Yesterday, Frank Lowy, inspired by fellow octogenarians, the recent Oscar winner for best supporting actor Christopher Plummer and nominee Max von Sydow, gave it his best shot in a feisty speech at the Melbourne Heart Business Luncheon held at Las Vegas on the Yarra.
Well, you can’t really blame him.
In the last few weeks he’s been reeling back the years and feeling like a jilted teenage boyfriend.
“Before the controversy with Gold Coast blew up I reached out to Clive Palmer. I emailed. I phoned him and left messages. I sent an SMS.”
“I offered to fly to Queensland on a Sunday to meet face to face. What did I get? I got the brush-off.”
I know the feeling, Frank. I’ve been there before.
But you came to your senses and saw the relationship for what it really was.
“The very least you could say about the Gold Coast is that there has been a spectacular failure to connect with the local community to get fans to turn out for the game, despite the fact that the club serves possibly the most vibrant region in the country.”
If only your mates had given you better advice before you got up close and personal with Clive Palmer. You admitted as much when having a heart to heart with Phil Rothfield.
“Since Ben Buckley arrived in December 2006, there’s been five finance chiefs, four heads of A-League and four heads of PR. Is this a reasonable level of executive turnover?”
“Not really. I have a record of people in my business working for me for 15, 20 or 25 years but this is a new organisation and maybe some not-so-good appointments were made.”
This could explain why Lowy did not mention in his speech “the elephant in the room wearing moccasins” as broadcaster Francis Leach astutely described the A-Leagues failure to have a presence in West Sydney?
But, you do have to feel some sympathy for Mr Lowy.
Just look at the pronouncement by Gold Coast United CEO Clive Mensink to explain their “Freedom of Speech” stunt on player jerseys and advertising hoardings from last Saturday night.
“It was suggested internally that as a replacement, something non-controversial would serve as a message to the broader community. We have two African refugees playing for the club who have experienced what it is like to live in a country fighting for freedom of speech.
“Currently we are all concerned for those in Syria fighting for their freedom. Australians have fought in world wars and other actions to protect our freedoms, there was no way we would condone any disrespect for freedom of speech.”
“It is our constitutional right to embrace this message and we don’t believe FFA should have the power to intervene.”
Yes, mini-Clive. It is your constitutional right to employ unethical doublespeak worthy of George Orwell’s “1984”, but the when it comes to what you put on jerseys there are rules.
Then again, I might have felt differently if you had gone with “Eat The Rich.”
I better not push it too far. Last week, The Gold Coast Bulletin reported: “Mr Palmer launched a $10 million lawsuit against independent arbitrator Shaun McCarthy for his findings that his soccer club, Gold Coast United, should pay dumped German playmaker Peter Perchtold $340,591 in compensation.”
“He is suing the Gold Coast Bulletin for the same amount for reporting on the Perchtold matter.”
Oh, I have been sidetracked. Back to Lowy’s speech.
“Getting crowds through the gates is what will solve problems, not arguing about who controls what.”
“That is why the idea of a separate body to run the A-league is madness. The A-league could not survive if separated from FFA.”
What are we to make of Frank Lowy’s big performance?
Allow me to borrow the prescient tweet of one of talented football writer, Kathy Stone.
“Depends who you ask – anti FFA or pro FFA… Pick your truth”
And this gets to the heart of the matter.
The Socceroos are in town and the A-League season is reaching its climax, but the football discourse has been dominated by unpleasant dissonance as vendettas are played out in the mass and social media by all the so called “players” who are trying to get you to “pick your truth”
I am fed up. The fans are fed up.
All we ask is for everyone to get their shit sorted out when the A-League season finishes.
Give the fans the respect they deserve.
Athas Zafiris is on Twitter @ArtSapphire
nordster
Guest
and i just think comparing the two, from different eras, is meaningless
nordster
Guest
i do but i guess i am following the football not the politics ideally :)
Crashy
Guest
Gosh what a mess. Why are people talking about a new western Sydney team when the carcass of gcu is barely cold. Haven't we learnt our lesson???
It's called football
Guest
There is something pathetic about 2 of Australia's richest men arguing over a sporting team & league. This is what happens in a sport that relies on private ownership. Soccer in Australia has an eternal curse!
j binnie
Guest
Athas -How right you are. One would have imagined that FFA,apparently holding all the aces,could have held their peace for another 4 weeks and saw the season completed thereby letting the matches continue to entertain their greatly increased public. Instead they have risen to the multiple baits being dangled and, like petty schoolboys, thrown down a judgement that cannot help but disorganise what has been a very good season.Good management technique????If they had let CP rant for another 4 weeks,broke even more of their "questionable rules and regulations" and then at season's end,(GCU cannot possibly take part in the finals) did what they felt had to be done,who or what could have been hurt by the outcome???? No one. jb.
Athas Zafiris
Roar Guru
The Clive Palmer / Frank Lowy divorce was always going to be messy. A real pity this tawdry episode was not played out in the post season. Looks like FFA’s haste to revoke Palmer’s licence can be seen as buying more time to get 10th team ready for next season.
MelbCro
Guest
sorry mate but you must not follow football outside of Australia too closely.
DMR
Guest
Thank you apaway, that's the point I was trying to make initially. The transfer of power from FFA to the clubs (which I believe both sides want in the future) is only going to happen if the club owners demonstrate sound governance and a commitment to football's future in Australia - Sage, Tinkler etc are doing that; Palmer tried to bully his way into power and that was never going to work.
jbinnie
Guest
Apaway - Don't know where you got your knowledge that the NSL was created for "ethnic clubs". As someone who was directly involved I can distinctly remember Brisbane City,(an Italian backed club) walking out of the original "ASF-called" meeting stating categorically that they would never be part of a national league. Six weeks later,and after humungous attempts by others to put together another Brisbane Identity,Brisbane United,the league was announced with Brisbane Lions and-wait for it------ ,yes, you've guessed, Brisbane City named as the 2 Qld reps in the league.Strange days with strange goings on.Sydney were originally supposed to have 4 teams in the league but again???? finished up with 5,all,except Western Suburbs with direct "ethnic" connections. Now I did not say that Lowy's Sydney City had a carte-blanche within Sydney but if you calculate that at the most 3 clubs would have home games then they had a 2,000,000 potential market to woo.To give some credence to this the Marconi(Italian) v Olympic(Greek) derby in the first year of competition drew 9,600 to the game. What I did say was that despite having a truly great team, Hakoah,Eastern Suburbs,Sydney City,call them what you may still could not attract a following despite having Aussies,Scots,English and South Americans in their teams.I did not draw comparisons between NSL football and what has happened at the Gold Coast.I simply pointed out that, admittedly in different eras,both men,despite their millions had a similar problem in getting crowds to watch their football teams. OK? jb
jbinnie
Guest
Wolfie - An interesting response Your first statement about having a team of stars does not guarantee support is 100% correct. Your second observation is also very interesting for I do not think when Frank Lowy set up his "super league" in 2002 he envisaged Sydney,Melbourne,Brisbane,Adelaide,Newcastle,Perth,Auckland, and Gosford only appealing to old established networks built between the public and local clubs, rather,because the super league was being played at a different time of year it was hoped these cities would get behind their team in that same league.Has that happened?. I leave that to the reader's opinions.jb
apaway
Guest
I take your point jbinnie and don't fall into the camp that blindly supports everything the FFA and Frank Lowy have done. They/he have made mistakes and I'm sure the owners you have cited have concerns over the way the A-League is run. However, to this point in time, they are individuals or entities who have shown an aptitude in getting their clubs on and off-field performances to a more than acceptable level. Palmer and GCU have not come even close to achieving this.
jbinnie
Guest
Nordster -who mentioned the advanced position of football,then and now?. I simply pointed out that in creating and running what was accepted as the best team in Australia he ,Frank Lowy, could still not attract crowds to his club's games ,much the same as GCU today.To me that simply means he should stay well clear of criticising Palmer for a problem he also had to endure.
jbinnie
Guest
Apaway - you have an opinion on CP's capabilities in running a football club and you are entitled to that,no question But "the spat" I am talking about is the latest amount of talk emanating not only from Clive but also from Sage,Tinkler,and the Adelaide board who have all registered discontent with the way the code is being run. Could I put it to you another way. Have these men ,all heavy investors in football, experienced occurrences in the day to day running of the code that we the public are not party to.Strange that they all distance themselves from Palmer's extremities but not from the general content of his complaints. jb
Griffo
Roar Guru
2:10pm here in Newcastle and have just read the news and above tweets that GCU are gone and Palmer is making a diary entry to the courts. *Sigh* - it is going to be another long off-season...even longer for Gold Coast United fans.
Athas Zafiris
Roar Guru
Its going to get ugly. Clive just tweeted @CliveFPalmer: We intend to fight this ludicrous decision by incompetent FFA in the courts. Frank Lowy is an institution who now belongs in an institution
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well Clive has got in early Tweeting the BIG NEWS ... Clive Palmer @CliveFPalmer Our licence is being rekoved by Frank Lowy and FFA cohorts .. I will issue detailed response shortly --- Now it gets (even more) interesting!
apaway
Guest
jbinnie Interesting analogy of Frank Lowy's Sydney City. However, they did not have the "biggest metropolis in Australia" at their disposal, and the NSL was a league that was based on ethnic support for its teams with a few regional exceptions. Sydney City were borne out of the Hakoah Club and the Jewish population they had to draw on in the Eastern Suburbs was tiny in comparison to the fans of Italian, Greek and Croatian origin who supported clubs like Olympic, Marconi, APIA Leichhardt, Sydney Croatia, Canterbury Marrickville etc. So that biggest metropolis was in fact shared at NSL level by at least 5 other clubs. There is no comparison that can be reasonably drawn between NSL football in the 1970s and 80s and what has happened on the Gold Coast.
Lucan
Why does one have to choose "Team Lowy" or "Team Palmer"? Surely drawing our own opinions from the good, the bad, and the bat sh!t crazy we see and hear is smarter than picking one guy and backing him 100% on all issues?
Athas Zafiris
Roar Guru
There's some movement at the FFA station. Football Federation Australia will today make a major announcement about Gold Coast United. FFA Chairman, Mr Frank Lowy, AC, and FFA CEO, Mr Ben Buckley, will hold a media conference at 2pm today.
apaway
Guest
jbinnie I agree with your comments about Mike Mulvey, and think the team playing in GCU shirts deserves bags of credit for their on-field performances. However, the "root cause of this spat" is that Clive Palmer has proved himself completely incompetent to run a football club. He has no long term vision for the team - if he did he'd be letting fans in for free (and possibly getting 12,000 per match). He wouldn't be interfering in coaching selections, as he has demonstrably done on a number of occasions. He wouldn't be using the team to further his own agendas; rather, he'd be giving them every opportunity to perform on the park by securing their futures beyond the end of March.