FFA Boggles The Mind

Oh God, here we go again.  Another week and another story about de-stabilizing activities within the A-League.  Unbelievably, or maybe not, this time around it is coming directly from the FFA.  Apparently this time around they have slapped a transfer embargo on North Queensland Fury preventing them from signing any players.  This means that the already struggling club cannot sign any players for next season and most worryingly cannot re-sign any of their current squad.  Apparently the FFA have decided that until the North Queensland public and business community prove that they want an A-League club, then the FFA will not support any recruitment.

It's hardly a move that will engender any sense of confidence in the community that the franchise will be there long term, and as such is hardly likely to aid the club in attracting investment or fans.  Way to fucking go FFA.

I've written a number of posts in recent times about my dissatisfaction with the FFA, and the way that they run the A-League.  Unfortunately with each passing week my confidence levels in the FFA drop even further.  Their treatment of former Newcastle Jets owner Con Constantine was a disgrace, as is their continued insistence that a West Sydney franchise will be added to the league despite the continued struggles of the existing clubs.  But most galling of all is that while the FFA also run Adelaide United, they have imposed no such transfer embargo there.  Why are two clubs, both owned 100% by the FFA, expected to operate under such different terms?

It's clear that the Fury are in for another long season, but let's face it, we all expected that.  Under FFA ownership they were required to operate on a restricted salary budget, using just 85% of the available cap.  That they have assembled a squad that has at least been able to be competitive under that sort of constraint is a credit to the football department there.  Clearly after their uncertain off-season the club has had a slow start with attendances, currently averaging just 5410.  But this is in a climate where most clubs have seen yet more decline in crowds this season.  For example the following clubs have all seen their averages drop, some very significantly.

• Sydney FC, -3040
• Brisbane Roar, -890
• Melbourne Victory, -7058
• Adelaide United, -1082
• Central Coast Mariners, -225
• Wellington Phoenix, -589
• Gold Coast United, -1817

Meanwhile the latest expansion club, Melbourne Heart, has managed crowds of just 6703 in it's first season.  The Fury's crowds are down by 1310 on average, a number that is hardly unexpected when you look at how these other clubs are going.

I really fail to understand the current attitude by the FFA.  When the Jets hit the wall recently, and now with the Fury, they have started publicly pushing a mantra of the community needs to prove that they want an A-League team.  Yet elsewhere, e.g. Adelaide, they are happily propping up the club and not restricting any of their activities.  Just why are the Fury being singled out for special treatment?

What is truly appalling by the FFA is that this restriction on the Fury comes on the back of the behavior of the FFA when they first took over the club.  They refused to honour any player contracts and by all accounts basically threw new contracts at the players and told them to take it or leave it.  The reality is that the Fury now stand next to no chance of retaining their best players with only David Williams contracted beyond the end of the season.

At this point in time I fail to see what the FFA's current strategy is.  The foundation clubs have been getting ignored with the FFA turning a blind eye to their problems.  On top of this they have expanded the league by three teams, none of which are close to looking like they are a viable concern.  Many of the current club owners are up in arms over the FFA's resistance to giving them more autonomy to let them solve the problems that they face, an issue compounded by the FFA's inability to address the problems themselves.  Yet in this climate the FFA continues to insist that they will continue to expand the league with a team in West Sydney as early as next season.

I'm sorry but the FFA has lost me.  I'm still a massive fan of the Roar and I've got no problems with supporting them going forward.  Along with Leeds United, they are my team.  As a supporter of the Roar I will also continue to support the A-League as a whole, because without it I think the development of young Australian players as a whole will suffer.  But I'll be damned if I'll support what I now dub the unholy triumvirate of Frank Lowy (FFA chairman), Ben Buckley (FFA CEO) and Lyall Gorman (Head of the A-League).  They seem to have an attitude of it's their way or the highway and it's to the detriment of the league.

A number of the clubs; Perth, Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Gold Coast; are starting to apply significant pressure to the FFA to reform the business model of the A-League.  When you look around the league as a whole it is quite clear that something is clearly broken, something has to change.  But it doesn't seem as though the FFA wants to listen.  They seem more intent on ignoring the problems and soldiering on with expansion, regardless of how well it works.

One of the reforms being pursued is for the A-League to be run by an independent commission separate from the FFA itself.  This was one of the reforms suggested by the Crawford report, and oddly it has never been implemented.  Given the current state of the league I think the time is well overdue for it to happen.  The FFA however seems reticent to relinquish control of the league, and with that reticence it seems there is little chance to really improve the situation for the A-League clubs.  Just how long these clubs can survive under the current model is anyone's guess.

I'm waiting for some sign of sanity prevailing at the FFA, but sadly I just don't see it coming any time soon.  Whether the A-League survives the reign of the unholy triumvirate is something that only time will tell.