Cairns loses its fight to survive
NPL dream ends in rude awakening as directors tell of financial calamity and home-grown star calls for greater vision from administrators
DESPITE THE SUCCESS ON THE PARK, AND THE BEST EFFORTS OF ALL PARTIES, THE BOARD WAS NOT ABLE TO DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE NPL MODEL FOR 2019 AND BEYOND SHAUN DONALDSON
AFTER a week of deliberations and a last-ditch attempt to save the club, Cairns FC’s licence has been officially handed back to Football Queensland.
The paperwork between the Cairns FC board and FQ was ticked off yesterday morning with North Queensland to be without representation in the semi-professional league from 2019, with the Townsville club also now defunct.
The deal to terminate Cairns FC was all but over the line on Monday, with the board citing significant financial losses over the past 12 months as the major reason.
But FQ and the board gave a group of passionate players and support staff a week to find a solution.
The last-ditch bid was led by experienced players Joshua Taylor and Shaun Owens as well as Brisbane Roar Regional Academy coach John Cavanah and Stewart Carr (father of defender Nathan Carr).
Their efforts ultimately fell short of the requirements to fund an NPL team.
A key plank of the deal struck by FQ and the outgoing Cairns FC board yesterday will see the Far North region offered an opportunity to return to the NPL in the coming years, if a workable model is discovered. As first flagged in the Cairns
Post last week, instead of providing funds to an NPL club, FQ will now pay for two fulltime development officers, who will report to a FQ technical director, and provide training sessions for talented youth.
FQ, led by CEO Richard Griffiths, will also implement new structures for senior and junior football in the Far North.
A new quad-series will be introduced for kids, including representative teams from Cairns, Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville, to be played over five different weekends with each hosting one round.
For the seniors, a Far North men’s and women’s team will travel to the Mackay Community Cup annually to play against all Queensland regional centres.
The winner of the Mackay Community Cup will then advance to play the winner of the Queensland State League.
It is yet to be determined what the branding of the Far North team will be, with the name Cairns FC a chance to remain.
Cairns FC director Shaun Donaldson is proud of what the club was able to achieve in 2018, blooding eight local juniors into the NPL, but believes the board could not push on while losing significant amounts of money.
“The current directors were appointed at the end of the 2017 season. At this stage the former board were on the cusp of relinquishing the licence due to financial and operational difficulties,” Donaldson said.
“Over the past 12 months the current board have put all their energies into developing a financially sustainable NPL model for the region.
“Despite the success on the park, and the best efforts of all parties, the board was not able to develop a sustainable NPL model for 2019 and beyond. The club ran at a significant loss for 2018 and was not able to attract sufficient support for our junior programs.”
Football Queensland CEO Richard Griffiths says the new model shows long-term investment in regional Queensland through a team of qualified staff and sustainable football programs and competitions.
“FQ has worked closely with Cairns FC over many months and as shown by Monday’s joint announcement with North Queensland United, the challenges of running a regional NPL club are not unique,” he said.
Despite the lack of an NPL club in north Queensland, Donaldson is optimistic about the future of the sport.
“The board of Cairns FC believe that under the new leadership at Football Queensland, headed by CEO Richard Griffiths, the region will see many positive outcomes going forward that previously would not have been possible,” he said.