Chipperfield outlines agenda for South Coast Football Reform Group

Former Socceroos midfielder Scott Chipperfield maintains a long-held belief in the need for football reform in the region.

But he admits it was a big decision to commit to the new South Coast Football Reform Group.

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Chipperfield and former Fernhill president Mitchell Goroch will lead the movement, following a meeting on Wednesday night.

"That was a big thing, I didn't want to jump into something using my name, if it didn't have the right direction," Chipperfield said.

"This isn't going to be an easy process, it's going to be a lot of hard work, but reform will be worth it.

"We need a governing body where the clubs have more say and offers a more democratic process.

"There's a lot of support out there, but people need to see that change is possible.

"It's sort of now or never for me, that's why I got involved."

Among the group's objectives is to meet with Football NSW officials and outline an alternative governance structure.

When the Mercury reported this week a meeting would be held, Football South Coast chief executive Ann-Marie Balliana hit back at criticism of their processes.

"Football South Coast via its football councils has close links and relationships to our local clubs," a statement read. "It is these clubs that elect the football councils, each of which then elects its representative to the Football South Coast board."

One of the group's biggest accusations is the availability of financial information.

But Balliana advocated for FSC providing relevant financial information in annual reports, declaring they were fully audited and "member clubs are also always invited to obtain the full set of accounts and breakdowns at any stage".

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Goroch said the movement had interest from 11 clubs, plus four apologies, including women's and juniors, at the meeting.

"Clubs should have a greater say and a direct say in what is happening," he said.

"It should be a more democratic process.

"We had a range of views and arguments put forward and not everyone was agreeing with each other.

"But it was an important step to outline the need for change and show the clubs we want to make it happen."

However, Goroch conceded it would be "highly unlikely" any meaningful change would come before next year's major competitions begin.