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Could establishing a B-League be a pathway for A-League expansion?
In 2007 there was a proposal for a new 12-team semi-professional B-League which would be a feeder for the A-League.
The teams would run on operating budgets of $500,000 a year and the league would have included the following sides: Manly United, Marconi Stallions, Sydney United, Blacktown City, Sutherland Sharks, Penrith-Nepean United, Wollongong Wolves, South Melbourne, Melbourne Knights, Canberra, Gold Coast and a third unspecified team from Melbourne.
Left out of this list however were Geelong and Tasmania. If these teams were included then you could bring the big five regional locations in the south east of Australia into a national league. These would be Wollongong, Canberra, Gold Coast, Geelong and Tasmania.
If the A-League expands to 12 teams by adding one new team each in Sydney and Melbourne then Geelong and Tasmania should be added to the B-League. The top two finishing teams in the B-League could then leave the B-League and get a chance to compete in the A-League for the next season before returning once again to the B-League.
This would bring the number of teams competing in the A-League to 14 which would be good for broadcasting by keeping three derbies in Sydney and Melbourne, while adding interest with two new wildcards each season.
The current ten teams plus the next two would still have their licences without fear of relegation, but new teams could then use the B-League to demonstrate their readiness for entry into the A-League when conditions allow for expansion. It would also give the teams a chance to compete on a national stage at a higher level than the NPL to help build support in the community.
When looking at the five regional teams I think they all have a decent chance of being competitive.
Wollongong, Gold Coast and Geelong would be keen to take on their nearby major city rivals while Canberra and Tasmania are more isolated but have large populations which should be respected.
In the case of Tasmania their youth teams have done quite well. In 2008 a Tasmanian youth team played against NYL teams from Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Queensland Roar. The Tasmanian side won three of the four matches.
Then in 2014 a Tasmanian youth team played a one off match against the youth squad of Melbourne Victory at North Hobart Oval and won that match.
Unfortunately the scoreboard developed a fault and kept registering a goal as worth six points for some reason.
If Tasmania could develop their youth players through to the senior level by playing in a full season national team they might find all sorts of talent that people on the mainland didn’t know about. Give them a chance to compete. They deserve a fair go.
Gold Coast did well when they first joined but were crippled by stadium hire and traffic management costs which meant they had to cap crowd sizes and were also let down by poor management decisions before the owner finally abandoned them.
Currently however they seem to be building up from the grass roots and doing things differently so hopefully this will improve their viability next time.
Geelong would be keen to compete with the Melbourne teams and it would also be a familiar brand to people who might be new to watching the round ball code. Geelong is also a fast growing area in terms of population as well as player numbers.
There was a proposal to build a new rectangular stadium at Armstrong Creek but perhaps they could build one beside Kardinia Park instead to take advantage of existing transport links. I think that Geelong would be a real plus for the competition.
Wollongong and Canberra are the best prospects of the regional teams and have history to draw upon. They were both included in the original list so they’re in anyway.
If a new B-League is established I think that these five regional centres all deserve a fair go instead of being overlooked as they often are. It’s easy being negative, but instead of being prejudiced and predicting their failure they should just be given the opportunity to compete on level ground so they can let their performances do the talking.
With operating budgets of just $500,000 even they can manage. And since they would go back to the B-League after their A-League stint to be replaced by new teams there isn’t the same financial risk to FFA like there would be with a long-term licence.
I think a B-League might work and that it would be a good place for teams to develop their support base and sort out any major problems before they attempt to bid for an A-League licence. But the main regional teams shouldn’t be left out just because of pessimistic voices and negative attitudes.
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