It is hard to believe that a year ago Brisbane was basking in the glory of a third A-League championship in four seasons.

The champion team that played the game the way it should be played and the way that thrilled the crowds was seen as the epitome of all that was good about our game.

Brisbane was the peach of the league.

Then the rot set in.

In one of the most extraordinary episodes in the colourful history of the competition, Mike Mulvey was dismissed by the club almost immediately after guiding the club to a grand final victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.

The football community, let alone the majority of Brisbane's fans, could not comprehend how a championship-winning coach could be given the boot so soon after landing the biggest prize in Australian club football.

Brisbane's poor start to the 2014-2015 competition, in which it lost five of its first six matches, was seen as the catalyst behind Mulvey's demise.

The sacking that stunned the football community was not the cause of the predicament the club finds itself in at the moment, however it encouraged an air of uncertainty and confusion within the club owned by Indonesia's Bakrie Group.

Mulvey's dismissal set in motion a chain of unsavoury incidents that knocked the stuffing out of the club's spirit and morale.

:: Brisbane bombed out of the finals in the first week after a poor 2014-2015 campaign;

:: Brisbane recorded a home gate average of 11,660, its lowest in five seasons;

:: Chairman Chris Fong denied the club was preparing to make huge cuts amid reports of a $2 million loss in each of the last two seasons;

:: Managing director Sean Dobson quit the club during its crisis talks with Football Federation Australia over its financial sustainability;

:: The club failed to pay its players on time on 15 June (but they were eventually paid);

:: The club angered Queensland's football community by forfeiting two youth matches against Northern Fury and Far North Queensland Heat in the national competition; and

:: Long-time major sponsor The Coffee Club terminated its backing of the club.

These episodes gave Brisbane unwanted headlines and brought into question the fickle nature of Australian club football.

First, because too much emphasis is being placed on the importance of having wealthy business people running clubs and too little on the value of having football people who understand the market and culture they are dealing with.

All too often clubs are guilty of making misguided entrepreneurial rather than logical football decisions.

The club scene in Australia is heavily dependent on its fans and there is absolutely no sense in putting anything above the supporters' interests.

Without fans there can be no game: so alienate them at your peril.

Second, Australian club football will never be in a really strong position until fans are prepared to support their clubs, even during the lean times.

Football supporters in Australia can be as loyal and as fickle as can be. There are exceptions but, generally speaking, they will back their team to the hilt as long as it wins but will turn their backs on it as soon as it hits turbulence.

What this means is clubs that are in a purple patch cannot plan too far ahead and invest and build on their success because they know that their crowds and consequently their income will fall if they stop winning.

There is this belief in Australia and admittedly in many parts of the world that winning games is the only factor that puts bums on seats.

In my opinion this is a wrong approach. It's easier said than done, to be sure, but the promise of full commitment from the players and entertaining football regardless of the result should be the main drawcard of any A-League club.

FFA and the A-League have done a terrific job in creating a great "match day experience" for anyone inclined to go to a game.

Perhaps their next big task is to convince the regular fans that any club needs them more when it is grounded than when it is flying.

We've got every right to celebrate the strong attendances from the successful teams but the true gauge of the league's strength will come when supporters will get behind their teams also when they are in difficulty.

What's happening to Brisbane Roar so easily can happen to any team.

Follow @MicallefPhilip