CLIVE Palmer has this week earned a non-enviable distinction.
He has joined an exclusive group that comprises only Starscream of Decepticon notoriety, Dr Robotnik from Sonic the Hedgehog and Chris Tucker's character in The Fifth Element - Mr Palmer is now a fully-fledged member of my personal hate list.
It is not because he has more money than I will earn in a lifetime, that he is the head of the most arrogant club in the league, or that he still calls our beautiful game soccer. No, it is because he has insulted the people of Brisbane and the long-supporting fans of Queensland Roar FC.
In case you missed it, this week Gold Coast United launched a new initiative to increase their membership numbers - they are offering a 25% discount on their own membership package to any Queensland Roar members who defect to Gold Coast United.
Although I doubt that Big Clive would spend his time reading the ranting of this humble blogger, I will lay it out simply for his media-scouring minions to relay back to him - Queensland Roar supporters are not for sale!
I grant you that a reasonable percentage of Roar fans either currently reside or grew up at the Gold Coast. I certainly do not dispute their right to support the newly formed Gold Coast club and wish them all the happiness and hell that passionately supporting an A-League team can bring.
However, to suggest that the good, honest and faithful Brisbane-based Roar fans could be tempted to support a team that wears anything other than orange and maroon is just plain insulting. Quite frankly, I am flabbergasted and disappointed by this most egregious of marketing campaigns.
Clive Palmer was quoted earlier this week as saying, "Any member of the Roar is welcome to join us at that (discounted) rate because we feel sorry for what has happened to their club, which is now effectively owned by people living in Sydney and Melbourne."
Do Palmer and his cronies not understand what we have been trying to achieve in the past six years since the Crawford Report gave Australia's football community a collective kick up the backside? Is he just that full of his own self-importance that he no longer thinks outside of his own gravitational pull?
Correct me if I am wrong, but have we, the football community, not been trying to work together and forego the old, short-sighted petty rivalries in an attempt to grow the game and to have this wonderful sport earn its deserved place in the collective consciousness of the Australian public.
Of course, there are rivalries in the league and this is undoubtedly a good thing. Yet these rivalries are on the scoreboard and on the league ladder. Nobody begrudges a team doing their utmost to defeat their rival on the football pitch, but to attempt to purchase the love of their fan-base is underhanded, childish and, to be completely honest, more than a little pathetic.
One cannot help but think that Big Clive has developed the nasty habit of getting what he wants by simply throwing heaving wads of cash at it. This sort of Citizen Kane-esque behaviour will ultimately win him and Gold Coast United few friends. It may even tarnish what has so far been a very welcomed show of faith in the A-League and Australian football.
I would therefore implore Clive Palmer to show some respect and to remember that although Queensland Roar FC may be for sale, the Queensland Roar supporters certainly are not.
