Football Australia will quiz Brisbane Roar after the under-fire A-League club’s decision to tear up their academy shocked the coach and renewed calls for a change of ownership.
The Roar announced on Tuesday night they will pull their under-14, 15 and 18 teams from next season’s National Premier League competitions, while the club said the under-13s had been removed under the new Football Queensland (FQ) model.
Only an under-23 outfit will remain, according to a Roar statement explaining that program will be expanded to “offer more players from across Queensland the chance to foster their development once they approach senior football”.
Roar coach Warren Moon, originally hired by the club to run their academy, said he was “shocked” and not consulted while an FQ statement made clear the decision “was made exclusively by the Brisbane Roar and by Brisbane Roar alone”.
A Football Australia statement on Wednesday admitted the governing body “has some concerns” and will meet with Roar officials in a regulatory capacity to “discuss their decision in more detail”.
“It’s not surprising,” former Socceroos player Alex Brosque, who began his A-League career at Brisbane in 2005, told SEN.
“I feel sorry for Warren Moon, the players, the club … absolute shambles.”
Semi-finalists in the Australia Cup, the Roar have started the A-League Men’s season with a scoreless draw and a loss.
The club was also investigated for alleged JobKeeper irregularities while the messy termination of player Corey Brown for alleged drug use continues behind the scenes.
The Roar are owned by The Bakrie Group, with the Indonesia-based conglomerate holding at least a 70 per cent share in the club since 2011.
“The owners there are doing nothing for the club,” Brosque said.
“We need to get some new owners and I know it’s not that simple but … we need a change at that club because it’s embarrassing.”
Moon’s successful NPL coaching career landed him a job as the Roar’s academy boss before he was promoted to head coach.
“I heard it like everyone else,” he said.
“It is obviously sad, but the club have their reasons and we just have to move on and prepare for the future.”
He said the changes meant there now needed to be a degree of faith that the talent would filter from clubs to the Roar at a later age.
“I could sit and rattle off three or four different clubs in the world that have very successful pathways that do something very similar to what we are about to embark on,” Moon said.
“Everyone wants to find the answer to the pathway problem in Australian football. No one has come up with a solution … (but the) best find their way to the top.
“We speak about the ‘golden generation’ and what wasn’t in place then; they found their way to the top in our best era of football and will continue to do so.”
The Roar play Western Sydney on Saturday, with their next home game against Melbourne Victory on October 29.