BREAKING: Gold Coast United A-League licence revoked by FFA

Great news. Well done FFA. SBS look like idiots. Will need a smoth landing from all this and minimise impacts of the GCU fallout and legal challenges. Lots of issues with remaining 4 rounds and GCU team and point allocation for the finals. Lowy has also been working hard to get West Sydney up and running for next season. Lots of issues and hard work ahead, but getting rid of people like Palmer might just save the A-League.

Sam el Perro Honestly, I couldn't give a stuff what name you use for football - call it what you like or, better still, just ignore the game if you don't like it. But, for me it's always football.

But did you say One day cricket has expanded big time across the globe ???? Will put the tweets you post into context ;-)

Clap clap clap jamesb

And mds1970 I bet no women proposed to you on any of those days. You've hit on the answer; ban leap years! (We all have to work the day for nothing...) :)

For the same reason democracy and business don't mix. Anyway, that's not so much the point as that democracy isn't relevant in sport. If a nation ceases to be democratic, mourn, but if a sporting organization ceases to be democratic (assuming it ever was), well, it's not necessarily the worse thing in the world.

why is that amazon, why does democracy and sport not mix.

Wookie, I don't agree about Fitzroy. IMO they were dropped as the so-called merger was actually a takeover. I consider the Brisbane Lions to be the same club as the Brisbane Bears, but with a name change. So, yeh, I would argue that Fitzroy were in fact dropped (or as my Fitzroy supporter friend would insist that I say, they died) in 1996.

After the "freedom of speech" incidents last weekend, they probably couldn't wait four weeks. Clive was out of control. Who knows what the next stunt would have been.

Oh, please. Democracy has nothing to do with sport.

"1981: South Melbourne dropped out of the competition" No, they became the Sydney Swans. "1996: Brisbane Bears dropped out of the competition" No, I wouldn't agree with that. I would strongly argue that they are still in the competition, however they changed their name to Lions. The Brisbane Bears and the Brisbane Lions are the same team. "Mid 2000s: Carlton bankrupt & about to be axed from competition but saved by generosity of disgraced billionaire Richard Pratt" Are you serious? Do you really think that Carlton was ever going to be axed? That is simply absurd. "Current: Port Adelaide close to dropping out of the competition" No, they're safe.

Interesting the number of people who want to deride someone for their physical attributes instead of looking at the substance of the argument. Playing the man and not the ball, so to speak.

We all understand the difference between a nickname and an actual name. Just amused by the fact that the nickname is derived from a name that you deny anyone the right to use. Can't have it both ways.

On 29th February 2004, my first Australian soccer club, Northern Spirit, played their last game. The other non-finalist clubs in the final season of the NSL also played their last game in the old league. On 29th February 2008, it was basketball who was cursed when then Sydney Kings owner Tim Johnson skipped the country without giving the players their pay cheques. It put the writing on the wall for the then basketball powerhouse, and the Kings would be forced into a two-year exile. Today, Gold Coast United are no more. It seems that Leap Day is doomsday for embattled sporting clubs. Thankfully it only comes once every four years.

"Eventually the commercial networks and their big bucks will come calling, so we should enjoy Mel while we can." Lets just hope we get a decent transfer fee for her.

She's magnificent. :D

You know who your TRUE soccer /footballer supporters are on days like today. SBS isn't one of them. Look, I'm still a true believer of the A-League and football in this country. Its very easy to be negative ATM, and always look at a glass half empty. What today represents is a lesson to be learnt. A hiccup. If football and the FFA doesn't learn anything from the GCU experience, than it represents a huge problem. I think its rubbish when people say Football is dead on the Gold Coast thanks to GCU.. At the end of the day, GCU is a sporting club, not a person. The best thing to come out of today is that the fat wanker is out of the game. I still think down the track, Gold Coast will have their own team again. Hopefully by than, the A-league will be a strong, vibrant league, in which many areas around the country would want to be a part of. At the present time, what worries me with the FFA, is it looks like they don't have a plan B, if a club is in trouble financially. Hopefully the next tv deal helps the A-league out. Will the A-league fold. No. I'll tell you why There are many kids, girls and boys that play the game, which is the highest participation sport in this country. There were reports today, that Kim Williams, the new boss of News Ltd is a football fan. He was at the Melbourne Heart lunch yesterday with Lowy and Buckley. I'm sure Fox, part owned by News, would want the A-league to be around. It fills the vacuum of October to March, where the other codes are on the off-season. Not having an A-league on Fox Sports, no matter how small the ratings are at this pont in time, would still represent a hole in fox sports coverage. The big bash only goes for a few weeks. The 7 years of the A-league have seen some highs and lows.Perhaps its typical of a comp thats still trying to find its feet, when you consider its not even 10 years old. Other leagues like J_league and MLS have also experience similar pain to what the A-League is having right now. But today, the MLS and the J-League are strong, improved, comps. That's where the A-league will be one day. Football in Australia is a resilient sport. It has its fair share of set backs, but always comes back. When Football and the A-League does recover from the GCU drama, it will power on and hopefully will reach its potential one day. On days like today, I'm looking at a glass half full. You also know who your TRUE football fans are.

Nice link, thanks for the read. Gives some food for thought.

Fight, fight, fight!

Clive Palmer is a fat idiot and shouldn't be anwhere near an A-League team. The right decision was made.