New Sydney CEO Tony Pignata who has crossed the ditch from a similar role at Wellington Phoenix has certainly hit the ground saying all of the right things in an interview with Bonita Mersiades at Sportsbizinsider.com.au
Pignata highlighted that Sydney FC the marquee club in the A league is still referred to as “Bling FC” a result of season one and their recruitment of Dwight Yorke, a season in which they were the envy of every club in the competition, but stated they are a long way from that tag now as a club.
One of the key comments made in this interview which augers well for Sydney FC the club is that he stated what many around the country feel about their A league clubs and other sporting sides that they have to do more than as Mr. Pignata put it “just send some players out for a coaching session and that’s it.”
He went onto say in the article “That’s the easy bit, doing a coaching session, or attending a sign-on session, has to have benefits both ways. We want those people to come to a game, and then another and then another. In short, we want to turn fans into fanatics.”
Pignata went on to state that he wants to meet with as many clubs, associations, members and fans as possible. Coming from New Zealand he is bound to have an open mind and not be bogged down or influenced by local politics, as are many of the other CEO’s around Australia.
“I’ll listen to everyone. I won’t be coming in from day one and making wholesale changes. The focus will be getting ready for the next season, while listening and learning at the same time. I come from a sales background. Members and fans – just like customers – are the lifeline of the club and they want to feel part of it.” He told Mersiades.
He his saying the right things and has the right attitude, for the Hyundai A League and Sydney FC’s sake let us hope that he manages to follow through on all those and lift the club back to where it should be. If he does maybe others will adopt some of his philosophies.
