Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Steven Lowy has conceded the foundations of the A-League “feel shaky today”, promising the governing body will listen clearly to disgruntled fans at Wednesday night’s anticipated meeting.
Lowy fronted the media late on Wednesday afternoon following his first monthly roundtable with club chairmen, during which the issues of deep fan discontent and FFA’s controversial stadium banning process were top of the agenda.
Chief executive David Gallop and other FFA employees will meet on Wednesday evening with representatives from all 10 clubs’ active supporter groups to hear fans’ grievances in the hope they will stop their match boycotts.
Lowy admitted that despite a productive day of discussions, the round-ball game’s footing is still in precarious territory.
“The foundations do feel shaky today,” Lowy said.
“Our objective is to take the shakiness away … with goodwill and sound discussion.
“We have no other desire than to get the fans back to the game, and to do it quickly.”
Lowy has had his hands full since taking over from father Frank last month, with News Corp Australia’s publication of a leaked list of names and photos of 198 banned fans.
The FFA’s belated response to the leak and perceived lack of leadership sparked outcry from coaches, players and executives and culminated in last weekend’s boycotts which resulted in total crowds decreasing by nearly a third from the previous round.
“Everybody’s frustrated by it,” Lowy said.
“FFA’s frustrated by it; the clubs are frustrated by it; clearly many fans are frustrated by it.
“We all want the one thing: we all want to get back to the game and support the clubs we love.
“We have a common objective.”
The fan issue aside, it’s well known some clubs have been campaigning for change.
But it’s understood chairmen were by and large impressed with Lowy’s ability on Wednesday to engage them and listen to their concerns.
Fans want a positive outcome from Wednesday night’s discussions, but are expected to stand their ground on certain issues, notably FFA’s promised review of their stadium ban appeals process including the transparency of evidence used against fans.
The unprecedented show of cross-club fan unity is already under a certain amount of strain, with some fans posting allegations on Twitter that FFA had leaked information about the meeting venue to the media, which FFA has denied.
Western Sydney’s supporter group the Red and Black Bloc (RBB) also claimed some attendees had been screened, tweeting a photo purporting to show a FFA employee viewing the LinkedIn profile of one attendee.
Waz
Guest
Good post. P&R was introduced in Europe way before the modern commercial realities came to bear. We are not in a position to adopt it yet but like you I agree it will happen just not in the short term. And P&R is not the most pressing question, it will not fix any of today's problems, in fact introduced too soon it will do way more harm than good.
Rodger King
Guest
I must say mate you are single minded when it comes to forming an on field based A League. P&R will happen but not while you and I are around. If you are so convinced that 'only' on field performance counts how would you set it up. For example would all major population centers be represented? How would you select them? You are constantly reminded that the NSL failed, Miserably, I can't understand why you would want to go backwards. Finally, until an NPL side competes consistently in the FFA CUP P&R is not able to be considered, seriously you should give it some real thought and then back off.
Midfielder
Guest
Waiting for the AFL brethren to agree, expand and advise how we can fix...
Waz
Guest
Hopefully the FFA are smart on the negotiations, the age demographic we need to secure have all grown up with and use these platforms so they have a part to play but not surely as primary broadcast partner? One of Fox, Optus or BeIn must be primary, then a FTA, then a mobe provider, then other digital platforms, then overseas rights. Just a note on overseas rights - they're currently sold for $2m per year and they're hoping for $20m in the next negotiations. If correct that, plus a socerroos sponsorship, could generate an additional $20-$25m a year :)
FIUL
Guest
Strong reports around town that YouTube/Google are sniffing around wanting to get a toe in the sports broadcast market. A report yesterday shows that YouTube viewers are 20% more likely to watch football (ALeague, EPL & World Cup) than the the rest of the Aussie population. Interestingly, the 3 Egg Ball sports in Australia don't don't rate a mention with YouTube viewers. Neither does BBL, nor NBL, which allegedly attract a vibrant, younger demographic. Full report: "Field of streams: the sports broadcasts that could win over Australian Netflix and YouTube audiences" http://roymorgan.com.au/findings/6595-sports-viewing-for-netflix-and-youtube-audiences-september-2015-201512072218?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=&sc_camp=E1EAC374BB714ADE832D9FB6F9F7CF19 Given all we know about the ALeague consumer market, you can put your house on streaming being a significant viewing platform. I think the advertising slogan for the FFA's next TV deal will be: This is sports viewing .. . but not as you know it.
nordster
Guest
“We all want the one thing: we all want to get back to the game and support the clubs we love." Only if your team is one of the anointed nine in the aussie cartel hehe;) ... The foundation of the league needs to be about Competition not commercial Metrics....entry based on performance on the pitch. Thats a foundation to take the game forward 100 years....
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Time to see if Steven is his own man and what he is made of I do seem to recall owners would get irritated in the past but after meeting with Frank Lowy they would be "impressed" but not a lot really changed and then things blew up with Palmer at the forefront Personally though I wouldn't say the ground is "shaky" as such, there is strong market penetration in both Melbourne and Sydney going by the aggregate membership numbers in both cities. Just a matter of understanding that the landscape has evolved to the point where change is needed
Waz
Guest
Stephen Lowy couldn't have picked a worse time to start his new role, and sfter a shakey first week where he seemed to go AWOL as this storm broke he seems to be impressing those people around him notably the MVFC Chairman who seems to have become something of a bellwether for all things football. Whilst I was uncomfortable with the process (but as it's been pointed out no serious alternative put their hands up) I've never questioned Lowy jnrs qualifications for this role, either football-wise and certainly not business wise. Reasons to be optimistic today I think.