Foster was one of 12 who stood for election to be a director of the new look FFA and had won the popular vote with fans and players after being nominated by Professional Footballers Australia.

But he failed to win support from state member federations – and when he saw the writing was on the wall, he withdrew his nomination.

He was the only former Socceroo up for election, but former A-League and World Cup referee Mark Shield's rival bid for election ended when he failed to win a single vote even from the congress members who originally nominated and seconded him.

Gallop said Foster would have had plenty to offer, but added: "If he'd been sitting around the board table, there would have been education points for him about the resources and money in the game.

"What Foz was espousing comes from a deep love of the game. There would have been other matters where his deep knowledge would be ahead of almost anyone in the room.

"It didn't turn out for him but he will obviously remain heavily involved in the game."

Gallop insisted football politics had not played a key role in the board elections.

"It was fascinating to have originally 12 people going for four positions," he told SEN radio.

"The competing interests of what the state federations were looking for versus what the A-League clubs were looking for was always going to create tensions."

Gallop now says work can begin on overhauling the A-League after two years of stagnation caused by the uncertainty over the sport's governance.

"One of the big pieces of work that has to happen in Australian football now is to look at the new operating model for the A-League," he said.

"There is talk of it being fully independent, there is talk of it being partially independent. But really, it is a classic example of something that wasn't progressed in the last couple of years because of the governance crisis.

"What's the best operating model for the for the A-League? How do we incentivise capital investment in the A-League but also how do we ensure that the interest of the state federations – who fund parts of the game that can't necessarily generate the revenue that the A-League can – how do they make sure that that their position is secure?

"That's the next big debate."

He added: "We're keen to sit down and talk to the clubs and the federations about. We have a chance to reboot things.

"It's been a frustrating time for almost everyone involved in football, so it's a chance to bring fresh ideas to the table."