It’s a good thing we have the FFA Cup to distract us from our off-field issues, because Football Federation Australia’s laundry list of problems keeps growing by the day.
Here’s a random question lobbed in from the cheap seats: if we can imagine handing Brisbane City a place in the A-League, then why not South Melbourne?
After all, this is the same Brisbane City founded by Italian migrants as Azzurri; one that spent nine seasons in the National Soccer League and plans to play A-League fixtures out of a boutique Ballymore.
So what’s the difference between entertaining an expansion bid from a club founded by Italians versus entertaining an expansion bid from a club founded by Greeks?
I ask not because I have an affinity one way or another for either club, but to highlight the fact that so much of the discourse around the game at the moment is haphazard and not overly helpful.
If it’s good enough for one ex-NSL club to play out of a rented redeveloped stadium in the A-League, then surely it’s good enough for another?
But South Melbourne, of course, are the club everybody loves to hate.
It doesn’t help that some of their more outlandish announcements make them sound like a more popular club than Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens combined.
Nor does the farcical courting of marquee manager Roberto Carlos, while long-time South of the Border blogger Paul Mavroudis recently tweeted that their supposed Oceania Club of the Century award was actually given to them by an organisation “run out of some obscure bloke’s flat”.
Yet if last week’s nail-biting 1-0 FFA Cup win over Edgeworth Eagles is anything to go by, it’s clear South Melbourne still has plenty to offer to Australian football.
Played on a pristine pitch in front of the Fox Sports cameras at Lakeside Stadium, the boisterous fans who braved a typically wet winter’s night at Albert Park made it clear this is a club that still has deep connections within its community.
So why not give them a go in the A-League?
Or if not them, then who? Because the longer the FFA prevaricates on the topic of expansion, the more the game’s administrators look like sitting ducks.
It’s why ex-NSL clubs like Brisbane City, South Melbourne and now the Brisbane Strikers feel emboldened enough to announce expansion bids.
It’s why the Association of Australian Football Clubs was formed, and why certain A-League chief executives think the FFA board should be disbanded.
And it’s why a motley crew of FIFA and Asian Football Confederation officials will soon descend upon our shores, as football’s increasingly disgruntled stakeholders push for a more equitable say in how the game is run.
FFA officials choosing to put their fingers in their ears and shutting their eyes is not going to make questions go away about how the revenue generated by A-League clubs is being spent.
Nor should we accept without question the news that prospective expansion bidders might not even know the criteria they’re being judged upon until 2018 at the earliest.
Rome may not have been built in a day, but it surely took less time than waiting for the FFA to get its affairs in order.
The incessant delays have helped foster an image of a governing body that is out of its depth and at risk of losing control of the narrative.
And as the FFA Cup has readily proved, fans simply want to watch some football – even if it involves former NSL teams.
The clamour for Joe Gorman’s new book “The Death and Life of Australian Soccer” suggests plenty of fans are willing to put the old soccer, new football divide behind them.
No one is saying that every former NSL club deserves to be in the A-League.
But if they’ve got the resources, surely it’s time FFA stopped delaying and started asking to see some business cases?
Steve
Guest
If the above statement was ever challenged in an Australian Court, you would find it is discriminatory.
j,binnie
Guest
Lionheart- I remember the Newmarket club well.a really family oriented club. However if we move away from sentiment there was only one "family type" club that tried to keep pace with what Lions were doing at Richlands, albeit on leasehold ground. That club was Taringa Soccer Club based in Indooroopilly and they, being a confirmed amateur club, were among the first to build their own licensed clubhouse on their leasehold. It was widely recognised in football circles that the motivation for this huge "gamble" was the brainchild of a dedicated football man ,the late Jack Speare , who, having 2 footballing sons, could be said to have dedicated his life to making Taringa FC a huge success story. That the club,and clubhouse are still today very much to the fore in local and junior football is testament to the man's foresight. Surprisingly both Taringa Rovers and Hollandia / Brisbane Lions were comparative latecomers into football ,Taringa being formed in 1949, and Hollandia in 1957. Cheers jb.
Nemesis
Guest
You've quoted a paragraph from the NCIP to define "ethnic-based club"? Fine. South Melbourne complies with the NCIP, so, using your definition of "ethnic-based club", we can conclude: South Melbourne is not an ethnic-based club.
mattq
Roar Rookie
why would FIFA have such a policy? Maybe you should be asking do other FA's have a similar policy. You're full of it.
League table speaks
Guest
Well that doesn't sound like a very open "whole of football" kinda plan! :)
Markfromcroydon
Guest
Different strokes for Different folks. We have a licence fee system in place, not promotion and relegation. If the non a league clubs want in, then they need to pay their way.
matt jones
Guest
you really have no cred. at least admit you are the great Fuss and you will be forgiven
matt jones
Guest
i wish you would emigrate
Brendo51
Roar Pro
Spot on Waz The real issue is how can a 2nd tier get up while satisfying all three of the main stakeholders The PFA only want a fully professional 2nd tier The AAFC want a second tier at any cost but only if it doesn't send them broke The FFA want everybody to be patient and wait until there is more revenue as they are having enough issues meeting the current club's demands and don't want to put more money in. Finding common ground between the three is why we are not moving forward
Victorian
Guest
Don't follow Queensland Roar as I don't live in that region. Yes it was originally a Dutch club, but it has changed hands a bunch of times like an old Datsun.
Tommo
Guest
WAFL (Western Australian Football League) started back in 1881
AR
Guest
Careful Cam, you'll receive a lashing amid accusations you post under multiple names.
AR
Guest
Hm. That was a non-answer. Maybe Fuss doesn't know about this, but the FFA has a clear "no ethnic policy" for new ALeague franchises: -- "The National Club Identity Policy says that any new or revised club names, logos and emblems of clubs may have the following components; words or letters in English; and/or references to the broader geographic area in which the club is located; and/or colours; and/or references to flora; and/or references to fauna, provided that these components do not carry any ethnic, national, political, racial or religious connotations either in isolation or combination." -- So my question remains: does FIFA have an equivalent policy, or is this one just for unique Aussie "new football"?
j,binnie
Guest
Nemesis - As I have intmated elsewhere on many occasions the description an "ethnic based club" should not be based on which flag their supporters fly but simply by asking, from where does their working capital originate?????. In the start of the NSL $50,000 was needed to gain entry and this sort of money could be raised quite easily by donation from wealthy supporters or the parent social clubs who foresaw increased cash flow, especially on match days.Marconi even went as far as building their football stadium next door to their social club out at Fairfield. So the scene was set but when crowds did not reach expectation and money became tighter so did many of the lesser participants and clubs dependent on social clubs start to diminish. Football history. old and more recent. is dotted with examples of this occurrence and it was this sort of dependency that F. Lowy tried to eliminate with his franchise system of ownership and management in the successful HAL applications.Has he succeeded ? . Victory suggest yes, CCM and Jets still doubtful. Cheers jb.
j,binnie
Guest
RBB - I think from your reply we are both posing the same question. After over 100 years of organised football just how many of our football clubs own anything, other than a couple of sets of strips and a bagful or two of balls.???? In 1976 the then leading body .the ASF, started a semi-pro league, the NSL, that required $50,000 entry fee and I kid you not there was only one club in the whole of Queensland who could come up with that sort of disposable money. Some 28 years later,the man charged with resurrecting top football came up with a plan that required a $5 million dollar entry and again there was still only one club in Queensland that could raise that capital,and it was the same identity.Brisbane Lions. However the management structures required by the new regime demanded a "new broom" approach to the people involved, away from the hard working volunteer types, to the more acceptable business type of individual. It was this approach that was to see the subjugation of Brisbane Lions into the new identity ,Brisbane Roar with many changes going on at board and management levels. Today after forced sales to overseas interests there is little or no connection between the now named Queensland Lions and Brisbane Roar. RBB. the example I set is purely Qld but you don't have to go very far,just to Sydney, to find the same thing happening to many NSL identities, who despite having great football teams ,slipped into local football through -----lack of money. Hakoah,St George Apia and Marconi .are prime examples, football teams totally dependent on the largesse of their parent social clubs. That is the real reason behind Frank Lowy's decision to make the HAL a franchise league where money was guaranteed from the the men who bought the franchise. Has it worked? To date yes, but there is still a long way to go before the plan can reach it's optimum aim,the establishment of a 14 team league. all functioning in a stable financial manner. I suppose that poses the question would an Italian,Croation, Israeli or Hungarian social club,in today's financial climate be willing to outlay $5million just to have their "own ' football team.?? I rather think not, and so far, 11 years gone, there is little evidence of that happening.Cheers jb.
pacman
Guest
RIP Les Murray.
Lionheart
Guest
Roar has no connection with any particular ethnicity or community. I believe that's the same with every A League club - anyone from anywhere can be a fan or member. But as G&F says or at least implies, there seems to be a building nostalgia to bring back some of the former NSL clubs which were ethnically based. He says that'll bring back self-destruction, and I agreed. If we want to kill the A League, introduce ethically based clubs. Is Anglo Celtic an ethnicity? Several I think, but I have no inside information on any country other than Australia. I have to count through five generations before I can relate to any place outside Oz, and I certainly don't think of my many friends and former work mates, alive and gone, who speak with varied accents, as anything but fellow Aussies.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Good point.
fullonfootball
Guest
http://www.fifa.com/sustainability/anti-discrimination.html Should not be allowed to discriminate
Nemesis
Guest
Which clubs are ethnic-based clubs? If a club was founded by people from Anglo Celtic background are they ethnic-based? Doesn't Brisbane Roar have a connection to the Dutch community in Brisbane? Has the inclusion of Brisbane Roar destroyed the Aleague?