Football Australia (defunct sporting federation)

Last updated

Football Australia
Football Australia logo.png
FoundedMarch 2012 (inactive from June 2012)
President Clive Palmer

Football Australia was a short lived, 2012 attempt to create a rebel organising body for the sport of Soccer in Australia. The attempt failed immediately as it was unable to gain official recognition from any Australian or international government or administration bodies and did not have any affiliated competitions under it.

Contents

It was founded in 2012 by Australian business man Clive Palmer after having his Gold Coast United A-League licence revoked by the FFA. Archie Fraser was the chairman and Clive Palmer was the president. Clive Palmer quickly moved on to other ventures after holding a handful of public 'inquiries' and an abortive attempt to set up a 'rebel competition', leaving the organisation unfunded and defunct. Palmer's Football Australia's last public activity was in June 2012. [1]

It was never officially recognised by FIFA or any other local or international bodies. The name "Football Australia" is now in use by the official governing body as the FFA renamed the organisation to "Football Australia" in December 2020.

History

On 1 March 2012 Football Australia was launched by Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer with the slogan "We Kick Harder". [2] It was originally announced that it was intended that the new federation would form a breakaway league and eventually replace the FFA and oversee football at a grassroots level and senior level. [3] However, Palmer and FA's newly appointed chief executive, former A-League chief Archie Fraser, said the organisation was not necessarily out to topple the FFA but would act as watchdog and forum for ideas in the sport. [4] It planned to publish papers, hold press conferences, seek opinions, lobby the government, lobby the FFA for a better outcome for Australians and the game in Australia. [3]

Soon after the announcement many A-League clubs published statements rubbishing Palmer's new venture. Melbourne Heart CEO Scott Munn stated "Our position is clear - we've signed a clubs participation agreement to enter the A-League run and operated by Football Federation Australia" while Perth Glory owner Tony Sage declined to comment after previously supporting Clive Palmer. Sources from Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar also confirmed their intention of staying with the FFA. [3]

It was also reported that Palmer tried to persuade a number of young Gold Coast United players to defect and sign contracts with a proposed rebel competition; however, a number of senior players intervened. [5]

On 2 March 2012 both the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA peak bodies publicly released a statement supporting Football Federation Australia saying that FIFA will only recognise one governing body in each FIFA affiliated nation and went on to say that "FIFA will continue its close cooperation with the FFA, however, we will also continue to monitor the situation". [6]

On 13 March 2012 the federation launched a national commission of inquiry designed to hear submissions on ways to improve the sport’s administration and development. It was announced that the federation would hold hearings in Townsville, Newcastle, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth. The hearings were conducted by former president of FFSA Gary Collis with former Gold Coast United footballer Steve Fitzsimmons appointed secretary to the commission. [7] A limited release of the inquiry occurred on 2 June 2012 [1] and was the last act before it became defunct.

FFA rename to Football Australia

In December 2020 the official body Football Federation Australia elected to rename itself to Football Australia who now host their website on the .com.au variant URL.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football Australia</span> Sports governing body

Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only established in 1961 as the Australian Soccer Federation. It was later reconstituted in 2003 as the Australian Soccer Association before adopting the name of Football Federation Australia in 2005. In contemporary identification, a corporate decision was undertaken to institute that name to deliver a "more united football" in a deliberation from the current CEO, James Johnson. The name was changed to Football Australia in December 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth Glory FC</span> Australian professional football club

Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adelaide United FC</span> Australian professional soccer club in South Australia

Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club competes in the A-League Men, holding a license from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). Established in 2003, the club was formed to replace Adelaide City and West Adelaide in the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL). Today, it stands as the only A-League team from South Australia. Adelaide United's matches are hosted at Hindmarsh Stadium, which is also referred to as Coopers Stadium.

A-League Men is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competition for the sport. A-League Men was established in 2004 as the A-League by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) as a successor to the National Soccer League (NSL) and competition commenced in August 2005. The league is currently administered by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), contested by twelve teams; eleven based in Australia and one based in New Zealand. The men's, women's and youth leagues have now been brought together under a unified A-Leagues banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soccer in Western Australia</span>

Soccer in Western Australia is the most participated code of football, though it is a distant second in overall interest behind Australian rules football in Western Australia. It is governed by Football West. Football West runs the National Premier Leagues Western Australia, State Leagues, Sunday League and Metropolitan League. There are also numerous casual and school competitions, as well as futsal and indoor soccer in competitive and social games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miron Bleiberg</span> Israeli-Australian football manager

Miron Bleiberg is an Israeli-Australian football (soccer) manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Brosque</span> Australian soccer player

Alex Jason Brosque is an Australian former professional footballer who was the captain of A-League club Sydney FC. He played primarily as a striker but played predominantly as a midfielder in central midfield during his time in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Smeltz</span> New Zealand footballer

Shane Edward Smeltz is a New Zealand professional footballer. He plays as a striker for Guiseley AFC in the Northern Premier League, the 7th tier of English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Football</span> Governing body for soccer in the Australian Capital Territory

Capital Football is the trading name for the ACT Football Federation Incorporated, the state governing body for soccer in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), but also has affiliated clubs based in surrounding areas of New South Wales. It is affiliated with Football Australia, the national governing body.

Futsal in Australia is governed by the Football Federation Australia and its state based futsal associations. Australia has played in seven FIFA Futsal World Cups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soccer in Australia</span> Association football in Australia

Soccer, also known as football, is the most played outdoor club sport in Australia, and ranked in the top ten for television audience as of 2015. The national governing body of the sport is Football Australia (FA), which until 2019, organised the A-League Men, A-League Women, and still organises the Australia Cup, as well as the men's and women's national teams. The FA comprises nine state and territory member federations, which oversee the sport within their respective region.

Sport is an important part of the culture of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alen Stajcic</span> Australian soccer coach (born 1973)

Alen Stajcic is an Australian football manager and former player, and is the current manager of Perth Glory in the A-League. He was the head coach of the Philippine women's national football team from 2021 to 2023. While as a footballer he was a NSW Premier League player and an Australian Youth Representative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Coast United FC</span> Australian soccer club in Queensland

Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast United senior teams competed in the Brisbane leagues until the club disbanded after the 1979 season, allowing Broadbeach United Soccer Club to form its first senior team in 1980 at the same grounds.

Archibald Hugh Fraser is an Australian based business executive, was born 10 April 1959 in Scotland.

The Expansion of the A-League Men is the ongoing process of establishing new clubs in the A-League Men. The A-League Men was established to replace the NSL as the top soccer division in the Australian league system and is the only fully professional league in the country. It was founded in 2004 with eight teams commencing competition in 2005 and has since expanded into new markets across Australia and New Zealand. The league is currently contested by 12 teams, although a total of 15 have competed at some stage in its short history.

The Newcastle Jets 2010–11 season was the Newcastle Jets' sixth season since the inception of the Australian A-League and the tenth since the club's founding, in 2000.

The 2011–12 A-League was the 35th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the seventh season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. At the end of the previous season, the North Queensland Fury were cut from the competition by the governing body, Football Federation Australia, due to financial reasons.

The Australia Cup was an annual knockout soccer competition in men's domestic Australian soccer. First played during the 1962 season, it is the first national soccer competition in Australia.

The 2020–21 season was the 52nd season of national competitive association football in Australia and 138th overall.

References

  1. 1 2 "FA's National Public Inquiry Report released". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "'We kick harder' - Clive Palmer sets up rebel football organisation". March 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rebel Clive Palmer's bid to split soccer | The Australian". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Clive Palmer sets up rebel football organisation". March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  6. ↑ Fifa Backs Ffa And Frank Lowy In Further Blow To Rebel Gold Coast United Clive Palmer The Daily Telegraph[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Clive Palmer's soccer body announces national inquiry | The Australian". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.