DEEP DIVE: North Queensland Fury legend reveals failures that sunk A-League expansion club
Former NQ Fury captain Gareth Edds says Townsville still hasn't recovered from its unsuccessful A-League expansion. Read what lessons Auckland FC must take from the failed football venture.
Football
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A decade and a half on from the North Queensland Fury’s introduction into the A-League, this season’s new kids on the block can take plenty of lessons from Townsville’s failed football venture.
Auckland FC will become the A-League’s 12th team when the season kicks off later this month, 15 years after the Fury and Gold Coast United began their short stints in Australia’s top flight.
The Fury fizzled out after just two years, finishing dead last in their second season before being booted from the competition for financial reasons and later rebranding as the Northern Fury to participate in Queensland’s NPL.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Gareth Edds joined the Fury for that fateful A-League season after spending more than a decade playing professionally in England, taking on the role of captain before the club lost its license.
He said it wasn’t clear just how much trouble the Fury were in when he decided to return to Australia.
“I was playing in England and didn’t have much understanding of what the background of the Fury was,” Edds said.
“I was excited to come because it was a brand new adventure with what I saw from the year before – crowds of 9000 to 10,000 turning up to matches and it looked like the game was growing at a rapid rate.”
Edds said securing a marquee signing of Robbie Fowler’s calibre was a huge boon for the fledgling Fury.
“What they got right was the building of the club in terms of trying to engage with fans. Townsville is a hard landscape, with all these other sports being played at the same time,” Edds said.
“Bringing Robbie Fowler over in the first year brought a lot of interest. That drove interest in the game, and obviously having better quality players is a great thing for kids and families to watch.”
WHAT WENT WRONG
The Fury’s average crowd attendance dropped significantly in their second season, becoming one of the lowest ever seen in the A-League, forcing competition CEO Ben Buckley to plea to fans for greater support in an open letter.
Seeking at least $1.5M in capital investment per season for three years just to stay afloat, North Queensland’s A-League license was revoked on March 1, 2011, with the FFA reporting the club had only received 20 per cent ($300,000) of its investment goal for the next season.
Edds said the Fury didn’t receive the support the club needed to survive, leaving a hole in the region that had still not been filled 15 years later.
“In regards to what went wrong, the support from the governing body and the people around it – up at the top end I’m talking about – I don’t think there was enough to support firstly to players, but also to the club,” Edds said.
“For a club to go missing, it leaves a big hole in the region after it disappears, and obviously Townsville hasn’t really recovered since that.
“As much as possible, the governing body needs to make sure that there’s infrastructure in place so that clubs don’t go missing, because yes they go through hard times but ultimately it’s the young players that need to have an opportunity to move forward through the system for the football club.”
WHAT CAME NEXT AND KEY EXPANSION LESSONS
A year and a half after being removed from the A-League, the Fury were officially re-established to join the NPL, playing six seasons in the state league and never finishing higher than 7th.
Evan after North Queensland was punted from the A-League, Edds continued his time in Townsville and became player-coach of the Northern Fury in late 2012, scoring an impressive nine goals in 14 NPL games.
Despite seeing the ongoing effects of the failed expansion first-hand, Edds was adamant that Australia continue its ambitious plans for a truly national league.
“It’s crucial. Sydney and Melbourne have a very dominant thing in the A-League but outside of that there needs to be more opportunities,” Edds said.
“Auckland becoming involved is a great thing for that derby situation between them and Wellington, and creates more exposure to the game at the A-League level.
“I still believe more expansion needs to happen in other areas, such as Tasmania and Canberra, to make it a national game.”
WILL THE NQ FURY RETURN?
As for whether North Queensland will ever get another A-League team, Edds said the most important thing would to make sure proper plans were in place beforehand.
“If they’re going to do it, it’s all about the engagement and the quality of the people involved to try to build that into what it needs to be,” Edds said.
“It has to be sustainable for not just one or two years, it’s got to be planning for a club that is going to be around for 100 years.
“That is where the FFA, in my opinion, need to do things better. They need to build the framework and the foundation to enable clubs to last in an achievable model that can have a consistent club in that region.
“Hopefully that’s the case with the clubs expanding at the moment. You hate to see kids losing the club they support when they get rid of a club, like what they did with the Fury.
“If there could be an opportunity up here it would be amazing. There’s a lot of people that love the game in this region so I think, if done the right way, it would be a terrific boost for the game here.”
More Coverage
Originally published as DEEP DIVE: North Queensland Fury legend reveals failures that sunk A-League expansion club
A-League Women stars call for ‘relaunch’
As a longtime teammate announced her retirement, a Melbourne Victory star has called for an “extremely important” change.
Fowler’s perfect response to Panthers quip
Mary Fowler has responded in the perfect fashion following comments from the Panthers about bringing her back to Australia.