Tony Pignata joined Wellington Phoenix in 2007 as their inaugural CEO. He was part of a franchise that was formed in under five months.

Phoenix subsequently went on to make the A-League finals last season, pull some amazing crowds along the way at Westpac stadium and help take Kiwi football to a new level of interest and engagement on the back of a thrilling World Cup campaign for the All-Whites.

His three years were undoubtedly successful and the club continues to go from strength to strength while their counterparts across the Tasman seemingly implode with public criticisms of FFA CEO Ben Buckley, at least one club close to collapse and fans seemingly deserting the game.

Now Pignata says it's time for Australia's football community to take a deep breath, realise what we have and work together for the good of the game. Now.

"What we tend to do, like no other code, is try undo all the good work done. Instead of working together and closing shop in our football family, we air our dirty laundry and make ourselves the laughing stock of the other codes," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

He added that while clubs are losing money it's time to work together to find solutions. "And fans have to start being a bit more loyal. Bringing friends and becoming a member. I come from an AFL city [Melbourne] where fans become members regardless.

"Many years ago Richmond was on its knees - it was going to fold - but the support they got, got them back on their feet."

Newcastle Jets hope for a similar outcome.The club and coach Branko Culina have publicly challenged the city's sporting fans. "The people of Newcastle have to ask themselves, do they want a football team in this town?" Culina said this week ahead of tonight's clash with Perth Glory."Because it is serious, it is very serious and I know one thing, if FFA doesn't see that we are desperate to have a football team in this town, we won't have a football team."

Pignata, who now lives in Melbourne, says he's still a passionate A-League fan. "I read au.fourfourtwo.com every morning and watch Fox Sports FC ... I can't move on. I live and breathe it still."

Yet while he praised one of his hometown clubs Melbourne Heart for their commercial savvy, he's been disappointed with their engagement model particularly at VPL level. And he said it was reflecting in their crowd numbers at AAMI Park.

"It was hard work, but we went out and engaged the community," he said of his time in Wellington. "The players were quite receptive to it. It's a lot of hard work though because everyone wants a piece of you. And the first thing we had to get rid of was the negativity that arose out of the game.
"Football [in New Zealand] was dead and buried when Phoenix started."

However, despite all the doom and gloom Pignata has the view that, like many, that the standard on the park has been higher than any A-League season so far.

 And he points to the crowds in Melbourne for Victory, Perth and Wellington as positives for the game despite some worryingly low crowds elsewhere.

He added: "Let's get rid of this old soccer new soccer crap. We're all soccer and we all love the game. So let's stop sniping and work together, grow the game and get over this little speed bump.

"Hopefully with the TV rights deal coming up [in the next few years] and we work together to tinker with the game, in 20 years time we'll look back and have a bit of a laugh and say, 'What a week that was'".