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.
Ruudolfson
Guest
We got to have this as a must if aus football wants to fulfill its full potential imagine how many more talented players and coaches that could be developed if we have a multi-tier a-league 1 and a-league 2 with the eventual pro-rel in place right now. We are not so sure we are developing enough talents if we don't give them a serious opportunity, the FFA Cup and the NPL are good steps forward but we need to go to the next level sooner than than rather. If we have this place our national league and most importantly our national teams will be stronger than they ever been, the sad part its not in the FFA mindset right now as they don't want to even expand our national league in the next 4 years!
MelbCro
Guest
I didn't go broke, it was disbanded by the FFA. Competition could have kept on running.
Mark
Guest
And it went broke.
SVB
Guest
What is his opinion? He never gave one. He just rightly challenged the claim that the VPL is supposedly "superior" to the NSWPL.
gdeath
Guest
" When the quality of the Victorian NPL is superior to that of the NSW NPL." where does it mention FFA Cup? the Victorian NPL has not won an NPL title while NSW has won 2 So how can it be superior?
Nemesis
Guest
My time in Eastern Europe was very much on a Fifo basis rarely more than a few days each visit, which makes it impossible to immerse oneself in any aspect of any country's culture let alone qualified to provide deep insights on the country, or the culture.
MelbCro
Guest
"when? maybe a couple games a year if they make the playoffs or the ffa cup, apart from that, no real journeys" Excuse me? Pretty sure my club the Melbourne Knights travelled to Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Auckland for over 2 decades. The sheer ignorance here is amazing. "… And it was a league almost entirely based in Sydney and Melbourne, with reasonable representation from Brisbane and Adelaide. Perth and Auckland only came about when the NSL was pushing up against the professional barrier. " You get that 60% of A-League is in NSW and Vic, right? Don't let the facts stand in the way of a good story ey mate. What do you mean pushing up against the professional barrier. Melbourne Knights was travelling to Perth and Auckland as a semi-pro club, so what on earth are you talking about champ?
MelbCro
Guest
who is shifting goalposts? Why are you excluding data that doesn't support your opinion? Intellectual dishonest at its finest.
tully101
Roar Guru
when? maybe a couple games a year if they make the playoffs or the ffa cup, apart from that, no real journeys
Albatross
Guest
They have P&R in the UK RL, so it's not completely an anathema to RL folks.
SVB
Guest
I've just checked, and after 3 seasons of NPL a Victorian team has not even reached the final. Won twice by NSW teams and once by a South Australian team.
Griffo
Roar Guru
The gap between state-NPL and A-League is wide, wide enough that a serious media deal at its simplest would be needed for some sort straight up A-2 league injections, let alone P/R. Small steps between now and then can help build momentum. A short term step is some sort of national NPL but there are issues of distance - at least there is no one simple solution. Even before then a NPL champions tournament/league as suggested would fill the gap nicely and could run into late October/early November given the state NPL finals have occured or a winding up this weekend, and is a step up from the current NPL Final Series format. Would Sony be willing to further sponsor this level of NPL as current sponsors? This idea could be trialled easily enough over one or two seasons, and is short enough that it could serve as a test bed of a longer, national level NPL season. At the end the national NPL Champions could face the A-League Champions for the Champions Cup; the winner could face the FFA Cup winners for the FFA Super Cup... If the FFA Cup created enough excitement and good will, something like this seems the next logical step to take.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Waz while what you say makes some sense, to date the former NSL clubs have been treated with utter contempt by the FFA, so as if they are going to rubber stamp an idea being driven by the former NSL clubs.
Tony
Guest
The NPL final series which pits the champion club from the different federations could be a starting point? An NPL season running as it does now with a full round between the champions at winters end could be a good bridge. The problem is money, if FFA could help to fund a single round between the 8 top clubs finishing first, it could develop from there?
Josh
Guest
... And it was a league almost entirely based in Sydney and Melbourne, with reasonable representation from Brisbane and Adelaide. Perth and Auckland only came about when the NSL was pushing up against the professional barrier. Anyway, I would rather the FFA focus on a fully professional women's league before there's any action on a second tier B-League. The current football landscape seems to provide enough avenues for semi-professionals to show their wares and hope for an A-League contract, leaving the FFA free to bail out those A-League clubs that still can't get it together.
deathG
Guest
and yet won ZERO NPL titles
deathG
Guest
you do realise we already have the NYL
deathG
Guest
who said anything about FFA Cup when this is about the NPL stop shifting the goalposts which by the way is NSW -2, Vic - 0
Waz
Guest
There is one of the dilemmas in this - the FFA are not renound multi-taskers and it's unlikely this issue is on their "most important" list so waiting for them will be like waiting for the Bakries to sell up ... FFV and Football NSWs should probably take the lead, maybe include ACT and possibly a SEQ team and get on with it, the FFA would need to approve but I can't see them stopping it. Nationwide can come later if it works.
Waz
Guest
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