Somewhat controversially, Lowy's son Steven will officially be handed the FFA chairmanship baton at another meeting later in the day, ensuring the Lowy soccer dynasty goes on for what will probably be another decade yet.

Feisty and defiant

Feisty and defiant to the end, the elder Lowy insists he did not personally engineer the succession plan, takes full responsibility but denies any personal or organisational wrongdoing during Australia's scandal-plauged World Cup bid, and says he proudly played a big part in football moving from a fringe sport to an established and popular part of the mainstream.

Regarding Steven being his successor, Lowy says: "Did we pick the best person in Australia for this position, this is the question. The process was independent – of me, anyway – and he happened the lead the pack. I didn't put my son there, he was put forward as part of a due process as well as three other [new directors]. There was an independent outside party that put them forward [recruiter Egon Zehnder] and there was a nominations committee that consisted of people not only from the FFA."

Lowy also insists he will not cast his shadow over Steven in a soccer sense, arguing that as is the case at Westfield Corp – where he is the chairman and Steven the co-chief executive – Lowy will let his son carve out his own identity.

"There's a time to be involved and a time not to be involved. The reins will have been passed, and to be second guessing the people who will have the responsibility is not my style. I'm not closing myself off, if somebody asks for advice I will offer it. But I will not be meddling."

Lowy will still maintain his very small ownership stake in A-League club Sydney FC, but says he will not move to take a bigger shareholding or fund any other clubs, such as a mooted new franchise to be based in southern Sydney.


When asked what advice he would give his incoming FFA chairman son, Lowy says: "Get on with it. Time is short, life is short. Make the most of it. He will not be shy, don't worry."

And given his Westfield duties, does Steven have time for the FFA chairmanship? Lowy's reply is blunt: "I had time for it. Time is like [asking] how long is a piece of string. You work 10 hours, 12, 14, whatever is needed."

When asked how he wants to be remembered in football terms, Lowy says: "For making Australia a better place by changing football from an ethnic game to a multicultural and mainstream sport. I think that was a big service to Australia. And for exposing Australia's sporting prowess to the world and for Australia becoming a more known and respected place."

The game's achievements during Lowy's time at the time have been immense. An entirely new national league, the A-League, was formed in 2005 and while the venture has been costly for club owners the league's average crowds are the 16th highest in the football world. "That is nothing to be sneezed at," Lowy says. "And we will go higher than that."

Lowy took on the chairmanship of the then Soccer Australia (which was later wound up and an entity that became the FFA established) in 2003 when football in Australia was on its knees financially.

The old National Soccer League – ironically, Lowy had helped start the league in 1977 when president of Sydney Hakoah, before a long break from the game – was mostly made up of small ethnically-based clubs that produced good quality on the field but was a basket case off it. "Every week was like World War III," Lowy says. "All the European prejudices came to the fore and that kept the game in the basement."

The new A-League was a painful but necessary break from the past, and more big moments followed. World Cup qualification for the Socceroos national team was achieved in 2006, after a 32-year wait, and the team has since qualified for two more World Cups.

Ground-breaking move


Lowy and his former chief executive John O'Neill helped engineer Australia's move into the Asian Football Confederation as well as the ground-breaking move that was hiring Dutchman Guus Hiddink for the Socceroos coach just before the fateful playoff against Uruguay in late 2005 that saw Australia achieve that historic World Cup berth.

Lowy says that Uruguay game, the 10th anniversary of which was celebrated with a gala function at what is now ANZ Stadium at Sydney's Olympic Park on Monday evening, was his most memorable moment. Another was Australia winning the Asian Cup on home soil in January.

Others include the the first round of the A-League in 2005 – "I begged the spectators to come and I expected 5000, but we started getting 10-15,000 and ... it gave me the knowledge the game can succeed" – and the successful building of the Western Sydney Wanderers club in only six months, about which Lowy says: "People said six months was not enough, but you can building a shopping centre in six months."

Yet there is one significant stain on Lowy's reputation: the controversial 2022 World Cup bid. About $45 million taxpayer funds was used in an ultimately fruitless pursuit that ended with Australia gaining a paltry one vote and Qatar shockingly winning hosting rights.

Australia's tactics, including the costly employment of European consultants Peter Hargitay and Fedor Radmann, and paying $500,000 for a Trindad & Tobago stadium and training centre upgrade that ended up in the personal bank account of the now disgraced ex-FIFA official Jack Warner, have been the subject of heavy scrutiny.

"When you don't succeed you are subject to criticism and I don't hide from my responsibility," Lowy says. "In fact, I take full responsibility. Looking back we never had a chance. But I was hoping to be the last two, competing with the United States. We probably would have been beaten though."

Lowy is adamant Australia's bid was clean and claims documents FFA has forwarded to both the Australian Federal Police and the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom will stop further investigations.

He also says FIFA has now "imploded" with the organisation subject to legal and criminal investigations in the US and president Sepp Blatter under suspension. Lowy's solution is for the world governing body to be run along European corporate lines, with a management board and supervisory board along with term limits, transparency of executive pay no secret ballots.

A new FIFA presidential election beckons next February, but it will be Steven Lowy, not Frank, who helps cast Australia's vote. The younger Lowy will have a tough task to achieve as much as his father has.