Eels Blogs

Story by Adrian Proszenko SMH

Link: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/how-spagnolo-became-blue-and-gold-plated-20110514-1enbv.html

In a rare interview, one of rugby league's most influential powerbrokers, Roy Spagnolo, tells Adrian Proszenko how he became Eels supremo.

To fully understand how much of a Parramatta man Roy Spagnolo is you have to look past the ''PARRA'' number plates on his wheels, his father's employment at James Hardie, and the way he refers to his old stomping ground of Patrician Brothers' Fairfield as ''Sterlo's old school''.

Instead, go back to his playing days, when Spagnolo dreamed only of pulling on the blue and gold. Unfortunately his beloved Eels, for reasons he doesn't want to go into, opted not to grade him. So when an opportunity to push for a first-grade spot at South Sydney presented itself, you'd think he would have jumped at the chance.

The young Guilford hooker had just played all over Rabbitohs great Bobby Moses, then the captain-coach of Baulkham Hills, in a punishing A-grade fixture. Moses was desperate to get him to Redfern. A reverse Chris Sandow, if you like. Spagnolo would have none of it.

The Porsche that bears his beloved 'PARRA' number plates. ''Being a Parramatta man, I didn't want to go anywhere near the place,'' Spagnolo says.

Of course, Spagnolo is still a Parramatta man, the club's chairman no less. After dethroning the ''Emperor'', long-serving CEO Denis Fitzgerald - ''I'd still be his mate if he wants me to be'' - in a bloody coup, he is now ''the man'' at Parramatta. And he is becoming an increasingly influential figure in the game overall.

After being introduced to league powerbroker Nick Politis by a mutual mate, Clem Tacca, the pair took a shine to each other and began catching up regularly for a coffee. Then the Bulldogs chairman started coming along. And then another. Now 16 of them catch up to discuss all things league, a powerful bloc that, in the words of another chairman, has got the NRL ''shit scared''.

Spagnolo pulled up to Parramatta Stadium for this interview in his Porsche Cayenne S. But his beginnings were much more humble.

The son of Italian migrants, an eight-year-old Spagnolo arrived at his first game at Cumberland Oval via more humble means. ''The first game I attended was with my milkman,'' Spagnolo recalls. His parents were too busy working to take him. Before they scraped together enough money to open a mixed business in Guilford, his father worked for the Eels' long-time sponsor.

''My father tells the story of when he worked at James Hardie,'' Spagnolo says. ''The boss would come to him and say, 'I'll give you some overtime'. He'd say, 'OK, I'll do a double shift', knowing that he'd miss the last train to Camellia. Just to get enough money, he'd do that double shift and walk from Camellia to Clyde to get the train to Fairfield and then walk another half an hour.

''They did the hard slog. My father was one of 11.''

Spagnolo senior worked for Hardies until 1960. He was one of the lucky ones. ''Asbestosis? He complains he hasn't got it!'' Spagnolo chuckles. ''He's all right. He's 87, [but] a lot of his mates have died.''

The Spagnolos no longer live on struggle street. When he wasn't working in the family business, Roy was progressing up the corporate ladder. He was making his mark at the then National Bank but threw it in to take up an accounting job at Mitre10. At the age of 22 he was the financial controller and, by the time he got married three years later, he was the 2IC and in charge of 80 people. One opportunity led to another, an accounting empire was born, and then he made good in the property development game. His palatial home at Horsley Park is now a regular venue for the Eels' Christmas party.

For many years, he was mates with Fitzgerald. Long before player managers infiltrated the game, he helped Fitzgerald retain Eric Grothe snr despite his having a handshake deal with the late Peter 'Bullfrog' Moore to join the Bulldogs. When Fitzgerald needed votes to retain power at the club, he turned to Spagnolo. ''If an AGM was coming up, he'd ask me to bring some guys along to vote,'' Spagnolo says.

How times have changed. When a group of disgruntled former players, led by Grothe and Ray Price, decided to oust Fitzgerald, they turned to Spagnolo. Initially he declined, citing the need to concentrate on business interests and the fact he managed Fuifui Moimoi and Luke Burt.

''We were going to set it up on the quiet, sign up members - just the way Denis used to do it - and just hit them at the last minute,'' Spagnolo says of the rebel 3P ticket. ''I decided not to do it but once they won that election they said, 'You've got to run for the Leagues Club election'. I said I'd put my name up next time but they said, 'Nah, we need you now'. My plan was to run this year.''

Now Spagnolo controls the board, which will be challenged at the Leagues Club elections on May 21. He speaks proudly of its achievements, most notably turning a $9.1 million loss into a $7.1m profit (before income tax and football funding) since sweeping to power in 2009.

Not that there aren't other things to occupy his time. He fell into soccer coaching when he took his then four-year-old son to a local game. There was no coach and former Socceroo Ray Richards asked Spagnolo to fill in.

''It was only the under-6s but I didn't know a thing about soccer,'' he recalls. ''I said I'd do it for a couple of weeks. It turned into 22 years.''

A lack of knowledge didn't equate to a lack of success. ''I've taken teams to success in the State Cup and Champions of Champions and I've probably won 10 championships at district club level.'' He also saved Marconi from oblivion with a refinancing package of $23m at the 11th hour. But, of course, it's an Eels title he craves most. ''We've got the right coach and the right recruitment guy in place, so we're heading in the right direction,'' he says. ''If I didn't think I could contribute to the future, I'd walk away from the place.''