David Gallop doesn’t get it, neither do many other at the FFA. It comes down to respect and understanding, and for the past ten years there has been a lack of that as under Frank Lowy’s stewardship the FFA have bulldozed their way forward. Mr Lowy has stated that this was what the game needed, and in some areas he may be right. Yet the premise on which “New Football” was built in Australia was that everyone was supposed to have a voice.
David Gallop faced the most important moment of his time as Chief Executive of the FFA this week when he needed, as the father figure of the much talked about Football Family, stand up for those who play and follow the game. He needed to speak out against media outlets and journalists who continually look to put the game down. He did not, and one wonders how tenable his position will be in the future.
Sadly Mr Gallop has never had a feel for the game. He claims he was a supporter growing up, but it is hard to believe; from memory he follows West Bromich Albion. In truth he is simply a politician. Like so many in sports administration they err on the side of playing the political game and securing their own futures rather than the future of the sports they are temporarily in charge of.
Had he been a fan he would have still condemned fans of violent and criminal behaviour around the country, but demanded that not all of football was tarred with the one brush.
Fans are ejected from other sports for anti-social behaviour, and at times criminal actions. We just witnessed a Fremantle Dockers fan sent to jail for 8 months for his aggressive behaviour and physical intimidation of an off duty policewoman. Yet have all Dockers fans been judged by this one man? Have all AFL Fans been judged on this? No, because it is the action of one individual that 99% of fans would agree was totally unacceptable.
There are many fans from other codes who do not understand why true Football fans across the country are so hot under the collar. They continue to claim that football has a chip on its shoulder, that the fans are paranoid with their ‘everyone is against us’ view.
This was where David Gallop missed a great opportunity. Check out the number of dedicated AFL journalists there are around the country at the numerous media outlets. Then compare how many dedicated football writers there are. The West Australian has not had a football writer that actually knows the game since Jonathan Cook left the paper. The media coverage across the country is unbalanced and always has been. As football has grown surely the staff covering the sport should have as well? Surely it should come down to meeting reader/listener demands? However as the sport has grown the numbers in some areas have in fact decreased. Also as the game has grown so too have the articles trying to put it down. Every unsavoury article is blown out of all proportion compared to a similar incident at an AFL, NRL or Cricket match. So is it any wonder that inflammatory articles are written that upset the fans? What does the FFA do about it? When they have been approached by the Football Media Association on certain issues they have not even responded.
If they treat those who are writing about the game with such contempt is it any surprise that they have treated the fans and public with contempt?
David Gallop’s non-response to fans of the game being labelled thugs, criminals and even likened to terrorists, has caused the FFA its biggest headache yet, and the CEO has lost the support of many of the media who supported him and his record as an administrator. Not surprisingly those he has failed to stand up for, the same supporters the FFA brag about, use as their point of difference in terms of a sporting experience and are featured in their marketing campaigns are more than a little miffed.
The trouble is the FFA cannot change the habits created under the Lowy regime. Where they were deaf to anyone but sycophants. If this were not true how could Gallop nor anyone at the FFA not understand, what the fans really want? Which is a clear and transparent appeals system. As in life, fans should not be judged guilty until proven innocent. Neither should all be judged by the actions of a few.
David Gallop faces a real Leadership issue. So too does the game.
For ten years the FFA has taken the approach that all must tow their line, the A-League clubs, the State Bodies, everyone. They have continually failed to listen and dictated the way it has to be whether people like it or not. IT goes so much deeper than just the fans.
The FFA bullied the states around the country to adopt the National Premier Leagues competition to meet a promise they made to the Asian Football Confederation. A competition that had no foundations, no financial backing and no marketing plan, and yet was going to cost the clubs more money to participate in it. As some states dragged their feet wanting more information and more certainties David Gallop advised the board in Western Australia to simply push it through. So Football West picked out the weakest amongst the dissenters and using a divide a rule principle managed to prevent a stand off. The clubs, unlike the fans of Australia failed to have the courage to stand as one, and now many are paying a very big price; some long standing clubs find themselves in a precarious financial position.
Will they realise that there is strength in numbers, and as the fans rise up against the stance taken by the FFA and its leader, look to make a similar stance to try and secure their own futures?
Reading the events of the past week from afar it has been a very sad week for football. Yet the game has always belonged to the people and there is no room for dictatorship. Every fan who has taken a stand deserves to be applauded as their actions may now see a more inclusive approach taken. One in which everyone in “the family” has a voice, rather than a domineering father figure and his appointed offsider. Surely this is what was intended when Football went through the pain of the Crawford report and the restructuring of the game nationally?
