KEY POINTS:
Graham Seatter's hardly unexpected departure from his chief executive role with New Zealand Football hands the code yet another opportunity to get things right. History suggests they might struggle.
Seatter, in a carefully-worded but, in places, hard to fathom media release, insists it was his call to walk
way. He was not [apparently] pushed but decided to follow his deputy Mike Kernaghan in departing.
The release says he will leave on April 18 after "successfully guiding the sport through a challenging period of expansion".
People in the game, including some of the federations, might question that especially in light of the statement from chairman John Morris that his board will take a more operational role in an effort to drive the national body on the road to long-term financial sustainability.
Had the board kept tighter financial controls in the past three years, the association might not be in the strife it now finds itself and needed a bailout from Sparc/Kiwibank to stay afloat.
In thanking Seatter for his "tireless work", Morris said "Graham's energy, passion and boundless optimism for our game will be sadly missed."
Yet, just a short time ago, when asked why last year's World Cup qualifier against Vanuatu was taken to Wellington _ when NZF has a perfectly adequate venue adjacent to their North Harbour headquarters, Morris said, simply, "you will have to ask Graham". That game was a financial disaster.
Morris is planning a [another] restructure. When will one of these three, five, seven or whatever-year plans actually produce something positive?
In his departing words, Seatter said: "There is no secret that my three years have been very challenging from a financial viewpoint but that is nothing new for football." What, many will ask, happened to the money that was on hand when he took over? And the staff who were charged with finding funding and had done a pretty good job too.
From a lean, mean operation , the national body, like Topsy, just grew under Seatter's stewardship. Again, the board's part in this must be questioned.
His efforts to get the All Whites out of mothballs and back in their playing kit were commendable. To a point.
Without Ryan Nelsen, their star player, they were never at full strength as they sought to shrug off the disaster of the Adelaide Oceania Cup fiasco but ill-advised games _ like those played in Central and South America at a huge cost _ were never going to prove anything.
While insisting it was his call to quit, one must question his timing given the inaugural Women's Under-17 World Cup is to be played at his backdoor later this year and that the All Whites are only a couple of kicks away from qualifying for next year's Confederations Cup in South Africa.
The association will also learn next week whether they will have teams at August's Beijing Olympics.
A busy period and one which calls for stability which Morris and his board must quickly put in place.
They must select their new chief executive wisely.
One or two names, close to the game, have already been banded about. There must be an open selection policy before such an appointment is made.
In my almost 40 years being associated with the game a large percentage of New Zealand's sporting public enjoy and want to see fostered, I have insisted the biggest bugbear remains the lack of honesty, lack of accountability and backroom deals.
They have inhibited the game and taken away the trust needed for any sport/business to succeed.
It can't be allowed to happen again.
There must be no more fairy godmothers or handouts.
Morris must rally his troops, tell it as it really is and then attempt to get all factions of the game pulling in the same direction.
