Has the FFA finally turned the corner?
Roar Guru By Midfielder, 6 Aug 2012 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- A-League, football, Western Sydney Wanderers
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Football Federation Australia coped a fair bit a while back – and many argued that it was deserved. The A-League was in free fall. Frank Lowy’s role was being questioned, with some suggesting football would be better off without him.
Ben Buckley was seen as the worst sports administrators in Australia’s history.
A-League season six saw crowds drop for the third year. Lyall Gorman was drafted from the Mariners to head the A-League for season seven. Gorman set about holding fans forums after which he made changes to the A-League.
The biggest change was developing a new season start and draw. It’s history now that crowds in A-League season seven increased by a third and TV rating increased by 42 percent. Was it Harry and Emmo returning, FFA’s new management, or a combination of both?
FFA failed badly under Buckley with North Queensland Fury. This failure was added to by Clive Palmer’s Gold Coast in and out until Frank Lowy stepped in and said Clive is out.
The Newcastle Jets left and came back under the ownership of Nathan Tinkler, Perth Glory came close to leaving as Tony Sage’s nerves were broken by taunting fans, and even the Central Coast Mariners were battling close to the win.
Exacerbating the issues in the A-League were national teams failing to qualify for major tournaments.
The FFA started a team in Western Sydney to replace the loss of Gold Coast United. Gorman was again drafted into the head role.
Gorman held fans forums and the ‘Wanderers’ name were created out of the forums. Most believe the Western Sydney Wanderers are now going well and ticking most boxes as the FFA learn from previous mistakes. Some even suggest the old NSL folk are getting behind the Wanderers as the engagement activities from the FFA start to work.
A national talent identification program has been established. The top players have been identified and coached. New coaching standards have been established.
In 2015, the Asia Cup will be played in Australia and to date the organisation of it appears to be well done. Recently Mike Cockerill wrote how FFA and Buckley were fighting for access to fields and stadiums. Mike’s article indicates FFA are supporting Sydney Olympic in their fight with the Canterbury Bulldogs over Belmore Oval. Is FFA fighting for the rights of a former NSL club a turning point?
Every football forum and every fan understands the importance of the next media deal, both for financial stability and to grow the game outside football’s few heartlands. Have FFA rebuilt the A-League to a high value sports for media outlets?
Have FFA clawed their way back into favour?
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- Explore:
- A-League, football, Western Sydney Wanderers
August 6th 2012 @ 8:21am
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:21am | Report comment
Just on the Wanderers supporters should be given limited input you dont want nor need them trying to control the club. The tv deal is going to be very interesting things are on an upward spiral.
August 6th 2012 @ 8:45am
Futbanous said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:45am | Report comment
Turn the corner
“if something or someone turns the corner, their situation starts to improve after a difficult period ”
I think perhaps to balance this up a little the question needs to be analysed a little deeper than just pointing out the previous bad & the present good.
For me its a lot more complicated than implicating one body(FFA) in the fortunes of the game,many more factors are involved.
The FFA was a clean sheet if you consider what passed as administration of the game in this country previously & the heavy baggage it carried with it.
Lets consider then the different climate the FFA worked within ,compared to previous eras.
First Frank Lowy was persuaded to return. Considering the circumstances under which he turned his back on the game previously,it was initially only ever going to be his way or the highway. But a powerful influential man could not be ignored considering the poor image of football at the time.
He needed professional sporting administrators to run the game. Unfortunately in this country at the time, whether we football fans like it or not, there were no football people with practical experience in this field.
Hence John O’Niell then Ben Buckley.
We then entered 2 unknown areas. We joined the AFC & started a new domestic league based on location/community with the goal to break into the mainstream sporting psyche of Australia.
This placed totally different dynamics on the way the game had to function. With the AFC themselves placing their own demands on the way the FFA had to professionally conduct themselves & the domestic league.
Frank Lowy was in the meantime a godsend but had his own agenda given his age. & remembering he was a man who looks at the big picture. What better way to leave a legacy for the game than hosting a World Cup. Looking at it from the bottom as a fan like I do, it was the point of the pyramid. Frank IMO had forgot that he needed a few more slaves beneath to build the bottom first.
BB was a sporting administrator with experience, but he lacked football knowledge,Expansion therefore as Frank entertained on his yacht, pouring cocktails for Sepp was always fraught with danger. GC,NQ yer having a laf
from my knowledge of the game in Australia . Like throwing seeds in the Simpson desert.
The term” failing to qualify for major tournaments”,fails in itself to recognise the landscape we now operate in.
Why are the NZ U23′s in the Olympics,Oceania. Who is in the semi-finals of the Olympic football Japan & Korea,could be an all Asian final.
The guts of the issue is that Football in Australia is now having to operate under scrutinisation from many quarters,whereas previously it lived in a twilight zone of apathy.& the main culprits were football people themselves.
The same football people now care enough to not accept mediocrity through that apathy.
Examples are shown in this article.
The question is then not so much of turning a corner,but rather one of adapting,learning from rapidly changing circumstances due to events that occurred 7 or 8 years ago.
Is that happening ,I believe so ,but don’t lay everything wholly & solely on the shoulders of the FFA,they like the rest of us involved in football are learning a whole new ball game for the sport.
August 6th 2012 @ 8:49am
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:49am | Report comment
I will probably cop a bit from those who think being a football fan in this country means constantly being a negative-nelly always pointing out the flaws in the system and never necking up long enough to enjoy what we do have, which is an even, exciting football competition and a mostly successful National team across a number of age groups and both sexes.
I have always had Faith in Frank Lowy, Not so much in Ben Buckley, but it appears to me that Buckley/the FFA is actually learning and the number of ‘howlers’ emanating from HQ has significantly reduced in recent months, in fact the only negative story I can think of in recent times was the muck-racking tripe from SMH ‘journalist’ Seb Hassett over the Ray Price statue.
I am filled with a high degree of confidence for all of the KPIs for this season. Adelaide look once again to springboard off a successful ACL campaign into the HAL season with increased confidence in the stands. Already Melbourne Heart are reporting increased membership sales, and after Tinkler’s dummy spit, it appears as though the Hunter regionare once again behind the Jets, with over 7,000 members signed up 2 months out from the season, aiming for 11k. Melbourne Victory have recruited strongly and with Ange actually being able to coach, I expect them to challenge for honours again this season, leading to their usual large crowds receiving the ’hey our team is winning boost that happens in all sports’ Clive Palmer and his “Hey look at me” routine is finito, replaced by a team that 2 months out has already generated a whole bunch of positive headlines, not an easy task in the notoriously negative football news circles.
Many look at the Average Crowd figure of the comp as the all-important KPI to the health of the comp. I see it as an overly simplistic measure given the massive advantages/free kicks the other sports have engineered for themselves in the Mainstream media, but even so, speaking that language is likely to yield positive reporting of the League this season, simply replacing the dire crowds of GCU with a conservative guesstimate average crowd of 7k(although I expect it to be closer to 11k**) Would lead to the eighth season in a row of 1million spectators for the A-League( over 1.46 million) with an average of 10,800+, which would completely arrest the slide of season 5+6, and get it heading back towards the high water mark of season 3 (14,610).
Other KPIs that rose last season were viewer numbers, I see no reason why that cant continue this season, there have been some exciting signings (of course not to the zeitgeist levels of both HK and Emmo signing on in the lead up to last season, but exciting none the less for football fans. )
**with 2 home derbies for WSW and of course the all-NSW games being played at the perfect for football Parra Stadium
August 6th 2012 @ 8:51am
George said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
Its easy to throw dirt on Buckley, Lowy and co from afar, but the reality is this is a league that is still an infant, teething problems will always come to up and people like Palmer will come around and try to flex his wallet on everyone thinking that whilst its still young he can take control! You’ll never see him trying to do the same with RL or the AFL because they probably wouldnt let him in the sport from the get go.
All in all, things are going fine, its not a raging success everyone would love it to be, but its not a failure either, its sitting nicely in the mid table mediocrity stakes which shows some things are going on well, and some things can be better, and the better things come with groth and maturity in the game.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:04am
Futbanous said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Good point about Palmer,George. That just emphasises the changing dynamics of the game as I mentioned above.
The other sports didn’t need Palmer ,football did. The FFA couldn’t knock him back at the time given they didn’t know his personality & what was to come.
But why would a non football billionaire get involved? Simply because we are now in the AFC. He thought he saw business opportunities through football.
Trouble was he ran it like a business not a football club.
He particularly looked to China ,But perhaps he could have taken lessons from the billionaire who paid for Drogba & Anelka to go to Shanghai,loosened the purse strings,GCU may have stood chance despite the areas lack of history in the game.
Who knows? Clive Palmer,the tiff with Tinkler ,just part of the learning process. WSW part of the same learning process.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:15am
George said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:15am | Report comment
All those tiffs with the billionaires in our game have kinda been a blessing in disguise i think. By them being done and dusted so early in the piece it puts the FFA in a smarter frame of mind, gives them a platform to work on.
Its funny that out of Palmer, Tinkler and Sage only Sage that has been in the game longer knew that although things werent rosey being a knob with money to burn doesnt endear you to the massive football community of Australia so he stayed quiet a tad quiet (except for his crazy outburst which was just emotions running through) whilst from the other 2, one got booted out of ther game and although was making noise early in the piece now no one really cares what he or Archie Fraser say, and Tinkler went from hero to zero in Newcastle straight away hence the backflip.
Now that the FFA has distanced itself from the negative money men and have actually started to listen to the club owners, it removes the negative media spin somewhat and puts the game on a positive spin which will hopefully show in the gate takings.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:10am
Happy Hooker said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:10am | Report comment
Has the FFA finally turned the corner?
No.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:14am
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:14am | Report comment
Gee HH, that was an incredibly valuable addition to the conversation. Care to share your reasons for thinking No? Not arguing with your right to think No, just curious as to why you think that way.
August 7th 2012 @ 1:38pm
Sports Candy said | August 7th 2012 @ 1:38pm | Report comment
And you call yourself “Happy” – no pleasing you, is there.
The turnaround from the FFA this last 6 months has been absolutely extraordinary, given the turmoil that Palmer and Tinkler created and Sage wanting to withdraw his money too. Some experts were rightly predicting the end of the A-League was in sight – and look where we are now!
The FFA expelled GCU, set up WSW, set up an A-League owners joint steering committee and gave the owners concessions on revenue sharing and many other concessions on running their clubs to make them more flexible and profitable. The owners have unanimously endorsed the new FFA approach.
The FFA will at least double their media revenue by the end of the year and will double their payments to clubs to $2.8 million to cover their salary caps.
The FFA are also increasing their investments in youth and grasssroots competitions and again this year have not increased the National Football Player Registration Fee and kept it at $12.00 per registration. They have also underwritten the national Youth League and national Women’s League competitions so that clubs can continue to enter teams.
They have also secured increased funding and sponsorships and will return to the black this year.
All they need is anyone who has an interest in football in this country to stop bagging them and the A-League, appreciate what a great football nation we are and the FFA’s efforts to give us a national football competition.
Go out a watch a few games whether its A-League or the local kids playing or tune in to Foxtel and support the game.
You’ll only watch it grow and get even better.
August 6th 2012 @ 9:40am
Midfielder said | August 6th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
On reflection my reading of FFA is during the WCB the A-League was left by and large to the clubs..
The expansion was rushed and failed….
But as in this smh article there is some things done during the WCB that are being presued by FFA http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/numbers-back-need-for-more-facilities-20120803-23ksl.html … essentially access to grounds and auditing player numbers claimed by some codes … I am convinced [my own obversation] RU in Sydney would be in some trouble if this process was carried out…
I agree with Fut turned the corner is not the right phrase however there was some real anger towards FFA and a lot of questioning of their ability the question I guess do those doubts still linger …
August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am
whiskeymac said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
there is a renewed optimism and positiveness right now which is refreshing, from the nadir of gcu and jets leaving to the reinstatement of tinkler and the launch of WSW things seem, right now, to be on the mend. as has already been mentioned i can see a good season ahead if MV remember how to win and WSW can deliver on what has been some very encouraging starts to their existence. Hopefully Glory will kick on too. The only question for me is SFC. They have the squad but do they have the presence or the marketing to engage the fickle market they have so far not lit up?
..
a concerted marketing effort and some good performances from teams and players and the season could develop nicely. especially with so many derbies now. It will be interesting to see who is discovered and which kid will be tagged the new kewell or the new viduka because they can dribble and score on debut…
..
i dont think we will go backwards but there are still plenty of things left to fix. plenty of ups and downs following the HAL so far.
..
Frank sorted out a succession plan yet? I dont want to see him go but no one can be there forever.
..
Whats BB’s long term vision past the media deal and 2015 which have been looming for a while now???
August 6th 2012 @ 10:41am
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:41am | Report comment
You raise a few interesting points whiskymac, chief amongst them the succession plan for FL. No evidence of that yet. I wonder which direction the FFA will go with marketing this year. Last years We Are Football campaign certainly got tongues wagging. Past form has indicated the FFA will try to milk a few more runs out of it, so I expect not a new tagline, but perhaps a different TVC clip to go with the tagline and a re-newed push of the WAF campaign. We are 2 months out from the season, probably won’t see anything until about 3-4 weeks out. I too would like FFA to come out and mark out a 10-20 year plan, one that establishes the ambition of the organisation. Do we aim to be the best League in Asia in 10-20 years, do we aim to be a worlds top 20 league in that time-frame? Its very hard to hit a target if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. What is the vision for the HAL and what do FFA want us to do about it besides just turning up to games? We all need something to buy into and I feel it would be wise for th FFA to indicate this, even if it might initially involve ridicule from the football illiterate media types.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:02am
nordster said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:02am | Report comment
The succession plan for lowy is probably for the game to not need one single influence at the top. But many throughout the sport. So the successor(s) are club chairs, boards, corporate partners, coaches, TDs, former players, media pundits, govt types etc etc. I always assumed lowy’s plan on getting involved was to lend some cred so more people jump in and end up with a vested interest in the game. The individual roles then become interchangeable with chairpeople being less relevant.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:11am
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:11am | Report comment
I have to say I’ve admired from a distance the American model of a League ‘Commisioner’ appointed by the owners for a fixed period of time, with the USSF run as a separate (but co-existing in a Soccer sense USSF endorses MLS as the USA’s Tier1 league) organisation from MLS responsible for the big picture running of the game and the various national teams as well as interfacing with FIFA, that way there can be no comebacks if the League isn’t being run to the best interests of the club owners(ie if they aren’t making money) I wonder how far away from feasible this separate HAL/FFA model would be once the new TV deal takes effect? I also wonder if it would cause a friction pouint, HAL blames FFA and vice versa if things don’t go right, similar to what we see in federal politics, Feds blame States and vice versa when a snafu occurs.
August 7th 2012 @ 1:20pm
Sports Candy said | August 7th 2012 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Lyle Gorman is Lowy’s successor.
Given the tireless work he did to establish CCM, the way he turned around the A-League last season in just one year as the A-League Operations Manager and what he is doing at WSW in just a few months, proves he is the next Chairman of FFA.
Ben Buckley has been a total disappointment in my eyes as the FFA CEO and they should replace him at the next available opportunity.
August 6th 2012 @ 10:33am
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football said | August 6th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
“Regrets, I have a few, but then again too few to mention…”
I can see Frank leaning back in his recliner with a good cognac in hand listening to the other Frank while contemplating the last few years in Australian football.
On the basis of what has been achieved in the last 6 months in our sport I can say “Well played Sir. Well played.” Of course there’s always more to be done but credit where credit is due.
August 6th 2012 @ 11:04am
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:04am | Report comment
Quietly confident that we’re back on track but, like any business – particularly, a start-up venture – the road to success will be dotted with pot-holes and is not always a straight line.
This is the season that AUS football fans must take ownership of & accept responsibility for their HAL clubs and stop expecting club administrators & the FFA to serve things on a silver platter.
In particular, whenever fans are unhappy with aspects about their club – rally the troops like the people did in Newcastle. It’s never been easier to engage with like-minded people via social media.
My motto for the HAL this year is: “Get involved or get out of the way”
August 6th 2012 @ 12:31pm
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Luckily 10years the various tribes of Adelaide got behind our new team as did the Melburnians 8 years ago. I stand with fans of Adelaide Olympic, Adelaide Croatia, Polonia and we all love and support the Reds. Will this happen with the WSW? I don’t know, its probably too early to tell, but the signs thus far are very positive. I don’t think anybody can set out to “unite the tribes” its just a process of putting out a team ansd making as few mistakes as possible that turn away the fewest potential supporters. That’s what I saw in ADL in 2003 and Melb in 2004/5 and what I see in WS in 2012.
August 6th 2012 @ 2:08pm
Kasey said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:08pm | Report comment
WSW have just posted on their FB page, less than a week after going on sale, that they have passed 1200 Foundation Members and passed 5000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook!
August 6th 2012 @ 2:51pm
Nathan of Perth said | August 6th 2012 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Their membership options look good – although I can’t help but notice yet another club with significantly cheaper memberships than Glory!
August 6th 2012 @ 3:09pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 6th 2012 @ 3:09pm | Report comment
“another club with significantly cheaper memberships than Glory!” …
Fair enough too – we all know that you blokes in WA are all millionaires!
August 9th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Timber Tim said | August 9th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Doesn’t help when you have the highest stadium rental fee by a country mile compared to other A-League clubs?
Interesting to know what crowds you get at Subiaco (cough Pattersons)?
August 6th 2012 @ 11:46am
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 11:46am | Report comment
Yes, the FFA has definitely turned the corner. Te quwstion is, what’s round that corner? Does it go downhill, uphill, or is it undulating? Or does it lead to another corner?
Perhaps the FFA has been walking round the block for 7 years now?
August 6th 2012 @ 12:08pm
Fussball ist unser leben said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
Welcome back, The Cattery – was wondering where you’d gone. But, your idiosyncratic writing style eventually betrays you.
August 6th 2012 @ 12:28pm
Bondy. said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Oh gee your good Fuss you dont miss a trick here,i’ve found it now, little puddy . Lol
August 6th 2012 @ 12:45pm
Gwils said | August 6th 2012 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
You blokes have been throwing accusations around for months now. first GCS, then Christomthendaddyo , then someone else. Perhaps you owe all these peopl an apology?
August 6th 2012 @ 8:54pm
Stevo said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:54pm | Report comment
Inspector Clouseau strikes
lol
August 6th 2012 @ 8:58pm
Titus said | August 6th 2012 @ 8:58pm | Report comment
Haha–was getting ready to call it myself, so glad I saw this…..well done Fuss.
August 10th 2012 @ 10:05am
Gwils said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Owners at loggerheads with FFA again, as I said, it’s a case of walking around the block, just when you think you’ve turned the corner, you remember that you’ve actually seen this house before.
August 10th 2012 @ 11:05am
Kasey said | August 10th 2012 @ 11:05am | Report comment
If you read the article you’d notice that of the 6 things the owners asked for, they have received commitments to all 6 from the FFA, this hissy fit is the football equivalent of the National Emquirer/New Idea muckraking a photo of a celebrity who had a large lunch into a “Baby Bump?”
The consternation appears to come from the time frame of events. Given the bigger TV deal on the horizon, I’m not particularly worried. I did email the CEO of my club this morning (and received a nice reply) asking them to think of the game and conduct these sorts of things behind closed doors in the future.
August 10th 2012 @ 10:45am
Bondy. said | August 10th 2012 @ 10:45am | Report comment