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Winter is coming, and the impending storm has potential to rattle House A-League. A decade on since the A-League’s inception, progress should be the go-to word.
Instead, we have just farewelled a season that dished out a cacophony of wars, all to be battled out over the off-season.
Now with no on-pitch goodness to mask off-field failures, the sticky situations an overwhelming number of clubs are mired in has been laid bare.
Perth Glory must be licking their lips at the brief reprieve from the spotlight, as Nathan Tinkler again forced himself onto the back pages this week.
According to Newcastle Jets owner Tinkler, the story goes that he wasn’t willing to pay staff and player wages until he was guaranteed the club’s licence.
That didn’t happen, so he placed Newcastle into voluntary administration on Wednesday – the same that day the FFA revoked the licence held by Newcastle Jets Football Operations Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group.
The situation has been brewing for years. So often there has been uncertainty at the Jets at top level, before a last ditch intervention from Tinkler. Chaos, control. Chaos, control.
This time, things have certainly reached a boiling point. FFA now have control of the club and are in discussions regarding a takeover.
That’s where a new problem has arisen. Tinkler has suggested he was on the verge of selling the club to a consortium including Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson. The mining magnate has not so subtly accused FFA of swooping in and hijacking his deal, claiming the governing body were made fully aware of his plans.
“The FFA have set the template here of ripping off owners and thinking it’s OK,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “They peg us guys to put our hard-earned in and we do and then they want to rip it from you and basically, they are saying that all A-League licences are worth nothing.”
It sets a dangerous precedent, one that threatens to create a greater divide to what is already a tempestuous relationship between the FFA and all A-League owners.
Tinkler has made very few friends as Jets owner, though his plight isn’t without merit.
Make no mistake, both Tinkler and former Gold Coast owner Clive Palmer have done their clubs and the league more harm than good. Regardless of motive, their antics have led to the demise of one and a half clubs between them.
FFA intervened before, by their judgement, Newcastle became another Gold Coast, North Queensland Fury or New Zealand Knights. And there is no excuse for Tinkler leaving Jets staff and players stranded without pay.
But perhaps the message of the 2003 report of the Independent Soccer Review Committee, known as the Crawford Report, needs to be taken seriously.
The report, a precursor to the foundation of the A-League, suggested an independent commission oversee the A-League to allow for greater transparency. It was a notion rejected by the FFA, who believed themselves to be independent enough to make decisions in the best interests of all stakeholders.
With an obvious fraction between the FFA and respective owners, it’s clear that this suggestion deserves to be brought back to the fore.
Progress can only be achieved if clubs are enabled to step out from the FFA’s shadow and quit being a parody of one another. Sure, that comes with an element of risk, for example if Tinkler was further from a sale than insinuated. But it also provides a greater reward for individual clubs whose greatest crime is a sense of ambition.
Now, the Jets are back at square one. New owners will come in, with a heavy influence initially from the FFA. Though all players and staff will be offered their contracts again, the face of the club will undoubtedly change.
A number of key players have already run from the mess and it now seems very likely that there will be a new coach on the touchline next season, with a growing voice of dissent against Phil Stubbins’ management.
The simple fact is that the city of Newcastle needs the Jets to thrive. The market is there for it to return to the heights of the championship win in 2008.
It’s immensely important that things are done right this time around. The new owners must place particular emphasis on community engagement.
At present, the Jets seem more distant than ever to their fans. Tinkler has undoubtedly earned the ire of locals with his ruthless and impersonal approach to business and in that regard, he may have done the club a favour by going toe to toe with FFA, as many fans had threatened to walk away after another rough season in protest to his ownership.
Though they share a stadium, the Newcastle Knights have averaged double the crowd this season of the Jets. Community engagement doesn’t just mean showing your face in public. It means operating in the interest of players and investing in building a club that is going to benefit the city of Newcastle.
Here’s to hoping the FFA are much wiser in this Jets takeover than the last.
Meanwhile, across the country, lest we forget about the dirt tracks Perth left behind this season. The salary cap saga has paved the way for an exodus. Jamie Maclaren has asked for a release and Danny Vukovic is tipped to be on the way out, with Josh Risdon, Michael Thwaite and Dino Djulbic and Scott Jamieson all rumoured to be attracting interest from across the league.
Throw in the hunt for a new CEO and Glory could be counting the cost of the scandal all off-season.
Speaking of clean outs, Western Sydney have plenty to do before pre-season starts. Consistency was by no means prevalent at the club this season.
Asian Champions League success was juxtaposed with dismal league form; while the recruitment drive proved mostly fruitful – Vitor Saba and Seyi Adeleke given the premature chop.
There could be similar rebuilding for Brisbane, who are set to report a loss in excess of $2.25 million for the 2014-15 financial year, according to News Corp.
The Roar could also be destined for new owners, with chairman Chris Fong in discussions with current owners Bakrie Group over their future plans. A busy period will be capped off by the hunt for a new man to replace interim coach Frans Thijssen.
Just years after the A-League seemed destined to reach an unprecedented level of quality and interest, the Australian game has taken a significant step back. The way this wave of turmoil is handled over the coming months could be decisive to the short term future of the league.
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