This week the FFA finally put Gold Coast United out of our misery and pulled off a shock move by starting up their own A-League franchise in Western Sydney. Having failed to find any private investors willing to take the strain, the FFA have decided to gamble their own cash (which they don’t have). So, is replacing a franchise supporters don’t want with a franchise investors won’t support the way to go?

The FFA will say that the Gold Coast franchise was fatally tainted by Clive Palmer and could not be saved, and that the only logical expansion available was into the footballing hotbed of Western Sydney. They will point out that for all the complaints coming out of Queensland it was the failure of the people of the sunshine state to get behind their teams that caused them to close down, not the FFA’s policies.

They would argue that a Western Sydney side is essential to the future of the game and if no one else is willing to take on the task it is the FFA’s duty to do so.
Supporters of Gold Coast United would argue that, like North Queensland Fury last year, they deserved more support from the governing body of the sport. That it defies logic to say you can’t afford to give partial support to existing franchises, then set up your own club from scratch. They would argue that establishing a fourth franchise in New South Wales, whilst Queensland is reduced to one, hardly provides balance on a national scale. Ultimately, the FFA’s stance on racing to open up West Sydney and close down GCU does smack of a vendetta against Clive Palmer’s home town.

The reality is that the guys at the FFA are finally putting their money where their mouths are – and they are absolutely right in doing it. After years of using up the funds of unsuspecting millionaires, then blaming failure on poor management by those same investors, Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley have buckled and changed the ownership model. Now they have a chance to show us exactly how to run a franchise – and once they have done it, and proved that a community club can work without major private investors – the game will take a huge step forward.

The only real criticism would be over why it’s taken them seven years to put a team out there…
Of course it might not work. We may discover that the FFA come up against the same problems as every other owner, but anyone critical of the decision to try something different is missing the point. For football to survive we must have an improved television deal – and we won’t get a better deal without more teams, and without those teams being popular. The Gold Coast wasn’t working – West Sydney might. Might. But might is better than not.

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