A couple of years ago, former Socceroos midfielder Scott Chipperfield met with Football South Coast about taking on some of their development programs.
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Sounds great, doesn't it?
The Illawarra has as much investment in the golden generation as anyone, after all, with Chipperfield, Luke Wilkshire and Mile Sterjovski all playing at World Cups.
But out of it, FSC became wary it would be served to kick along the private football academy-style business Chipperfield was establishing.
For his part, Chipperfield was taken aback by the lack of willingness, scope or control they would offer him just to be part of the FSC programs.
So they walked away from the table.
It's just one small chapter in the ongoing tensions inside football in this region.
Fast forward to this week and Chipperfield is now part of a movement calling for widespread governance reform within Football South Coast.
FSC officials were disappointed media coverage would provide what they perceived as undue oxygen to 'fringe' members of the football fraternity.
They stand by the structure implemented when unification came about, ending the years of separate committees for each competition.
It was ratified by Football NSW and has been the governing body since.
One FSC backer, who declined to go on the record, defended their position.
"It's very hard to please everyone," they said.
"We've brought together the men's, women's and junior leagues, as well as the referees, there are always going to be competing interests within clubs, let alone within an entire region.
"There are a lot of agendas out there. The structure is there so if people have issues, they should get involved with their club and voice them.
"There's a lot of work that goes into making Football South Coast a success and a lot of it goes unrecognised."
The South Coast Football Reform Group, backed by Chipperfield and former Fernhill president Mitchell Goroch, argues the need for a greater voice for clubs.
Their questions about financial and democratic transparency - and the function and backing of the fourth-tier South Coast Flame - have led to this point.
The appointment of Frank Gigliotti - jailed for lying to the ICAC over the 2008 Wollongong Council investigations - to the FSC board, fanned the flames for some.
Others are outraged the FSC reports, audited by KPMG, do not offer a more detailed accountability of spending than in 2018, where $886,000 was tabled under "other expenses".
Key FSC officials maintain they have nothing to hide.
Some critics look as far back as the failure to establish the West Dapto Home Of Football, a commitment made by the then-Labor Government which lost the 2013 election, as more evidence of FSC ineffectiveness.
At Wednesday night's meeting, a cross-section of views came together to air concerns and according to Goroch, junior and women's clubs, crucially, are interested in reform.
FSC are still accused of mishandling the A-League bidding process and offering too much support to the fruitless Southern Expansion.
They'd signed agreements with them and the Wolves - 'We want the Wolves!' chairman Eddy de Gabriele famously once offered the Mercury, at the height of the bid battle in 2018.
In the end, both were overlooked for Macarthur, partly because the region was not unified behind one cause.
Wolves and FSC relations hit rock bottom in 2016 during talks about a unified approach.
As arguments rage about the validity and credibility of the reform movement, one source maintained FSC's ''door is always open to the Wolves".
When asked about it, a Wolves figure replied: "You know what, our door is open to them. We're the ones doing all the work".
The Wolves have turned themselves from basket case to NSW National Premier League powerhouse in recent times.
It's now FSC facing a potential identity crisis, depending on whether the groundswell of support for reform from clubs actually materialises.
