As he made a dash to Townsville late last week on a salvage mission to try and save the North Queensland Fury from financial oblivion, A-League boss Archie Fraser could have been forgiven for having a few moments of self-doubt about his career choice.

The ebullient Scotsman had joined the Football Federation of Australia after a few years as chief executive of St Kilda in the cash rich AFL. In the highly subsidised AFL world, clubs with the sort of fiscal problems faced by The Fury and other A-League franchises are kept afloat by the league's generous grants system and the substantial cultural, historical and political influence the clubs still hold in their local communities.

Still in its infancy, the A-League can bank none of these things to work in its favour as it tries to hold its own as the battle of the football codes intensifies.

And it has found out to its growing embarrassment that rich men with big wallets and even bigger mouths are not the salvation for the game - and instead more likely to be one of its biggest problems.

One year into its foray into North Queensland, the FFA faces the real prospect of an embarrassing retreat. Club owner Don Matheson simply can't sustain the reported $40,000 a week that is leaking from his coffers.

Coach Ian Ferguson is believed to have been told to look elsewhere for work. As for marquee man, former Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, his days in the sun seem over as well.

It all adds up to an embarrassing mess for Fraser unless the suggestion of a community based membership model and a possible fresh start up the road in Cairns can revitalise the club.

Either way, the lessons for Archie Fraser and the FFA seem clear. In their attempts to keep pace with the other codes in their battle for supremacy, the FFA built its foundations on a private ownership franchise model that has failed to win public support and leaves the competition open to the whims and overblown egos of the owners - as well as the volatility of their financial circumstance in the era of a global financial squeeze.

It has been nothing but trouble for the game in this country. The farce that was the Gold Coast United's lock out of fans at the behest of mining billionaire team owner Clive Palmer, perfectly illustrated the absurdity of the arrangement. Palmer was in dispute with the state government over the cost of playing at the new Robina Stadium and chose to use the fans as pawns in his political power play with Anna Bligh. Just when United should have been doing everything in its power to get fans through the gate, it was telling them not to bother. It was sheer, bloody-minded madness.

This was a problem created by the A-League's structure. Here was a club foisted on a sceptical local community. This was a club that boasted about its ambitions to be Manchester United in budgie smugglers. Yet in the end, no one came to see them play. Having alienated the local community, Gold Coast was left with near empty stands as Jason Culina's team had a decent crack at living up to the boss's lofty ambitions.

The A-League needs to end its reliance on private owners and find a new model for community based, membership driven clubs that actually matter to people. Melbourne Victory, whilst in private ownership, has come closest to building a club around its connection to its constituency - its fans and members. Little wonder that it is the one club in the A-League that runs on a balanced budget.

Consistency and stability have been the bedrock for Victory from day one. It's little wonder they're set to host yet another A-League Grand Final.

It's time the FFA asked that its other clubs follow the standard Victory have set - both on and off the pitch.