July 6th 2012 @ 12:57pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | July 6th 2012 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
If you look at the big companies – in AUS & global – the most successful CEOs are sound operators, who understand every aspect of their business operations.
I can’t think of too many people from PR, who have made it to the CEO office at any successful organization.
Off the top of my head, these are some of the biggest companies in Australia: BHP, RIO, NAB, CBA, ANZ, WBC, TLS, WOW …
I’d be surprised if 1% of the population could name the CEOs of all those companies.
When I assess a company, I’m looking for doers not spinners.
July 6th 2012 @ 1:54pm
nordster said | July 6th 2012 @ 1:54pm | Report comment
Yeah totally, there seems to be a bit of a cult ceo mentality that can develop with some organisations. Never seems to work out well! The high profile media performers seem to be pretenders not doers.
July 7th 2012 @ 9:35am
Kasey said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:35am | Report comment
I don’t know enough about his time at FFV to accurately predict how his time at FFA could work out. I’m prepared to give him a chance though – I like that he has a football background. I think this year will be a very important milestone year for the league. 2 teams in each of the country’s biggest two markets, I expect all the important KPIs (memberships, viewership, attendances, etc) to continue their recent trend upwards again this year.
July 7th 2012 @ 9:40am
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
If he loves the game and “gets it” as far as some of the stuff that could be implemented over time ….im happy. Some of these blowins from other sports think the strayan way is the only way.
July 7th 2012 @ 9:46am
Kasey said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
I think we are approaching the stage of polishing things up now that we appear to have the basic foundations in place; doing the little 1%-ers that show the fans that FFA is listening to their gripes, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, like:
-changing the location of the HAL badge from the chest to a sleeve iron-on patch as in other countries.
-no more lawn chair benches, most stadia have dugouts – how about we use them?
-Re-introducing GA for the Home Ends at the stadiums to show the fans that the atmosphere they create is valued. Just a few little things to work on.
IMO these are all things that really wouldn’t cost the Head body too much financially but would make an important cosmetic improvement to the HAL .
July 7th 2012 @ 9:50am
MV Dave said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
Agreed nordster
If he’s had experience playing the game and understands the local scene then cant be a bad appointment, especially with his experience at CA.
Given the increase in crowds, TV ratings, the WSW introduction, WC qualifiers coming up its probably not a bad time to be stepping in. Plenty of challenges ahead but huge rewards for all who love this game in Oz if this guys does his job well.
Good luck Damian and a great start would be MV doing the double in your first year!!
July 7th 2012 @ 10:01am
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Yeah kasey there are some visual signifiers that would make the league look more authentically football. The key things for me though are multi divisions and a freer economic system for the league and club football more generally. Opening the path between pro level, semi pro and ambitious regions locked out of the national sporting cartels. Unfortunately in australian sport this is more than a 1%er as im finding out.
The cricket stuff is interesting dave especially the way they use (?) corporates to link the participants with spectating. Use their marketing spends anyway. We see a bit of this with timmy and weetbix, shame the kids cant actually see the qualifiers in many cases. Just not too much of the technology. Works in cricket but football has a ‘flow’ …mess with that at ya peril!
July 6th 2012 @ 2:36pm
pete4 said | July 6th 2012 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
Interesting appointment… as always you hope he can drive the HAL forward with Asian Cup in 2015 just around the corner which another former cricket exec is the heading up
July 6th 2012 @ 10:22pm
Football United said | July 6th 2012 @ 10:22pm | Report comment
was pushing for peter wilt with his MLS experience but we’ll see how this bloke does.
July 7th 2012 @ 9:34am
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
His municipal bond experience scared me…bridgeview anyone?
But then i guess its not just him, all sorts of people buy into the public funding magic pudding fairy stories
July 7th 2012 @ 2:37am
Midfielder said | July 7th 2012 @ 2:37am | Report comment
Executive General Manager, Game and Market Development for Cricket Australia since 2005 …. means he actually did some things… also seems to have a football background …
In cricket recently the T20 Big Bash and Big Bash League would be the main two developments. Also restoring the Sheffield Shield name and downsizing the domestic OD tournament (because nobody farken cares about one day cricket anymore).
Could be a reasonable appointment … also he is said to be good with the media … something neither BB or Gorman are any good at….would love to know what the A-League committee thinks of em..
July 7th 2012 @ 9:37am
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:37am | Report comment
He made some comments to the smh about in game technology adding to the consumer experience …made me wince a little …at least he knocked the goalline stuff on the head for now. At 250k a pop plus running costs per venue …well i could count on my hand the amount of times in a season it would even be used and thats league wide.
July 7th 2012 @ 9:41am
Kasey said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:41am | Report comment
Now that IFAB have given the green light for GLT, I expect that the better-off leagues in the world will move to GoalRef sooner rather than later – IMO it appears to have less deficiencies than Hawkeye. It might only be used once or twice a season, but if it avoids that one splash of negative publicity it would be worth it. Imagine if the A-League implemented GoalRef for this upcoming season and we were the first to use GLT in anger, what a worldwide positive publicity coup for the sport in Australia that would be!
July 7th 2012 @ 10:02am
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 10:02am | Report comment
One pricey one off publicity coup
July 7th 2012 @ 1:22pm
Kasey said | July 7th 2012 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
I’m not a rep for either company, but watching the FIFATV video on GLT, it appears to me that GoalRef would/should be a heck of a lot cheaper and simpler to implement than Hawkeye. A new ball(with sensor in it) sensors on the goal frame and a new watch for the referees. That’s got to be cheaper than numerous cameras and a computer system to calculate all the angles. Perhaps FFA could get some sort of discount for signing up as a foundation customer? The FFA logo and name would be mentioned everytime some football reporter mentions the names of the FAs that have already adopted GLT in the wake of IFABs decision. That’s more likely to result in positive publicity than the off chance of being ‘the first’ to use a GLT system in a competitive match for a decision – we’re talking odds of winning the lottery there considering how infrequent contested GoalLine decisions there actually are.
July 7th 2012 @ 1:48pm
nordster said | July 7th 2012 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
The price can come down over time too. If i werent so lazy id go back and log all verified mis-call on goals. At least the ones tv pick up. Maybe it happens more than we think …wait and find out, its good for big tournaments i guess.
I like the idea of tablets and some fourth official calls on offsides. Using radar or whatever i dont know that field but its plausible. Something like that could be low cost too potentially.
July 7th 2012 @ 4:58pm
jbinnie said | July 7th 2012 @ 4:58pm | Report comment
No one appears to have noticed but once again Mr Lowy has stuck by his guns and overseen the appointment of a personage with no connection to what is oft mistakenly called “old” football but more correctly should be referred collectively to the maladministration of the sadly departed NSL.That was the group that “discarded” him in the early 80′s ,and he has obviously never forgotten or forgiven.jb
July 7th 2012 @ 9:06pm
Midfielder said | July 7th 2012 @ 9:06pm | Report comment
JB
True about forgotten… as for forgiven a tad hard maybe never has trust in these folk to do what he thinks needs doing..
July 8th 2012 @ 10:12am
Kasey said | July 8th 2012 @ 10:12am | Report comment
jb, why is that a problem for you?
July 8th 2012 @ 10:23am
Midfielder said | July 8th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
Kassey
I think it’s more a statement and TBH it’s hard to think of a management person from that era who has the experience required…
July 8th 2012 @ 8:41am
jbinnie said | July 8th 2012 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Mid – I think,like many others,you underestimate the power that FL now has,having been almost begged to return to football to form the HAL in 2004. Now assuming it would be nearer 2002 when he was first approached ,10 years is a long time to have a backing administration which to the best of my knowledge has only had one personage,Jack Reilly,( a 1974 Socceroo who may have had some connection with one of the multitude of Victorian NSL clubs of the 1977-2004 era), as a part of FL’s inner sanctum,albeit not a very high profiled person in that group.
I still feel in an indirect way you are correct in your final sentence but being a bit older than you I’m not convinced Frank does not have a long,long memory. jb
July 8th 2012 @ 10:00am
Midfielder said | July 8th 2012 @ 10:00am | Report comment
JB
Being a bit crude a friend of mine says FL would rather eat his own vomit than lets these guys back into footballs main game… my only comment is FL feels he cannot trust them to do what he wants done because of his past dealings… more than he have never forgiven them… maybe two sides of the same coin tho…
AS for FL’s power within football I agree was near absolute … however he made a couple of mistakes in his expansion and not getting the second Sydney team up before with many saying that was done to protect SFC [whether true or not.. it is a commonly held belief]
I think he has only 3 years to run will be interesting when he leaves…
July 8th 2012 @ 10:09am
Kasey said | July 8th 2012 @ 10:09am | Report comment
I’m not one of those people who thinks FL is the devil incarnate, in fact on the balance of things, I think his approach to intentionally or otherwise freeze out the morons of the past in favour of a fresh approach has mostly yielded good results. The administrators of the past were hampered by many things, not the least of which was a lack of ability, but lets not forget 30+ years of conditioning to think of Soccer as the little fella at the table. Bringing in outside people shakes up that mindset and suddenly we’re thinking big as we should be. Rather than the succession of FL…this year I’m more interested in how the JALSC goes about its task of keeping the Lines of Communication open between the FFA and the owners. It was a festering sore that was fast becoming a real problem that undermined the stability of the whole league
July 8th 2012 @ 10:27am
Midfielder said | July 8th 2012 @ 10:27am | Report comment
Kassey
I am a FL supporter have no doubt … However he made a couple of mistakes [meaning his score is 95 out of a 100 ... not 100 out of 100] ..
He has put in place things to fix his errors showing how good he is…
Having said all that… those mistakes have reduced his power resulting in he does not have the God factor any more…
July 8th 2012 @ 1:27pm
nordster said | July 8th 2012 @ 1:27pm | Report comment
DODD-BOZZ 2015
MOVING FORWARD
July 8th 2012 @ 9:17pm
Sports Candy said | July 8th 2012 @ 9:17pm | Report comment
Midfielder,
in the FFA structure Lowy doesn’t have as much power as his critics think and can’t choose senior mangers, he is the chairman and only has a casting vote if the votes are tied at the end of the board voting, He can’t make sure that someone doesn’ get any votes.
De Bohun was a popular choice and Lowy didn’t even have a vote in it.
This guy was the very first A-League Operations Manager He created such a good impression that he was snapped up by Cricket Australia after only a few months.
He has a grat football history from player to administrator and is thrilled to be out of cricket and back in football.
July 8th 2012 @ 7:11pm
jbinnie said | July 8th 2012 @ 7:11pm | Report comment
Kasey – Did I use the word “problem” with my thoughts on how F.Lowy runs the HAL? I was not aware of saying it was a problem.I simply stated that in 8 years of control over the HAL he has never once appeared to have any faith in the many ,many people who were involved in administering the game for a league that lasted 27 years.
Now you have chosen to group all these people as “morons” ,a dangerous grouping, for you have no idea how that league was administered at club levels but you are probably basing your description on the political manoeuverings that saw the “top” men in those years gain positions of power. I remember having a conversation with a Socceroo who asked me why a certain gentleman was the manager of the Socceroos when in fact he knew “bugger all” about the game!!!!!.
Were we any different from other sports ? Officials in those days were unpaid but enjoyed the benefits of free travel,accomodation, and the other perks that emanated from the position.That is the environment Frank Lowy walked away from around 1984 after they had insulted him with a “vote” at top level that was conducted in a manner that can only be described with one word —”dubious”. Personally there was no one more surprised than me when he agreed to come back,but I am glad he did.
Sure there has been mistakes made but none that have yet proved “fatal” but I admit to getting annoyed when I see expansion for expansion’s sake (tried & failed before).These are examples of where someone with previous experience may just have been able to block the wasted hours,dollars etc that saw two identities come & go in 3 seasons. I met many many people in my time who were dedicated workers for the code at NSL level but never had access to the political “clout ” to get into a position of power,after all if Frank Lowy couldn’t do it what chance had Joe Blog at club level,- none. Does that make them morons? Not in my book. Your mate jb
July 8th 2012 @ 8:37pm
Midfielder said | July 8th 2012 @ 8:37pm | Report comment
JB
Clap clap clap…. most people in Football over the years have been decent and smart people… those that ran our game … those same folk FL walked away from, what can you say they varied from inept to corrupt and everything in-between …
The best example I can give [how do I know ... I lived tho it] is when a new club wished to join the NSL…. this new club wanted to represent the local district to call itself Fairfield City or Liverpool City or call itself South Western Sydney … there were no other clubs…. a connection with Southern District Association was made while the Granville & Blacktown Associations were close to being on board… local councils in Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown & Bankstown were approached and supported the new club…
The new club was guaranteed the south western Sydney area… the name was the hard thing [but it had to be a community name for the region] everyone was getting on board … park teams, councils, associations even the local media …
Then after all this was done the NSL approved an existing club, who played outside WS at that point in time who were without a home to establish within a mile as the crow flies of the new club…
Many behind the new district club left feeling very betrayed by the NSL management … the inclusive community with the district name was lost and it became Marconi and was headed by Mr Lab himself … such a sad day this was and many very good folk just walked away and many stayed and tried to change what was happening but lost out…
The point is as JB states there were so many very decent and smart football folk around for years who never had a voice .. or put better any control over those that ran the game at the time…
July 9th 2012 @ 8:50am
Kasey said | July 9th 2012 @ 8:50am | Report comment
Is that really the story behind how Marconi were formed? I never knew. How did they come to be associated with being “an Italian club? Its not like they were Pan Hellenic first or Adelaide Juventus for example.”
July 10th 2012 @ 7:33am
jbinnie said | July 10th 2012 @ 7:33am | Report comment
Kasey- I have endeavoured to fill in a gap in your knowledge elsewhere but feel ,as re. Marconi & some other NSL clubs,Hakoah included, it should be pointed out that these clubs were financed through the generosity of their hugely successful “social clubs”.It also has to be recognised that these social clubs had their own management structure &,as they were generating a lot of their income from gambling, that same management structure came under greater than normal government scrutiny,so the task of that group was not to be taken lightly..Hence we have a management team fully aware of their responsibilities to not only their members but to governmant bodies.
Along comes “their” football operation,”cap in hand”,asking for more money to meet with the perceived competition. It is in this area that the basic roots of the downfall of the NSL began, for not only were there the normal political power struggles that occur within a football management group but these same struggles continued over into the management of the social clubs as individula sought to get a measure of “muscle” in how & to where the huge profits were to be allocated.
Using your intelligence it does not take much imagination to see that this was a recipe for disaster, for some of the men involved were very successful business men who no doubt were considerable donors to the original “social club” structure but also had a liking for the football “tentacle ” generated in their development as a community based identity.
The “Hakoah story” 1982 -1986 is a classic example of the point I am trying to relay to you. Cheers jb
July 10th 2012 @ 8:35am
Kasey said | July 10th 2012 @ 8:35am | Report comment
There is a whole book out there waiting to be written about the early days of the NSL right through to its demise. I wonder at what stage football will be at in this country when a publisher decides to take a chance on a Soccer book, but not about the A-League.
July 9th 2012 @ 12:54pm
jbinnie said | July 9th 2012 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
Mid.- Your explanation of “how to join the NSL” is a little misleading to those who were not involved. One could construe from your description that the Marconi club was started up to play in the NSL (as Kasey has) when in fact Marconi was started up in 1958 by the Italian community around Fairfield.
I think it is better to point out to readers the method used in the NSL formation was to get all the first division clubs in each state to meet, & after explanation,declare if they,the club, were interested in joining. I attended the meeting in Brisbane & there was only one club who had the means & wherewithal to come up with the $50,000 bond that had to be posted, that club being Brisbane Lions, who owned their own ground & had extensive real estate holdings earning them income from outside the game itself. At the meeting the other big “ethnic” identity in Brisbane, the former Azzurri,actually walked out of the meeting very early, stating categorically they were not interested in playing in a national competition.(Note this statement well).
The local Federation ,desperate for their ground at Perry Park to be used every weekend stated to the remaining clubs that they desperately wanted a second “tenant”.
It was then a similar outcome to yours took place.A meeting was held (7pm to 2am) and finally it was decided the remaining teams in the first division would back a second identity in the NSL,collectively contributing to the bond ($5000 each) & due to dual registration at that time beiing allowable, letting their better players form a pool of talent to be used in the national comp.An appropriate name was chosen, Brisbane United, & all documentation was completed & presented in record time to the QSF, the state body.
What happened?????? A few weeks later it was announced Brisbane Lions & Brisbane City (Azzurri, the same club that had walked out of the meeting) were announced as the 2 Queensland teams in the NSL.
Hope this might make Frank Lowy’s attitude a liitle clearer, such were the “goings on” in football at that time. Cheers jb
July 9th 2012 @ 9:27pm
Midfielder said | July 9th 2012 @ 9:27pm | Report comment
JB & Kassey
You miss read me…it was those at a point when those who ran Marconi wanted to go to vote to change the name … it had a massive amount of local Italian community …everything was in place sponsors etc my old man was cheering the house down… then they were stabbed in the back after being told they had the south and central west of Sydney to themselves …
Those that ran it left .. then new people got control of the club…
July 9th 2012 @ 9:15am
Kasey said | July 9th 2012 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Jb, I apologize if I mis-read the tone of your original comment. I read it as “How can you blind yes-men not see that wiley old FL has once again pulled a swifty and got his way by sidelining old soccer from the new way of doing things. I can see now that you were just highlighting the latest in a pattern of appointments from way back in 2005. I As I wrote crudely before, I think it has been a worthwhile strategy to pursue, to break out of the cycle of mediocrity that we as a sport had become trapped in. Other sports administrators appear far more bullish about the potential of our game than our own organically grown administrators. I can only put this down to having become beaten down by a life spent battling the crippling politics that often infects the behind he scenes of our game. It appears that if these other sports administrators stay in their original sport, they demonstrate this recognition of football’s potential as hostility.
July 9th 2012 @ 8:34am
Jerome said | July 9th 2012 @ 8:34am | Report comment
What would someone from CA know about running a league-format competition? That’s my only gripe with this appointment.
July 9th 2012 @ 2:51pm
Sports Candy said | July 9th 2012 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Jerome
This guy was the very first A-League Operations Manager He created such a good impression that he was snapped up by Cricket Australia after only a few months.
He has a great football history from player to administrator including head of Football Victoria and is thrilled to be out of cricket and back in football.
He is an ideal choice and still in his 30s, so he is young with a big future..
Do some research beforehand, its so easy on the internet these days.
July 11th 2012 @ 6:09pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | July 11th 2012 @ 6:09pm | Report comment
Off topic, but very important announcement for AUS football fans.
JPN WNT v AUS WNT about to commence in Tokyo.
JPN are the World Champions & AUS are the Asian Champions.
The match is being streamed live:
a) on the FFA website: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/matildas/livestream
b) on the ABC.net.au website
Replay tonight at 1130 pm on ABC1
Make sure you click-on – it will send a powerful message to the FFA about the “Live streaming of football on FFA.com.au”