The news that Gold Coast United is destined for the A-League scrap heap should sadden all football fans.
Whatever your thoughts are on Gold Coast’s fans, crowds, or results, the only real positive in the context of the wider football community is that Clive Palmer is one step closer to being unable to influence football any further.
It should be noted that the people who did put their lives into the club now will have their weekly football outlet taken away from them. Additionally, the regions talented youth will no longer have a clear pathway to the top tier.
The new challenges for the Gold Coast United region is comparable to that of the North Queensland Fury.
Like their fellow Queensland fans up north did over a year ago, the Gold Coast face the prospect of the death of their team and a very long stint outside of the reaches of professional football.
For those at the top of Football Federation Australia, the prospect of going into the next round of television rights negotiations with only nine teams should be of great concern.
The FFA is already under significant pressure to push for a big payout from Foxtel. Having only four A-League games a week would serve to undermine that.
Clubs are already in desperate need of a significant boost in TV revenue. If GCU’s fate is sealed, then another team must be found to take its place in time for the start of the new deal.
Football in Australia cannot afford to have any more disillusioned fans who have their teams culled. At the same time, FFA need to engage newer fans to ensure the A-League’s sustainability.
A refreshed approach to the use of the National Youth League (NYL) could help facilitate this.
While the A-League does need to stabilise its clubs and turn them into sustainable enterprises, this cannot be achieved without more investment.
The A-League needs more games per week to attract more television money. This means more teams are needed.
There are many regions that have been touted as potential hosts for A-League teams, including West Sydney, Hobart, Wollongong, Geelong, and Canberra.
However all would struggle to immediately join the A-League at this point. It would be unwise for the FFA to rush them into doing so, as they would encounter many of the teething problems that Gold Coast and North Queensland faced.
Expanding the NYL as a second division to the A-League would not only allow the FFA more flexibility and long term strategy options for how they introduce new teams, it would also provide an outlet for seriously struggling A-League teams like GCU who otherwise wouldn’t have much of a future.
Non A-League regions could still add to the football community by developing local players and keeping some aspect of the local team alive.
Most would agree that cutting North Queensland down to an NYL side only and allowing them to rebuild slowly would have been much more beneficial to Fury fans and local players than shutting down the team forever.
On the other hand, requiring A-League team bidders to prove their worth in the NYL would give the A-League the opportunity to gradually increase the number of teams without the pressure of unfair expectations.
Eventually, after positive performances in the NYL and meeting other off field criteria, the successful bidding teams would be allowed to field a senior team in the A-League.
The teams would then have a much better chance of success than previous expansion teams, as they would have spent significant time building their playing list and engaging with the local football community.
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