As the A-League season launched in Sydney earlier this week, the anticipated publicity explosion was tainted with an unexpected flavour: a coach gone before the season had even kicked off. The dismissal of Branko Culina from his post at the Newcastle Jets was news to us all, as was the ‘setting aside’ of his son Jason’s contract. Indeed, just two hours earlier I had been stationed in the human ‘WE ARE FOOTBALL’ sign at the Sydney Football Stadium next to Tarek Elrich and Jobe Wheelhouse discussing their positive pre-season and hopes for Culina junior’s swift return to A-League football.

Sitting at home that night anxiously waiting for every evening news bulletin to be covered with ‘WE ARE FOOTBALL’ slogans, I was somewhat surprised with what I saw. Not a single channel in Sydney – not even the football-mad SBS – began their A-League coverage with the season launch. Instead, much of the focus was on the controversy surrounding the Jets.

Needless to say, someone at the top clearly mistimed the announcement of the Culina sacking. Could they not have waited a day longer? On what was supposed to be the first day of a new era for the A-League and football in this country, once again we copped a bucket load of bad publicity. Had the Culina announcement been delayed even until later that night, the news surrounding the launch would have been far more positive.

It seems somewhat ironic that this season the FFA has adopted the slogan “we are football”. The message is clearly directed at the fans and, apparently, “aims to unite the millions of football fans around Australia, to inspire them and encourage them to show their support by getting to a game”.

Since the demise of Soccer Australia and the inception of the FFA, football fans across the country have had a bumpy ride. Following last season’s unsuccessful “Fan Made” campaign, the FFA has gone for something more unifying this season. But it does beg the question, how are “we” supposed to be united as “football” when the people at the top can’t even make logical or consistent decisions?

The lack of communication between club and federation was evident in the Jets’ announcement and certainly does not exhibit any of the sentiments the FFA expects from the fans. If they’re so desperate for a smooth start to the season, they should have stopped the Jets from announcing the double Culina sacking until the season launch had gained some positive ground in the media. The following day, the Herald Sun gave their A-League coverage the charming headline: “We are football, you are sacked”. Not the best way to start a season.

Harking back to earlier this year the stringing along and subsequent axing of the North Queensland Fury also showed signs of a federation struggling to keep up with itself. One day they had the money, next day it wasn’t enough. One minute they were in, next minute they were out.

To go back even further to what I believe has been the act least indicative of “we are football” since the FFA was created, the placement and promotion of Sydney FC. Whoever thought it was a good idea to start a football team – or really any sports team – in the Surry Hills area is an absolute fool. I was walking through it a few days ago and the amount of vegan food outlets and vintage shops clearly reveals the type of market in the area. Not a sporting one.

Conversely, I spent last Monday in Belmore for the New South Wales Premier League Grand Final, which attracted a mad crowd of just over 10 000 (incidentally, only four of Sydney FC’s home games last season attracted a larger crowd). What I saw was a bunch of people whose passion and involvement in the game has been quashed through the choice to base their supposed football representative in an area completely foreign to them. The Sydney FC glamour brand and location has been a constant source of alienation. I could not help thinking that, had the FFA started Sydney FC in a more traditional football area (that is, not in the Eastern Suburbs) and placed people without any visible links to NSL teams in charge, the Premier League GF crowd probably would have seemed small in comparison to Sydney’s crowds.

Is it just me or is it somewhat ironic that the FFA have directed “we are football” at the fans when they clearly need to be unified more than we do? They made the decision to have the A-League start in the midst of the two main football codes’ finals every year but this year. They chose to start one of the two key franchises (Sydney FC) in the worst sporting region in the city. They have devised the previously uninspiring and almost absent marketing campaigns that failed to bring non-fans in.

The reality is, football is a minority sport in Australia. There is a core group of fans there every week but the absence of sustained advertising and practically located teams has meant that many people know next to nothing about the A-League. To the hardcore fans at their local A-League team week in, week out – we are most definitely football. As for the people up the top, they have a way to go yet.