The new look congress - now including A-League clubs and Professional Footballers Australia - overwhelmingly elected Heather Reid to the board with more than 90% of the vote, along with Chis Nikou and Joseph Carrozzi.

But the fourth spot took an unexpected twist when a second round of voting proved inconclusive.

Only Remo Nogarotto and Stephen Conroy received any votes from the six remaining nominees... but neither won the 60% of votes needed to be elected.

At one stage it looked names would need to be pulled out of hats until one by one, the nominees who had not received any votes withdrew.

And just as votes were being cast between Nogarotto and Conroy, the former Labor pollie withdrew dramatically, allowing Remo to be elected unanimously.

 

The new chairman has yet to be elected. It could be elected later today or may yet be left until later, but some on the new board are keen to have the vote as soon as possible.

After the vote, the newly elected directors paid tribute to the previous board and the work ahead.

“I’m feeling emotional and somewhat overwhelmed,” said Heather Reid, past CEO of Capital Football. “I’m sure the deliberations for potential appointees will be very interesting.

“I’ve got my sleeves rolled up for the hard work so let’s begin!”

“We beat ourselves up too much in this game,” said former Soccer Australia chairman Remo Nogarotto. “I’ve seen this game in too many interations in this sport.

”I’ve found what happened today to be sound. We need to get behind a common purpose and vision but let’s not be afraid of democracy.”

Former FFA board director Chris Nikou added: “There’s a lot of passion in our sport and it’s time for everyone to get in the boat and row together.

“We will bring the sport forward. Hopefully the dialogue now switches from administration to sporting matters.”

And Joseph Carrozzi, who resigned from the board of GWS Giants earlier today, added: “Normally such attention is not good news but hopefully unity is the future and focus switches to the athletes.

“I am humbled to be in this position but the hard work is about to start.”

Outgoing chairman Steven Lowy gave his best wishes to the new board and said he was tempted to write a letter to the incoming chairman.

“I read about the letter that our Prime Minsister Kevin Rudd sent to President Obama when he was elected in 2008,” said Lowy.

“It wasn’t quite what an incoming USA President would expect from another government.

“He wrote: ‘You poor bastard...Infinite expectations, finite resources.’ I don’t think I could improve on that message.”