Stand up, Mr Pickard is Passing

The A-League is all about equality, but Adelaide United has it's own Roman Abramovich working wonders behind the scenes, Gordan Pickard. Phill Chadwick reports.

There is a scene in that classic movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" where Atticus Finch has just lost the court case. He stands and packs his briefcase.

As he slowly walks out of the courtroom, up the middle aisle, all the black people in the upstairs galleries silently rise to their feet out of respect for what he has just tried to do for a black man. Finch's children remain sitting, not knowing what is happening.

The black preacher leans in close and whispers to Finch's daughter, Scout, "Stand up ... your father is passing". They remain standing in respectful silence until he has left the courtroom.

That sort of deep respect and gratitude should be shown by every Adelaide United supporter, every time Gordon Pickard passes by. It is no exaggeration to say that South Australian football owes a debt to Mr Pickard that can never be repaid. In the darkest days after the demise of Adelaide City, in strode Pickard with cheque book in hand and saved the day.

A brief review of the demise of Adelaide City shows in the clearest light the malaise of the old ethnic clubs in the NSL. A few years before their eventual sad exit, the club's management had devised a grand and ambitious plan to update and de-ethnicise themselves.

A new logo, new colours, even a new nickname. The Force was to be a new club, appealing to a much broader cross section of the South Australian community. The Italian influence still evident in the club's Juventus-facsimile strip as well as the Italian national flag reflected in their badge was to be changed. A new CEO was appointed.

So what happened when this proposition was put up to the membership to be ratified? Curiously, the club's constitution enshrined the Juve stripes in the playing strip as sacrosanct. It was a mere formality for the members to agree to change the constitution and move forward.

A rubber stamp. Or so you would think. But when it was put to the vote, the members could not see any good reason not to continue playing in the old black and white stripes and that was that. The new CEO didn't stick around for much longer and a few seasons later Adelaide City "Force" were a force no more. They couldn't afford to remain in the competition and they withdrew their nomination for the NSL.

In rides the white knight.

Gordon Pickard. Builder. Football fanatic. Immigrant made good. The ultimate self-made man.

He couldn't abide a national football competition without an Adelaide team. So he did what a wealthy football fan does. Abramovich bought Chelsea, Pickard created Adelaide United. In a few short weeks a club was born, players were signed up. John Kosmina, when he found out what was going on phoned the new club and offered his services as coach.

And the rest is history. We fans tagged along for a great ride. Unbelievably, we finished third in the last ever NSL season. We averaged crowds of around 13,000 for the season. And now, after a long, long break Adelaide United has joined the brave new A-League.

So far we seem to be doing OK. Even if Blieberg, the Queensland coach, doesn't think we deserved to be top of the table, we were. We had earned it by virtue of our results on the park. Not by having stars, or imported coaches. Just by playing football. That is how you deserve to be top.

And, just quietly, Blieberg is lucky Kossie didn't thump him after the game the other week. A lack of respect for your opposition is a sure recipe for disaster. Big egos and big East Coast reputations mean nothing to Adelaide United, and they mean nothing to Kosmina. The lesson for the East Coast is take care to not underestimate this club.

But this club would not even exist without Gordon Pickard, and we Adelaide United supporters should never forget that. So, whenever the great man passes, do what the black preacher did in "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Lean in close to the person next to you and just whisper "Stand up, Mr Pickard is Passing".

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