Worry about building 12 odd strong cashed up and skillful clubs.

The state leagues act as a de-facto 2nd division.

But the problem in this country is that the sporting market is too crowded. If a team like the Central Coast Mariners or Perth Glory or Newcastle Jets and etc was to be relugated what would happen to them??? These clubs are to small to be able to financialy support a team in a second division comp. There must be some financial regulations so there would be no cases of Leeds United or Southampton because unlike England the Australian public is still coming to terms with the world game. They should drop the slalary cap but make an independant board which decide’s whether the club can afford to buy a player or invest in some soccer investment. In other words national clubs (A and A2 clubs) are only allowed to spend money on what they can afford.

I do hope that a second division with a promotion-relugation system does become a reality one day because I’ll love to see my Sydney United play one day in the A League championship decider. But I highly doubt that would become a reality. As I said in another article the only clubs cappable of drawing crowds to a second division match are ethnic teams and the general Australia public would have no interest in watching 2nd division mathces when Australia has the worlds best rugby league competition (nrl), only aussie rules competition in the world and a strong rugby union presence in the country. Maybe Australia should try first a cup competition and then the FFA will see whether non ethnic clubs could also gain the interest of the general public.

I had many a fine meal at the Marco Polo Club – very nicely situated too – I think most of the Inter games I went to see were at Bruce – I’m a bit vague on that now (it was about 23 years ago).

It’s been a while since I’ve driven through Queanbeyan – but I’ve got a feeling the Marco Polo club is long gone – last time I saw the building it looked abandoned – not sure though.

Of more concern is the gulf that exists right now between the professional clubs and the amateur clubs. Of more benefit to the game in this country would be bringing the amateur clubs up into the professional sphere through coaching and administration revolutions. Long term this might give some extra clubs to an A2 league, improve the standard of the game and its player, coaching and administration base. An FFA Cup style competition with the cream of the State teams might be a good place to start, if not an inter-state premiere league a few notches above what the states have now.

Promo-relegation is the AFC mantra: I think we could do it differently, but anything still requires nearly double the teams we have right now, all professional, all difficult to spring up from next to nowhere without solid financial backing.

attendances need to be up before we attempt this A2league. lowy’s proposal is inverted, that he wants to make new clubs in untapped areas, whereas it should be the peolpe coming to him with the desire for new clubs.

Would much prefer 16 strong teams ever improving off the field than everything going into survival.

In fact, I lived for a couple of years in Queanbeyan, and one year, the local team, Inter-Monaro, joined Canberra Olympic in the NSL, meaning effectively two Canberra teams in the NSL! (they were both woeful, incidentally)

If you want a hint of what P&R looks like in the Australian context, look no further than the old NSL.

Teams coming and going – emerging from nowhere, sititng in the limelight for a few seasons, then quietly vanishing for ever – a handfull of very strong clubs do well – the remainder are in tough fight for survival, perpetually broke, and life as a club is brutish and short.

Either way obviously a second division is fantasy at this point in time but it MUST be what we look towards in the future. If Lowy can get the new franchises in, a significant hike in the TV deals and some decent gate figures there is no reason why a D2 couldn’t work in Aus.

The clubs would simply have to be smaller to begin with, establish the league first and then after a few years introduce promotion/relegation otherwise they won’t be able to cope financially. Do away with salary caps in whichever leagues we have as they will remain a hindrance as they are, clubs simply need to be controlled more strictly with their finances but as long as they are spending within their limits then there is no reason to have a salary cap.

I think the biggest problem is, where do the teams come from? As much as I’d love to see an Adelaide or Perth derby it’s hard for me to imagine either city being able to support two fully professional teams, regardless of them being in A1 or A2 leagues.

The A-League will expand before promotion/relegation is introduced so Canberra will eventually get its team but then who else? Where are the markets and the finances?

I’d love to see a state-of-origin (for the lack of a better term) type league. The best players from teams across the area getting selected to play in a representative team that plays against others. Eg. the best Adelaide club players picked for “The Croweaters” and the best in Perth for “The Sandgropers”.

A Wednesday night fixture may seem a little silly but this couldn’t replace the current leagues played on weekends, it would have to be in addition too and of course would require finance etc. but if you can utilise these state-leagues then you have a player pool, facilities, infrastructure, a fan-base, interest in the game, it wouldn’t be starting from scratch and it would obviously improve the standards of each league.

Sure you probably won’t get a lot of interstate travelling support but it is realistic to expect the fans interest to be there, if the state-level clubs can get a few hundred or thousand to a weekend fixture, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect to get a similar figure to such an “interleague” game, you’d draw supporters from various clubs who want to see the same players they watch on a weekend at a higher level.

However, if 6 years ago, if Mr Lowy told me;
That football in this country would have a A-League with teams in Nth Queensland, Central Coast & Gold Coast & looking at expanding to Tasmania.
That some clubs would get 25K+ to some club games like Melbourne (regularly), Brisbane & Sydney. The A-league itself avering 10K.
That we would have a women’s league which would be shown on FTA TV & a youth league,
That a total revamp of our coaching system to align ourselves with the rest of the world in the technical & tactical areas.
That we would have made 2 WCs in a row including qualifying undefeated for the 2nd one.
That we would even be considering bidding for a WC let alone being one of the frontrunners. This is the BIGGEST sporting event in the world, daylight 2nd.
Move into Asia to allow our A-League teams to play in the ACL (one of the most memorable nights was SFC v Urawa Reds) & little Central Coast taking on teams from ASIA home & away.
Move into Asia to allow the Socceroos to now play meaningful matches, not just 2 matches every 4 years.

I would think Mr Lowy was losing his marbles.
I’m sure there are many more positives I have forgotten. I still think we football fans forget where we came from.
So while I’m not confident about an A2, I would not put it past Mr Lowy.

Lets have an FA Cup. That way the state teams can play for something and it keeps them engaged.