Fans, bitters, haters, snobs: Let's put it all aside, and unite

Still waiting for Mr 'Moneybags' Lowy the Elder to give back to the people of Australia the $45,000,000 which was conned out of the Rudd government (not that that was hard to do) to bribe FIFA's crooks in the futile WC bid.

There's a decent article here on NRL but also looks at racing: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/opinion/patrick-smith/why-rugby-leagues-commission-must-be-independent/news-story/fee294afd1cd7135f604e0bce8ef1dfd

Until last decade, we had a national soccer league drawn up on lines of race and ethnicity. The NSL was almost a vehicle for particular migrants to avenge petty centuries old grudges against other races. And you expect unity and everyone to be on the same page? For a long time Australian soccer exploited and encouraged these racial tensions by forming a league where teams where created along racial and ethnic lines. Could you imagine in this day and age the A-League having the Bankstown Egypt, the Broadmeadows Sudan? That's what the NSL was with teams like Melbourne Croatia. The result of course was genuine division and animosity between supporters. Sport is supposed to bring people together. Instead, the NSL achieved the opposite. More separation, more hate, less understanding. Even a VFL/AFL plant looking to destroy soccer couldn’t have come up with something as ugly and divisive as the idea of a group of teams based on ethnicity and race. The result was violence among competing racial groups and the disenfranchisement of a huge swathe of mainstream Australians who didn’t belong to these racial groups.

We don't need unity. The unity will come from the FFA leading Football and making the right decisions, then others will follow. What happens when the FFA is making poor decisions, is not listening to it's stakeholders, should we just hold hands, sing Kumbaya and pretend everything is going well. I understand the need for unity but only if everyone is on the same page, that voices are being heard, that football is going forward and moving in the right direction. If our major stakeholders feel that it's not then I would like to think they will stand up and not just follow for the sake of it.

Rumours I have heard is 10 will pay a small upfront fee in line with the Fox deal plus a percentage of gross revenue.

It's a 30 week competition MF.

The author wrote: " The A-League will be broadcast by Network Ten on their primary channel, with revenue in part emulating from the ratings. " Should that have read instead: "...with revenue in part emanating from the ratings"? or is it trying to say that revenue will rise and fall in line with ratings?

You can't have unity anywhere, in politics, business or in football, if the leaders aren't respected. Lowy and Gallop don't seem to be respected so how are we going to get unity, that was kinda my point.

It's a site for opinions and discussion. No ones forcing you to read lol. (or are they???)

You tell us mate, you seem to have all the answers.

This is a very important aspect, Middy, and you may well be hitting close to the heart of the matter. The issue is less about what decisions are made and more about how decisions made. The pursuit of good governance requires discussion such as this and I applaud you for bringing it to the fore.

Thanks Middie, Thought provoking article.

Mark - I was probably speaking too broadly when I suggested all groups were looking for similar outcomes but the one thing in common they have is that they want football to succeed and probably be number 1 but each group has a different idea of what that means. I would have thought we all want the A League to succeed and possibly succeed to the point where not only is there expansion, but also promotion and relegation which surely would involve NSL clubs? For my sins, I kind of believe that the reason we don't see expansion " flying off the shelf" is really due to the fact that it has to be carefully considered on many levels and naturally profit sits amongst the argument somewhere. Looking at the debate on here on expansion I see so many points of view, argument and counter argument, it tells me that it is a tricky path and we have already seen glorious failures that we don't want repeated. WSW was easy and FFA did an outstanding job when Lyall Gorman and the team set about the formation of a western sydney team back in 2011/2012. That has been such a successful model, it is alslo likely to be an obstacle to expansion as it is just about impossible to replicate anywhere else whereas many of the proposals are likely to cause division amongst the varied groups. I share your dreams and feel confident that we are seeing great changes in the sporting landscape but they are slower than many would like. There are other issues such as the W League which poses further challenges especially with the newly formed WAFL kicking off and seemingly so well received. Funding has been a major issue in football for so long we take it for granted these days but one day when the numbers are there it will all fall into place...optimistic or what?

I enjoyed reading the article Midfielder.

At least we can all agree that we like to watch good football. But...... then again, that might depend on whether my team is winning or losing

Very true and in the current structure the board is letting Gallop take the blame for their indecision.

This is an important point; the FFA must be seen to be leading and that requires clear and concise vision that is shared with confidence. At the moment the FFA appears to be pushed in various directions rather than leading, a perception that requires rectification.

Very well said Punter ...

Do you want to follow a breakaway league where one owner wants to let in teams from Asia (Sage) & another owner is not happy with reducing 5 foreigners to 4+1 from Asia, because, well because (Griffiths) another one who year after year don't pay their bills (BR), another owner who while building a strong base, is not spending money on his team (CCM). This is what mid is talking about unity. Why do we need state federations? The media is far more media friendly then it has been for over 40 years of following football in this country. The players & fans have a very viable A-League to enjoy, again far better then any organisation we've had in the 40 years I have been following the sport. Is it perfect far from it, is it as bad as you make it out, no I don't even think so. Should the A-League clubs have a bigger say, YES. Should the ability to get the right leaders for the FFA be more democratic, YES. Should we had got more TV money, YES, but from $750k a year to $50M & counting in 11 years is not someone who is as apathetic as you are portraying.

The key missing link as some have mentioned... IMO is a new chairperson capable of creating a structure people want and will work in a business sense. Gallop and his management team are essentially managers put in to carry out the boards policy. IMO Gallop is an excellent choice in this role. Is Steve Lowy that bad ... probably not ... but the times are calling for someone like Frank who can command the respect of the Football world, and argue their case but always have the business sense to not create something that can fold.