Calls for the current leaders at FFA to leave are nothing new but it begs the question, who comes next?
With all the attention on things like expansion and promotion and relegation you would think that such a pivotal decision as changing the leadership would receive more scrutiny.
If you change the leadership you change FFA and in turn affect the future of the sport in Australia so you need to make sure that any change is for the better.
With that in mind I’d like to put forward a few suggestions about people who could potentially form new leadership teams at FFA.
Lyall Gorman and Greg O’Rourke
Lyall Gorman would be a leading contender and a popular choice because of his previous success with Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers as well as his success last season with the Cronulla Sharks who he is currently still with. He has also previously been head of the A-League.
Greg O’Rourke also has experience from his current role as head of the A-League which would suit him for a new role should Gallop and Lowy depart.
Les Murray and Craig Foster
As the face of football on SBS Les Murray has a high profile as well as having an encyclopedic knowledge of “The World Game”.
PFA Chairman Craig Foster has a strong sense of investment knowledge due to his links with Rabodirect and knows how to help people to reach their full potential as he did when he coached Nerds FC in season 2.
Rabiyah Krayem and Bill Papastergiadis
Rabiyah Krayem has been instrumental in setting up the Association of Australian Football Clubs and in leading the push for a second division while Bill Papastergiadis of South Melbourne FC the “Oceania team of the century” knows all about media engagement.
They are both “football people” who know what the game is all about and who want to revolutionise the sport in Australia by bringing it inline with other leagues around the world. They aren’t just bean counters but true believers who want to raise football in Australia to new heights.
Eddie McGuire and David Koch
One of the criticisms of the current leadership of Gallop and Lowy has been their poor promotion of the A-League.
Eddie McGuire and David Koch would have no trouble in raising the code’s profile even in the hostile media environment which exists in Australia.
You can’t turn on the TV without seeing Eddie McGuire’s face somewhere while David Koch is the sort of person who could sell Aussie Rules to China.
It really makes you wonder why these two aren’t running the AFL. With their public profiles and strong business acumen the AFL’s loss could be FFA’s gain.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Nick Symonds
As a contributor on The Roar I have always put forward innovative and visionary ideas for sport in Australia.
For example I’ve suggested putting AFL teams in Beijing, New Delhi, Auckland, Singapore, Tokyo and Jakarta and I’ve suggested relocating the Titans to Tasmania in the NRL.
As well as these I’ve also put forward a number of proposals for the round ball code such as the following:
1) Using an A-League bid as a catalyst to build a new city between Hobart and Launceston to solve the North-South divide.
2) Expanding the A-League to 24 teams.
3) Starting an Australian Super League with just 6 teams.
4) Using Ugandan built solar powered buses as transport to stadiums.
5) Building a 50,000 seat stadium at North Sydney Oval.
6) Creating a 16 team promotion-relegation zone across the A-League and a future second division with a new “melee” format.
7) Creating a new form of the game called “Thunderball” to compete with T20 Cricket with 8 players on each side, 15 minute quarters, no offside rule, timekeepers, hot substitutions, music and lighting effects, loud commentary in Spanish over the PA system and Samba dancers.
8) Moving Australia into CONCACAF and also taking part in the Copa America so that we could potentially be crowned continental champions on four different continents.
9) Attracting Portugese superstar Christiano Ronaldo to the A-League by haggling down his price with free meals at Oporto.
Looking at all the constructive input I’ve made to the conversation some of my readers might think that I would be the right person to take charge of FFA but I have to rule myself out.
Personally I don’t have any objections to the current leadership team of Lowy and Gallop and think they are doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances.
I have complete confidence in their ability to run FFA and to promote football in Australia and I have no leadership ambitions of my own whatsoever.
Revolving door leadership
Like adding new teams, taking the decision to change the FFA leadership isn’t without risk and it’s important to chose wisely.
Get it right and football could flourish under new management but choose poorly and you could end up in a worse situation than what you started with.
In a worst case scenario you could even end up with revolving door leadership as has recently been the case in Australian politics.
Whenever people say that Gallop and Lowy should go the questions that should always be asked are, “if that happens who comes next?” and just as importantly “would the suggested replacements be willing to take the job?”.
There really needs to be more attention on these points in online discussions and in football journalism.
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