Football club slogans are meaningless if actions don’t back up the words
Clubs are built on people — members and fans as much as players, coaches and executives. The Adelaide and Port Adelaide football clubs have had timely reminders of this, writes Michelangelo Rucci.
It is easy to write slogans for football clubs. Living them is another matter.
Adelaide Football Club: We fly as one. Now add: Until there is turbulence.
Port Adelaide Football Club: Never Tear Us Apart. This season has put more rips to the club’s image than there were tears to the tarps left at Football Park in 2012.
Both the Crows and Power have had the wallpaper tumble from their big promotional billboards that carried their slogans. And the cracks — the disconnect with many fans — are prompting serious meetings at both West Lakes and Alberton as the AFL clubs prepare to take more hits on their membership sales and crowd figures at Adelaide Oval … unless there is significant change.
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Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas reacted a month ago with that email letter that was bewildered many critics outside the club. It was a “Port Adelaide-centric” letter critically admitting the time had come for Thomas and his front office to start listening again to the membership base.
The feedback at the club workshops with members since that email has justified Thomas’ move, along with his recent appearances at supporter functions such as their pre-game get-togethers at the London Tavern en route to Adelaide Oval. Also noticeable is club executive Andrew Hunter, who is proving to be more than the “China Man” at Alberton, riding the Outer Harbor train with the fans to Adelaide Oval matches.
Adelaide’s leaders this week have been on Media Street for damage control after director and club great Mark Ricciuto handed out parachutes for those members he was pushing off the turbulent Crows plane if they were not in favour of the board’s decisions at West Lakes.
Had Ricciuto not uttered those infamous 16 words — “And if they don’t (back our decisions), well then maybe they don’t need to barrack for the footy club” — on Sunday, Adelaide would have sent out a media release on Monday declaring an “external review” was underway to study the Crows failing to qualify for AFL finals. And there would be no comment — “no running commentary”, as Adelaide puts it — until the review was finished.
Crows and Power fans will not be won over with slogans for Season 2020. They need to believe their clubs can live up to expectation. It is a test of character — and, that much-floated term in sport, culture.
At Adelaide, the Crows leaders have to prove to their members they are not just about breaking profit records each year. At Port Adelaide, particularly in the club’s 150th year, it cannot be just about past glories.
Ray McLean, the co-founder of the “Leading Teams” leadership program, at the weekend spelled out the critical cultural differences at two sporting clubs he consults — the Newcastle Knights in the NRL and Sydney Swans in the AFL.
“The difference,” McLean says, “brings home the point, very strongly, that high performance is not only about winning or results, but also about commitment from strong leaders to preserve a culture of what the club has defined as their success.”
At Sydney, McLean admired how the Swans honoured retiring players Jarrad McVeigh, Kieran Jack, Nick Smith and Heath Grundy and 300-game star Lance Franklin at the weekend — and how the Swans “have strong enough leadership throughout the club to review and reset” after a disappointing season on the field.
“The Swans,” added McLean, “don’t judge themselves solely against wins and losses on the field. They believe that behaving like a ‘Blood’ (the old South Melbourne culture) is the ultimate success and results will follow.”
At Newcastle, the Knights have sacked the coach — after a win and while they were still in finals contention. They are in free fall with on-field performances sinking and off-field commentary from club greats biting.
“The club,” said McLean, “have put themselves in a position where selling the message of hope and optimism to the fans will become more difficult by the day.”
Sydney’s culture is built on people; Newcastle’s on results.
For both Port Adelaide and the Crows, particularly Adelaide this week, the lesson from 2019 is that there is no point in handing the fans a slogan if the club’s leaders are not going to live it themselves.