Gold Coast United club chairman Clive Palmer (right) and head coach Miron Bleiberg speak at a press conference at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast. AAP Image/Laine Clark
Sometime, somewhere in the grand history of global sport and recreation, one person stated that “the only thing that matters is results.” Clearly that person has never met the Gold Coast United Football Club.
It is hard to believe that the club that played in front of a paltry 1658 people against the Melbourne Heart on Sunday evening is the same as the one that achieved a very respectable figure of over 10,000 attendees when playing English side Fulham FC in a friendly in July of 2009.
Surely there is a reason why the vast majority of Gold Coast residents have snubbed their club in this short space of time. Perhaps it was the arrogant assumptions made by club owner Clive Palmer that the club would win the League in its first season and see to the demise of the Gold Coast Suns by 2014.
No doubt Palmer looked like a right idiot when he closed down three sections of Skilled Park to save money. It appears now though, that it would not matter if an apology was made and the entire stadium was opened to the public. For whatever reason, the Gold Coast public have lost interest in their club.
What is so sad about this situation is the fact that this was perhaps the FFA’s best opportunity to make a significant leap in expansion. United arrived in the A-League before the Suns in the AFL, and this meant that the opportunity to develop a large fan base was possible.
The fact of the matter is though; there are more club members of the Gold Coast Suns than there were people who attended Sunday night’s 3-0 win.
Clearly the quality on the park is up to scratch. The club has reclaimed third spot on the ladder, and looks a real chance to make an impact in the finals. Even with the likes of quality players such as Culina, Djite and Pantelidis in full flight, it is still not enough.
You don’t have to be an expert in business management to know that Gold Coast United are a failure. They have failed in every sense of the word, in every possible fashion.
Dreams of sold out crowds and record memberships have vanished, and it now appears the Gold Coast Suns will go head to head in a gripping cross-code showdown with the Titans from 2011.
The fact that Gold Coast United will play the very, very poor younger brother to this rivalry means that it is unlikely they will grow and build a sustainable club. You have to wonder how different things may have turned out if the FFA had gone with substance over style, and given its ninth licence to the ‘Gold Coast Galaxy’ bid ahead of Clive Palmer’s riches.
Alas, that is confined to the pages of history and fantasy. Gold Coast United are a club missing a key ingredient; support. Community engagement was non-existent in the club’s early stages, and they are now paying the price.
Yours truly can see only one solution. Unless the club wins the League and gains qualification for the Asian Champions League by season’s end, it must disband and professional football on the Coast must be left alone in the short term.
Once the hype over the Gold Coast Suns’ arrival subsides, the FFA can then go about starting this process all over again, but in the right way.
They must establish a club that is for all Gold Coast residents that appeals to a broader age group than what United currently does.
In short, give the Gold Coast Galaxy bid another chance. Have the star players out in force with open training sessions and community clinics. Entrench the club in the community and give the Suns and Titans a reason to look behind their shoulders every once in a while.
Having a new club will be fresh and different, and will surely be better than flogging a dead horse.
At the moment, the Gold Coast United Football Club are the laughing stock of Australian sport, and a complete embarrassment for the A-League, so soon after being embarrassed on the world stage in Zurich.
Soon after losing that World Cup bid, FFA Chief Executive Ben Buckley said the goal was to concentrate and improve the A-League.
Perhaps delivering the final nail in the coffin of the Gold Coast United Football Club and starting all over again is the best way to go about this improvement.
Andyroo
Guest
Clive stikes back!!!! Free entry for the Mariners game.
Jasan
Guest
lol You honestly think Aussie Rules isn't a foreign code in Queensland? You need to get out of Victoria. Up here AFL is the foreign code and league is seen as the the indigenous code. Just accept it your the import, not rugby, not league, not even soccer.
ac
Guest
AFL is dying in its heartland of country Victoria. So i guess they have to expand which makes sense. I think it is arrogant of anyone to say that the AFL Suns will knock off either the titans or the United A League team. Isnt there room for every code. I just wish the AFL would stop trying to make it that their game is the best. It is a wonderful game but so is Soccer (football) and so it NRL. I dislike the arrogant nature that pervades these posts by people from the AFL who are always putting other codes down. it is not right. All can co-exist.
Cpaaa
Roar Pro
thanks foget. It is to please you lads. wont last long though, ill put up something more esay on the eye. It is a bit creepy the image.
Koops
Guest
Hi Redb, Craig Foster here, You are a typical uncultured Australian sports fan. It's people like you, passionately supporting a sport other than Football, that shows we are not a mature sporting country, *sigh* it's been a rough couple of days for me, but Football will bounce back. The seeds have been sown for total domination within 20 years. MAX.
Koops
Guest
Hello Fussy, Craig Foster here!, keep your chin up, you are doing a magnificent job for real football, it won't be long before the giant tsunami of football sweeps all before it in this country. I've been saying it for years, and it's already started to happen. It's hard to point to physical evidence of this but I'm an expert SBS analyst so if I say it, you know there is truth to it. Then what will the insular, backyard, parochial, provincial uncultured losers do when football takes over? My articles in the SMH deride the AFL as an insular one-country code. I'm not insular though. Sure I only follow football, but that's because it's the only sport worth following, It's not because I'm insular. How can I be insular when I don't even attempt to follow AFL or Rugby League?
Hoolifan
Guest
Bottom line: Average AFL attendance > 35k Average A-League
ruckrover
Guest
Ben, on what evidence do you assert that the AFL fakes numbers? North Melbourne have always been near the bottom of the ladder for supporter numbers in the VFL and now the AFL, but despite attempts from the AFL hierarchy - they are still here and can still rally enough dormant supporters to keep a multi-multi million dollar AFL club afloat - at least for a few more seasons. With no big spending billionaire like the A-League seems to regularly need. Also, the link with Ballarat - it is afterall just north west of Melbourne - may guarantee the 'Roos next 90 odd years of existence.
ruckrover
Guest
see below
Phil Osopher
Guest
Dont like the Big Clive bashing. If there's one thing we need is big blokes with big money to spend. Clive can dig a great hole in the ground, but he is obviously a novice when it comes to builidng a football club, but if he had some decent guidance he's a good guy to invite to the party to buy the beer. Just needs to be shown what beer to buy. Hounding this guy out of the game is a big mistake you're all making. All this talk about comminities owning clubs is pure hippy dreaming. Australia doesnt have the public support to raise the cash for such antics. This is one country that needs rich blokes in the sport, and I applaud his efforts or more correctly intentions and his balls for giving it a go, even though I'd have to give him an F, but he has ability to do better (did your report cards say that or just mine). You all know how to run a football club, maybe you should ask him for a job, he just might comply. The Gold Coast town itself boggles my mind, I dont get it at all, and I think that's more the nut of the problem.
Ben
Guest
Yeh mate because North get 30,000 every game, how about looking up their crowd figures in Melbourne especially against Fremantle/Port Adelaide before spouting off utter garbage? In addition, how many dogs/fish/sheep are counted in those figures, and how many of those animals only have one and three game memberships? The only organisation that "fakes" numbers is the AFL, from membership numbers to Auskick participants.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
Only a couple of AFL clubs have membership options for pets, and whilst those numbers are never added onto the official club memberships, they still generate extra income for the clubs. The Suns don't have an option for pets at this stage, and possibly never will. But when there is a significant increase in their members over the next month, you will be interested to know that they will be the paid-up reserved seat members. Yes and no on the subsidised aspect.. A percentage of gate takings, merchandise, etc from each club (including ones in WA, SA, QLD NSW and Victoria) go to the AFL and the AFL will use that money to cover any slight shortfalls the new teams may have. It's no big deal. And the kangarros are a joke. A percentage of their memberships is from other club supporters or neutral AFL fans, hoping to keep them alive. Though personally i don't think there is any point.
Bend it like Barassi
Guest
I doubt NM have 35000 members, probably closer to 30000 - interstate members may be 4-6000 of this total. Season tickets are cheap compared to overseas, so people pick and choose which games to go to and may end up attending 7/8 of the 11 home games. Melbourne Victory probably have around 20000 members/season tickets holders and of lately 12-14000 are attending games - their membership numbers must be faked.
TCunbeliever
Roar Guru
I'm not saying the Suns will outdraw both teams, but Australian football has been played in southern Queensland continually since 1904. So there's no way anyone can say it's a foreign sport to the region.
UFO
Guest
Palmer was right. But it appears his own baby is the unsustainable one. Obviously very little interest in the round ball game in the Gold Coast region. They should move the club to Brisbane, maybe there is too many other attractions on the Glitter Strip. It is only a 3rd rate league afterall. So you cannot expect too much from people. AFL and NRL are the top of their sports, and yes that is because they are smaller codes globally. But really who gives? In Oz, you have to compete against that soccer!
Redb
Roar Guru
Palmer did nothing but polarise fans with that comment. Has not served him well.
Terry
Guest
As a season ticket holder for the 2 seasons and founding member of The Beach, i cannot argue with anything you have written. It just beggars belief how such a well performing team can be so poorly supported by the wider community. The foundations were not right. Not enough thought went into it. Can we survive? Financially it is not a problem as long as Clive satys but is that good for the league and the Gold Coast? If we fold tehn there will be a lot of people laughing at us supporters and that will piss me off, because it is us that have been the only constant at the club.
Brian
Guest
A Bit early to be calling GC17 a success, you should know that the AFL are very good at counting pets and scraves as members. The 10,000 Suns members is really more like 2,000. They havn't played a game and will take years to go anywhere. Only difference is they will be subsidised by Victorian AFL clubs. Just to prove my point on memberships NM have about 35,000 yet never more than 15,000 NM supporters ever attend a game.
Ticker
Guest
Anthony, it seems that Palmer and Searle won't be the only ones to have to eat their arrogant words. Your rant is typical of the AFL and their holier than thou attitude.
apaway
Guest
Cpaaa Would there be a camera angle that managed to avoid the empty seats?