Two more faces from Lowy era to leave FFA fray

Two of the last artifacts of Lowy family dominance on the FFA board are set to step down, leaving chairman Chris Nikou as the final link with the past.

Former FFA chairman Steven Lowy Source: AAP

Crispin Murray and Kelly Bayer Rosmarin - staunch allies of former chairman Steven Lowy since their election in 2015 - won’t stand again at November’s FFA Congress, stripping away Nikou’s voting block on a board which has recently been operating with just five members due to the illness of vice-chair Heather Reid.

However, a recuperating Reid is due to resume duties in November with newly-minted directors Mark Bresciano, the legendary former Socceroo, and ex-Matilda Amy Duggan due to make their board debuts at a meeting on Thursday week.

A further two directors will now also be up for election to swell the numbers to eight, with the exit of Bayer Rosmarin and Crispin ending an epoch of compliance to the chair initially invoked by Frank Lowy and enthusiastically adopted by his hand-picked heir Steven.

With the A-League wresting control of the competition from the board’s clutches, its scope and remit is much diminished.

However the FFA are still the bridge between the grassroots and the national teams and the purveyor of rules of regulations which the A-League remains largely bound to.

In the light of that, the soon-to-be announced successor to CEO David Gallop will still be a hugely influential figure.

It’s understood the board were holding discussions on Tuesday to assess the merits of the candidates, with the City Football Group’s former Australia Under-17 international James Johnson and World Players Association chief Brendan Schwab among the front-runners.

The next immediate order of business at the October 10 meeting will be pouring over the findings of the independent review panel set up to scrutinise the FFA's national team management following the disastrous fallout over the sacking of ex-Matildas coach Alen Stajcic.

Chaired by businesswoman Diane Smith-Gander, along with ex-Australia netball captain Liz Ellis and Sydney Olympics bid chief Rod McGeoch, the panel has been probing decision-making processes and how reports are made to the board without picking over the specific detail of Stajcic’s termination.

There are also discussions over the possible installment of a technical director to mastermind the direction of the women’s game in the way that Rob Shearman does for the men.

The just announced exit of head of national performance Luke Casserly may not be the last of the blood-letting, with chief commercial officer Luke Bould also now thought to be in the firing line as the governing body slashes their running costs.