Gold Coast cap crowds to 5,000

[TerrigalUtd]

The Cap Comes Off

FOOTBALL Federation Australia and Gold Coast United chairman Clive Palmer have finally brokered a peace deal to end the crowd cap at Skilled Park after fan power won the day.

Under the agreement the cap on crowds is gone and all sections of Skilled Park will be open to the public. In addition, a new pricing structure will be released this week making the game more accessible to all people on the Gold Coast.

An intensive campaign aimed at building support in the local community will also be launched very soon, said FFA CEO Ben Buckley.

"We have always believed the fans are there and this move will help Gold Coast United get back in touch with its supporters and endeavor to build support and create new fans for the future," said Buckley.

"We are committed to supporting Gold Coast and we are delighted to reach a constructive agreement with Clive and his team.

"This is the first stage of winning the fans back and building strong community support for what is a very good football team."

It was important the club and FFA moved quickly to address the issues around the stadium and crowd support, said Gold Coast United CEO Clive Mensink.

"We have listened to the fans and the community and they have told us that they want the stadium opened up and there are some issues around pricing," said Mensink. "I have heard them loud and clear.

"These moves are the first of a series initiatives we will be making in conjunction with FFA to cement our position in the sporting market of the Gold Coast and build our fan base for the future.

"I am delighted to be working closely with FFA and they have been supportive to us as we worked on this strategy behind the scenes.

"We want to thank our fans who have been supporting us so well this year and urge them to continue coming to our games and bringing their friends and families".

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/115922,the-cap-comes-off.aspx

Finally, damage has already been done though.

 

[FFC Mariner]

LOL

At that point did Archie put the gun down?

Well played FFA but dont trust the FF, he will renege

 

[Arabmariner]

Damaged beyond repair imo.

 

[FFC Mariner]

FFA missed the chance to get rid of someone who will be a stain on the game for years to come.

They will regret this

 

[LFCMariners]

This is the perfect time for GCU to get amongst the community and market themselves as a team for the locals to get behind- it's the NRL off-season so there's no Titans matches to take the focus off them, and the AFL side is yet to take the field. They really have to go all out from here, and if Clive wants to see a return in the long-term, he's got to be prepared to lose a few dollars in the immediate future.

 

[Jesus]

This is the perfect time for GCU to get amongst the community and market themselves as a team for the locals to get behind- it's the NRL off-season so there's no Titans matches to take the focus off them, and the AFL side is yet to take the field. They really have to go all out from here, and if Clive wants to see a return in the long-term, he's got to be prepared to lose a few dollars in the immediate future.

The FFA are going to take the loses or profits for the rest of the season.

The question is, can the FFA run a club the right way?

 

[adz]

doubtful

 

[Not Aloi$i FC]

Damaged beyond repair imo.

Agreed. The FFA should've nipped this in the bud the moment Palmer went public after the first couple of rounds this season threatening to cap crowds.

 

[dibo]

i think they've given clive a big smack in the chops. the FFA will cut ticket prices and open up the whole ground.

the team is sound, the football is still (even when out of form) not utterly terrible and the fans have just had the sort of experience that unifies and hardens a supporters' group. the beach will now be more loved and respected by their club's other fans for giving a real voice to the frustration everyone felt.

i think the franchise might just get away with it which is what we want - we don't want to be backing out of new markets with barely a scratch made on the ground. i don't think there's anything in this that precludes the FFA still looking into getting rid of clive at the first opportunity however, probably as soon as a buyer can be found.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

i agree. The future if the league is more important and while it appeals on some levels I can't see them folding now being for the better.

 

[midfielder]

Excellent article in the smh today ... at the end it shows how the owner of Perth Glory is different to Clive..

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/a-league/times-tough-but-club-ownership-is-good-business/2009/11/03/1257010201092.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Times tough but club ownership is good business

Michael Cockerill
November 4, 2009


ANALYSIS


The A-League owners are getting twitchy, and why wouldn't they be? It's been five years now, and still no light at the end of the tunnel. There's talk of a new television deal, but that's all it is at the moment. Talk. Right now, it's batten down the hatches and ride out the storm.

Some might cut and run, but that's where Football Federation Australia steps in. The governing body is topping up the bank balance at four of the 10 clubs to steady the ship, because it believes, and with justification, that eventually there will be clear weather ahead. When that happens the single-ownership model will have evolved into a multiple-ownership model - meaning there will be more investors to spread the load.

The fact that club-in-waiting Sydney Rovers are having no trouble raising capital proves the A-League's long-term future is sound. At the moment, though, the owners who are toughing it out deserve all the credit they can get. Tony Sage is one of them. Last year, he assumed full ownership of Perth Glory. It's a burden which, for the foreseeable future, is likely to cost him up to $2 million a year.

Of course, you don't buy football clubs to make money or to break even. You buy them knowing you're going to lose money. Being generous, maybe 2 or 3 per cent of all the clubs turn a profit. That's not a sea of red ink, it's a tsunami. So why would any sane person throw money at football? Sometimes, it's ego. The smell of linament has always been irresistible to the suits. There's not a lot of glamour in a boardroom but there is in a dressing room. It's a fatal attraction. But like a one-night stand, the attraction soon wears off. To make the marriage last, there's got to be something more concrete. And there is.

Sage makes his money in mining. It's a good industry to be in. It's also an industry which takes him to far-flung locations like Sierra Leone, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and China. There's a common denominator in those countries - football.

Sage loses money on Perth Glory, but makes up for it elsewhere. There are kids running around in Glory shirts in three continents. It's Sage's entree to the decision-makers at a local level. In China, he used to take Akubra hats or stuffed koalas as gifts for local officials. Now he takes a Glory shirt with either the No.8, or 88, on the back. They are lucky numbers in China, and Sage has been getting lucky with his Chinese business interests. ''They know I own the club, and that opens doors,'' he says.

At the end of last year, Sage found himself in Buenos Aires. For three months, he had been trying unsuccessfully to get a drilling permit for a uranium mine he owned. He was invited to the Estadio Monumental for the classico between River Plate and Boca Juniors. On the wall of his Perth office is a prized framed momento - River's famous white shirt with red sash, signed by the players.

But the real gift was something else. At half-time, he was in the president's box when he was introduced to the director-general of Argentina's Mines Department, a River fanatic. ''We exchanged a few pleasantries, and then I told him I'd been having a lot of trouble getting a permit,'' Sage recalls. ''Three weeks later, it arrived in the post.''

That's why you invest in football. Sage knows it, and so do the other A-League owners. Which makes Clive Palmer's actions over the past couple of weeks especially irrational. A man who likes to boast he's Queensland's richest man has been dropping some spare change on his investment in Gold Coast United, and he's over-reacted.

Like Sage, Palmer is in mining and knows there is crucial kudos in China, where he does most of his business, in owning a football club. Hopefully, Palmer will calm down and buckle in for the long haul. If he doesn't, the word is there are many others ready to step into his shoes. Who'd want to own a football club? Plenty, it seems.

 

[greenlig]

Good read that, nice find.

 

[David Votoupal]

GCU still have an excellent and talented squad, it's just that any team would have suffered from the shit that's going on up there.

 

[dibo]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/a-league/record-crowd-could-cap-off-rollercoaster-week-for-gcu/2009/11/05/1257247706740.html

GOLD COAST United are on course for their biggest crowd of the season just a few days after ditching their infamous crowd cap, and A-League boss Archie Fraser is ''delighted''.

In response, Football Federation Australia this week slashed ticket prices and assumed all marketing responsibilities until the end of the season, and just days after moving in to the club's front office, the impact has already been felt. By close of business yesterday, more than 4000 tickets had been pre-sold, and with table-toppers Sydney FC providing the opposition tomorrow night all indications are for a season-high crowd.

Asked whether a new benchmark could be set this weekend, Fraser replied: ''With the walk-ups we're a chance, and if that turns out to be the case we'd obviously be delighted. To turn around the message in four or five days isn't easy, but the response we've been getting from the players, and the staff, has been fantastic.

''There's a real willingness to drive the new strategies through, and that's a huge positive. We've always believed in the potential of this club, and hopefully now we can start delivering on it.''

The FFA will effectively underwrite Gold Coast's final eight home games of the season, which include a Boxing Day blockbuster against arch rivals Brisbane Roar, and the governing body may yet turn a profit.

''When the club came into the competition, we were looking at an average [crowd] of between 8000 and 10,000, and hopefully we can still get there,'' Fraser said. ''There's some good games coming up, particularly over the holiday period. You look at the Brisbane game, and you think both teams could be fighting for the finals, and there's a huge opportunity. Who knows? Getting 20,000 might not be out of the question.''

 

[Not Aloi$i FC]

As long as they live up to their claims, this is good news. PAX apparently has been half-decent for the Sydney game tomorrow night so maybe they will get their biggest crowd.

 

[FFC Mariner]

I hope Clive gets a big(ger) crowd and his team gives up when pressured (like it usually does) and they get butt raped.

Almost hate them more than the scum

 

[David Votoupal]

Palmer just copied Eric Cartman's marketing strategy to a tee.

 

[bjw]

Palmer just copied Eric Cartman's marketing strategy to a tee.

iswydt

(was thinking the exact same thing)