State of the Game - Address by David Gallop

I bow to the greater wisdom of the forum. Let’s play the player not the issue, Midfielder is a whatever.

Conspiracy theories abound, and tis all hands to the pump, all shoulders to the wheel, to defend and explain.

If I can summarise the reply’s, why should and Auckland paper, we have one team Australia has 9, we only have one paper and so it goes.

As I said I bow to this great wisdom and thank you all for the knowledge.

However if I may as a parting suggestion ask you to consider, as Jerzy has pointed out there is almost nothing being reported and from responses to date it would appear unless it has something directly to do with the Nix [and then maybe not] it’s not reported. Just maybe that’s the issue rather than jump in with elbows and knees, assume it’s a conspiracy, or trying to stir. Just maybe NZ Football is not performing as well as it should. But then again it’s probably FFA, or the Australian media or Midfielder being a stirrer.

There is according to a client of mine who is a senior manager in company who invest in sport and he says there is a co-relationship between, media coverage, crowds & TV rating, it’s a chicken an egg does the media coverage follow or lead.

The debate is about media coverage, and A-league coverage and if I compare NZ coverage & Australia coverage hhhmmmmmmm and as some have posted we only have one team so what do you expect … I am not sure what I expect, but what I am sure of is, pages of media, hours on radio and TV do affect crowds & TV Ratings and that does affect the Nix’s…

I'm pretty sure none of that made any sense. Disjointed English it was. 

Personally, I can't wait for the Northern Territory News to cover the A-league. oh and the Chatham Cup.

I find the lack of Australian coverage of the ASBP concerning. You'd think they'd be all over it with the phoenix reserves being in the competition. 

Shows how little football coverage there is in Australia and how much the FFA are falling behind NZF. 

There is definitely poor football reporting in NZ.

The major TV networks have Phoenix content at least every few days at the moment - which considering its the off season isn't bad, the printed media covers the NZ domestic competitions to a fairly respectable degree. The nix are on the major radio networks.

The main issue is that unless its nix related or Premier League related there is limited press. Even where Kiwi's are doing well for instance Ryan Thomas gets bugger all.

It's reasonable to slag off NZ media for the lack of coverage of the top tier competitions in the world, and also the lack of coverage of NZ players overseas, it's not reasonable to slag it off for the lack of coverage of the FFA cup which has nothing to do with us now that the nix are out of it. If they covered every competition in the world then the news hour would take all day.

As has been asked, does the Australian Media cover the Chatham cup? Or the Ranfurly Shield which is a cross division prize in the NZ domestic rugby competition?

Just to add... next month's Sky magazine hit my mailbox this a.m. Not a word (or photo) on the Nix or start of the A-League in sports foreward section that I could see. Both only in TV programme listings pages.

Didn't you already say that an hour or so ago? 

Not surprising, Sky have always been poor with football. Hoping someone like PLP can pick up A league so we can actually see games live for a change. 

You're right - I did. My machine shut down b4 I saw it had registered. 

Edit: Sky Magazine have always had stuff on Nix and A-League prior to season's KO far as I can recall. So why nothing this time?

Problem is only Sky and the free to air networks have the capability to put together the live programming, would be great for Sommet to grab them, Production is getting quite affordable, especially thanks to our friends in Australia:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicstudiocamera

Problem with sommet is they only have one channel. So they'd probably show less live A league games than sky currently do. 

Yeah but I wouldn't mind if they stopped playing ARL and people falling off bmx's so much and replaced it with A-League content.

Sorta in line with Gallop's State of the Game Address" Frank Lowy spoke to News... and he is talking about the National side and the move to Asia.... we still owe NZ Football a lot for letting us move across ... 

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/socceroos/ffa...

Chairman and majority owner of the Drive Bys [WSW] interview about why he purchased the Drive Bys and the future of the A-League..

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2014/10/03/...

i think sky does a good job of Aleague coverage

They are all out there with statements... Damien De Bohun in an article about expansion... but a lot about where Football is headed.

A couple of quotes from the article...

 "This is a critical year," De Bohun said at Fox Sports A-League launch. "We're expecting continued growth, we're pushing forward into the mainstream, which is very important."

Improving audiences, memberships, attendances and sponsorships remain the key targets for the FFA in a season that could prove to be one of the most definitive. Increasing those four key areas could serve as the platform for expansion and a 12-team competition that could coincide with the arrival of the next TV-deal at the earliest point in time.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/soccer/aleag...

I stand by Aucklanders don't give a shit as I grew up as one before moving to the Waikato.  

Both teams had significant numbers of people attending the games from the Waikato and the BoP.  Quite a number also commuted regularly from the Naki, Hawkes Bay and even Wellington.  

Its those people who were/are the diehards and supported the club/s through the mess Sky ownership made of the Kingz and the rubbish the South Africans (who I was involved with sadly) produced owning the Knights.

Needless to say many of those same people are heavily involved in the "fever" and are now lost forever to the Nix as fans (or ACFC).  Aucklanders are far too "fair-weather" to support a team week in week out.

And to most kiwis interested in football, its the AWs one home game every 4 years (and Nix if they make the finals). 

Normal Nix and AW turnouts are far lower even if we're playing someone decent.

 Aussie at least gets the AFC Cup which lots of punters are interested in.  Its only the "died-in-the-wool" footie fans in NZ that care about the OFC Nations Cup, Chatham Cup, ASBP etc.

The simple problem Midfielder is that NZ's media are rugby boof heads, always have been, always will be (TVNZ especially).  

The only other country like it might be South Africa.  Footie gets decent coverage in the US and Canada (escpecially surprising for Canada given they make the AWs look good).  

What has surprsied me is the amount for rugby coverage I've seen in European nations where it does not even really exist as a sport.

South Africa did, when I lived there,  get great football coverage and probably even better now. Football is more popular, only winter sport offered at primary/intermediate schools in my area, and is in the same time zone of some of Europe so matches across Europe are live at decent times and get good coverage (mainly EPL- a few South Africans have played there) EPL team visits have been very popular.

Especially after they hosted a world cup.

Is Rugby really South Africa's national game? I thought it was more a sport of the white minority.

By your logic I must have been a diehard Kingz then Knights supporter only because I was originally born in and grew up in Wellington. Gosh, never realised that.

?  That doesn't really make sense Jerzy.  

What I said was that a number of Wellingtonian Nix fans were Kingz/Knights fans first and put in a big effort to follow those teams.  Significantly more then most Aucklanders.  I see those fans as diehards.  

You and I spend a fair amount of time here talking about NZ football in general so yes I see you too as a serious "anorak" fan like me whether you were bothered about the Kingz/Knights or not.

A summary on the Roar today of Gallop, Lowy and De Bohun, on the road selling the A_league

A quick summary of the benchmarks which are set high but achievable.. they are worth listing..

Crowds will break tho the 2 million ..

TV ratings average 660 K across Fox and SBS 1, given the cricket season has been extended by two months [will start and finish one month longer] in March, AFL, NRL, Super Rugby, Cricket … holding our ratings at 660K average is going to be a huge challenge.

Memberships over 100 K, getting close now so IMO will exceed the 100K.

Two million web users … I don’t have anything to compare with but in web use I think Football is arguably a winner due to having the least mainstream media.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/10/08/league-will-b...

Cheers Marto. But I'll make just one final point re Auckland "fair-weather" fans. If for the sake of argument the Nix's first two of seasons had given the Wellington public these results -

 (Knights 2005/6)                           P     W     D       L       F       A     Pts

                                                       21      1     3     17      15      47       6

and the following year, up until round 17 -

2006/7                                            17      2      3     12       7      38        9

by which time the club were a disgrace/laughing stock and the FFA had decided to pull the plug, just how many "foul-weather" Welly fans would still have been around going along to the ROF to cheer on new white knight Ricki in the club's final 4 games? Bugger all I'd say.

There were still 5000 at the Knights last home game.

Jerzy and if I may add hoping not to insult the old Knights ... is that a feeling whether true or not was the team were not giving it their all .. essentially the team was waiting for the axe, the coach had lost the shed, owners fed up, players just going tho the motions... then along came Ricki and Terry S ...

As an aside I read a revised definition of Gallop's fish where the fish are and we are going to population centres with millions not hundreds of thousands... is add go to where Fox / Sky has the most number of subscribers ...  

Go Frank go..

Part of his address at the launch of the A-League ... over the next ten years Football will double or maybe triple ..

Some key parts of the article.

From FFA

FFA Governance announcement

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/ffa-governance-announcement/12mmyn7nxjpma16l7z3v9g59vs

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has today announced the appointment of two new directors to the FFA Board and has updated key stakeholders on succession planning for the four-year period from November 2015.

Yesterday in Sydney, FFA Chairman Frank Lowy AC briefed the leaders of the nine State and Territory Member Federations on FFA’s Board succession plan.

A plan is required due to the term expiry of Mr Lowy, the Deputy Chairman, Brian Schwartz AM, and Director Phillip Wolanski AM in November 2015.

They will be replaced by candidates elected for four-year terms by representatives of the State and Territory Member Federations and the Hyundai A-League clubs.

As part of the long-term plan, Simon Hepworth, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Caltex Australia, and Chris Nikou, a Melbourne-based senior partner and department head for Corporate (Asia Pacific) at global law firm K&L Gates, have been appointed to the FFA Board. Each has been appointed for an initial two-year term, effective 16 October 2014.

In August last year, FFA established a Board Nominations Committee and engaged leading executive search company Egon Zehnder.

Egon Zehnder has been conducting a comprehensive search to identify FFA board candidates using key criteria – senior professional experience in the corporate, government and business sectors, independence, international experience and a genuine interest and passion for the game.

Mr Hepworth and Mr Nikou were identified by the succession process to fill current vacancies, including one created by the expiry of Chris Rex's two-year term this month.

Mr Rex, the CEO of Ramsay Health Care and a former Sydney FC director, was not able to take up a further term on the FFA Board due to international travel requirements with his executive position.

Mr Lowy today thanked Mr Rex for his outstanding service to the FFA and Australian football and welcomed Mr Hepworth and Mr Nikou to the Board.

"The renewal process we see unfolding today shows that we are taking deliberate steps in the succession plan for the four-year period from 2015," said Mr Lowy.

"We have two new directors who will add valuable skills and experience around the FFA boardroom table.

“Yesterday, we were able to brief our key stakeholders on the process of identifying candidates for nomination and election by the Members at the AGM in November 2015.

"There's more work to be done and we will make sure there is a meticulous process to find the best available candidates to serve on the FFA Board in the post-2015 years.

It wasn't the fans who let the club down, it was the club - such as it was - who let the fans down. Big time.

Some crowd shots of the last Knights home game and antics.

http://plainsrangers.com/action40.html

LOWY CONFIRMS BIGGER A-LEAGUE IMMINENT

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2014/10/10/...

As the A-League kicks off its 10th season amid a groundswell of optimism and goodwill, Lowy said that after surviving its first decade, the 10-team competition can look forward to expansion and serious growth.

"It is difficult to say what would be the ideal size of the league," Lowy said.

"However the league should increase by two teams in the next expansion phase.

"There are markets that could absorb new teams and prosper.

"I would not like to name them because we still have a bit of work to do on this.

"The expansion will happen but won't take place before the new broadcasting agreement in 2016."

Lowy, who will relinquish his post next year, also discussed a range of topics in an exclusive interview.

You said you had doubts in 2005 about the long-term viability of the A-League. Do you still have them?

"The A-League is on its way and we are just hitting our stride.

"I honestly believe that in the next 10 years we will double our attendances, we will have 12 teams and the game will be firmly entrenched as a mainstream sport."

Has the A-League finally overcome its battle to be accepted and respected by mainstream Australia?

"We've overcome this a long time ago. We are already mainstream but we still have a long way to go."

Which was the league's best moment?

"At the completion of the first year we saw signs that the A-League was here to stay.

"Following that we had a few problems when we hit a road hump but we resolved them. There is no undertaking that can go without some hitch and the A-League has had it."

And the worst?

"The issues we had with Townsville and when we had to cancel the licence of Gold Coast United were difficult times. The league was not in any danger of collapsing but they were difficult issues to solve."

Did you ever dream that Western Sydney Wanderers would be so successful so soon?

"You don't count on these things when you start an enterprise.

"The Wanderers had six months to field a team and make a drive for players and members. The choice of coach (Tony Popovic) of course was pivotal. We knew that Sydney's western suburbs should have a team.

"Other people have tried but did not succeed. The Wanderers took the bull by the horn and have been rewarded with a spectacular success."

If the Wanderers achieved so much in such a short time, why are other clubs struggling?

"It is not for me to dwell on this. Some clubs have been very successful on and off the field while others have not.

"In any sport you will always have leaders and followers."

The NRL grand final showed that rugby league is very much a people's game. Will FFA always look after the fans?

"You have to do that because if the fans don't come you do not have a game. Look, the players come first then the fans, then the rest."

FFA has been accused of ruling with an iron fist in a 'my way or the highway' style. Is this criticism fair?

"I don't know if it is fair or not but nobody is 100 per cent successful at anything. Don't take that as a base.

"I think we've done a good job despite some very difficult periods. We have overcome them and established the game. We are not perfect and nobody will be perfect.

"Nobody likes being criticised because there is no perfect solution to a range of issues. Any organisation needs strong and fair leadership."

Is there anything you could have done differently?

"Some people have different ways of doing things to others. My successor, whoever it might be, will do things differently. And he should be successful, I think."

You spent a lifetime in football and business. What advice would you give to the incoming chairman?

"It's simple. He will need to be strong and he will need to lead. He must know and understand the game, which is the best football game in the world. There is no 100 per cent popularity, it does not exist."

The first decade has been all about survival: what's the key word for the next decade?

"Growth. In the next 10 years we've got to double our popularity."

The last couple of seasons for the Nix haven't been that much better although I'd have to say the club is run exponetially better then the Knights ever were.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/ffa-research-what-makes-football-fans-tick

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has launched a research project to better understand the game's fans and their matchday experience.

Active football supporters generate a unique atmosphere in Australian sport but are often at odds with the governing body.

Now the FFA has appointed Gemba and Futures Sport to undertake a ‘strategic research and insights program’.

FFA chief David Gallop said: “We are excited to be undertaking such an important project with respected business Gemba and Futures Sport.

“Our fans and the atmosphere they generate are one of our greatest assets and this research and insights program will underpin FFA’s fan engagement strategy going forward.

“It gives us a tremendous listening platform to better understand and engage with our fans and valuable information for our commercial partners to leverage effectively.”

Fans groups have frequently accused the FFA of supporting heavy-handed policing of active bays and curtailing vibrant aspects of fan culture in favour of a sanitised family-friendly atmosphere .

The most recent point of contention is restricting active support areas to club members.

Gemba was selected to provide a range of research outcomes spanning participation, the Hyundai A-League and the national teams and will manage the FFA’s consumer insights program for the next two years.

Gemba CEO Rob Mills said: “We are obviously excited about being appointed by the FFA to manage key components of their insights program. The FFA has a lot of momentum across all aspects of their organisation and we are looking forward to helping them with their next phase of growth.”

The appointment complements recent strategy work completed by Gemba for the FFA focussed around participation and commercial operations.

The firm - which has also worked with Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia and the Melbourne Cricket Club - operates similar programs in 10 other markets globally.

In addition, Futures Sport, which works with football clients across a wide variety of major leagues worldwide, will provide a broad range of data and advisory services to the FFA.

The work will cover partner media valuation, consultancy on optimal partner signage artwork and understanding of fans’ match day experiences.

Futures will also build a bespoke dashboard to the FFA, providing the organisation with a best-in-class ability to view all of its data and reports in an easy-to-use format, updated weekly to provide the FFA with the very latest information.

Kevin Alavy, Managing Director of Futures Sport, said: “We’re super excited to be working with the FFA. We share their vision and passion to translate football’s global popularity to Australia and are confident that the quality of our research will help them reach this goal.”

Sounds like a lot of hot air being blown to me. 

Frank Lowy is predicting 12 teams in the next media deal growing to 14 teams and promotion and regulation... all in good time...

I don't understand AFCs obsession with promotion/relegation. 

The A league is at least 12 completely stable teams away from making that a viable option. 

We finally agree on something ... however FFA are a very small part of the AFC ... and FFA does not have a huge influence on the AFC. So what they want they will normally get... 

BTW the full interview with Frank Lowy its long about 20 minutes so if you have that time to spare its a good interview... just scroll down till you get to it... 

http://www.foxsports.com.au/football

Interesting management re shuffle at FFA... they have an Events department for key events..

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/ffa-es...

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has today announced the latest organisational change in an on-going restructuring process led by CEO David Gallop.

A separate Events Department has been established to manage the expanding portfolio of national and international events run by FFA.

The Events Department will take over the management of the Hyundai A-League Final Series, Foxtel A-League All Stars, Westfield W-League Final Series and all home internationals for the Socceroos and Westfield Matildas.

Nurturing fan engagement and improving event experience will be top priority for the new department, which will have a key liaison role with State and Territory Member Federations and all clubs competing in FFA events.

In addition, the new department will have responsibility for the events launched by FFA in the past year, featuring the PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues Finals Series and the Westfield FFA Cup.

Jacqui Hoban, currently General Manager, Events, has been promoted to Head of Events and will join the FFA Senior Management Team. Hoban has worked on a wide range of events projects for FFA for the past six years.

Hoban was the Project Manager for FFA’s non-football activities at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and will incorporate this senior role under the new arrangements, starting with the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

FFA CEO David Gallop said the latest changes were driven by FFA’s constant effort to achieve operational efficiency and ensure the national governing body was dynamic in adapting to changing circumstances and opportunities.

“The number, scope and importance of the events run by FFA have expanded rapidly over the past two years,” said Gallop.

“The new department will give us a strategic focus on event management, in particular with commercial performance, cost control and co-ordination with external parties such as stadium managers and government agencies.

“I’m delighted to promote Jacqui Hoban as Head of Events. She’s not only the best qualified candidate for the job, but Jacqui’s on the mission of Australian football. It’s also pleasing that her appointment brings a better gender balance to my Senior Management Team with three female executives in an eight-member group.”

The organisational changes under David Gallop have seen the establishment of a department for Community and Women’s Football, overhauled the National Teams Unit and Technical functions, and restructured the Commercial Partnerships area.

David Gallop reaches his 2nd anniversary as FFA CEO on Wednesday this week.

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/chairm...

Lowy's address at the FFA AGM..