Palm Beach couldn’t afford NPLQ, says Purnell-Webb

THE Palm Beach Soccer Club had no other option but to offload its NPL Queensland operation with Gold Coast City.

Responding to widespread criticism of events that led to the demise of City, at one stage the glamour sporting club on the Gold Coast, president An- drew Purnell-Webb has moved to dispel rumours of financial crisis and mismanagement.

“The fact of the matter is that the club could not afford to continue with the NPLQ operation at this point in time,” was how Purnell-Webb explained what was a tough decision by Palm Beach.

One former board member, who asked not to be identified, said there were a number of issues behind the City licence being surrendered by Palm Beach and was critical of internal operations.

Among the criticisms were that technical director Jason Buchanan was not fully qualified so the club did not receive a full Football Queensland subsidy; that some players were paid up to $1000 a game; that trials for 2018 went on despite club officials knowing they were in strife; that Palm Beach’s bank account dropped from $650,000 to nothing in five years; and that junior fees of $600 a year went towards paying senior players.

“We did not pay anywhere near $1000 on any one player,” Purnell-Webb said.

“With Jason Buchanan we had nothing from Football Queensland to say that we didn’t get the subsidy because of that. And, yes, we held trials because we were not sure what FQ was going to do – we had plans to get Gold Coast City as a stand-alone operation.”

Purnell-Webb said there were a number of issues why the club’s bank account has plummeted. Palm Beach spent a significant percentage of an estimated $650,000 bank account on an upgrading of lighting at Mallawa Drive. “The licensed club stands on its own two feet,” he said. “But, yes, the NPLQ was a big strain.”