Regular readers of this column will be aware that my favourite saying about football in Australia, and particularly in Newcastle, is "the more things change, the more they stay the same".
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The news of the past 48 hours could hardly have provided stronger confirmation.
To say the game has its share of problems at a national level is a bit like declaring COVID-19 has been a hiccup for world economies.
A short- term solution has been concocted between the FFA, Fox Sports, the A-League and the PFA players union to ensure the premier domestic competition is safe for the next 12 months or so. How reassuring.
Lack of money, little market-place clout, feeding off market place scraps. That's a first ... bahahaha.
The decision/compromise/plan to return to a winter season after a rescheduled 2020-21 campaign brings up the old conundrum about competing with the other footy codes for media coverage versus the complications of weather conditions and alignment with other competitions that a summer season provides.
And don't get me started on ground availability and surface conditions if the A-League runs concurrently with the other football codes.
It's a debate that has simmered since the NSL switched to a summer competition in 1989.
Nothing draws a crowd nor garners interest like better players or a better product, and the game either needs to produce them or find the money to attract them. Enter the vicious cycle.
Closer to home and it comes as a complete surprise to nobody that the Jets ownership is about to change hands once again.
Martin Lee has ridden the ownership roller-coaster for four years and, in truth, has been looking for the eject button for 18 months.
I've lost count of the number of owners the region's national representative in club competitions have had over the past 40 or so years. Few owners, if any, go even close to breaking even .
With that in mind, we wish the unnamed Sydney businessman who is a "football guy" good luck in his attempts to acquire the club and even better fortune with the business of running a competitive football club. It is a hard road to hoe.
However, if Covid 19 has taught us anything, apart from basic hygiene, it has uncovered the fact that even the rich and well governed sports cannot survive long without the income generated week to week through the staging of matches.
The NRL , AFL and Super Rugby Union don't have huge war chests of capital or bottomless pits of cash in the gardens of their respective headquarters either.
All of which makes me worry less about broadcast rights and major sponsors and survival.
And I don't care that the Jets are changing ownership, have the bulk of their coaching staff overseas and facing 14 days of isolation when they can get back with just over three weeks to go to the resumption of the current season. Everyone will muck in, do their best and keep riding the roller coaster. It's what we always do.