ANALYSIS

Sooner or later, Football Federation Australia has to stand up and be counted. Sooner or later, Ben Buckley has to lead from the front. Look where the policy of appeasement got Neville Chamberlain. And at the end of the day, this is war, too. Rugby league and AFL have got the game in a pincer movement, trying to squeeze the life out of football where it hurts. The World Cup bid.

From Perth, to Adelaide, to the Melbourne Docklands, to Geelong, the front is constantly moving. Now it's moved all the way north to Townsville, and it might, ultimately, be here where the game has to stand and fight. The survival of North Queensland Fury is inextricably linked to the bigger picture of the World Cup bid, and whether football can grow despite the guerilla campaign being waged against it.

This is where it stands. By Friday week, the business community in Townsville needs to raise another $1 million to guarantee that the Fury will be around next season. Around $1.5m, including a contribution from Townsville City Council, has already been committed since the fund-raising campaign kicked off three weeks ago. But if the finishing line is in sight, there are powerful forces trying to make sure it keeps moving away.

The local paper, the Townsville Bulletin, has been running a blatant scare campaign aimed at spooking the local investment community. It's biting. Local sources suggest about $500,000 in pledges have been held back in the last week. The paper has always been a strident backer of the North Queensland Cowboys, and rugby league. The Cowboys are doing their bit through their chief executive Peter Parr, who says the region simply cannot support another professional team. For that read: We don't want the competition.

This is the same Peter Parr who at the end of last year, and on the same day, told one media outlet that, yes, he would like a new $180 million, 44,000-seat stadium for his team but told another that, no, he didn't think Australia hosting the Cup was a terribly good idea. Work that one out.

Fact: Townsville is unlikely to get a new stadium unless Australia gets the Cup. Which is why the survival of the Fury is so important. And why Buckley and the FFA need to join the dots.

On the ground, people power is moving fast. The F-Troop, the Fury's main supporters' group, is talking about organising a public rally at the end of the week. There's also talk that 300 of the most dedicated fans are willing to donate $1000 each to the cause. Better not tell the missus, lads.

People power can move mountains, and that's exactly what the Fury, and football, are up against in northern Queensland. And with time running out, it's also why the small people need a helping hand from the top. The FFA is about to submit its Cup bid book to FIFA. A new stadium in Townsville is in the submission. But how can it justify a new stadium if it doesn't have a football tenant? It can't, and even if it tries, FIFA won't be keen to listen. The mandarins in Zurich still recall how football got shafted by the stadium improvements at the 2000 Olympic Games, especially in Brisbane. They're not stupid enough to let it happen again.

The Cup bid must leave a legacy for football, or there's not much point. In Townsville, that legacy is a thriving, community-based, professional team. A team that is now under attack and threatened with extinction. So far, Buckley has performed somersaults to avoid confrontation, but inevitably there will come a time when he has no choice.