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It seems inevitable that Football Federation Australia (FFA) will put down the beleaguered North Queensland Fury in the coming weeks, with the governing body unlikely to cover the $650,000 needed to save the club despite a $1.5 million cash injection into the Brisbane Roar.
And in a cruel twist of fate, Cyclone Yasi has left a trail of destruction in the community charged with saving the club.
The Fury needed to raise $1.5 million by the end of January to satisfy the demands of the FFA and guarantee another season of support before their club’s community ownership model kicked in come the 2012-13 season, but the club has fallen short of its target as the deadline fell.
However, with the damage bill from the recent Queensland floods and Cyclone Yasi still being assessed, it was unrealistic to expect the North Queensland community and Queensland government to cover the shortfall at a time when they have more pressing and desperate concerns.
How can North Queensland residents be expected to commit a financial investment of $3000 or $30,000 – the asking prices of the membership packages – when their livelihoods and well-being are at risk?
Although the FFA has said they would give North Queensland Fury more time in the wake of the cyclone, the question is why are they unwilling to handover the $650,000 to save the club? This would allow the ownership income to go towards building for the 2011/12 season and beyond, particularly when they are stepping in to support other clubs.
Handing over $1.5 million to Brisbane to cover significant losses (the Roar are still seeking a majority shareholder) at the same time as the Fury scrape the barrel for that last $650,000 is not only unjust but poorly timed. While Brisbane at least have a lucrative Asian Champions League campaign coming up and should be in the marketplace leveraging their on-field success, the Fury is fighting for its very existence.
What sort of message is that sending to the North Queensland community who are being asked to save the club?
That double standard should be explored. Perhaps it’s the same reason why the FFA was hesitant to step in and save the Newcastle Jets when they stood on the brink of collapse earlier in the season. As long as they had a 10-team competition with representatives from the big five capitals – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide – at its core, it could afford to lose the odd regional club in this difficult phase.
That may by far from the real rationale but when the FFA is handing out cheques to clubs such as Brisbane and Adelaide United, with unwavering support as they looked for new owners and backers, and yet failed to do so for Newcastle and now North Queensland, what are we meant to think?
With the Sydney Rovers never getting off the ground, perhaps the FFA just wants an even number of teams or a 10-team competition to condense the season.
Ultimately, however, North Queensland simply isn’t a big enough market imperative to the A-League’s well-being.
With a modest population and as the third Queensland club in the third most populated Queensland town, the Fury’s absence won’t greatly hinder future television or commercial deals and thus the FFA’s number one concern – the A-League’s financial state. And with the World Cup bid dead and buried, the FFA no longer needs a Townsville-based team to lodge at the redeveloped 40,000–seat Townsville Stadium.
So while fans angrily suggest that North Queensland Fury should be saved at the expense of Gold Coast United, who despite having five-times the population of Townsville average crowds 1000 less than the Fury, the reality is as long as Palmer is paying the bills the Gold Coast is safe.
Also, with a growing population base – particularly one with a bit more capital behind it – and an AFL club now on the scene, it’s strategically more important for the FFA to have a presence on the Gold Coast than North Queensland.
With the failed World Cup bid, floods, cyclones and having been unable to find a Nathan Tinkler-type white knight, the community ownership model appears to have come too late; highlighting the failure of the FFA’s capital driven approach to expansion which gave birth to and could kill the Fury.
By awarding A-League franchises to areas with sufficient enough populations but more importantly owners with plenty of cash – Don Matheson at North Queensland and Clive Palmer at Gold Coast – we are seeing the FFA’s shortsighted expansion plans unravel.
Whether North Queensland has the market to sustain an A-League club may be the question we are all asking now, but why didn’t the FFA ask it when it awarded the area a franchise? Such was the flaw of the A-League’s decision that the Fury could well have been condemned the day Matheson walked away from the club.
If it didn’t have the market to sustain a club, then the FFA should never have expanded there. But having done so, it has united a community in support of the Fury that will be left devastated by their collapse.
Average crowds around the 5000 mark are healthy considering the population size of Townsville – and only 3000 shy of the 8000 goal set when they entered the A-League.
Those fans cannot be expected to switch their allegiances to Brisbane or Gold Coast next season. And without the Fury, A-League action will be a 16-hour drive away for Townsville residents. Unless there is a revival of the Fury in the coming years, the North Queensland area will be lost to the A-League and, possibly, football in general.
In football terms, local clubs such as the North Queensland Razorbacks, Far North Queensland Bulls, the clubs that play in the Northern Queensland State Youth League and more will lose their connection to the top tier of the game, with the players of those grassroots clubs deprived of a clear path into the A-League. A whole catchment area for future Socceroos would be lost.
Having selected the Fury bid in the A-League’s first round of expansion, the FFA should carry the burden of responsibility in ensuring their survival in this hour of need, as they did in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Their indecisiveness and lack of conviction in backing the Fury to the hilt has only worsened the situation. The clock is ticking and has been for too long now. The FFA needs to put together the 2011/12 schedule and the Fury, if they are to survive, needs to rebuild its squad.
Given the current circumstances in North Queensland, the residents of Townsville cannot be expected to save the club. The Fury needs the FFA fighting in its corner by giving it a proper chance to survive, not condemning the club to death with its double standards.
Follow Adrian on twitter @AdrianMusolino