Here we are again, another great off-season of the A-League that feels like a bitter after-taste to what was a fantastic 2014/15 season.
Once again, another floundering billionaire is threatening to upset the balance of the competition and it seems that the Brisbane Roar will again be under FFA ownership.
Sound familiar?
Clive Palmer, Nathan Tinkler, Tony Sage, and now the Bakrie’s have all, in one way or another, brought the A-League into disrepute during their stints as franchise owners.
And while you may look at Melbourne Victory as the gleaming success story of wealthy individuals owning A-League franchises, it’s mostly due to a large number of united and devout members and supporters.
Many, including myself, would argue that the fans of Melbourne Victory are its most important yet least empowered contributors to the club’s off-field success.
Our club is financed largely by its members and supporters, who in turn receive no means whatsoever to contribute any further, which often leads to an uneasy and sometimes untrusting alliance of investors and financiers in which the financiers (owners/administration) have complete control and final say on all monies invested.
It works. Not always, but it does work.
For the investors, there’s always a worry the financier might do the wrong thing with the capital and we’d have no way to challenge what our owners might do with our money that we’ve been investing.
What’s clear is that there’s no real security or safety net should situations arise that affect our clubs that we fans, the key investors, could have any options in dealing with.
And so we land back at Brisbane Roar, whose current predicament has more to do with offshore developments for the floundering coal empire of the Bakrie’s.
Since the US and China struck a deal to reduce China and the US’s carbon emissions, coal is largely on the nose. Hence the Bakrie’s mounting financial difficulties, which flows on to cause the Brisbane Roar’s difficulties.
And all the while, its fans are forced to stand idly by hoping that there’s a silver lining for the club.
I’m sure right now the Brisbane Roar fans would like nothing more than to step in and try to save their club. But ultimately, they’re being left in the cold by an outdated model of ownership that fails to meet the modern intricacies of a modern A-League club.
The problem with the A-League it that the status of the game has evolved, yet the FFA doesn’t evolve with it. So often we find ourselves still mired in the stringent measures of the Crawford Report from 2003.
The A-League club ownership restrictions are yet another relic of the past that will keep coming back to bite us.
Bob
Guest
Bye Bye Brisbane Roar??? Try looking at the last five years league table, the ten year running total (Roar second in the all time table only three points behind MV)
Beny Iniesta
Guest
Ha, relegation and promotion - bye bye Central Coast, Brisbane Roar, Wellington Phoenix, Newcastle Jets! They already tried promotion and relegation in the NSL. How did that work out? You do realise Australia is the size of Western Europe don't you? Larger actually. Or do you???
144
Roar Guru
Possibly changes could be made, what about the marquee spots, i think one foreign spot should become either an asian marquee spot or another Australian spot, or none at all, should i tbe taken away? Thoughts??
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Luke I agree that the Bakrie's are unlikely to want to prop up the Roar any further, for a variety of reasons - but my point was that coal prices have nothing to do with whether the Roar are financial viable from its football operations - that would depend more on revenues (memberships, match day receipts, sponsorship, FFA allocations, merchandising, etc) and expenses (player salaries, coaching salaries, ground hire, training facilities, admin, etc) - noting that the Roar won three of four chamionships at one point, and there can be no surer route to financial viability than regularly winning championships. This goes for any professional football league in Australia - you have to make hay while the sun shines - build up reserves during periods of success to cover the losses which are incurred during the down times.
Luke Gaskett
Roar Rookie
Tinkler yet another billionaire with 'bigger fish to fry' so to speak. My article wasn't all about BR it actually did reference Tinkler as well as Palmer as failed club owners. It makes me wonder why people don't read things properly. My aim was to point out that being a successful wealthy businessman isn't the perfect prerequisite that the FFA seems to believe that it is.
Lionheart
Guest
Sadly, FFA has not resold each franchise. I'm still miffed over their treatment of NQ Fury, who proposed, and worked up, a community owned model to move ahead. As a former Fury fan, if FFA pull that trick with Roar I don't think I'll ever watch another A League match again.
Lionheart
Guest
Maybe the FFA should spend some money on advertising, like NRL does (lots).
Waz
Guest
Thanks Luke, that's how I interpreted it and agree totally but as there was a bit of prior conjecture ...
Luke Gaskett
Roar Rookie
It's quite simple while the Bakrie Group are losing billions of dollars they're not going to be thinking "Oh dear Brisbane's losing $2.5 mil a year playing at Suncorp Stadium we'd better do something about that" nope sorry BR is a horrible little excess in the greater scheme of things, hence why wages that should be subsidized by the aforementioned TV deal are not being paid. You can recive $1.5 mil but that means shit all when you're losing $2.5 for the franchise and $9 billion from the failing coal market.
Midfielder
Guest
Bob Post of the day """"" Roar signed a new assistant coach – tell me we can’t pick an optimist :)"""
Bob
Guest
Lots of comments on Roar here but imo their circumstances are exceptional and not the norm. When the lunatics get the keys (and the credit cards) to the asylum this is what can happen. For the HAL there isn't a single ownership model that needs to be applied there's multiple options: 1. Mega-rich owners with no expectation on a financial return. Will invest for love or because they can (SFC, MCFC). 2. Privately owned by a small professional syndicate. Potential to stand on own two feet and do well commercially without the need for external support (MVFC, WSW, and Roar should fall here) 3. Shared ownership between an investor and fans on a 50/50 basis. Fans provide stability and longer term loans while short term investor has lower risk and capital requirement (all the regional teams could fit here) 4. Fan owned membership club. 100% owned by fans and run by elected board and professional management. Any club could fit here but I'd expect a minimum of 25,000 investor/members would be required. 5. FFA JV. joint venture involving a small FFA stake (25%) and other investors, possibly combining fan ownership as well. Regional or new franchises could sit here - FFA provide expertise at Board level but no capital input
Bob
Guest
Maybe Now's the time to get back on topic???
Bob
Guest
The problems started this time last year. Those close to the club could feel the effects and were very vocal about it but not in our worst fears did we expect this. But we are Queenslanders and no matter what, we've had worse! She'll be right!
Bob
Guest
Roar signed a new assistant coach - tell me we can't pick an optimist :) Looks a good signing for the Drive by's - should go well.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz Same thing happened with the Jerks... The ATO will garnish for unpaid PAYG .... tis actually a subject of some interest in the Accounting and Taxation world now ... PAYG no longer ranks as a first priority payment any more but Directors are personally liable for unpaid PAYG... Recently and I mean over the the past 18 months could be a tad more the ATO garnish the taxpayers account and then take all income coming in... has caused no end of trouble for some smaller businesses and some taxpayers ... say you had a son who had a family with no money to buy Food and they lived in a different city ... so you transfer funds to your son to buy food and the ATO grabs it .. Sorry talking a little to much shop talk my guess most posters could not careless ... however it is somewhat of a talking point ... I know ways around it know thats why I guess FFA will also be able to find a way around it ... BTW the solution is legal and not dodgey ... just clever ..
144
Roar Guru
Unfortunate episode of at the Roar, lots of financial problems that began to arise just before the end of the season, hopefully they can fix it before the beginning of the season, i'd hate to see something happen to that club, a great successful club in Australian football history.
Waz
Guest
Mid - that would make sense, the ATO gets pretty shirty when you get behind. It's game-over for the Bakries so its just a case of how much damage is done in the up-coming transition. I doubt any prospective buyer is put off by the current situation, if you've been doing due-diligence you'd already know how bad it is.
Midfielder
Guest
Waz I can tell you the issue with the player wages because of a contact I have in the ATO... The ATO as I understabd have have garnished the Roar bank accounts whereby money deposited goes to them... so when FFA pay into the Roars bank account to pay player wages the ATO nicked it... so my guess is a couple of accountants will figure out a way of getting the money to the players without going via the Roar garnished account.
Waz
Guest
The Bakries gave reportedly told the FFA that they won't invest another dollar into the club, presumably that means a fire-sale or bust? Not sure which one would be worse? The FFA seem to be doing a decent job at the Jets, only question is could we hold our full squad together??? Nines report: http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=9012133
Midfielder
Guest
Breaking News The Drive Bys have signed a Marquee Striker Federico Piovaccari https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=23&v=JLIvPfA3vmg