Sass! wrote:cracka wrote:The Bedge wrote:It's not just West Croydon.. look at the roundabout of ups and downs over the last 20yrs - clubs that either cant see past their nose, don't future plan or mismanage the club - they have good highs and then crash down in dramatic lows.
How many times in the last 15yrs have we seen clubs promoted, win flags, or have solid seasons and 12 months later are required to either drop a division (or 2), or not field a side.
How many times has one of those clubs been a club you'd consider 'well run' with good governance and processes in place?
Every year, same shit, different club.
Maybe these "local people trying to keep community alive and enjoy a football club and become part of something" have their objectives distorted, their process wrong and need to realise that instant success isn't the recipe for a sustainable future.
Is this the problem with compulsory promotion/relegation?
There are probably some clubs that demographically can't go up too many divisions (I'm thinking the likes of Houghton), they could win div 7, be competitive in div 6 but I would think if they ever went up to div 5 they'd be straight back down to 6 the next year so the year in div 5 is almost a waste of time & money.
I wouldn't have a clue though as I've never been involved in the AdFL, so just an outsider looking in
Its probably easy to look at it that way, but i think over the past 10 or so years we've seen a number of clubs completely turn their fortunes around and go from being a regular lower division side to a real powerhouse with a sustainable business model and junior program. Glenunga being one that spring to mind immediately but the likes of Lockleys and others are in that mix also.
It really can be amazing to see what can happen when you get the right committee, enough volunteers to spread the load, the right sponsors and a handy group of players to form your core group that set the culture.
In saying that, fortunes can turn quickly and it can be a hard fall if you dont get it right as we have seen with many. But i do feel there are more getting it right year in and year out than there are getting it wrong.
AND a good junior program Sass! ;-)
