Brisbane Roar’s terse 25-word statement on Corey Brown may have generated more questions than answers, but there’s no denying it puts both the club and the player in a difficult position.
I’m not going to pass comment on an ongoing legal situation.
Both Brisbane Roar and the Professional Footballers Australia association have released statements in the wake of Brown’s apparent termination, with the long-serving defender now set to take an appeal to Football Australia’s National Dispute Resolution Chamber.
Overnight, veteran News Corp journalist Marco Monteverde published a piece in which he quoted Australian Professional Leagues chief executive Danny Townsend as saying there was no danger of Brisbane Roar owners the Bakrie Group having their licence revoked.
There was also, if you connect the dots, another interesting legal revelation which helps explain who is currently running the club on a day-to-day basis.
And while I’m sure some folks would prefer me to tear strips off Brisbane Roar, or Corey Brown, or the PFA – or whoever’s side you’re on in the club’s latest messy battle – there are a few important reasons I won’t.
Aside from the fact it’s an ongoing legal matter, the simple truth is that I have a relationship with both Brisbane Roar and the PFA – and I gain nothing by jeopardising either.
One of the reasons there’s not a whole lot of investigative journalism into the A-Leagues is because very few media outlets can afford to pay for it.
And even if they could, the same fans who demand you burn bridges for the sake of a story are almost always the same ones who proudly state they would never pay to consume any media content anyway.
No one likes it when I write things like that, but it’s the truth – and I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can acknowledge it.
What I will say about the latest Brisbane Roar saga is that it makes selling tickets for the new campaign that much more difficult.
Corey Brown of Brisbane Roar looks to pass the ball. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The club has long been on the nose with local supporters, even if they’ve taken steps to try and win some back.
The move to Redcliffe was supposed to provide a more intimate viewing experience – and I can state unequivocally that Moreton Daily Stadium offers a much better football experience than the cavernous Suncorp Stadium – but the sheer distance between the two venues has seen many fans sour on the move.
Add to that the loss of players like Alex Parsons to rival clubs and it’s hard to deny that Brisbane Roar have an unhappy fan base on their hands.
Yet the repeated calls for the Bakrie Group to step down as owners fail to acknowledge one simple thing – at last count they had tipped around $30 million into the club.
No doubt Roar fans would prefer some more hands-on locals to own the club, it’s just very hard to see where a local with tens of millions of dollars to spare might ride in from.
That’s not to imply that Roar fans should be happy with the current situation, nor that they don’t have a right to voice their disapproval.
It’s just hard to see anything changing in the foreseeable future, particularly when the APL has already claimed the Bakries have done nothing to breach their licensing agreement.
So, we await the outcome of yet another legal stoush, while the Roar prepare for an Australia Cup quarter-final showdown with Adelaide United.
And if you’re anything like me, you cling to the hope that the city of Brisbane continues to have a financially stable, reasonably supported top-flight football club to watch this season.
The Corey Brown saga won’t exactly convince any fans to renew their season tickets – and we should remember a player’s livelihood is at stake here – but we need to let the legal process take its course.
But for now, and not for the first time, Brisbane Roar fans could be forgiven for feeling an ominous sense of frustration heading into a new campaign.
Guest
Guest
There is some sort of Motocross thing on at Suncorp in October
Grem
Roar Rookie
Even on The Roar, I feel like I’m on rations! 1 maybe 2 articles per week. However, we also need to be showing our support of The Roar by making articles roaring hot more often because we have 100s of comments.
Sheffield WesDay
Roar Rookie
100% agree Grem. It is all about crowds. The fact is we don't get media because we don't generate income. That is what media is based on, subscriptions and advising space. The more people who come, the more media. I really think the PFA and FFA do not engage with the people in this county that actually love the sport. That is the millions of kids that play grassroots football every week. Their parents are not going to change their allegiance to football from the code they have been following since they were kids. They are "rusted on" NRL/ AFL fans just as we are "rusted on" football fans. All this talk of media coverage does not affect a 10 year old kid who is torn between his love of playing football and changing codes to NRL because "Dad" follows the Broncos. We need to see all kids with free entrance to all A League games (not just registered FFA players), give them a hat and a scarf and a flag. This will drag mum and Dad to the game. We need to see more visits from A league teams on a Saturday morning game day out at the local clubs and fundraisers. We need to see A League teams visiting schools to run special one off day clinics. We need to see Aaron Mooy on our Weet Bix boxes. We need guest appearances on kids shows. My football crazed 8 yr son was visited by the local Baseball team (not pro, just the local club) at school to do a "come and try" afternoon. He has not stopped pestering me for a bat, ball and mit for the last 3 weeks. We need to stop comparing ourselves to other codes, stop blaming our wider football family, stop trying to win fans that have already "rusted onto" their code and invest in the kids.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Keepup has been a bit of a disappointment to date, maybe it will pick up. It sort of reminds me how good the TWG website was back in the day. Sites like the old 442 forum and TWG actually pre-date the A-League, and had good followings in the early years of the A-League - but both died. I don't really understand why that would be the case, but that's what happened.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
RB Astute post... In the US the MLS has the same issue with the EPl but its far worst as they broadcast all European top leagues into the Us and they play at roughly the same time... The MLS is ranked third behind, the Mexican league, EPL then MLS.... Recently the Mexican league and MLS hugely expanded a kinda cup competition between each other and its rated its head off... the hope is some of the Mexican rating will also watch the MLS... We don't have a country we can play.... but but but as you posted the European league seems rule over the local league... My gut feeling is there is a connection and its sad in many ways that the EPL & A-L are spread across two separate streaming services .... IMO the answer lies in getting respect for the A-L which is something that Lowy & JON managed in the early years of the A-L we need or APL needs to fine a way of earning respect again and that going to be hard as part of the revolution was totally bagging out not only the A-L Admins but also the league itself and that was by Football people... will be hard to win people back...
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Rob the question has to be asked, have the media themselves contributed to this situation with their percieved bias for the backyard codes. I mean an associate of mine, only last night was bagging out football, but went very quiet when I said "when AFL has it's first truly WC, come and see me. Moment the best you can muster is Perth v Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne." If the people see the game, they get curious, whereas at the moment 7, 9 and ABC have done a stirling job of making the game invisible. Kudos to 10 Para+ for their bravery. And I still stand by my persistent comment, that next year, the backyard codes will need a change of trousers when they see what the Women's World Cup actually means relative to size, scope and finance.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
That ship has probably sailed. When I refer to the early years of the A-League, the Fox ratings made it pretty clear that the A-League more than held its own against the Premier League (in terms of popularity in Australia). No doubt when they were on the same platform, one helped feed the other. But now that they have been on different platforms for what, about 8 years? the popularity of the Premier League has gone ahead in leaps and bounds, and it has to be said, the popularity of the A-League has stagnated (and that is being generous). Why is this important. All over the world, the pattern is pretty clear, when one of the big European leagues becomes much more popular than the local league, that's a permanent cap on the local league, it can never recover. When that point is reached, we can talk about ifs, buts and maybes all we like, but nothing can shift something so permanent. Really, we have to just cut out the wishful thinking, and accept our local league for what it is, accept in cannot ever really be anything more, and just enjoy it as is. But if anyone is still hoping for some sort of miracle down the track, that can only lead to disappointment.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
to a degree, I concur, but also the persistent comparison between our league and the EPL, that is an issue that needs to be addressed, and I would suggest that marketing is key in that instance
stu
Guest
FIL....we do hear of the same time and time again. It will always be a Hugh assumption that if born overseas one automatically has a love for the game, an assumption that simply is not being reflected as a viable economic proposition to those who want to make money (primarily the media). Honestly, if the market is there, it will not be ignored. The A-League is not attracting a sustainable market so far. The question as to why can't be answered by blaming others. The answer must lie with the product and how that product is managed.
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Mike, if ever a country was fit for football, it was this one. If you do the research I think Lakemba in Sydney has over 30 different nationalities in the one suburb. If there is one sport that applies, or is understood by our multicultural society it's football. I mentioned it previously, but if I take a taxi somewhere, it's always interesting to talk to the driver and see where he or she is from. Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Kashmir, Afghanistan, the UK, the list goes on, and the one common denominator I had with all of them........football!!
jbinnie
Guest
Lionheart - when watching the EPL do you ever start to wonder at the names being bandied around by the commentators. Today it appears harder to find a team made up of Smiths,Jones's .Mcleans or Murphys, whilst finding a European,African,South Amercan, Japanese, or even USA name is remarkably easy. Is there a lesson in this for our Aussie football?. The big clubs in the EPL have apparently found out that it is cheaper to buy from elsewhere what you need and offset the cost by keeping your own squad within the limits, in other words sell the players you don't need any more. Bearing this in mind it is also recognisable that certain clubs in OZ have adopted this policy and a study of the local transfer dealings point out that the top teams like Victory,City,United (all Melbourne), Sydney FC and WSW are all becoming aware of this practice and taking action to correct the fall in top team standard. Let's go back some 40 years and have a look at your favourite team, Brisbane Lions. When they played in the National Cup Final, they had 7 players all imported from overseas and 4 locals making up the run- on team. They also had 3 locals sitting on the bench who all got a run during the game. Lions won 3-1 with 2 of the imports getting the important goals. If we move on another 30 years we get to 2010 when Angie's super team ruled the roost in the A league, and we find 5 of the team arrived at Roar via experience at other A league clubs, Theo , Franic, Steffanuto,Murdocca and North all coming as experienced players with Berisha, Broich Solerzano, Smith,,Partlu,and Barbarousas all coming in from o'seas. You will note the ration of imports remains nearly the same. Is there a lesson to be learned from these observations?. A question that arises is that even after 40 years our "enforced" club academies still don't appear to be producing what we could refer to as "top four" A-League players, Some of the monied clubs have experimented but I think the transfer market is showing they are falling back to the old ways. Cheers jb.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I’d say it’s a cultural thing. In the uk you have 8-10 daily newspapers and people pour over the sports pages which are predominantly about football and a lot of EPL. There a few serious analytical articles but plenty more salacious pieces mixed in with transfer gossip. We don’t have that type of media coverage here or much in the way of salacious gossip so unless there is a Corey Brown type of story, there is little interest I imagine.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
There used to be a fair amount of A-League media coverage. No one read it.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
I worked for the ABC years ago. There were plenty of football fans amongst them, but even more ‘average Aussies’ who thought it was a foreign game that had no relevance to modern Australia.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
maybe, but I can't help but think that when a sports radio station devotes 99% of its talk to two sports, or our public broadcaster similar proportions to three, including all and any form of cricket live, forms that barely register on any measure of public interest, someone's having a lend of us
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Best thing to do is Dump them from the league, they have the poorest TV view ship out of any club and pathetic crowds plus there players are on the drug. #ROAROUT
John Lang
Roar Rookie
They are moving closer to Brisbane to the newly developed training centre at Brendale with the Women and the Academy. Plans are well underway for this to happen, supposedly in the New Year for the Men after the Women have settled in and then the Academy. The venue will be used for the Womens World cup in 2023 and around $22m is set aside for it. There is also some talk of a move to a stadium near the city (Not Perry Park) in the not too distant future
stu
Guest
Those codes may also hold a greater interest from the public. The cart before the horse is that the public only follow a sport reported upon....rather than the media reporting on what the public want, that's reading your market, and enhancing it in a commercial environment.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
those codes seem to have well-established political influence
Football is Life
Roar Rookie
Exactly Govt's do very little for football. They all support the backyard codes