David Gallop is fast approaching his first year anniversary as the FFA CEO. Former NRL supremo Gallop succeeded in the post after it was left vacanted from Ben Buckley, who resigned after negotiating the TV deal for the A-League and the Socceroos.
In this article today, I will do an the analysis of both men, with a comparison of Gallop and Buckley’s achievements and failings as FFA CEO.
In the last 12 months, Gallop has brought a good sense of calm, experience, and stability. If anything, he has been a shining light for the code.
When he was boss of the NRL, he was often criticised for been reactive from the fans and the media.
One gets the feeling, that if he had another chance to be CEO of another sport, he might do things a little differently.
In November last year, he was given that chance.
In his tenure thus far, Gallop has become more proactive in his role.
Coming out with statements in recent times like, “Football will become the largest and most popular sport in this country”, was not only bold, but it was the right move.
As CEO, he is a salesman. With that statement, he knew it was going to get attention from fans and journalists from other codes.
Every sporting CEO in the country should aim to be “the largest and most popular sport in this country”, otherwise, what’s the point?
A positive step that Gallop has done is the radio deal with the ABC. For football fans, who don’t have Fox, to get consistent radio coverage is brilliant. In the past, there were “bits” and pieces” of radio coverage, which was very hard to follow.
Another good move by Gallop was acquiring Harvey Norman as sponsor (in collaboration with LG Electronics) for Friday night A-League on SBS. They signed on for three years to the tune of more than $1 million a season.
In his old job at the NRL, Harvey Norman was a major sponsor of the State of Origin series for 15 years.
That sponsorship agreement ended late last year.
Gallop also had a working relationship with then NRL board member Katie Page, who is CEO of Harvey Norman, and the wife of Gerry Harvey, Chairman/ Co-founder of Harvey Norman.
It’s fair say that Gallop’s old connections from his past job are now bearing fruit for the A-League.
Also acquiring a short term TV deal with Channel Seven for those two high profile friendlies of Man U and Liverpool not only gave the code some revenue from the broadcasting arrangements (estimated at $2 million) but it also gave the code some exposure, right in the middle of the NRL/AFL seasons.
On a low note (although nitpicking from my behalf) the two things Gallop needs to do is to find a major sponsor for the Socceroos after Qantas pulled the pin and to help the FFA to offload it’s ownership from the WSW.
In both cases, both tasks should be achieved easily.
In 2006, Buckley came into the job with an impressive CV which included holding positions in Nike and EA Sports, and was the AFL’s Chief Operating Officer before he moved to the FFA.
A good expectation surrounded the former VFL player. But sometimes, things don’t always pan out.
Throughout his six years, Buckley did came across as a tentative, cautious, nervous man with the whole weight of the world on his shoulders.
When you’re in that state of mind, how can you run a football code?
He may well be a capable administrator as his CV suggests, but when your supposed to be the leading figure of a code, it is a different ball game.
During his time as CEO, the FFA were trying to bid for the World Cup to come to Australia.
In December 2009, a public spat erupted between the AFL and FFA over the use of Etihad Stadium.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou declared Etihad Stadium off limits as a world cup venue, after the FFA had plans in place to use the venue as part of the bid.
During that spat, Demetriou described Buckley as been disrespectful.
You would have thought that in Buckley’s old job, he would’ve had good working relationships and connections, similar to what I said earlier about Gallop with Harvey Norman and the NRL.
Australia lost the World Cup bid, there and then, 12 months before the announcement.
Buckley’s negotiations were at fault, well before FIFA’s crazy decision in awarding the bid to Qatar.
Another black mark against Buckley was expansion.
Bringing in two expansion teams, North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United after four seasons was a bad move.
All the FFA had to do was wait another 12 months for Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory’s five year exclusivity clause to expire (meaning no second team in Sydney and Melbourne for the first five years of the A-League).
Once that happened, the FFA could have brought in second teams in Sydney and Melbourne.
Eventually Melbourne Heart and Western Sydney Wanderers came into the comp, at the expense of the Fury and GCU, who both folded due to poor planning, execution and a heavy reliance on rich owners to keep those clubs afloat. Buckley had to be held accountable for both of those clubs folding.
Even with Melbourne Heart coming in, debate rages today, if that club still has a future thanks to a lack of identity and point of difference from Melbourne Victory.
But on a bright note for Buckley, in the last six months of his tenure, he did negotiate a TV deal which was worth $160 million over four years.
Part of that TV deal, Buckley finally brought the A-League on free-to-air. And of course, he also helped set up WSW.
Those two achievements are his legacy to the beautiful game.
In conclusion, has David Gallop outperformed Ben Buckley?
At this stage, it’s even stevens.
Buckley bringing the A-League on free-to-air and introducing a club that is a potential giant in Australian sport is nothing to be sneeze at.
I’m sure if Buckley has another opportunity as a sporting CEO, he would do a better job. Who knows, with the way Cricket Australia is travelling at the moment, CEO James Sutherland could be on his way out.
As for Gallop, he has only been at the job for 12 months. If he continues his proactive approach, then the code will continue to surge, and could well be on it’s way to been the largest and most popular sport in the country.
Australian Rules
Guest
What a load of waffle. The question asked was "has David Gallop outperformed Ben Buckley?" What tangible achievements has Gallop met? How do those outgoing Buckleys performance? I think Gallop is a very good administrator but no-one here has posted any actual analysis of the performance of the two...other than fluff and "vibe".
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Sheek Excellent overview of the 2 guys. Both Gallop & Buckley has positive skills, but Buckley lacks the skills to be a CEO of an organization that must reach far and wide - locally & abroad. Being CEO of the FFA requires a set of skills that is not required by other high-profile local sports in Australia - the CEO of the FFA must engage with a wide diversity of stakeholders, including: * grassroots clubs * billionaire A-League owners * a fan base that encompasses the full spectrum of Australia's socio-economic, ethnic & cultural diversity * the business community * TV broadcasters * the Machiavellian politics that attaches to interactions with the Game's global leadership: FIFA, AFC, etc. Ben Buckley will always be a good soldier. David Gallop is a 5-star general.
Midfielder
Guest
Sheek You make some astute observations pertaining tp DG's character and today the A-League club owners are coming out also supporting him... To me the key difference between the DG & BB is experience and confidence when dealing with very powerful figures who over view what you are doing... DG spend most of his time with Rupert Murdock and his 2IC overseas what he was doing ... and thus my guess he handles Frank Lowy far better than BB.did... add to this his very poor media skills...
Punter
Guest
FIFA is in charge of the biggest sport in the world & is the biggest sporting body in the world. They are as corrupt as can be, they abuse the power & money to influence governments to get what they want. If you think that the AFL, albeit in a much smaller scale, does not do the same you are very naive. Ben Buckley here was playing with the big boys & not saying I agree with it, it's a brand new ball game.
Punter
Guest
Think 2 years ago football doom & Gloom Ben Buckley, now huge excitement, massive potential for future David Gallop, this is the difference.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Honestly think both of them did or are doing a reasonable job with the hands they were/are given. Buckley was well and truly overshadowed by Lowys presence, took risks that probably werent necessary, but he still took them, and he did the negotiations for the tv deal that is allowing Gallop to do what he is doing now. What has Gallop done of note? He cant take all the credit for the FFA finally harnessing the west sydney support that every man and his dog knew was out there.
Australian Rules
Guest
* Fuss' thought process when posting on the Roar... "Hmmm, can't think of a legitimate point, nothing to say again...um...I know, something about 'ARFers'...yes that's good...now where's that emoticon button..."
Jorji Costava
Guest
Buckley got them to this point. The NRL bloke is just a custodian and is reaping what other's have sown. Ohh, so very convenient.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Has David Gallop outperformed Ben Buckley? Too easy - just wait for the ARFers to give their ignorant opinions. If the ARFers think Buckley did a good job.. well, you can be sure Gallop is performing to a level Buckley could never dream of achieving. Too easy!! :-D
jamesb
Guest
great post pretty much agree with everything
sheek
Roar Guru
JamesB, As I said in response to midfielder, Ben Buckley was a good number two, but being number one was beyond his capabilities. He tried hard, but you always felt he wasn't quite up to the mark. Gallop's great gift is his ability to get things done without much fuss. Most of his good work goes largely unseen. I think that's a wonderful gift. But the thing is, his good work is noticed by the people that count in the end - those responsible for continuing his employment. Also interesting is how he has immersed himself into football. His love for the game now is I believe, genuine. That's good news not only for him, but for all fans of Australian soccer.
sheek
Roar Guru
Midfielder, I think you nailed it when you said "BB is a good number two." That encapsulate it in a nutshell. BB suffered the 'Peter Principle' in being elevated beyond his competency. No matter, there are millions like him just here in Australia!!! But let me say BB tried his darnedest, but he simply wasn't up to it as a number one. DG is a breath of fresh air. There's no ego about him like JON. I find it interesting how he's immersed himself in football & now his passion for the game is genuine. Very palpable. But I don't mean to put JON down either. He was very smart in his ability to understand the 'heart' of an issue. The way he managed the return of the Socceroos from Uruguay in 2005 was actually quite brilliant & he doesn't get enough credit for that. I truly think Australian soccer is very lucky to have Gallop. He's A1 solid. Nothing flashy, but he gets the job done. The code is in good hands. It's funny ironic that the new ARLC punted him because they thought he was "inflexible to change." I think they were scared of how much he knew & how competent he really was. It's instructive that one of the Dalai Lama's instructions on life is that "remember not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." The world works in mysterious ways & perhaps it was Gallop's destiny to end up as chief executive with FFA. I truly think Australian soccer has much to be grateful for. He's a good guy. Totally solid.
Avon River
Guest
So what? You're saying that decency and legalities all go out the window? Seems that style of thinking is straight out of the FIFA bidding handbook.
asanchez
Roar Guru
While I dont think Buckley was absolutely terrible like some, I also dont know how much credit he can take from whats happening in the game today. People may say he was a mastermind of todays goings on and so on, but he fell way short in a lot of areas. They are; - Terrible expansion without planning or contingency plans killed our sport on the Gold Coast and up north for at least the next 5-10 years. If we want to be successful in those areas one day, we need to let time pass to even have a chance. The game pissed many people off. - The owners were always in the shits, always blowing up about things, and there were always rumours about disharmony and discontent. All we heard was of the owners being fed up with the FFA and so forth. We dont even hear from the owners today. Many people wouldnt even know who some of them are! And that's saying something, that's how it should be! - But the biggest difference is the man himself, BB seemed like he was trying his best, but just couldnt get the job done, couldnt look comfortable and confident in front of the camera, by what we heard from the media he couldnt keep the owners and the game's shareholders happy. But the worst thing was he couldnt sell the game when we needed it the most. The A-league was brand new, he needed to front the cameras, be on radio etc, at every opportunity! He failed miserably. And to make matters worse, when every Tom, Dick & Harry were having potshots at our code at that time, he was nowhere to be found. The silence was defaning! To me BB was a perfect stepping stone for our code, im sure he did some good stuff, probably mostly behind closed doors, but he served his purpose, did his time and got out at the right time. On the other hand, DG is the perfect stepup. People may say that he's been lucky, that he's stepping in at the right time. But being CEO of the FFA wont be an easy gig for a while, not till we have much of the media in our back pocket like the 2 bigger codes, and we're a $b business. And lets be honest, we got a long way to go! Gallop oozes confidence, is proactive with his '#1 code' statements, and is a natural when fronting the media. The owners seem to have gone silent, so there's obviously some harmony in the boardroom now. And he sticks up for the game when he's needed. No doubt his experience as the #1 man for a decade atthe NRL has helped him. And he seems to have contacts in the right places, like the people at Harvey Norman etc. And I feel that with him previously working in the NRL with many journos, and most of them having a good opinion of him, also helps our code, especially in the Sydney media. I think we got the right man for the role of CEO at the right time, and more importantly, our code keeps going from strength to strength. That's the main thing. BB is history.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
i think that when you use capital letters the comments get checked (for shouting)
SVB
Guest
Buckley in front of the camera was like 'deer in the headlights'. That was half his problem. Gallop always looks confident. I also think Gallop looks like he has a long term plan to me. He seems to know exactly where he wants to get to and is slowly putting the bricks in place. Something that I never saw in Buckley.
Evan Askew
Guest
People shouldn't be too hard on Buckley. Some bad decisions were made but many of the aspects of the game that we see starting to bear fruit were intitiatives spearheaded by him such as Western Sydney Wanderers and the TV deal. Expansion was botched but it is not as bad as it seems. Fury were dumped from the A league but as a club they have survived and are probably one of the best supported clubs in Australia outside of the A league and I reckon they will be in the A league again one day. Gold Coast was just a disaster.
Punter
Guest
Buckley would have realised by then that he was dealing with the biggest sporting event in the world, the biggest sporting event to have reached even Melbourne by a very long way, so maybe his views were changed.
jamesb
Guest
" It’s no coincidence that A-League attendances fell dramatically once the WC bid was official. And it’s no coincidence that crowds returned to the 10,000+ mark once that hare-brained WC bidding process was over. So once Buckley had time and resources to devote to the league, he did a decent job." That's why I give Buckley the benefit of the doubt. If there wasn't any world cup bidding process, then who knows, Buckley could've done a better job. That's why I wasn't harsh on Buckley towards the end of my article.
Orly
Guest
I blame the dark years of the A-League, including expansion, mainly on Lowy's single-minded obsession to land the World Cup on these shores. I know for a fact that FFA staff were severely overworked on the WC bid and had little time to devote to core FFA business ie managing the A-League, National teams, grassroots etc. It's no coincidence that A-League attendances fell dramatically once the WC bid was official. And it's no coincidence that crowds returned to the 10,000+ mark once that hare-brained WC bidding process was over. So once Buckley had time and resources to devote to the league, he did a decent job. I feel sorry for him coming in at such a bad time, and being portrayed as a walking disaster who jeopardised the health of the sport. I think he's a very capable administrator from all reports, but there is one big criticism of him compared with Gallop. You could plainly see that BB did NOT want to front the media and was clearly uncomfortable with what is a crucial component of his role, especially for a sport that desperately needed positive media. Gallop is thriving in his media performances, and this in turn gives great confidence to the football community. Gallop also appears to be more skilful at liaising with the various stakeholders.