Fury as Soccer Purse Strings Tightened

Gold Coast soccer chiefs have been told to lift their game by outspoken Broadbeach United coach Keith Garland, who is incensed by a drop in prize money going into the 2010 season.

The Premier League's winners purse has dropped from $8,000 to $6,000 despite Gold Coast Soccer replacing its former signature sponsor Dog and Parrot with what it claims is an equally lucrative addition in the Australian Sports Academy.

Garland claims there should be a purse of at least $15,000 for the minor premiership and in a triple-barrelled blast at the game's administrators, he also hit out at a ‘lack of engagement’ from coaching director Pat Hedges with senior Premier League coaches and what he considers inadequate facilities for the 12 clubs.

“The federation talks about raising the bar and in the next breath it tells you the prize money is down, so how is that raising the bar?’ said the man who has won titles in a previous spell at Broadbeach, Burleigh and Palm Beach.

“If we can't raise $15,000 for the team that wins the league then we might as well all pack it in. It's ludicrous.

“They should go out and employ somebody to bring the sponsors in if they can't do it themselves. We're on the Gold Coast, not on an iceberg in the middle of nowhere.”

Failing that, Garland says Gold Coast Soccer should dip into its own coffers, a war chest rumoured to be around $400,000, to help fund improvements and prize money.

Gold Coast Soccer president Bob Jeffrey hit back: “Prize money goes up and down. It's what we can afford in our budget, there has never been a set amount each year.

“We've had a couple of tough years and it reflects across the board. Keith is being unrealistic, he should understand there has been a world economic crisis.”

Garland, seeking to steer benchmark club Broadbeach to the grand final and minor premiership double, believes the standard of coaching on the Coast has dipped with Hedges devoting most of his energies to youth football.

“Pat wears two hats as director of coaching with the federation and he's also on Gold Coast United coaching staff, so how does that work,” said Garland.

“It doesn't for me. The director of coaching should be putting on sessions and providing some guidance. We need him at the coalface to coach the coaches.”

Garland, whose side face Gold Coast Knights on Saturday at the Croatian Sports Centre, added: “The facilities are also way below standard almost across the board.”

The coach believes 19-year-old striker Tom Boland, who scored 10 goals in limited appearances last season, will be his gun for this season, adding: “He's going to be the star of the competition.”

David Lewis, Gold Coast Bulletin
10 March 2010

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