Clive Palmer and Gold Coast officials have reinstated the infamous crowd cap after only one game into the new A-League season. Last season the crowd cap was introduced, limiting crowds to 5,000 at the boutique rectangular stadium Skilled Park.
This was until a revolt from fans, along with deliberations with Football Federation Australia officials, forced the clubs hand to return to ‘normal’ operating procedure.
Once again the decision is quite clearly one made with the club’s (in particular, Clive Palmer’s) financial interests at heart but it will not allow the club to grow and look to build on its currently small supporter base.
Quite frankly, the decision is disappointing and disheartening for the club and the league as a whole, especially after only one home fixture into the season.
One wonders what the Gold Coast have been doing in the off season when their number one priority must have been to seek involvement in the community and create public awareness for those living on the coast.
It seems, once again that they have missed the boat and not learned their lessons from last season where they were at the foot of the table in terms of attendances despite boasting one of the league’s best sides.
Frustration must be growing down at Football Federation Australia headquarters at the situation the club finds itself in once again.
With Canberra very keen on securing a license last time round, and again being pipped recently by the Sydney Rovers franchise for the league 12th license, FFA officials may be wondering what might have been they had put their faith in the capital and handed Canberra entry into the league last season instead of opting for the lure of the glitter strip.
This article first appeared on The Roar
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