The world game’s handling of the fan crisis is in a world of its own
With the FFA facing a major fan revolt Andrew Woodward looks at how it has handled the crisis communications, and how it is likely to play out in the coming weeks.
In 2009, as CEO of National Rugby League, David Gallop, launched the season with a television advertisement featuring one of the rising stars of the game, Brett Stewart. Not long after, the Sea Eagles’ grand final winning fullback was charged with sexual assault (and later acquitted).
He was banned from the first four rounds of the competition by the NRL for drunkenness. The NRL had to pull its ads. The Nine Network made replacement ads for free. It was high drama at the time.
In 2015, as CEO of Football Federation Australia (FFA), David Gallop, launched the season with passionate fans at the centre of the campaign. The passionate fans are what’s known as “active supporters” – those who passionately sing, dance and chant for their team behind the goal posts, waving their scarves, flags and banners. The ads in Sydney, for example, feature fans from “The Cove” and the “Red and Black Block” – the active supporter groups of Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers respectively.
Three months on, active fan groups are walking out of matches en masse mid-game in protest at the FFA and are threatening to do it again, including this weekend. For David Gallop, the star of his show has ‘shat in the nest’, again. David Gallop has more déjà vu in Australia than any other sports administrator.
Screenshot from FFA Season 2015/16 launch video with reference to active fan groups
As with anything football, it has lots of sub plots. As with anything News Corporation, the agenda isn’t always immediately apparent. As with there being four major football codes in Australia, there’s always the ‘mine is bigger and better than yours’ carry-on. It doesn’t come at a helpful time for the FFA when it is about to embark on a new broadcast deal; when it is looking to arrest poor ratings and, when it is looking for a Socceroos sponsor.
Then there’s all of the the other issues facing ‘the beautiful game’, domestically and internationally.
The ads are still on air. The FFA has to pull the current campaign. Whether they’re ever seen again is another matter. It all depends on how things play out over the next two weeks.
If there’s an outbreak of peace in the next week, things will quieten down over the Christmas New Year period and football will get back to its mid-season patter. If the fire burns until the end of the year, the campaign is dead. To bring them back prematurely or indeed ever could be akin to rubbing big chunks of salt into very deep wounds. As the Fairfax football writer Sebastian Hassett said – the divide between active fans and the FFA has widened from a minor crack to a major chasm.
In the meantime, the FFA should replace them with something that showcases the product – the reason why the fans go to the matches and get so excited. This crisis will pass – its length is in the hands of the FFA. The Christmas and New Year period traditionally in an issues or crisis communications sense is a circuit breaker. An issue goes from “that’s been running for months” to “that was last year”. It’s complicated in football, however, as it plays through this period.
What’s it all about?
The offending Sunday Telegraph front page
The fans claim they have been sold out by the FFA when it didn’t immediately jump to their defence when News Corporation’s Sunday Telegraph went on a bombing raid against football, or soccer as they prefer to call, by publishing details of nearly two hundred people banned from matches for what is considered to be anti-social behaviour. (See ESPN FC non-paywalled story for background). Macquarie Radio’s Alan Jones did the second bombing raid and managed to weave ISIS and the recent Paris terrorist attack into the story.
When he opened the Mumbrella Sports Marketing Conference in Melbourne in September, Gallop spoke of the fans in glowing terms. It was reported by Mumbrella at the time that Gallop spoke of football’s ambition to become the most popular sport in the country.
He said the “unique atmosphere, colour, the chanting and the noise” in stadiums is unparalleled in Australian sport and “something we need to capitalise on over the next couple of decades”. Well, the star of his show has gone temporarily AWOL. Capitalise, indeed.
The sub plots:
The list of the banned and damned: For League, Union, AFL, Rugby and Cricket – there are lists of fans that are barred. Indeed, some sports have pictures of fans at the gates to help security personnel identify them. The fact there is a list is no big deal. Every sport and venue has them.
The leaking of the list: What’s different here is that (1) someone leaked the football list and (2) the Sunday Telegraph decided to give it front page treatment. Why? That’s what tabloid newspapers do! That’s what News Corporation papers do! What’s new? There are ten venues in the A-League – any one of them, the security companies involved or the law enforcement services could have been the source of the leak, deliberately or accidentally.
The media involved: The Sunday Telegraph journalist in question is Rebecca Wilson and she is strongly identified with Rugby League. She cohosted Nine’s NRL “Footy Show” briefly. Sadly, she has subsequently been the recipient, reportedly, of death threats and elements of her personal life have been made public. Alan Jones, again, is strongly identified with Rugby League and extreme commentary in his echo chamber is an hourly occurrence. There’s nothing new there. Herald Sun columnist Susie O’Brien also had two lashes at fans and the FFA in two columns.
The leaker: Bad plumbing occurs strategically, accidentally, or through process (for example, freedom of information requests), malice or theft. Conspiracy theorists are about. The NSW Police and Sydney Cricket Ground Trust (manager of Allianz Stadium (Sydney FC) and Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta (Western Sydney Wanderers)) deny being the source of the leak. So has the FFA. Why would the sports governing body leak it? There’s no upside in all of this for the FFA.
The complaint by the fan groups about FFA: Fans are upset on two grounds. First, that the FFA was silent after the list came out and, second, they have used the airing of the issue to claim the appeals process against barring is flawed.
The FFA’s silence – News Corporation: The FFA is about to enter broadcast rights negotiations with News Corporation. This comes after News Corporation allocated huge sums of cash and in kind support to both the AFL and NRL. Also, Fox Sports Australia just lost the rights to show the English Premier League to Optus. The A-League benefits from the EPL on Fox Sports as it builds interest in the game. So, News Corporation’s bank account is down to its last few billions and the the A-League has just lost its hot looking bestie to another dance. Do you really think Mr Gallop is going to come out swinging against News Corporation? No.
The FFA’s silence – fans: At the heart of this is the banning of nearly 200 fans for anti-social behaviour. Put yourself in David Gallop’s position. As someone who is trying to attract broadcasters sponsors, viewers and families to the game, do you really think he is going to come out ‘hard’ in support of the banned or criticise a media organisation for ‘naming and shaming’? No.
The fan groups: They will be back. They will protest again this weekend and make their point.
Then Christmas cheer will come and we will be back to normal publicly. They will support their teams. Behind the scenes is where the issue is.
Behind the scenes: The FFA and its leadership of David Gallop and the head of the A-League, Damien De Bohun, have much work to do with the influencers of the game:
Les Murray speaking at Mumbrella’s Sports Marketing Summit
Les Murray (SBS): “Reaction to the splash in the Telegraph by the FFA has been disappointing. Most of all these pathetic comments by the head of the A-League, Damien de Bohun.”
Lucy Zelic (SBS): “After developing a reputation for being a ‘crisis CEO’ during his tenure with the NRL, Gallop’s notable absence during a time when the game needs him most, has many questioning his capacity to manage the situation.”
Kevin Airs (Four-four-two): “In times of crisis, leaders emerge who inspire, unite and bring change. FFA Chief Executive David Gallop is… not that man.”
Last week, the voice of football, Simon Hill (Fox Sports) says the incoming FFA chairman, Steven Lowy, must act – a view shared by Ray Gatt (The Australian): “Surely, this was a great chance for new FFA chairman Steven Lowy to quickly stamp his authority. Yet the silence has been deafening.”
This week Simon Hill went straight for David Gallop: “Never have I been left so disappointed by such a limp display as on Tuesday… but yesterday’s press conference by David Gallop takes the biscuit, the cake, the chocolate gateaux with cream, and a cherry on top.”
Mark Bosnich (Fox Sports) has been savage, emotional and vitriolic on camera.
Craig Foster (Fairfax), Michael Lynch (Fairfax) and Michael Cockerel (Fairfax) have been the same in print but on News Corporation and the New South Wales Police.
Anthony Di Pietro, the Chairman of Melbourne Victory, the league’s biggest and most successful club, was blunt yesterday: “The A-League cannot be content anymore with mediocrity. We’re sick of it here. There are key challenges that the FFA must resolve to get the A-League back on track.” (Source: goal.com)
Sydney FC Coach, Graham Arnold, told the ABC this is the biggest issue ever to have confronted the A-League and SBS reports Socceroo and Brisbane A-League player Matt McKay saying the players side with the fans on this.
Football fan blogs The Roar, Outside 90 and Ultimate A-League are, as you would expect, scathing.
Under fire: Gallop
Looking at this from an issues management or crisis communications perspective, I think the FFA would like its time over again. First, it took them a few days to front up after the Sunday Telegraph story ran and Alan Jones added his special sauce. The story broke Sunday (21/11) and David Gallop first commented on the Wednesday (24/11) – about ten news cycles (assuming three a day).
When it said something, no matter what it said, it was never going to be enough. At the best of times, football administration is a tinderbox. The wildfire had started. It was too late. Admittedly, Mr Gallop was in India at the time. He really should have been out Sunday afternoon with a statement and put up a local spokesman to talk. Second, once it got out of control, the new chairman, Steven Lowy, needed to step up, particularly as he had just replaced his father, Frank, in the role. This was his first test in the job and many say he has failed. It was a time for leadership. When you have multiple and large fires burning – as we here with general media, football media, commentators, club boards, coaches, players, law enforcement and more – you need to get the top guy on the case.
Rebecca Wilson in a Daily Telegraph piece last Friday (27/11) said she was told that Steven Lowy, would not reply to her phone calls because this “was not a chairman’s issue”. Bad move.
The third problem for the FFA is that this rumpus will bring people with other grievances out.
There’s nothing like kicking someone when they’re down. As one football tragic put to me: “The whole shenanigans with the FFA has also brought other issues to the surface with which the family groups are unhappy: namely, player registration costs, poor grassroots policies and implementation, lack of playing fields, perceptions of top heavy administration (FFA has a massive staff)”.
Where to now?
This has gone from being a short term damage containment exercise to a medium term repair and restore activity. The damage has been done. It is messy. The road ahead for the FFA executive and board is lots of meetings with all off the aggrieved parties to develop an agreed way forward.
There are five groups in all of this: the FFA, News Corporation, football friendly media, active fans and non active fans (mainly families). In my opinion, David Gallop is playing the long game. He doesn’t want to upset the people with the most money – News Corporation. He doesn’t want to side with the barred. He wants to side with the families who are most likely to fill stadiums and encourage their children to play the game. These two elements are the long game. He’s prepared lose some capital for the short game. His corporate credit card will get a hammering over the next few weeks with active “stakeholder management”.
The “active fans” will be back and keep snarling at football administrators as they have done and will continue to do for decades. The relationship has always been testy. The challenge is to rid the game of idiots but ensure an exuberant and fun atmosphere remains. This is good for grass roots participation, big match crowds, sponsorship, broadcasting, media coverage and merchandise. Maybe brand football can come out stronger if supporter groups, administrators and law enforcement can agree on acceptable behaviour and speedy appeals.
We have two A-League seasons – pre-Christmas and post-Christmas. The mood will change. We have the Socceroos likely moving onto the next round of qualification for the 2018 World Cup in March. There’s the A-League finals in April and May. The European teams will come on their play and loot runs through Australia in May, June and July. Football will be back to normal soon.
Behind the scenes, however, there’s a bit of explaining and making up to do. None of this helps Mr Gallop with his big issues – broadcast rights, ratings and sponsorship. The beautiful game isn’t always beautiful. That’s why it is beautiful.
- Andrew Woodward is a consultant at www.partnershipmarketing.com.au
Disclaimer: Andrew Woodward is a Sydney FC member and an occasional visitor to The Cove (and is not on the banned list).
Update: The FFA has held a press conference to address issues surrounding the banning of fans and Andrew Woodward has given his perspective below.
This morning in Mumbrella I wrote about the PR rumpus involving Football Federation Australia (FFA) and its active supporters, most of whom will boycott this round’s matches. In my piece I said (1) the FFA waited too long to stridently respond to the original claims in the Sunday Telegraph; (2) the Chairman needs to come out and speak (after a ten day silence) and (3) they need to have lots of personal engagement with “key stakeholders” to get a way forward and clarity on acceptable fan behaviour, sanctions and appeals.
This afternoon, (1) they admitted they got their media strategy wrong and waited too long; (2) the Chairman led a news conference and made numerous other concessions of error on their part and, (3) set out a plan to meet with key stakeholders of the game. You’re welcome.
The new Chairman, Steven Lowy, defended the overall fan base, distanced football for those barred and said the appeals process for the barred would be reviewed. The review is due to be considered by the next FFA Board Meeting in February. What the FFA did today (Thursday, 3 December 2014) should have been done ten days ago (on Monday 23 November), the day after the Sunday Telegraph went to print. Certainly, the chairman and CEO, David Gallop, were in India and remote administration is difficult at the best of times. That said, a strongly worded print and video statement or telephone conference call could have averted the drama of the last week and the subsequent multi-lateral medium term damage.
Everything that was said today was what needed to be said. I don’t think, however, this issue can wait until February for resolution. People will accept that it is the Christmas and New Year period but surely a special board meeting could be called for mid-January to consider the review. The timetable should be at the stakeholders pleasure and not the board’s pleasure.
So, today in an issues management sense, the issue has bottomed out, it will bump along the floor for a few days; nine of the ten supporter groups will boycott this weekend’s matches and, the ascent will commence next week. And then something else will happen. That’s the beautiful game.
http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/ffa-chairman-we-stand-with-the-fans-of-
It says a lot about the A League that there is a group of “Active” fans (mainly young males) who sing and dance to create their own entertainment. In Australian football all fans are active – they go to the game and are entertained by the football on the field and cheer along in appreciation.
And what’s with the Wanderer’s fans and their fascist salutes – pushing boundaries there?
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Say What???
Being a member and diehard active supporter along with my son at Adelaide United home games, I will back ten thousand people at Hindmarsh Stadium to generate more noise and atmosphere than 25-thousand at an AFL game any day.
The chants, the songs, and the spontaneous wit that active supporters (many of whom are female in our stadium) can generate en masse and in an instant is something to behold. You do not get that anywhere in Australian sport but in football… real football.
That story was spiteful and gratuitous, and the aftermath has highlighted the FFA’s lack of due process for anyone who might be mistakenly implicated, and even for those who are not.
I look forward to the Murdoch press giving equal time to the banned lists for NRL and AFL. Case in point – the miniscule coverage in the Adelaide Advertiser of the Fremantle supporter jailed for punching a woman in the throat at a game recently.
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You bring up some good points but I don’t understand this pre/post-Christmas perspective when it comes to the A-League. First I’ve heard of it. Also Sponsors (similar to News Corps) is another player in this.
FFA trying to play the long game and ride this one out will not work. There’s also a lot more issues and grievances to come out as well than grassroots problems. There is direct FFA bungles like their strongarming players during the CBA negiotiatings that made them look like idiots not to mention going right back to their implementing the ridiculous NCIS on clubs.
There’s been a lot of simmering issues that caused things to boil over and the lid to come off after the RW piece. Problem was the FFA weren’t even in the kitchen to see it.
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Hi everyone, thanks for your commentary.
Jackson, the point I was trying to make re Christmas and New year is that this period is a circuit breaker in an issue management sense. It is like in politics, if Mal Brough can survive these few weeks, there will be a break for Christmas and New Year, the political agenda will move on and the Mal Brough rumpus will be “last year’s issue”. Issues are amplified at the end of a long year. The Christmas and New Year period is a circuit breaker.
But football is a little different as matches are played through out. Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, etc so this period may not be the circuit breaker the FFA needs.
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I thought this was a really well written critique of a current topic.
Shame to see the first comment being our game is better than your game – so blinkered and disappointingly Australian.
More of this type of commentary please Mumbrella.
Well written Andrew.
The Optus deal has pulled the rug out from a few parties in this one. I’m interested to see where we end up with FTA for A-League and how that works with a pay TV provider.
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FYI: the ESPN FC link is missing the letter ‘e’ at then end of ‘violence’, leaving it broken.
Thank you for the explanation. As someone in WA, who has only heard that fans are angry at FFA and not why, this article has made it clear. It appears that a simple “we’re disappointed that the list has been leaked, but we don’t accept anti-social behaviour” message early on would have saved the FFA a lot of grief.
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>>>”So, News Corporation’s bank account is down to its last few billions and the the A-League has just lost its hot looking bestie to another dance. Do you really think Mr Gallop is going to come out swinging against News Corporation? No.”<<<
I'm a bit confused. How does the fact that a few administrators want to line their pockets make it okay to leak the banned list to News Corp ?
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The beautiful game will, long term, be better off without the hot-heads who’re protesting. Good riddance to “active” fans if “active” equals condoning antisocial behaviour and violence. The A League has done a brilliant job of making football a safe, friendly and exciting spectacle for families. Sod the idiots who have exploited their inclusion in the process. I want to be able to take my kid (daughter, age 12, fanatic player) to games and not to have to worry about the kind of thuggery that characterised the old NSL. Don’t give in to blackmail, FFA. Dig out a copy of the Crawford report and remind yourselves what it was like in the time of “Wogs, Poofs & Sheila’s”
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Hi Neil – thanks for your feedback. I too hate the mine is bigger or better than yours stuff. Every game has something to offer!
Hi Huw, tanks, I will let Mumbrella know. Yes, this could have been very simple!
Hi John, thanks for the feedback. What I am saying is, this, in my opinion, is News Ltd showing FFA “who’s the boss” meaning we have more power than you so don’t dick us around when it comes to TV rights. If you do, we will destroy you.
Tim, totally agree 100%
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Tim, of course “Active” doesn’t mean condoning anti-social behaviour. Have you been to an A-League match recently? I take my two kids (11 and 9) to Sydney FC games regularly and have never felt unsafe. That’s simply the picture that the anti-football people want to portray. The people who jump in to bash football at every opportunity. Wilson, Jones, Cornes in Adelaide, Conn from the cricket. Their anachronistic views hark back to the 70s and 80s heyday of football hooliganism. It’s their best attack on football’s growth in this country: to try to drum up fear in the average Aussie family about taking their kids to the game.
And it’s complete rubbish.
Football does not have a problem with violence, any more than cricket has a problem with drunken, abusive fans. When 180 people got ejected from a recent one-day cricket match for drunkeness (as they do at every one-dayer), the police commended the crowd on their good behaviour. Yet when 180 fans have been banned over 11 years of the A-League, out of millions, football somehow has a problem with violence and all us fans are “grubby pack animals”.
On the basis of their logic, every NRL player is a drunken, violent, mysogistic, drug-taking rapist who drinks their own urine and smears faeces over hotel rooms. And every fan is a bottle-throwing yobbo.
And what of AFL? I haven’t felt unsafe at football, but my family did very much feel intimidated in a Melbourne restaurant after an AFL match, when group of drunken Essendon fans came in being obnoxious and loud. And we know of the AFL fan who punched the woman. And the booing of Goodes. Where are the articles on how AFL has a problem with all of its fans being drunken, women-bashing racists?
If it’s good enough for millions of football fans to be labelled “suburban terrorists” on the basis of a few louts, why isn’t it the case for other sports? With them it’s “a few bad apples”. With football, it’s “football has a problem with violent fans.”
Football has always been singled out in this country. “Wogball” was what kids at schooled called it when I was growing up. It wasn’t an Aussie game like AFL and cricket. It wasn’t mainstream. It was ethnic. Since those elements were removed with the advent of the A-League, the attack on the game has changed to being about active fans. Why? Because that’s what makes football different to “Aussie” sports. So the campaign began to paint all active fans as hooligans and as bad as the bad old days in Europe. Rebecca Wilson and co. are just the latest in a long line of these attacks.
And they seem to be aided and abetted by police forces that also single out football. Why would riot police outnumber fans last weekend in Melbourne? Why are there riot police and vans when I walk with my kids and thousands of other Sydney FC fans peacefully to games? And yet when I go to a league game, surrounded by anti-social, swearing, drunken boofheads who wouldn’t be out of place in the local Hells Angels chapter or drug crime gang, I don’t see rows and rows of riot police with batons and shields at the ready. Why is that?
And flares. Yes, they’re dangerous. And rightly banned. But did you, perchance, see those images of flares let off at the rugby league match by St George fans in March this year? You didn’t? I wonder why…. Feel free to google them.
Not sure why, as a visitor to The Cove, you would agree 100% with Tim (about active fans condoning bad behaviour and the game being better off without them) Andrew, because The Cove is a perfect example of a well-lead, well-behaved active supporter group that generates amazing atmosphere. It’s what makes the game unique. I can tell you that when The Cove were missing last Friday, it felt positively funereal – or a bit like being at an NRL match.
Of course there are some supporters who do the wrong thing and deserve to be banned. That’s why there’s a list. As there is in every other code. But to say, as Rebecca Wilson did, that football has a particular problem with hooliganism, that families feel unsafe at games and that the FFA is doing nothing about it was a blatant lie, and to infringe those people’s privacy in that way was a disgrace, which the leadership of the game needed to address immediately – not leave it to fans and football journos.
When the NSW Police Commissioner came out and talked about wanting to avoid fans in cages, as they have in the UK, the leadership of the game should have come out and told him “the 80s called…” and pointed out that his views of football were 30 years out of date – not leave it to fans and football journos. When the other senior policeman told football fans they were “grubby pack animals”, the leadership of the game should have responded that this was offensive and a slur on the vast majority of fans – not leave it to fans and football journos.
As for the banning process itself, the current system means that people who are banned have no right of appeal, and not even a right to see the evidence on which they are banned (e.g.. CCTV footage). Apparently, most of the bans happen on the say-so of the plain-clothes, Hatamoto security operatives. No natural justice, no procedural fairness. Nothing.
I recognise that running the FFA is a difficult job. You have to walk tightrope. You have to appease fans, but also not scare the horses in terms of appealing to corporate sponsors and mainstream Aussie families. But it’s all well and good to talk about growing the game. That growth will never come from NRL hacks or Union lovers or AFL barrackers. So why try to appease them ahead of your own?
The most important thing the FFA can do is to make sure current, important stakeholders are looked after – and that includes grass-roots, families and non-active fans, as well as the “ethnic” fans of the old NSL that were left behind (the FFA Cup is an attempt to try to bring them back into the fold). The low-hanging fruit is the first place to look for growing the game, not die-hard AFL and NRL lackies.
I also think the FFA marketing of the game this year has been short of the mark. In the past, we’ve always had a big integrated campaign to launch and promote the league, spearheaded by a big ad. This year, we’ve had a few spots that looked more like station promos, that flew completely under the radar. For a game that needs to boost crowds and TV viewership, being almost invisible isn’t the way to go. I understand that much of the budget was blown on trying to save the Jets, but nevertheless, this year’s efforts have been disappointing, at a time when the game needed promotion, as we have no Del Piero or other proper marquee players to generate interest.
Speaking of marquees, the FFA’s changing of the marquee rules to mean Frank Lampard couldn’t come to Melbourne City was ridiculous. If you don’t have the money to properly market the game, why would you cripple a potentially huge PR and earned media property from coming down under, with a ridiculous rule change?
As you pointed out Andrew, this is the latest in a long line of failures – the David Davutovic listed 32 in this article yesterday: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sp.....y-comments
There are times when, as the peak body for football in this country, you have to sense the mood and respond in a way that ensures your base is secure. And the efforts of the FFA in the last few weeks have been very much tone deaf in this regard. They need to act quickly, before the damage becomes irreparable.
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Well said DK.
Love your passion and your common sense.
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Hi DK, thanks for your awesome post. Agree 100%.
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The biggest concern for me is the NSW Police leaking personal details to the media. The police don’t care about privacy and the watchdogs are toothless.
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