Community focus goal of Fury board
COMMUNITY engagement will be the driving force for the Northern Fury when they take the field in next year’s restructured NPL Queensland competition.
The state’s top tier will expand to 14 teams from 2018 with the Mackay & Whitsundays Magpies Crusaders and Brisbane powerhouse Lions FC to join existing clubs including the Fury.
The NPLQ will also be underpinned by the new 14- team Football Queensland Premier League, with promotion and relegation to be determined by the combined tally of Senior, Youth Under- 18s points.
North Queensland Football has taken over the running of the Fury’s NPL licence, with a new board to be appointed in hopes of improving development pathways for the region’s football talent.
Fury acting president Sirio Bertucci said the previous administration hadn’t always engaged with local football clubs so their goal was to be a more community- focused, transparent operation.
“I think the synergy between both boards going forward will allow us to make sure that juniors can aspire to be an NPL player in our zone,” Bertucci said.
“We believe there’s an exciting future. Queensland Football and the FFA are excited about going forward, ( Under- 20s), and they’ve changed the licence, and they’ve made it more competitive.
“We’ll be putting in place various management committees and that’s where the community can get involved first- hand. We want mums and dads helping us make the right decisions.
“I think both boards need to work together. We need community engagement from the start. The community needs to own and feel that they own part of our licence.”
Bertucci admitted the club still had plenty of hard work ahead, but he believed the success of the Fury’s current NPL side along with its junior teams had provided them with a solid platform.
“The old Fury this year are doing quite well, there’s a lot of good people who want to come across, so with that platform I think we’ve got a head start,” Bertucci said.
“We’ve got juniors, current players, ex- players – they’ve all played a part from the A- League to today. The colours are there, the logo is there, so we don’t want to start from scratch.
“Yes, we have a fresh board and fresh ideas, but there needs to be a synergy between where we’ve come from because we have travelled the path.
“All current Fury players have an opportunity, but what’s more important is that all players have an opportunity. We want to bring players in that have never tried for the Fury.
“We’ve got to be accessible by everyone. People need to have access to our training, our professional coaches, and the way that we want to play football.”