Tennis great turned sports administrator Paul McNamee - the man who rejected the FFA CEO role 12 years ago - has made an impassioned plea for South Melbourne to be granted an A-League license.

The former Australian Open and Golf Australia chief was part of the South Melbourne-backed Southern Cross bid team of 2008, which was “shut down” in favour of Melbourne Heart for an expansion spot.McNamee is convinced FFA “bias” against South’s Greek origins stood against them a decade ago in a glaring example of ‘new football’ putting the boot into ‘old soccer’.

And while not officially involved in South’s latest attempt to get back into the main stream, McNamee - a die-hard Melbourne Victory and Liverpool fan - believes they will bring “soul and passion” to the competition, as well as providing a talent pathway which to date has produced 53 Socceroos.“In my view it’s time to recalibrate because the A-League has serious issues and there are many people from the old NSL days who simply don’t follow the competition,” said McNamee ahead of the FFA board meeting on Wednesday which could admit up to two new teams for next season.

“I follow Melbourne Victory but you can’t compare their program to that of South Melbourne for boys and girls.“I’ve been to the academies at Tottenham, Celtic and Borussia Monchengladbach and South. In terms of what they’re doing at youth level, they are the Australian equivalent.

“Most of the A-League teams are more franchises and brands than they are clubs in the traditional sense.“They lack soul and that’s something South - with their great history in the NSL - have in abundance.“People talk about history being a negative to South Melbourne. In my opinion, it’s quite the opposite. To say it’s a negative has connotations of racism about it.“The most important thing though is not their past, it’s their future as a bona fide development pathway which no other A-League club offers.”

South are up against Team 11 and Western Melbourne in Victoria, two bids which require transport and stadium infrastructure , as well as Southern Expansion, Macarthur South West Sydney and Canberra.“How the heck can South Melbourne not stack up against the other bids,” added McNamee.“The funding is there, the ground is there, the development pathways are there. Seriously, what is all this about. Am I missing something here?“When is football going to embrace is history? This ‘old soccer, new football’ concept should’ve got thrown out years ago.

“It’s a bad thing and I believe that’s why Southern Cross got shut down. Without any discussion the spot is simply went to Melbourne Heart.“That was a decision based on bias, in my opinion, and it shocked me. It was about their ethnicity.“Is my Irish background a problem for somebody? Liverpool have Irish Catholic fans, is that a problem?

“I’m troubled by some of criticism of South ... we almost apologized by calling it Southern Cross last time because of the prevailing mood (at FFA).“Now it’s unashamedly South Melbourne.

Now tell them they’re ethnic and don’t belong. This is Australia in 2018. Are you kidding me?”

Ben Buckley subsequently took the job which McNamee, now 64 and currently involved with Basketball Australia, turned down back in 2006, and he has no regrets.“My son (Rowan) loves and plays and I thought bringing the job home with me every night might destroy his affection for the game,” he said.“So I slept on the offer and said ‘no thanks’. In some ways it was the job I always wanted, but looking back Ben Buckley basically spent five years chasing votes for the World Cup and we all know what happened there. I’m so happy that that wasn’t me.”

McNamee believes promotion and relegation will come within five years to the A-League, in the ultimate act of inclusivity.“We have clubs like South Melbourne who will win their way through and that dispels the theory that we must only have new clubs,” he added.“It’s going to happen anyway so get a decent club like South Melbourne should be admitted in now.“They have passion, it’s the tonic of life. It produces crowds and crowds produce ratings, I know that from tennis.“We have to be inclusive because the FFA have divided the sport since the A-League’s inception.“South Melbourne fans haven’t felt welcome. This is a subject I feel passionately about because I love football.

“People might say, ‘what do you know about the game?“But I knew enough for FFA to want to hire me as CEO. I know a little bit.”

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/bias-against-south-melbourne-is-all-greek-to-me-says-mcnamee

Great article

McNamee is valued in this country as one of the most successful sports executives in this country.

McNamee was the chairman of the Southern Cross bid when the FFA chose Heart

I had spoken to the guy at a junior game against Malvern City about a year after the Southern Cross bid

Basically told me as soon as we were ready to submit the final version of the bid the FFA, the FFA announced exclusive negotiation with Melbourne Heart whilst the bid process was still going

Well, if anyone would know what's best for football in this country, it's a tennis guy.

He would have been rewarded handsomely for his timely public interjection in the way only SM Hellas know how.

This is their way to demonstrate they are now (all of the sudden) mainstream lol

100% football person, takes in 100+ games every year from Victory down to the provisional leagues.

"McNamee believes promotion and relegation will come within five years to the A-League"

nup, he's clueless

In many ways it’s likely going to depend on next weeks decision, if the bids that are offering astronomical amounts for the license fees get in (likely) then you have a permanent closed shop as conditions will certainly be in place to ensure they are forever in the top division.

If South gets in (unlikely) its game on. It would be such a shock decision the football community will start to believe that anything is possible, the fact we have endorsed a 2nd division and pro/relegation is probably going to work against us.

I sympathise with Paul because he was part of the bid a decade ago that wasn’t even allowed to use South Melbourne as a name and he knows first hand the injustice of how that license was awarded. No real process took place, they just handed the license to the heart consortium purely cos the other option was South.

Ange is in town and he is trying to work them over but it’s too late, even if they went with 4 teams we still wouldn’t make it,

It seriously shits me that people are still pretending that these clubs are being rejected because of some ethic bias. The problem is that these clubs are or were biased towards a specific community themselves.

The concern about SM and equivalent clubs is that they do have a history of being mono-ethnic. If they can prove they have a diversity of ethnicities and backgrounds among their playing coaching & admin staff, I imagine the FFA wouldn't have a problem with them. I'm sure as hell happy we went with WSW instead of say Sydney united or Olympic during the last round of expansion. They're an actually multi-cultural club that noone could say is particularly anglo.

It would take an immense amount of work to destroy the idea that united or olympic are just croatian or greek backed clubs that are purely for the Croatian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities. WSW on the other hand are a genuinely multi-ethic club, they have fantastic support with grounds full of people from diverse backgrounds. I see no problem with the FFA aiming for that standard, instead of letting in clubs with a clear history of bias.

We want diverse clubs that reflect the cultural makeup of the areas they represent, there is nothing wrong with that.

I totally agree with you that a club that represents a population based on where you live will get bigger crowds than a club representing one community. 
However if a Greek club, in this case South Melbourne has one of the best set ups already, then why the fuck should they now be allowed to one day play in the top division?
Don't you realise that although South Melbourne has a Greek background, they have a diversified management team, along with players throughout the whole club? Who cares what the background of the club is when they are doing a Greek job at giving Australians of all different backgrounds a chance to play professional football. 
Also even if they only average 4k fans and financially that's enough for them how on earth is that a problem?
It's the equivalent of saying we shouldn't have any Greek restaurants in Australia because they are neglecting the foods from all other backgrounds, it should be a multi cultural restuaraunt ect ect. 
My only concern with South Melbourne entering the league is the fact I can't stand any stadium that's oval shaped and even worse when they have a running track around it. Other than that they tick most boxes of what's needed to be in the A-league regardless of what background. 

Interesting stat with 53 Socceroos over the years.

Guess that isn’t Australian enough...

South already command inner south/east and east corridors up to Springvale Road which is a 20 KMs arc from the city of territory is the key demographic.

The 47 clubs anf schools South mantion are largely within this range and represent a population of 1.2 million and a clear accessible catchment and the best part is victory and city have a light footprint.

Team 11 should have the outer growth regions based on the fact that their stadium location if it ever gets up is about 35 KMs with a population of 1.4 and growing and represents a corridor band of the outer regions that are 25 to 50 KMs from inner Melbourne

Why would a football fan located 10kms from Lakeside travel to the far East when located in the inner east and a short drive or tram, bus or train ride to lakeside

Additionally their is a massive demographic gap between someone who lives in a Caulfield, Bentleigh, Carnegie, Oakleigh or Glen Waverley for example which has a massive smfc connection compared to someone that lives in Knox or Dandenong or Cranbourne and even the inner Gippsland regions

A corridor of of 2.5 million projected to reach 3,5 does not equate to equal access by location or equal appeal by demographic to a ground in Dandenong

Apologies for making too much sense and I am sure south have already submitted this to the FFA

Correct Chris, anyone living within 10 to 15km of Lakeside Stadium is not going to travel out to Dandenong.  No one's heading out to Dandenong to watch anything.

Imagine how an interstate fan would feel Travelling to where????
How do you get there????
Really????
What's accommodation like???
How can I fly in and fly out????
Blah I'll just watch it on my phone in my lounge room in Sydney?
Vic Gov understands this already
Not a win for tourism that's for sure

If SM Hellas have the best set up why don't they win the league every year?

I cite the example of Brisbane Lions Soccer Club winning the right for a franchise that had by far the best footballing set up in Queensland and by far the richest (current social club turnover I understand in the vicinity of $50 mill). Yet they still couldn't manage.

Conversely why should anyone be happy with an entity that to date has only demonstrated it caters for a very limited and insular supporter base? If we're not happy now with clubs getting 8,000 - 17,000 attendances why should we be with 4,000?

I said they have one of the best ( not the best ) set ups as a whole, not they have the best starting 11 to win the league every season. 
When you say we're not happy with 17k you're speaking about yourself and many others, I don't share that opinion. My biggest concern is clubs playing in stadiums where even a 15k turnout means there was over 35k empty seats. If as South have claimed they only need 1,500 to break even and they average 4k meaning they're making profits and playing out of a 12k stadium than I have no problem. 
Having said all this as I mentioned before my main concern with South Melbourne is their shit stadium with a running track around it, basically I'm saying I don't give a shit what background the club is or represents, especially when in the end the club is doing Australian footballers a huge favour just being around. Can't say the same about a club from another country playing in this league.

Being one of the best set ups is no ticket for entry as history has proven with Brisbane Lions is what I'm saying. Even with 8,000 attendances the HAL clubs have been bagged but it's OK with 4,000 is it? SM Hellas have done nothing to demonstrate they have turned the corner with their inward looking.

I just told you I'm not one who bags out the crowds. It's the choice of stadiums I have a problem with. 
If everything was based on crowds you wouldn't have clubs like Bournmouth playing in the EPL. And there are many other examples all over Europe of clubs getting crowds of only 5k in the top division.
Like I said earlier, personally I wouldn't give South Melbourne a lisence based on their stadium being an oval. My rejection of them would have nothing to do with South Melbourne being owned by Australians of Greek background.

You said a 4,000 crowd wouldn't be a problem. I say bullocks.

Let's just agree may the best win. It's out of our hands anyway.

If Team 11 are playing out of Casey Fields for 3 seasons, you'd be rapt to get 4,000 to a game.

Spot on HighTimes.

We certainly don't want the start of the thin wedge with a replication of the NSL when the entire league was represented by only 3 different ethnic cultures.....Greeks, Italians and Croatians.

Why can’t we welcome all clubs? Why should I be punished cos a bunch of Greek immigrants created my club 60 years ago? It’s bullshit, hell I don’t even like Greeks.

It’s like saying we should only have restaurants that serve every cuisine on earth, that would get pretty boring.

The issue isn’t that west Sydney Wanderers were chosen, the issue is Olympic and syd United should be afforded the opportunity to someday be able to compete at the same level.

Not even 1 page and Pauly has hijacked the thread. Scenes. 

Yes because it was different before.

You must have the paulc metre on and 1 only page lol

Paul McNamee makes good sense

Gallop and O'Rourke should hang their heads in shame if what I'm hearing is correct about how they've handled certain bids documents and what info they've passed on and left out to FFA board members. The whole process is corrupt, tainted and farcical. The sooner morons like that are run out of the game the better. You're surname and background shouldn't matter in 2018 Australia.

McNamee is a genuine lover of the game. Seen him heaps of times around the local games as a simple fan. Played Tennis at the highest level and has been involved with various other sports as an administrator. His comments should carry some credibility.

The capacity of Casey fields will only be 4-5k as they will need to move the pitch to one of the closer terraces as the ground has very little elevation.

Paul McNamee does talk sense but he is also very bitter being part of the bidding process for the last Melbourne license and seeing how it was awarded in a dubious manner. For him Souths exclusion last time would be very personal.

I don't think it be personal as he never got a chance to engage
As soon as the FFA saw McNamees name on the southern X bid they jumped into bed with Lowys mate Sidwell and handed southern cross intelligence to him
McNamee was brought on to provide analysis on why South from a high level but never happened 
I believe bidding process still had 5 months to run
Whole thing was an absolute discrace including the product that was Heart....a joke 
South will resonate much more deeply with football vommunity, more so than city which is Melbourne City in drag, that's worse than mono ethnic which south is not but the point is City only appeals to a very tiny segment. Man City fans in Melbourne LoL

Every time I start to feel a touch positive about SMFC, we are assaulted with a barrage of the hate and conspiracy drivel their supporters spew up and realise, somewhat sadly, that they are bitterest of bitter losers.  They do deserve better fans and need better ambassadors.

That's Bullshit and the above is a silly mindgame
The.most successful club in Australia deserves a fair go
You have an issue with passion from fans?

Nope.  Passion and stupidity aren't the same thing.  They aren't mutually exclusive either.

The biggest challenge for the SMFC bid this time around is their location.

Yes it has a stadium, but it is in the inner city and the FFA and the existing A-League clubs have appeared to be suggesting that they want to see different geographical areas represented, especially in the major markets. This will help grow the game, and not eat into existing club areas.

Southern Expansion, South West Sydney and South Melbourne appears to have had the most resistance, but we will wait and see what the new FFA Board decide.

Not knowing all the facts about their bid in 2008, I still feel it is a pity that the Southern Cross bid wasn’t given the green light, even as a Heart/City supporter. They do offer a fair bit, but seemingly can’t get the backing of the decision makers.

The biggest mistake you can make is judge a club based on half a dozen people on Social media, on another forum (clubs unofficial) the bid is largely ridiculed and many actually aren’t for it.

I really only get touchy when I read blatant lies, like the one where someone will write “they wave Greek flags everywhere and chant Greek songs” when someone knows that’s rubbish it can be difficult to hold back. When you know the process for the last Melbourne license was a scam and people from both parties confirm it it’s hard not to be cynical about things.

How is this as a test for branding and contribution to the league.
I am based in Perth.
Last nights game for Perth Glory against Melb City drew 8500.
If South Melbourne came aboard, the same fixture would draw over 10000.
Keep in mind, this game would literally be on the other side of the country from South Melbourne's headquarters. Imagine how South Melbourne v Melbourne Victory would be.
Bring them in, I don't know what people are afraid of.
Another thing that people forget, it would be in South Melbourne's interest to be broadbased, draw more supporters and make more money (or lessen their losses). This idea that that club would forego commercial opportunities to express their 'greek roots' is absurd.

Fun fact

"It's Greek to me" is an expression coined by Shakespeare

If South miss out again are we going to have McNamee and South fans claiming the new board put the "boot into old soccer" as well? If South miss out this time, maybe they need to at ask why two disparately different administrations have said no to their bid.

If South cant get in with a stadium, facilities that many players note are better than most A league teams, every junior/womens age group covered all in a location that is well served by public transport and has endless pubs/cafes and eateries...well we will need to conceed that no "old sokkah" clubs will ever play a prominent role ever again.

My personal opinion is the A league will close up shop at 14 teams and that will be that. No 2nd division or pro/relegation. If the old guards flagship club cant get a sniff the rest are just as doomed as South.

McNamee witnessed the corruption first hand with the old board so its obviously a sore spot for him.

Question for south fans. Why haven't South made moves to become less Greek at board level over the last 10 years? The problem rightly or wrongly is that South Melbourne is a Greek social club first and a professional soccer club second. 

What we need to do is to think of every day situations around a club that can be adversely affected by having a leadership group all with the same background. Hundreds of little things that add up to bad things. At junior level we can see that at many ethic based clubs.

 When there is no diversity (90 pct Greek and male) then many old school cultural ideals prevail. This will hold back 'excellence' because people wont want to upset each other (on the board). Diversity leads to excellence (men, woman, young, old, variety of ethic backgrounds) because new ideas are not necessarily rejected because of some limited thinking. 

The players get smashed with Growth vs Fixed mindset. Board of Management Mostly Greek (Fixed or Growth mindset?). Open it up - what have you got to hide?

And for all the people who think South Melbourne run an excellent junior program - the realities on the ground are different. Too many kids in each NPL age group (money grab), poor facilties, bullyimg (kids who dont go on overseas trips don't get picked the following year...)

These are the sloppy and poor results around lack of diversity and poor management practice..

South are 100% football focused and I can't believe this is even coming up. South have dominated mens' and womens' State football for years, produced over 50 socceroos, and won four national titles.

In recent years South's women have won:
2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 State Championships
2016 NW Championship (the year they were inexplicably left out of the NPLW...)

South's men have won:
2014, 2016 State Championships
2015 Dockerty Cup
2015 Community Shield

South's first priority is football excellence whether it be in the A-League, B-League, State League or Sunday League and everyone at the club works bloody hard to achieve such.

South brings the game to schools, offers scholarships and supports programs in power-chair football, table football and futsal.

What else can you expect a club to do to show it's football first?

South have a great history no doubt. With regards to being 100 pct footy focused I would suggest if you ask any leader at Heidelberg UTD, Apia Leichardt, Marconi - they will all say the same thing. The communities around those clubs should be proud of what they have achieved. My own local NPL club also have a great womans' set up and participates in various social programs - great stuff. But this is still not enough IMO to be granted an A-league licence.

I would suggest that just about everyone around the clubs (parents, players etc) would add that these clubs still fall well short of being professionally run organisations. I also noticed you did not rebuff any of my points re lack of diversity. Also I wonder how many of these clubs would be happy if a cultural / social outsider (read not Greek) were to go through the clubs finances and general governance?

Open it up - have more diversity on the board and you will get my vote. 

Otherwise keep being a great social club doing some nice things for ground roots football. Your history can never be taken away from you. 

Most South fans I talk to understand South is an outside chance for a licence and will accept that, but that isn't my annoyance here. What South fans shouldn't have to accept is members of the wider football community questioning the club's purpose. The club proves in its actions that it has, does and will always deliver results for the benefit of Austrian football.

On professionalism no State League club can call its operations professional, but South leads the way giving players access to qualified coaches, international football relationships, VIS training and recovery facilities. South is delivering amazing services for its level, has a great understanding of football needs, and is set up to professionalise when the opportunity arises. All other bids aren't only not professional but don't exist as clubs. South in the A-League wouldn't be the same club as it is in the NPL but it would use the NPL foundation to build in to an A-League club. With or without the A-League South will continue to do its best for players and members.

South is an open and transparent club and you can see this by its actions.

• South's accounts like all companies receive an independent audit annually.
• Anyone can become a member and join the AGM to vote for the board and read financial statements. Anyone. Other A-League club memberships are that in name only and although provide season tickets provide no access to vote who is on the board and change the direction of the club.
• South has been pushing hard to increase its fan base, notably working with Chinese Australian Football Federation (I think that's what they're called) and bringing Guangzhou R&F down for a friendly which South won, in front for a large crowd.

I don't like to count ethnic names because it validates an argument I feel is hurtful. The fact is South is open to everyone, encourages the biggest crowds it can get and anyone can be a member to vote, scrutinise or stand for the board.

You can become a member and do all this in time for next season (once they release the new packages, 2018 season is over) but funnily enough you haven't got this access at any other A-League clubs. South has a radio program on FNR. It has lead the way for club content on YouTube. The club engages with a huge community and welcomes everyone who wants to see the club win. Heck in two years you could become a South Board member if you wanted to.

A great argument. Thanks for the reasonable and reasoned response. Get more diversity on the board and you have my vote. 

When you say "two disparately different administrations", I assume you understand that the new board consists of 3 Lowy people and 3 new people, with one of the Lowy people carrying the decisive vote?  I also assume you realise that the process is being overseen by two Lowy appointees and an outside body of consultants hired (and briefed) by Lowy...  Make no mistake - this is the same people as before.

I would have assumed that you realised that the new board appointments followed a transparent and inclusive process, but alas, this assumption appears to be incorrect.   You have cleverly ignored the process that was undertaken and masterfully ignored the appointments of people unrelated to the old board.  And to add the cherry to the top of the "Everyone Hates South/Old Soccer Pie"  you you are still able to reach the conclusion that this board is the "same people as before" or Lowy-Light. 

OK, the old board and the new board both hate South and old soccer, feel better?  

The decision making process to select the board was transparent - but those decisions having been made, which of the following is incorrect:

(1) The 6 person board includes 3 'Lowy people'
(2) The 'Lowy person' who stood for re-election and missed out was the only one who came out publicly to say NCIP should be scrapped.
(3) The chairman of the board, who carries the deciding vote, was a Lowy person (who talked out against the NPL and supported NCIP)
(4) The CEO of the FFA is a Lowy appointee on a huge wage
(5) The head of the A-league is a Lowy appointee
(6) The consultants hired to run the selection process for expansion were hired and briefed at Lowy's request
(7) The final decision on who to bring in as expansion options will be made by a 6 person board, with 3 Lowy-people who can outvote the 3 non-Lowy people courtesy of the controlling vote of a man who dislikes the NPL and likes the NCIP
(8) They will make their decision based on analyis by a Lowy appointed CEO, Head of A-League, and consultancy firm.

Maybe after detailed analysis 2 non-South bids may be the best options - perhaps Team11 or WMG have been able to demonstrate that their key point of difference (the regional stadiums) will actually happen; but it can't be denied that the FFA that ends this process isn't that far from the FFA that started the process.

You have consistently been the voice of reason for South.  Seems you have started on the negative track already.  Announcement not even made yet and South have started in on the "they hate cos we're wogs" and "they're all corrupt, there is no way anybody can be better than us", "it doesn't matter how good our bid, it will never be accepted by the dark forces arranged against us." 

You lot are worse than Pauline Hanson supporters.

I note you didn't address the issue of which of the 8 points was incorrect.

Meanwhile, I don't think they hate "Us" because "we're wogs", because I'm not a "wog" - I think they dislike the idea of a club rather than a franchise stepping into their business.  I suspect that they will feel that an established club coming in and surviving will prove that their 15 year run was built on a fraudulent concept that alienated the majority of the football community in the country. It's not because we're an ethnic club, it's because we are not one of their entities.

My point isn't about your points. It's not about anybody there being Greek or not Greek.  It's about the volume of the whingeing (howling) happening and you haven't even lost yet.
It's like a teenager blathering out a million excuses about how everything and everybody is against them and how they are sure to fail, despite all the work they've done, and they haven't even entered the exam room yet.

Well the club appears confident..nobody else is. To be fair most are pretty bitter about the last expansion process, and with good reason as the bid that knocked us off technically folded (heart)

Heart didn't fold any more than Adelaide did last Season

Definitely didn't fold.  Heart was sold for between $11mil and $12mil.  

The brand was dead. They cashed in.

$12 million for something dead ?

Toilet paper for CFG

City Paid $12 million for the Licence - Not Heart

Never lived - never knew what they wanted to be - just a gutless fruitless basket case and that is after the FFA took our bid details and put it on Sidwells desk and basically said to him - here you go - here is your plan for success - and they still cocked it up

One thing that satisfies me is that this decision hurt south - but hurt the FFA x 10....Still does and will into the future and MELB CITY were the architects for the FFA downfall and through FIFA engagement we will see the implementation of the 2nd tier within 3-5 years

Thanks City - Love your work