Vancouver Whitecaps held a press conference this morning to make a “major strategic announcement”.
When you get an email proclaiming such a thing, your mind starts whirring over all the great things that could mean and speculation was soon rife yesterday.
Many expected it to be an announcement about the new training facility, others thought it might be about the new third kit. There was to be a photo opportunity, so I half expected to see Bobby Lenarduzzi, face smeared in mud, wearing a hard hat and posing with a shovel.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Since the press conference was being held in the ballroom of a Vancouver hotel, our other thought was that the major announcement was to be Tommy Soehn joining <i>’Dancing With The Stars’</i> and that he was going to give everyone a hot to trot tango demonstration.
The actual announcement, although headline news, was a bit of a letdown.
John Furlong, the former Chief Executive of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, has joined the Caps as executive chair with immediate effect.
Furlong will become the most senior member of the club’s executive team, alongside President Bob Lenarduzzi and Chief Operating Officer Rachel Lewis, and will be tasked to lead the broad business operations of the Caps, whilst playing an active strategic role with the club’s ownership group.
Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallet is more than happy to have him on board:
<i>"Today marks another historic day for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and on behalf of our ownership group, I am excited to welcome John to our team. Throughout his tenure at VANOC, from the bid stage through to the completion of a highly successful Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, John has become one of the most respected and recognized leaders in Canada.”</i>
Furlong is a lifelong supporter of the Whitecaps and a current season ticket holder and has already issued an open letter to his fellow fans.
The Whitecaps will be hoping that Furlong’s name and reputation will put the team at the forefront of sports in Canada, North America and worldwide and attract a lot of corporate interest in the team.
It surely will, and this <i>is</i> a major coup for the Caps.
I often describe myself as a bitter and twisted old-fashioned football fan, and I have the t-shirt to say as much. To my skewed take on football, I don’t think of executive appointments, sponsors and anything corporate, as being of huge strategic importance.
Furlong’s appointment will certainly help the Whitecaps off the pitch, but I think we will see it having very little impact on building a successful team on it, and for me, that’s what the Club should be about. Maybe he's going to lace up and help us put the ball in the net, in which case we'll change our mind.
You can argue that by bringing in corporate money that bigger and better players can be bought. Well we didn’t exactly see the results of that from the Bell money.
Having been a volunteer with VANOC, I do have concerns that the Caps will become all about the money and the corporate $. That's all it felt like at times during the Olympics.
For me, the ultimate “major strategic announcement” for the Whitecaps would be the news that they have bought or are starting a D2 club in order to fully develop their fringe players and future prospects, allowing them the chance to see much needed competitive action.
That’s the way forward for the team.
Maybe myself and John Furlong should have a chat.
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