This week Brisbane Roar FC became the first major sporting club of any code in Australia to become internationally owned.
This week Brisbane Roar FC became the first major sporting club of any code in Australia to become internationally owned.
That-s right, the Hyundai A-League that is only six seasons old, has made history in this country by having the first mainstream club to attract an international business powerhouse as its new owner.
This a major multinational we are talking about with vast business interests and international football ambitions and it is major coup for the Roar, its supporters, the people of Brisbane and everyone connected with our great game.
We have been criticised in the past for not selling our big wins but I am not going to let this one slide.
Just think of the potential this sort of support can do for the Roar.
Not only should they have access to working capital and benefit from the international management experience and connections of the Bakrie Group.
They suddenly have a proud and gigantic global organization behind them determined to prove themselves on the sporting fields of Australia and Asia in the same way they have done it in business.
Coach Ange Postecoglou, a groundbreaking thinker in our league, must be rubbing his hands together with excitement at the future as he strives to raise the bar he set even higher.
This must also have implications for the other Hyundai A-League clubs and their owners.
I would have thought that this sort of precedent, this sort of international interest and this endorsement of the future direction and potential of football in Australia only increases the value of their assets.
It has been a tremendous few weeks for the Hyundai A-League as we enjoyed unprecedented hype and interest with the homecoming of Qantas Socceroos Stars Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton.
We received wide ranging positive coverage of our launch and our We Are Football human sign in the middle of the Sydney Football Stadium.
Only a couple of weeks ago there was another major boost to the financial strength of the league when we announced the transition to new owners for the Wellington Phoenix FC.
As you know Welnix Ltd, a consortium of Wellington-based business leaders led by Rob Morrison, took over in New Zealand.
Attracting blue chip investors of the calibre of Welnix Ltd and the Bakrie Group is a tremendous endorsement of the league-s future growth prospects.
I feel we are on the cusp of one of the great eras in our game.
Our greatest strength – the international appeal of our sport – is starting to show itself in a tangible and positive form.
It is a great time to be in football my friends.
