Clive Palmer and the billionaire’s guide to loving football

The FFA need a good kick and I fully support the actions of C Palmer. The Body has lost its way and are only interested in who the know and hoq much money can you bring to the table. I myself have 2 juniors that play club footbal and both are very talented. They at their age are frustrated in that unless you have money or in the know you take a back seat. The only opportunities that they get to show their wares are at free carnivals and looking out side of Australia for scholarships. There is a very strong move here in Adelaide to have a break away competion from FFSA and it is growing momentum. FFA and their state branches need to get their tunnelled vision heads out of their backside and support the real tallent and not just the money. Clive has the support of many players, clubs and certainly from my boys to take on the FFA for the future of football in Australia.

Steve, you've completely missed the point of the scarf. It wasn't that he couldn't find GCU merch, it was a not-so-subtle effort to embarass the FFA.

Your probably right Realfootall, just cant help but be cynical. Just feel their "love" for football is more a love of networking with customers of theirs that buy iron ore etc. If that was taken out of the equasion would they still be dumping money on a football team?

Athas - Have just checked your link and can only read about Palmer stating he was being charged MORE than $100,000 per match and try as I might could find no reference to the bottom figure you cite ($45,000) which is what he is paying NOW with the restrictions on gate use and has been widely quoted as $30,000. As I said,and you conveniently did not comment on, the 22 game attendances (out of 25) over the last 2 seasons have barely reached 4000 so please give credit where it is due,for it appears to have been a business decision made based on factual data. Right or wrong?. Not my problem, but the facts are facts. As I said before ,keep up the good work. jb I

Athas----according to Clive Palmer he saves between $120k--$170k on match day so where do you get your figures from? http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/clives-still-struck-by-gold-fever-20110805-1ifd1.html

'pro football is only set up for 1 reasons and 1 reason only , making money and nothing else.' No mate. Every owner takes a hit in their first 2-3 seasons. Palmer wasn't prepared to make a loss. As for FFA being dictators, the Mirabella Cup debacle wasn't the right decision. Not letting Olympic in was, is and will be the right decision for a while (apart from the fact that Olympic haven't actually made a bid and no negociations have ever taken place, which would make it hard for them to enter at all!) Every board, every competition has its rules. GCU will get fined for the 'freedom of speech' logo on their jerseys last night because they weren't approved. If Palmer doesn't want to play by the rules, well he can pack up and go. I am appreciative of the money he has put in, but to make him seem like some benevolent rich uncle is crazy talk.

Well Matt yes good points Matt, but aren't the FFA acting like dictators too. Rejecting sydney olympic licensing, not letting Melbourne Victory play in the Mirabella cup. And enforcing all sorts of stadium rules about size. Is there a difference between rules and a dictatorship, interesting question. If one invests in the game they have a rightful say, and the FFA I feel has been a bit contemptuous to owners. The FFA have made it very celar to owners so far this i think. The FFA have said we are the administration these are the rules , if you don't like it leave and we the FFA are the boss of football in this country and the dictators and if you don't like our rules leave. Where is the democracy there, and hardly very nice to owners then. So the FFA can not complaint when another venture think about forming a rebel group. That is capitalism , and free market economics, competition. And pro football is only set up for 1 reasons and 1 reason only , making money and nothing else. So the FFA if they keep acting like dictators can expect some free market capitalism economics, from some we want to make money owners, whether it is for out outdo business interests or whatever reason. The FFA have to embrace free market economics competitors not try to repress, them and the FFA should accept a rebel league challenges to their so called establishment and control of Australian football since the last so called establishment soccer Australia folded.

Umm Johnno Mr Palmer is not "giving" any money at all he BOUGHT a club licence/franchise which makes it a saleable product like any other . If we buy a car or a boat or any other saleable product -we by the very fact we bought those things are the "demand" in the market - Clive has billions of dollars to spend on saleable products - we don't but when we buy something we employ people just like he does when he employs people - the point is he is trying to dictate to the game and it's administration -something he has no more right to do than you or me :-)

All these people knocking Clive Palmer , be grateful he is giving any money at all to the Gold Coast United football club. As he pointed out it is his money, no one else is giving any money out. And even if he was a trillionare how generous he wants to be is up to him it is his money. He has given $18 million created jobs and employment for some people, players, coaching staff etc, who pay taxes of course , so he is giving taxpayers jobs who in turn in their taxes give money to paying for our hospitals, universities, infrastructure. So you people should all be thanking Clive Palmer for his $18 million contribution. As he put the question in a round about way on the World Game, how many have all you people contributed . Exactly that is my point zero. So you should all be thanking Clive Palmer for giving any money at all. If you don't want his money just say so and stop taking it from Clive Palmer, and find someone else who will give the sport of football $18 million in this country, if your so ungrateful or annoyed to get it from Clive Palmer.

Hope he chokes on his chicko roll(s) :-)

Yeah, the problem with the beach fans though is that most of them are furious at Palmer and have vowed to never return after the Boxing day events, if they hadn't already the previous year, the damage has been done. Also I think Athas's assumption that it saves $55,000 per game is taking into account the some 2000-3000 fans ($40,000 -$60,000 of lost ticket revenue)that Palmer has lost as a result of the crowd cap and his other antics.

Athias& Axelv I have no argument with either of your suggestions in how GCU could improve their lot. However I do take umbrage when I see intelligent people(who write very articulate articles and blogs) twist an occurrence (the so called crowd cap) a misnomer if ever there was one,into a huge error on the part of the owners who,having had a look at existing attendances over the preceding 2 years, decided to take action and reduce their costs by cashing in on an anomaly in the agreement with the State government. By the way Athias,to the best of my knowledge that action saved $100,000 per game, not the $55,000 you mentioned.By the way you did not say what you would do in the same position.Can I now take it you would continue to pay the $130,000????. I know what I would be doing, I would maintain the status quo until the average crowds began to near the 5000 mark ,and, in my eyes, the only people suffering under that arrangement would be the State government NOT the GCU fans. Axelv - Thanks for the info concerning the arrangement made in consideration of " the beach" fans,noted they were back in position during the Victory game. Keep up the good work both of you. Cheers jb

Agree with Steve

Palmer is raising a smokescreen. Yes the FFA are a bunch of clowns but, seriously, the problems on the Gold Coast are entirely Clive Palmer and his minion Clive Mensink's doing. We've had three seasons during which the owner has mismanaged the club, alienated fans and treated the players appallingly badly. The crowd cap was the first failing and followed by many more. Thousands of fans left after that vowing never to return. Then we had the loss the core of our squad because they were not getting the contracts they richly deserved. His high-handed approach meant that Cullina wasn't insured (and we only just dodged the costs on that) and that Perchtold and Robson both left the club and won their unfair treatment cases. This season we've seen decent gates but only before he closed the Beach and eastern/southern stands to punish GC fans for the events following the Boxing Day derby in which a tiny minority of (mostly Roar) fans acted up. We're now down to the second smallest turnout in A League history - a damning verdict of the mismanagement of a great club by an arrogant man. FFS - he couldn't even find a club scarf when he appeared on TWG and when he showed his face at Skilled Park on Wednesday it was only after security (plain clothes and uniform) and the police had secured the area. As for money Clive has much more of it than me. As a proportion of my income I spend much more of it on the club than he does and its my money he's playing with. Time for Clive to leave the management to football people, sack his puppet Mensink and show his new-found "love" for footy by putting his money where his mouth is.

tic tac I agree with just about every thing you've said, apart from the last paragraph. In business, there is an old adage from Roman times "caveat emptor" (Let the buyer beware). I reckon Palmer would have enough business experience to realise that, in every transaction - whether its the sale of used cars by Arthur Daley, or the sale of fruit & veg at the local market - the seller will always try to spin the best story about his product and it's up to the potential buyer to undertake appropriate due diligence before completing the transaction. Regardless, I don't think Palmer is claiming he was misled about the GCU venture. Rather, I think he just wants greater input in decisions that impact the HAL and, to be honest, since Palmer has a 10% stake in the HAL, I reckon he has has every right to make such a request.

I think you'll find that the revenue generated in the Russian league for a team would be more than all the A-League teams earn. Only until this season, each A-L team had to use Reebok as their kit supplier, you'll find that the funds paid for that right went to the FFA, as does the Solo sponsor that every team has on their shorts! But the biggest difference is the revenue generated by TV, and Online media streams. Your argument is based on the owners personal wealth only, not on the business models and the economical; environment that they each have to navigate within, and as to how best to manage their investments.. clearly one can invest as they are going to recoup and or make a profit, whereas the other knows clearly that every cent spent is not in the foreseeable future going to be recouped! Your comparing apples to pineapples!! Lastly, what community legacy has any other team in the A-L given other than a team to support! Pitches, buildings, stadia etc, that you also use as an example? In general, I only hear the negatives from most commentators and so called fans of the game! Pffft, seriously too many personal opinions on how they dislike Palmer, his weight.... Oh, but if he was the new West Sydney owner, or he was the funds behind bringing Kewel to A-L, or say a Cahill to Sydney FC, the tune being sung by the majority would be different. On the crowd issue on the GC, Palmer was lead up the garden path by FFA and Buckley. They would have shown him the stats on participate rates of football and compared the crowd numbers Titans achieved etc.. he was approached, and pitched to on how wonderful a team on the GC would be by the FFA. No wonder he's ranting and raving which is solely directed at the FFA. Seriously can you blame him!

Jbinnie If I were Clive Palmer I would be offering my players 2 and 3 years contracts, keeping them at my club and get some stability on the field, this also helps the spectators grow attachment and loyalty to their players. The crowd cap makes great economic sense and he is charged way too much for that stadium. At the start of this season he kept the crowd cap in place meanwhile opening 2 other sections in the stadium to make the crowd happy, and it worked. This involved a bay on the East Stand, and 1 Bay open where the Beach stand. This still allowed Clive to save money and give the fans more freedom in where they sit. 1500-2000 extra people were coming in compared to the previous season that only had the western stand open because of this. Ticket Prices, $27 per Adult is very expensive, at Gold Coast they should be paying no more than $20 per ticket. Make kids under 13 free, where there are kids there are adult supervision! Often more patrons inside will spend more money on drinks and food inside the stadium too, this would make the stadium owners happier. I would also be offering special deals, Heart give 2 for 1 offers and free tickets, Tinkler has membership prices and tickets at half price, this effectively doubled Newcastle's crowds! If I were Clive I would have never blamed and punished my own fans just after Boxing Day, I would have sided and sympathized with them. I would have never taken anything away from them as punishment either. Since this incident the GC crowds have fallen up 2500 per game, this is not the first time that this as happened and you'd think that he would have learned from past mistakes. I would also be promoting and advertising the club and it's players all over Gold Coast, Get the players on the streets during the week attracting attention, as well as going to schools and sports clubs. Offering special deals and have GCU Billboards! And most importantly I would be communicating with the fans, have a forum every now and again and keep contact with them once a month through meetings either directly or through a spokesman that he takes seriously, listening to their concerns and issues and even maybe try solve some of them every now and again, make them feel wanted and part of the club, no fans no club. If Clive did these things and people hadn't already given up on him, he would be much loved and his crowds would be sitting at around 6000 per game and it would look like a decent healthy A-League club, that has atmosphere and excitement at it's games with it's future certain and secure. Not only that it would have room for further growth and push towards the 10,000 mark and beyond.

Go easy on Clive. He laid the cash out for the first 2 seasons and now has a team with huge potential - if he decides to keep them together. His eccentric - Yes. But also he gets media coverage for the game. If not for him we would be swamped with pre-season Rugby and AFL news stories.