Archive for the 'A-League' Category
I had planned to be writing a post about my 25th Wedding Anniversary Football Road trip following GCU away to Gosford and Newcastle. But alas that is not the case. Our Dear Leader, Clive Palmer, has again shown his ignorance of active support and punished a whole section of supporters due to the actions a a few. Below is my letter to Clive Palmer.
Go to the Naughty Corner
Thanks for Nothing
Dear Clive, once again you have proved you have little or no respect for active support at Gold Coast United home games.
Ever since day 1 and you proudly proclaimed that we would win the competition undefeated you have alienated potential Gold Coast Fans. And your actions since then with 2 previous ground reconfigurations have ensured many more supporters have left the club in droves.
I have personally defended the club on forums and in pubs around the country for the past 2 seasons but I just can’t do it any longer.
This week you have insinuated that I am a Hooligan, and that I need to prove myself as a well-behaved supporter. Well, I don’t have to prove anything to you or the club, and I won’t be trying. I find this totally abhorrent and unacceptable. Don’t dare treat me like a naughty boy and send me to the naughty corner.
I thought no stone was going to be left unturned in finding the culprits behind the violence. Who is in charge of the investigation? How many GCU and Roar supporters have they spoken to? None that I know of.
Its Not Me, Its YOU
This isn’t about what happened at all. It is about you cutting costs yet again. It is about you whining about why no one turns up to the games. I’ll tell you why, it is YOU. No one likes you. You have alienated the football community on the coast with your outrageous statements and point blank refusal to market the team/club to the Gold Coast community.
I could go on and write a novel on WHY, but you are simply not worth any more white space. You owe fellow supporters and myself an apology.
A very angry
Terry Hands
January 08 2012 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 5 Comments »
3-0 and I am excited
On Friday night I made the short trek to Brisbane to watch Gold Coast take on Brisbane in the M1 Derby. Since our first encounter the fixture has evoked a lot of passion among the fans and this was no different.
After replacing 12 players in the squad, signing up some of our double winning Youth squad and a number of unknown internationals I have had no real idea how we would fare in the A-League proper.
A lack luster draw against the Nix with James Brown netting the equalizer in the dying minutes in the first round to leading for most of the match against last years runner up, I was very nervous and excited on Friday night to see how we would fare against the Roar on a 30 game winning streak.
And after the first half the butterflies in my stomach were ones of excitement. We were down 1-0 but could have been up 2-1. Yeah, I know that Brisbane had their chances as well and our set piece defense was just awful, but what they showed me was that they could play attacking football and match it with Brisbane for a period of time. A little bit of luck and it could have been different.
I am Excited
Most people would not be excited after such a convincing loss, but I walked away from there not feeling like a 3-0 loser. The young guns Brown and Halloran are showing what they can do and why they are on the radar of National Team selections in junior ranks. And Maceo Rigters showed me he will be a live wire and a handful for defenses.
Likewise the traveling fans never let up as well. There was a good contingent of us stuck up in Bay 317 and the Beach was in fine voice. No doubt the rest of the competition will continue to deride us as irrelevant, lacking fan numbers and that the Fury should still be in and not us.
Sure, I would love double the crowd number, but these issues are out of our control. We will just keep on turning up and hopefully set an example for the rest of the Gold Coast. I am a Football fan, and whilst I have a local team, I will support it.
There is no doubt the boys were beaten by a better team on the night, but they showed enough to get me a little bit excited about the season going forward.
October 23 2011 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »
Dear Mr. Palmer,
For the past 40 odd years I have been a fan, player, coach and administrator in the game of football. There is nothing more important to the code in Australia than the success of the A-League.And there isn’t a sport i would follow more than Football.
3 years ago I was a critic of the FFA for considering the expansion of the league with the Gold Coast Galaxy bid. In my opinion the league was not financially ready for any expansion anywhere. (And probably still isn’t)
Then came along a white knight in his helicopter, landed at Skilled Park and handed over a $5 Million cheque to the FFA. This forced the hand of the FFA and they then forced the North Qld Fury into existence before it’s time.
As a fan of the game I either had to get on board or stand on the side and criticise. I chose to believe the white knight and get on board the Gold Coast United bandwagon. After all there was a billionaire funding us and it is 15 mins up the road from where I live. I was very skeptical about the Fury and whether that was a good idea, but the FFA were going to move forward in any case.
For the purpose of this letter I will stand aside any arguments to do with the FFA and Stadiums Queensland. On these issues I for the most part stand shoulder to shoulder with you regarding your issues with them.
My issue is with you and your grandiose statements to the press 3 years ago and ever since. I jumped on board largely on the back of what you said in the media 3 years ago. Your vision for the A-League and Football on the Gold Coast, here are some quotes from the news back then by yourself and CEO Mensink.
Mr Palmer, 54, who made his money in property before switching his focus to mining, sees soccer as the ideal avenue to lift his profile in China, where he already has a business base.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in China that support the national team up there,” Mr Palmer said.
“China’s part of our community. We’ve got to get together, talk, exchange ideas, and certainly sport’s a great medium to do that.”
Restricted by the A-League’s salary cap in how much money he can offer players, Mr Palmer said he had not approached soccer with the idea of making money. “More with the idea of losing money,” he said.
And the only thing preventing him from throwing more millions at his pet football project is the A-League’s $2.5 million annual salary cap.
“This is a great opportunity for players to be a part of history. Our new goal is to go undefeated and take the title. We really think we can do that. We feel we will have the best team in the A-League.”
“I aim to play any part I can in making it No.1 in Australia and having a team in the league that does well and wins in style will go some way to achieving that ambition.
“But it’s not just about building a great club, we’re committed to turning football into Australia’s most loved code. It’s a long-term project but we all believe it’s something that will happen.
Mensink aims to turn the Gold Coast side into the ‘peoples’ team and will court the support of the community with several roadshows spruiking the brand.
“And it won’t just all be about the Coast either,” added Mensink. “We realise what a big role northern NSW has played in football’s development down the years and we want the people there to also embrace this club.”
The one thing you did follow through with was building a competitive team who were good enough to win the title. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. But along the way you have failed miserably to engage the local community. Especially the local football community. Also, ask the people of Lismore and surrounding areas how they feel about you.
And in one of your latest interviews, here is some of what you said.
It’s three years since you started Gold Coast United. Is football getting into your blood?
It gets more exciting as the years go on. You understand the rules better, you understand the teams, the players. This year for us is very exciting. I believe we have our best-ever team. A lot of our squad is made up of youth players who wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity. They might have been lost to the code. So I get pleasure out of that.
I should hope so, it is a fantastic sport. You need to really convey that to the general public here on the Gold Coast. I know you attend as many games as you can at both senior and Youth levels. And the word is you have been a bit more engaging with the public this year.
A lot of your players are on one-year contracts, which has raised speculation about the long-term future of the club. Are you going to roll up Gold Coast United at the end of the season?
I would only roll it up to expand it. As for the one-year deals, I would recommend them as the best way to motivate players. We had a guy, I won’t say who he was, working for us in the first year, who told some of our players ”play a couple of good games, get a contract, run dead for a couple of years and then make sure your third year is a good one so you can get another deal”. That’s what a lot of pro footballers have been doing, and it’s despicable. One-year contracts, you either perform or you’re out.
Suggesting that a lot of Pro Footballers act like this is an insult to the profession. You may have had 1 guy, but to generalise like that is abhorrent. I could say most mine owners have no respect for the environment, or the safety of their workers and are only interested in profits, but I know that is untrue.
Suggesting that 1-year deals are the best way to motivate players is ludicrous. You need to secure the services of senior, experienced players, and they are not going to stay for a 1-year deal if there is something better on offer. Also I wonder how your sponsors have reacted to this news? If we didn’t have companies owned by you as a major sponsor I really don’t know how you would go attracting a sponsor with this strategy.
I like the youth coming through but suggesting they are better than the team of the past 2 years is a bit rich when they have not been tested on the pitch as a team.
You’re intimating that sometimes the criticism has got to you. Has the reaction from your own community – you were brought up on the Gold Coast – been hurtful?
The criticism about us not doing enough in the community is a beat-up. We have our breast cancer fund-raisers, we supported a benefit recently for a local detective who was killed, we’re sponsoring the local league, the players are out there every day. [The club claims it has connected directly with 75,000 people in the past year.] The people who know the efforts we make in the community are the people who need it. They’re the ones who we care about, not the journos doing a beat-up.
The criticism is not a beat up. The supporters club has been making suggestions to the club for 2 years on ways to help with crowds and getting out into the community. The increase in this activity has only happened this year. Sponsoring the Local league has only happened this year. It has taken 3 pre seasons to even start making a difference
There are 1000’s of disenfranchised supporters of the game who deliberately do not turn up to the games simply because they don’t think you are doing the right thing, haven’t engaged with them at a local level, and haven’t listened to them. They simply don’t believe you and have no respect for you.
Is it time the owners had more of a say in running the league?
The Crawford report [2002] talked about a management team of the owners getting together to run the league. Ultimately that’s what we need to happen because then everybody gets a fair say. But there’s good reasons why that hasn’t happened yet here in Australia. A lot of our clubs aren’t community-based – they were just created out of nothing. So until we can get more established, it’s hard to see how [separate management from the FFA] can happen.
I totally agree. And this takes a lot more work especially in the community. You cant just rock up in a helicopter, hand over a cheque for $5 Million to the FFA, say we are going to win the comp undefeated and then just expect people to turn up. You need to have a local connection; you need to have someone passionate about the game out there every day of the year sprouting about the club and the game. You are marketing to an emotion not a balance sheet.
What is the mood of the owners at the moment? How critical are the next couple of years, and are they going to stick?
They’re very concerned because they don’t want to lose larger and larger amounts of money. We lost about $4 million last year, and I decided that was too much. We’ve reviewed our operations, pared them back and we’ll probably lose about $1 million to $1.5 million this year. A lot of people reckon we won’t be able to do that successfully, but I’m sure we can prove them wrong. The owners are hoping we’re right.
I also agree that you shouldn’t lose money hand over fist or there will be no club around at the end of the day. And the FFA model could be argued about here but I wont. By my calculations you plan to spend $2.5 – $3 million less this season. I hope you haven’t pruned any off the Marketing Budget.
“Everyone has been running stories for three years saying we’re losing money and we’re closing down,” Palmer said. “Well, if money is what it takes to run a football team I will be committed.
“As far as we go, we are staying at the Gold Coast as long as we can.
“I started the club so I don’t want to see it closed. I quite enjoy it, plus we can afford it.”
You have made a number of quotes in the past 3 years about being able to afford it, I’m not in it to make money etc. Latest reports have you either spending millions on building a new stadium or at least chipping in to modify an existing ground in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games bid if we win it.
To me this is another grandiose statement to get the punters on board thinking you are in it for the long haul. In the words of the Greek God of Victory – “Just Do It”. Prove to us you really are committed to the code and the community.
I simply want action from you.
I have done my bit, as have a core group of fans that turn up every week and sing their lungs out. Bring our friends along, talk up the team, and defend the club and sometimes you to the many detractors out there. I just cant do that any more, defend you that is. I still want to support the A League and I want GCU to survive here on the coast. I also want you to stay at the helm. I simply want you to honor your commitment to the people of the Gold Coast and make it a real “Peoples Team”.
People Buy from People they Like and Trust
You are selling tickets to an emotional roller-coaster. Price is a sticking point with a lot of fans and families but not all of them. Most people were happy with the prices last year, they just didn’t like the way you treated them or the game here on the Gold Coast. Give those fans something to be excited about, gain their trust and respect.
Personally, I buy my ticket to support the team, the League and the Gold Coast
Regards
Terry Hands
August 25 2011 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »
Everyone else has had their say on Harry Kewell, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t.
I am absolutely delighted that one of our best ever Socceroos, and one that is still playing and having an influence at the national level has decided to join the A-League. It will be a crowd booster not only for Melbourne Victory, but for their away games as well.
We have Victory coming to the Gold Coast twice this season, however the second visit is the weekend before the Socceroos take on Saudi here at home in February.
The whole thing has been drawn out, and received much flack from fans and journos across the country. The so-called Journos who think they are in the know printed many a story deriding Harry and his greed. Insinuating he will not only take money from Victory but our away gates as well when he travels here.
I dare say the truth is much more palatable than the fiction we have been reading, and that the crowd increases we will all see as a result of HK coming to town will reap our own benefits in increased gates.
Welcome to the A League Harry, I for one will applaud you when you walk off the pitch at Skilled Stadium. Don’t listen to the negative crap and just get on with your job, entertaining football supporters and shutting the mouths of those detractors.
August 21 2011 | A-League and Socceroos | 2 Comments »
This is a question that a lot of A League supporters around the country hope the answer is a resounding NO.
It is no secret that GCU is the team that most would want to see axed from the competition, and the fact that the Fury were just given the chop has only reinforced that position. It seems that the Fury captured a lot of hearts around the country whilst also capturing bigger crowds than GCU despite a population 1/3rd the size.
As a long time fan of the game I feel very much for the Fury fans, players, staff etc. Football has an emotional attachment, and that is what Ben Buckley does not have. And at 80 years Old Frank Lowy has just lost it I think. He has been a wonderful supporter of the game but now is the time to hand over just like he has done at Westfield. Bring in some new blood, football blood. People with passion and emotion for the game, like Charlie Yankos or Kimon Taleodoris (thanks Bazza). We also have to have that business minded persons as well, and if they are both even better.
The FFA are to blame for what has happened in Townsville and on the Gold Coast. There has to be a solid business and financial case to start a team anywhere. It all happened way to quick back then.
Will GCU Survive?
This weekends game is the most important game in 2 years of existence. M1 derby pales into insignificance. A win on Saturday gives Clive his dream of an ACL spot. This is the sole reason he bought an A-League license. Asia is where all his big spending cliets live, Asia is where his minerals go. He wants his time to shine in front of them.
A win on Saturday night will ensure Clive goes after a big name Marquee player. Maybe even a Socceroo and an Import. Imagine a name like Harry Kewell on the Gold Coast. Imagine what other names he would attract to the Gold Coast. Then there is the question of the Gold Coast public. If a Harry Kewell type name were here that the public knew, and perhaps a quality foreigner, then we would definitely get bums on seats.
Without an ACL spot, Clive will be gone after next season in my opinion. He has committed to next season, after he turned down the FFA to take over the Roar. But beyond that, i just don’t see it. Who wants to run a business at a $7 Million loss each year or whatever he claims to be losing. So just like the FFA did with NQ, Clive will just cut us lose.
I guess that sits well with a lot of HAL supporters. But just like them, the small band of people who turn up each week will be just as gutted as the NQ Fury fans this week. We are just as emotionally tied to the team as any football supporter in the country
In any case I am in Gosford on Saturday to cheer on a quality team who have done great things in the past 2 seasons. ACL will be a great reward for their hard work
March 03 2011 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »
Time for the FFA to consolidate.
A lot has been written and debated about crowds in the A League. The facts are they have been declining since a high in Season 3. Season 6 sees a 40% drop in average crowd numbers since that season. Indeed it is only Adelaide and Melbourne Victory who can hold their heads high with having the most consistent crowd numbers since season 1. MV crowd’s only dropping off big time this season with the entry of the Heart.
The New Zealand knights lasted 2 seasons averaging just over 3k each season. Financially unviable and the FFA rightly handed the license to the Phoenix, who have done a great job in engaging the community. However their crowds are down 25% since their first season as well.
The FFA were adamant in season 1 that the league had to learn to walk before it could run and had a “No Expansion for the first 5 seasons” policy. I think this was for existing cities.
Season 4 sees the FFA give licenses to Gold Coast and Townsville. The original GC Galaxy bid was never going to fly under the FFA rules, as it could not guarantee financial support. Townsville was the same. Up steps Clive Palmer, the Qld Billionaire who just writes out a cheque for $5 Million and the license is his. The FFA rush to bring in Townsville before they have the cash.
At the end of season 5, Don Matheson can’t keep taking the losses in Townsville and hands back the license to the FFA who took over the running of the club. Gold Coast loses money as well, but Clive can take the hit. However the battle in the stands heats up with most supporters backing the Fury supporters who have had better support than the Gold Coast with a 3rd of the population. Most punters outside of the GC are calling for them to be axed. This is mainly aimed at the Club management, with our loyal band of supporters getting some encouragement from other supporters and media.
Season 6 sees GC crowds plummet by almost 50% after Clive announces he is shutting down ¾ of the stadium so he can limit his losses. Many GC supporters left “en masse”, vowing never to return until Clive is gone. Some media and a lot of other supporters call for GCU to be axed and not the Fury
We have Sydney, the most populous city in Australia with a 25% drop in crowds from last season and 50% down from season 3.
Brisbane Roar, riding high on top of the table, winning the Premiers plate and playing very attractive football have managed to reduce their crowds since last season, and again a 50% drop since season 3.
WHY?
The question is WHY? Now each club could analyse their own unique position and have some reasons. But the biggest indication lies in a report from the ABS recently released, FOOTBALL: FOUR GAMES, ONE NAME
This report clearly shows that “Soccer” has the highest participation rate from age 15 to 44 out of all the Football codes. However it has the lowest attendance rate by a long way out of all the Football codes.
What this says to me is that there is a huge number of people out there who play the game but who just wont support it at the top level and go and watch. Aussie Rules and Rugby League are part of the Aussie Psyche. We will play the game but wont go and watch it.
Despite being the “World Game”, it hasn’t penetrated this part of the world like it has elsewhere.
The FFA needs to stop any expansion of the League immediately and look to build what we have. It looks like the Fury will go and that Gold Coast will stay (for the time being). The FFA needs to revisit their “Franchise Model” and re jig it to make it more financially viable for the clubs and the fans. Build a league that people will talk about in a positive light. Get the grass roots involved. This may take 20 years to get right, but it must start now.
By ditching the Old NSL and creating the A League, the FFA has made some powerful enemies. It is time to start mending those bridges and talking to those sate league clubs on how to grow the game. Its great we don’t have the basket case that was Soccer Australia, but it is a shame we have lost some much football passion from the people who brought the game to this country.
There has to be a compromise or we will just end up like the Middle East and always be in crisis looking for the next attack to bring our game down.
I love this game, and I want to see it survive. The Game is the most important part of the whole equation, followed by the Fans. The administration and the clubs must remember this, or in fact be told this. They might be running a business but the shareholders are the fans, and our stake in the game is emotional and not financial.
February 06 2011 | A-League | No Comments »
Well who would have thought?
When Clive Palmer announced he was throwing the gates open for our game against Central Coast Mariners on December 13th I was a little skeptical as to the reasons given why. I was also little skeptical as to how many tickets would be snapped up by an apparent apathetic Gold Coast Football public.
The club took this on board and stepped up their marketing to unprecedented levels in my view. It was all over the media. The story of FREE tickets was too big to let go. Then the supporters club got in on the act as well. President of the club, Nathan Mulhearn, started a viral marketing campaign using Twitter and Facebook. #GoGCUtarget20000 was born.
I don’t know the statistics of how effective it was but there was a certain amount of interest from A-League Twitterers around the country. The guys at The Football Sack got on to it and supported it really well.
As the game approached it was all eyes on ticket “sales” from Ticketek. Nathan was getting daily updates from the club and I was blown away by the level of support on the Gold Coast. By kickoff there had been over 23,000 tickets allocated. A fantastic effort by the Gold Coast to show Clive and Ben Buckley that support for an A-League team on the coast was not dead.
The Weather
The only thing we had no control over was the weather. We knew a wet day would turn people away in droves, especially people not really committed to the sport. I woke up yesterday and it was raining. I just felt disappointed for the Club and Supporters club who had put in a huge effort to publicise the game for a whole week and now it was looking very bleak.
I was hopeful of a break in the rain but deliberately kept away from the BOM and the forum so I would just not have to read or hear negative news. I headed off to RQ’s to join up with the rest of “The Beach” at our Beach Party put on by RQ’s. It just kept raining. But the pub was filling up with each passing hour and minute. I had a good feeling and was thinking could we really get 10,000 people on a day like this?
I posted some photos on Twitter and had a CCM fan reply to me that he thought the game should be called off due to the pitch. I refused to believe this and had a tongue in cheek reply about being soft. When I arrived at the stadium I couldn’t believe that I had to actually line up to get inside the stadium. All the gates had lines, I took a photo and posted it on Twitter, “What Rain”. It was awesome.
Inside I couldn’t believe the state of the pitch. It was atrocious and the rain just kept coming. But the crowd was building. How awesome was this. The Gold Coast was saying loud and clear, that they support a team here on the Coast. It had to be the only answer, 90% of these people had ZERO financial commitment to the game. They could have easily brushed it and watched from home or gone to a shopping centre etc to do something else. But they didn’t. They came out in the pouring rain to Skilled Park to cheer on a damn fine Football team.
30 mins to kickoff and the Beach began to fire up. We were not under cover and we were wet as. But the atmosphere was party time. We sang loud and proud and the Naming of the players was fantastic. They could have heard it in their dressing room.
The game kicked off and we were into it. The singing hardly abated. A highlight however was not supplied by the Beach but by the Crowd. As Kwasnik stepped up to take the penalty, the Crowd started booing and we followed. It is normally the home end to supply atmosphere and chants but not this time. He missed and the crowd erupted.
It is history now that the game was abandoned about 20 mins and I have no problem with that decision. Maybe it shouldn’t have started, but it did. And I believe that 20mins has started something special here on the Gold Coast. It is one small step back to some decent support.
By no means does one moment change everything, but it is a start. The club now needs to build on that support and make changes. There is obviously a price point problem for people in a struggling Gold Coast economy. But there is also a message there about generating publicity and getting the public involved.
Next home game is against Glory on Jan 3rd and you will receive a $5 discount on entry if you kept your ticket from yesterday. I would like to see more but it is a start.
It was an awesome afternoon with no result on the park but a great result in the stands. 10,146 and a new A-League record in atrocious conditions
Terry
Footnote.
I took a mate of mine to his first ever A-League game. He lives in Canberra and is a Roar supporter but he had a great time as well. We will go to the M1 derby together as well.
December 20 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 4 Comments »
Its Sad
I came away from last Sunday’s game feeling very flat and unimpressed. Was it because we lost? Was it because of the Crowd Cap? Was it because of the lack of numbers in the crowd?
I deliberately did not read the forum because I knew it would simply depress me. There would be our own members having a go at the club and in particular our owner, Clive Palmer. There would be the obligatory posts from Victory supporters telling us how crap we are as a supporter group, how crap our team is, and what a crap time they had because of the crowd cap. There would be posts from supporters of other clubs telling us what crap supporters we are and we didn’t deserve a team.
Why?
I have tried to work out why I didn’t want to read the forum and why I felt so sad after the game. I have tried to work out why I avoided meeting up with some Victory supporters I spoke to on Twitter, and another guy who I have known personally for the past 3 years from Socceroo travels.
It comes down to I am embarrassed by what has gone on. As a fan of the game I am just completely embarrassed by what the club has done and how it showcases us to the A-League public. I love this game and have done all my life. I know what it was like under the “Old Soccer” when it was the NSL. Hell I remember when it was the “Phillips Soccer League”.
So when “New Football” arrived I was so excited that I was supporting it no matter what. It is our last chance to show the Australian Public that we are a legitimate Football code that can stand alongside the other codes here in Australia.
So when Version 1 arrived I hoped on the train to Brisbane to support “New Football”. I bought a Social membership and a supporter’s shirt for the Roar. I managed to see 3 or 4 games a year until it was announced that the Gold Coast would have its own team in Season 5. How good is that I thought? My very own A-League team to support in the town I live in, and only 15min drive.
Clive Palmer
Working in the mining industry I knew exactly who Clive Palmer was, but could not find any link to Football. So what I thought, this guy has the money and is saying all the right stuff in the local media, I just have to support him and the club.
In the ensuing months I had many a debate in person and on forums with detractors, who didn’t think Clive was in it for the right reasons. That as soon as we were not winning he would be out of there like a shot. I argued that the game needed new money and benefactors who wanted to support the game. After all, Clive is a local Gold Coaster done good. He made his initial money as a property developer before ending up as a mining magnate.
I ended up as an Organiser of “The Beach” to promote active support at GCU matches. We copped an absolute bollocking from supporters of every other club in the league at some time, because of our small numbers and apparent lack of originality in our songs/chants.
Before a Socceroos game in Brisbane earlier this year I defended the right for the Gold Coast to have a team to some GGArmy faithful who said then that the A-League does not deserve the crap that Palmer is doing to the league. Again I defended our right and that of Clive to have the team; I got so angry I had to walk away in the end.
Season 2
When I arrived at Skilled Park for game 1 against or rivals from up the M1 and I saw how small the crowd was I sort of knew how the season was going to go. 40-50% of the crowd was from Brisbane and their away supporter’s bay had as many people as ours but more standing on their feet than ours.
Then during the week the bombshell was dropped, the Crowd Cap was to be invoked again. I was so angry I told my wife I was going to cut up my season pass and send it to Clive telling him to stick it where the sun don’t shine. It went through our supporters like Epsom salts. By that night there were many threads about the cap and Clive.
Supporters from other clubs had a field day, and supporters from within our own group split in to 2 camps. Those who were staying and those who were going. That divide is even greater after last Sunday’s game where only 3624 people turned up.
So Who Is To Blame?
In my opinion the club did not do enough to engage with the community in the first instance and secondly simply did not advertise the fact that there was a team on the Gold Coast. Even with all this publicity and what has gone on since day 1 there are people who simply don’t know that GCU exist. These people know more about an AFL team who has 3 contracted players than they do about us.
Does the Gold Coast Deserve a Team?
This is now the burning question inside of me. The calls for the FFA to take back the license or simply kick us out of the league all together are gaining momentum now. Not only from other supporters, but from respected journalists. Have a read of Les Murray’s latest TWG Blog.
Many of you have made up your mind and want us kicked out ASAP. I think that decision should be left until the end of the season. I think every town has the right to want a team and has to then justify that commitment. I question whether the FFA jumped at the chance of having a benefactor like Clive at the helm and thought, we have a team that will never have money troubles.
Will GCU survive?
It took Rugby League 3 goes (I know they were kicked out after Super League) and Aussie Rules are having their second tilt at a team here. The gold coast is a Rugby League town, no question. Due to massive interstate immigration there is also a healthy support for Aussie Rules as well. Football has always been the poor cousin to these 2 codes and Rugby Union lurks there as well.
The only way our code can survive anywhere in Australia is with the grassroots support of the local Football communities. This is the area I believe that GCU did not concentrate on when they were first granted the license.
Clive Palmer is the key here. He controls the purse strings and gives the CEO direction he wants the club to move. It is not sustainable for him to lose money hand over fist, I understand that. But surely there could be a better targeted marketing campaign that encompasses advertising, community involvement, cheaper ticketing and FREE stuff for kids. Get the community on side first; get them coming in the gate and then reign it in. From where I sit, the reigns have never been loosened.
It is easy to go on from here into the financial woes of the A-League and FFA especially considering the Jets predicament this week. But all I will say is that “Sustainability” is the end game here. It must be if GCU and every other club are to survive. GCU have to find that balance here on the Gold Coast and fast or we won’t have it too much longer. It’s all catch up from here on in, 2 years after being granted the license.
I will be there
When we play CCM on September 19, I will be in the stands singing like I always have. I just hope a few more Gold Coasters come along as well.
Tezza
September 02 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | 2 Comments »
Here is the list of excuses/reasons I have heard why GCU don’t get a good crowd on the Gold Coast. These are from supporters, football club, general public and newspapers. I may have even used some myself.
- It is a League Town
- It took the NRL 3 goes to get it right, why would the A League work right the first time?
- We are still in a recession here on the Gold Coast
- Our unemployment rate is twice that of the national average. (sits about 6.5%, not exactly twice)
- The Titans are still playing and are sitting 2nd on the ladder. Families are not going to spend up on 2 sports especially if they are at home on the same weekend. (This was the case for first game against Roar)
- Tickets are too expensive
- Nowhere to park (I don’t get this because it is the same whoever plays there)
- Lack of community involvement
- Lack of advertising
- Clive Palmer is too arrogant and has put the Gold Coast offside with his boasts.
- Gold Coast United are boring to watch
- The A-League just isn’t good enough to pay money to watch. (ie no stars, not the EPL etc)
- Too many other things to do on the Gold Coast
I am sure locals could come up with a heap more. In the end they are mostly excuses. What we need to find are the “reasons” people are not turning up to the games.
I believe the main reason is that either people don’t know or they just don’t care. Either way there is almost no connection between the Gold Coast public and the Football Club.
The 3 biggest things that must happen are:
- Market Research into “Why”
- More interaction with the local Football community.
- Stop being so negative
The interaction will happen with the clubs commitment to us supporters that they will meet with us face to face on a regular basis to discuss ways of increasing crowds.
And the club and supporters have to stop the negativity and get some positive vibes out there, just like Dennis Denuto in Kerrigan v The Crown.
There is no doubt the Cap will turn people away this weekend, and I know some of them.
But I love this game too much to just turn away and let it fall apart.
I am in it till the end, so come on Gold Coast help it end soon and turn out to Skilled Park, Pleeeeeeaaaasssseeee.
Cheers
Tezza
August 24 2010 | A-League and Gold Coast United | No Comments »
This year was going great. Gold Coast United finished 3rd in their first season in the A-League, Kevin Muscat missed a penalty in the Grand Final and my wife and I went to the World Cup in South Africa.
As a fan of the game I go to the Football to have fun. I do that by actively supporting my team whether that is Gold Coast United or the Socceroos. Either way I have a few beers at the pub with my mates, I go to the ground with my mates, I sing a few songs with my mates, I jump up and down with my mates, I go back to the pub after with my mates and we have some more beers.
This whole exercise is for me, a release from my day to day working life, which can be stressful. 3 and a half weeks in South Africa with my wife and fellow Aussies on Tour was a fantastic stress reliever, except when I got lost in Johannesburg, but that’s another story.
It is history now that we have a new first time world champion in Spain, and a well deserved win it was. I returned to Australia with 3 Vuvuzelas and told anyone who would listen about the fantastic time I had.
It was now time for the A-League to start and Gold Coast were opening up their campaign with an M1 derby against our arch rivals, Brisbane Roar. I stepped back into the supporters club and started planning what we would do that day and generally getting excited that I would be able to have regular stress relievers in the form of home town football.
We even started panning away trips and booked our flights and accommodation for an away game in Melbourne versus new kids on the block, Melbourne Heart.
Apart from a billboard a number of bus shelters and some radio advertising, I never really heard much about the game. There was no hype in the community about the impending M1 derby. There are many possible reasons for this which may be the subject of another blog.
In any case, game day came around. The Beach assembled at RQ’s and we started singing early. By all accounts is stayed like that until they left for the ground. (I had to go to the ground for a security talk and to set up our stuff in the home bay).
As kickoff approached it became apparent that the anticipated crowd was not coming and that Brisbane had brought about 40% of the crowd, not to mention a larger supporter group than we had. Try as we might we did not live up to our own expectations and neither did the team.
A good show against Wellington a week later in atrocious conditions has lifted my spirits and faith in the team.
It all came crashing down last Wednesday morning. I attended my normal training session down at Currumbin beach with a bunch of mates. One of them said to me “I see that Clive has capped the crowd again”. I told him to pull his head in and stop spreading shit like that. He had to convince me that there was a report in the paper stating this.
As soon as I got home I looked it up online and read that article. I was incensed. I went through the house yelling out that there is no way I am going to enter Skilled Park until this shit was all over. How could this shit be happening AGAIN. Surely this was a false story.
Not long after I arrived at my office I had a call from David Lewis, the journalist who broke the story. He wanted my comment on behalf of GCU supporters. I had to get him to convince me that this indeed was a true story and that it was actually going to happen. My quotes to him after this were not complimentary of the club or Clive Palmer, I still have not read the article in its entirety.
I had a call later that day from the club, who wanted a meeting with us to discuss the cap issue. Apparently it had been leaked before they wanted to announce it. We met with the CEO the following day to see if we the supporters would support the clubs decision here. I had calmed down a bit by this time and went into the meeting with a positive attitude to see if we had anywhere to go and bring about the end of the cap.
Unfortunately for us, the cap is staying until there is upward pressure on the 5000 ticket sales. This will be a hard slog to an already ambivalent Gold Coast who simply don’t know they have a team in the A-League.
We have agreed to work with the club to try and increase numbers. I know, the club should have had the football community engaged since day 1 but that has not been the case. We either do it now or we continue to add to the negative press which has surrounded GCU since Clive Palmer announced we would not only win the competition but do so undefeated.
The ball is now in their court to listen to us and implement real change to engage the local community, or I am afraid, A-League football will be lost to the coast.
I just simply want to go to the footy and have fun, is that to frigging much to ask? I just don’t need this shit, I can tell you that.
On a positive note, I have football trips to Melbourne to watch the Heart v GCU and also to Sydney to see the Socceroos take on Paraguay in October. I love traveling to a football game.
Cheers
Tezza
August 23 2010 | A-League | 6 Comments »
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