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Tuesday 1 March 2011

The Fury have gone: Ben Buckley wastes $9 million.

So the North Queensland Fury have been booted from the league. No surprise there and no surprise they didn't have the funds to meet the FFA's rising costs of running a licence.

1. Why the hell did the FFA let North Queensland in based on a population base of just 170,000 people in Townsville. (Canberra region is 700,000 and they wouldn't come near us.)

2. And did the FFA do their due diligence on a Fury business model; if so why did the Fury have to be financially restructured in season 1 only to fold in season 2.

3. The Fury cost us, the football community, $9 million Big Ben Buckley dollars according to the FFA. So who puts up a business franchise model that is so well funded, so well-resourced it will only need $9 million of the FFA's money to keep it going, and then be dumped. In just two years. FFA are a basket case.

Chief Commercial Operations Manager at the time of entry was John O'Sullivan - he did Canberra no favours - and it seemed the FFA's commercial sense is shot to pieces. O'Sullivan is gone? Was he responsible? Is it Buckley?

Why is it impossible for a town in Australia to run a football team?

Maybe the FFA has the cost structure all wrong. Particularly for regional teams.

And now another region much like Canberra and possibly the Gold Coast could be alienated from the professional game for a long time.

We've lost two W-League teams, two A-League teams (remember NZ Knights) and never found a Western Sydney bid despite the skulduggery from the FFA Bidding process.

Does Ben Buckley really deserve another shot at the A-League?

His report card is looking bleak.

Not only has the A-League been in free-fall he's actually alienated a fair share of the future football community - and that's a crime. It takes a special talent to do that after 2006 and two World Cups.

Guess North Queensland Football died today.

That's not acceptable in the modern era is it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

1. good question - if we had an undeniably sound bid maybe we would have got the nod, however the Cowboys seem to be doing fine - why?

2. no idea but another good question - is that the same kind of due diligence that is done with local PL clubs that don't meet many of the criteria after they get a license?

3. it's alot of money - but I think football across the country seems to be in trouble - trying to compete with teh other 3 football codes and all the other sports and let's face it you are going to see alot better football if you spend your hard earned $75/month on a Foxtel and Setanta subscription