Terry Hands in the Gold Coast United blogger for BPL.

I came away from last Sunday’s game feeling very flat and unimpressed. Was it because we lost? Was it because of the ‘crowd cap’? Was it because of the lack of numbers in the crowd?

I deliberately did not read the forum because I knew it would simply depress me. There would be our own members having a go at the club and in particular our owner, Clive Palmer. There would be the obligatory posts from Victory supporters telling us how crap we are as a supporter group, how crap our team is, and what a crap time they had because of the crowd cap. There would be posts from supporters of other clubs telling us what crap supporters we are and we didn’t deserve a team.

Why?

I have tried to work out why I didn’t want to read the forum and why I felt so sad after the game. I have tried to work out why I avoided meeting up with some Victory supporters I spoke to on Twitter, and another guy who I have known personally for the past three years from Socceroo travels.

It comes down to being embarrassed by what has gone on. As a fan of the game I am just completely embarrassed by what the club has done and how it showcases us to the A-League public. I love this game and have done all my life. I know what it was like under the “Old Soccer” when it was the NSL. Hell I remember when it was the “Phillips Soccer League”.

So when “New Football” arrived I was so excited that I was supporting it no matter what. It is our last chance to show the Australian Public that we are a legitimate Football code that can stand alongside the other codes here in Australia.

So when Version 1 arrived I hoped on the train to Brisbane to support “New Football”. I bought a Social membership and a supporter’s shirt for the Roar. I managed to see three or four games a year until it was announced that the Gold Coast would have its own team in Season five. How good is that I thought? My very own A-League team to support in the town I live in, and only 15 minutes drive.

Clive Palmer

Working in the mining industry I knew exactly who Clive Palmer was, but could not find any link to football. So what I thought, this guy has the money and is saying all the right stuff in the local media, I just have to support him and the club.

In the ensuing months I had many a debate in person and on forums with detractors, who didn’t think Clive was in it for the right reasons and that as soon as we were not winning he would be out of there like a shot. I argued that the game needed new money and benefactors who wanted to support the game. After all, Clive is a local Gold Coaster done good. He made his initial money as a property developer before ending up as a mining magnate.

I ended up as an Organiser of “The Beach” to promote active support at GCU matches. We copped an absolute bollocking from supporters of every other club in the league at some time, because of our small numbers and apparent lack of originality in our songs/chants.

Before a Socceroos game in Brisbane earlier this year I defended the right for the Gold Coast to have a team to some GGArmy faithful who said then that the A-League does not deserve the crap that Palmer is doing to the league. Again I defended our right and that of Clive to have the team; I got so angry I had to walk away in the end.

Season two

When I arrived at Skilled Park for game 1 against or rivals from up the M1 and I saw how small the crowd was I sort of knew how the season was going to go. Up to 50 percent of the crowd was from Brisbane and their away supporter’s bay had as many people as ours but more standing on their feet than ours.

Then during the week the bombshell was dropped, the Crowd Cap was to be invoked again. I was so angry I told my wife I was going to cut up my season pass and send it to Clive telling him to stick it where the sun don’t shine. It went through our supporters like Epsom salts. By that night there were many threads about the cap and Clive.

Supporters from other clubs had a field day, and supporters from within our own group split in to two camps. That divide is even greater after last Sunday’s game where only 3624 people turned up.

So who is to blame?

In my opinion the club did not do enough to engage with the community in the first instance and secondly simply did not advertise the fact that there was a team on the Gold Coast. Even with all this publicity and what has gone on since day 1 there are people who simply don’t know that GCU exist. These people know more about an AFL team who has two contracted players than they do about us.

Does the Gold Coast deserve a team?

This is now the burning question inside of me. The calls for the FFA to take back the license or simply kick us out of the league all together are gaining momentum now. Not only from other supporters, but from respected journalists. Have a read of Les Murray’s latest TWG Blog.

Many of you have made up your mind and want us kicked out ASAP. I think that decision should be left until the end of the season. I think every town has the right to want a team and has to then justify that commitment. I question whether the FFA jumped at the chance of having a benefactor like Clive at the helm and thought, we have a team that will never have money troubles.

Will GCU survive?

It took Rugby League three goes (I know they were kicked out after Super League) and the AFL is having its second tilt at a team here. The Gold Coast is a rugby league town, no question. Due to massive interstate immigration there is also a healthy support for Aussie Rules as well. Football has always been the poor cousin to these two codes and Rugby Union lurks there as well.

The only way our code can survive anywhere in Australia is with the grassroots support of the local football communities. This is the area I believe that GCU did not concentrate on when they were first granted the license.

Clive Palmer is the key here. He controls the purse strings and gives the CEO direction he wants the club to move. It is not sustainable for him to lose money hand over fist, I understand that. But surely there could be a better targeted marketing campaign that encompasses advertising, community involvement, cheaper ticketing and FREE stuff for kids. Get the community on side first; get them coming in the gate and then rein it in. From where I sit, the reins have never been loosened.

It is easy to go on from here into the financial woes of the A-League and FFA especially considering the Jets predicament this week. But all I will say is that “Sustainability” is the end game here. It must be if GCU and every other club are to survive. GCU have to find that balance here on the Gold Coast and fast or we won’t have it too much longer. It’s all catch up from here on in, two years after being granted the license.