Talking Footy

A-League set to revoke licence of Gold Coast United owner Clive Palmer
Tom Smithies
The Daily Telegraph
February 20, 201212:00AM

THE A-League will shrink to nine clubs next season after soccer chiefs finally grew sick enough of billionaire Gold Coast owner Clive Palmer's behaviour to tear up his licence.

After Palmer derided the sport in a newspaper interview yesterday, he will be presented with an ultimatum to either stump up enough capital to guarantee the club's future for two years under a new, arm's-length management, or have Gold Coast's licence revoked at the end of the season.

With the prospect of Palmer choosing the first option regarded as inconceivable, a bitter and expensive legal row is brewing as furious FFA chairman Frank Lowy demands his exit.

Although soccer fans were left frustrated at the time it took Football Federation Australia to respond to Palmer's comments yesterday, it was made clear that he was no longer welcome in the game.

Capping a week in which Palmer had suspended his own coach and made a 17-year-old debutant captain, Palmer said: "I don't even like the game. I think it's a hopeless game. Rugby league's a much better game."

Calling the A-League "hopeless", Palmer warned he might sue in the event FFA tried to revoke his licence.

Nonetheless that is what will happen, barring a startling volte-face from a billionaire who has reduced United's operating budget to almost nothing.

Yesterday afternoon FFA CEO Ben Buckley described Palmer's rant as "out of order" and "a lack of respect", adding: "The comments are offensive to the players, coaches, administrators and volunteers who are the life and soul of Australian football.

"I remind Clive that as a chairman and owner of a club, he has obligations to the competition, his fellow club chairmen and investors in the other nine clubs, and to the game itself."

Though that was seen as a relatively mild response, privately Lowy was said to feel humiliated by Palmer's conduct and ready to face him down. A charge of bringing the game into disrepute seems unlikely on pragmatic grounds, and Gold Coast will be allowed to limp to the end of the season.

By that stage it is almost certain Palmer will be told that he has breached his licence on a number of grounds, including the refusal to pay two players, Peter Perchtold and Robson, the money they were awarded by an independent arbiter.

Bizarrely that arbiter is among a host of people and companies facing legal action from Palmer, whose disdain for soccer's governing body is such that an expensive and drawn out battle over his licence is highly conceivable.

Palmer could also walk away now, though it's believed every club owner has to deposit a bond with the FFA that would be enough to cover the players' and staff salaries until the end of the season.

With no prospect of a west Sydney A-League team being ready for next season to take Gold Coast's place, a nine-team competition seems certain especially as FFA's TV deal with Fox Sports guarantees only an eight-team competition.

But that prospect is highly damaging to the negotiations for a new TV deal now underway, with Lowy having predicted in November that it would be signed off within six months.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6275219190

NSWAFL wrote:

Oh it's on now! The FFA has kicked United out, and Palmer's formed his own Association in retaliation!

Beaussie wrote:

NSWAFL wrote:

Oh it's on now! The FFA has kicked United out, and Palmer's formed his own Association in retaliation!

Was just reading about his own Football Australia association. Couldn't help but LOL

What a shambles the FFA and A-League is.

North Queensland Fury folded last season and Gold Coast United this season.

As for talk of a team in western Sydney... anyone remember the Sydney Rovers proposal last year?

214Four wrote:

Beaussie wrote:

NSWAFL wrote:

Oh it's on now! The FFA has kicked United out, and Palmer's formed his own Association in retaliation!

Was just reading about his own Football Australia association. Couldn't help but LOL

What a shambles the FFA and A-League is.

North Queensland Fury folded last season and Gold Coast United this season.

As for talk of a team in western Sydney... anyone remember the Sydney Rovers proposal last year?

The western sydney A-league team will sit perched above the two AFL teams of sydney. Already the excitment in western sydney for this new team is more than what i ever noticed GWS muster up... football is more popular than AFL in sydney & NSW, its just a fact, try to stay humble in ur place AFL.

214Four wrote:

compareing the popularity between football(and the a-league) to the AFL with ratings/memberships and crowds is hard.
Firstly my main arguement was fottball is more popular than AFL in sydney and the western sydney a-league team has generated more interest and will sit higher in the pecking order compared to the two AFL teams. football is followed on two/ three main fronts in sydney and specially sydneys west, English premier league, the socceroos and the a-league. atm western sydney does not have an a-league team and also makes it hard to properly compare but here i go....

being a fully fledged professional league on both free to air and pay tv, compareing AFL to a-league is unfair, AFL hands down is bigger but looking at viewing

This year the swans have had 82,000 then 32,000 then 46,000 then 50,000. GWS this year have averaged 82,000 then 26,000 then 34,000 then 26,000

The HAL averages around 65-80k nartionally and around 30K in Sydney, now that those figures are for the least watched of the three, do i need to add the premier league amounts or the socceroos?....

Participation numbers, lol not worth even going there... How many AFL stars are from NSW compared to footballing stars?!
how many AFL players would be reconised in sydney compared to football stars?? umm....

The average sydneysider and even more west sydneysiders has a much greater connection to football than AFL. Sydney, Western sydney majorally, wollongong majorally and the hunter majorally have very large football communities and football has been a part of the major cities of NSW for many many years. No other sport connects to all the nationalitities like football does.... etc etc....
Any more???

These are some reasons why AFL is less popular than football in NSW

Xman wrote:

214Four wrote:

compareing the popularity between football(and the a-league) to the AFL with ratings/memberships and crowds is hard.
Firstly my main arguement was fottball is more popular than AFL in sydney and the western sydney a-league team has generated more interest and will sit higher in the pecking order compared to the two AFL teams. football is followed on two/ three main fronts in sydney and specially sydneys west, English premier league, the socceroos and the a-league. atm western sydney does not have an a-league team and also makes it hard to properly compare but here i go....

being a fully fledged professional league on both free to air and pay tv, compareing AFL to a-league is unfair, AFL hands down is bigger but looking at viewing

This year the swans have had 82,000 then 32,000 then 46,000 then 50,000. GWS this year have averaged 82,000 then 26,000 then 34,000 then 26,000

The HAL averages around 65-80k nartionally and around 30K in Sydney, now that those figures are for the least watched of the three, do i need to add the premier league amounts or the socceroos?....

Participation numbers, lol not worth even going there... How many AFL stars are from NSW compared to footballing stars?!
how many AFL players would be reconised in sydney compared to football stars?? umm....

The average sydneysider and even more west sydneysiders has a much greater connection to football than AFL. Sydney, Western sydney majorally, wollongong majorally and the hunter majorally have very large football communities and football has been a part of the major cities of NSW for many many years. No other sport connects to all the nationalitities like football does.... etc etc....
Any more???

These are some reasons why AFL is less popular than football in NSW

So you're comparing international soccer to the AFL?

Participation rates for soccer in australia smash RL!

AFL beats A league in Sydney in all those indicators I described. End of story.