With so many bids coming in for the two A-League licences on offer for the 2019-20 season, it is worth considering accepting all that are financially sound and then creating a second tier.
We need at least 16 teams for two tiers to work: eight teams in Division A and eight more in Division B.
The team that finishes on top in Division A receives the premiers plate, and the top four play off to become champions.
Meanwhile, the bottom two are relegated.
The top team in Division B receives automatic promotion, then there’s a final to get the second promotion spot, which sees second play the winner of a playoff between teams three and four.
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We would have each team across the two divisions play each other twice, so it isn’t boring and financially it won’t affect the Division B clubs as much if they were playing just fellow B clubs.
For example, if Sydney FC get relegated, they can still play the Wanderers – in Division A – twice.
What is the point you ask of having two divisions if everyone plays everyone anyway? Well, it’s more prestigious to be in Division A but also, the ultimate Australian champion (and ACL qualifiers) can only come from the top flight.
Australia is unique, so we need creativity – everyone playing each other in the one division on four ocassions is way too much. Also, we don’t have enough money or teams to have two divisions of say 12 or 14 teams each.
Nor can we afford to have current NPL teams in this process, no matter how great their history is – how can the likes of North Geelong or Apia Leichhardt afford to pay wages that would compete with the like of Melbourne City or Western Sydney Wanderers?
With NPL clubs in this two-tiered system, it would be way too predictable who would be relegated and promoted, which defeats the purpose of the exercise.
This proposed model seems foolish but we need to understand the Australian sporting and commercial landscape is different to other countries. We are not England or Spain.
Food for thought!
Janakan
Guest
If we feel no point in everyone playing each other twice maybe teams in the same division play each other 3 times and someone in the other division once? That could be a point of differentiation
Janakan
Guest
Don’t you get it Matty, some folk on here think only they hold the answers to the meaning of life LOL
deathg
Guest
I would: 1 - get rid of the NPL National finals and just give the State NPL a qualifying spot each directly into the league making it a (18-20) team comp 2 - A top (10 -12) final series with all teams that do not make the finals cut get relegated
Squizz
Guest
My formula would be simple. Forget the NPL clubs as a general rule for this expansion. They are low hanging fruit that can be picked up later (as long as it is not too much later). 1) Get to 16 teams as soon possible in the HAL - ideally 2019/2020. I would take Brisbane, Canberra, Dandenong, Hobart, SMFC, Wollongong 2) Establish two Division 2 conferences - Northern and Southern with failed HAL bids and NPL teams. These will be a combination of fully professional and semi-professional operations depending on the strength of the clubs. a) Northern - NSW 8 teams, QLD 5 teams and Darwin b) Southern - Vic 8 teams, SA 3 teams, WA 2 teams and Launceston 3) Establish criteria for promotion. i.e. Northern Fury play at a 4000 seat reserve. This is fine in the QLD NPL and probably in my proposed Northern conference. However, one criteria might be that teams have a MOU in place with an alternate stadium before the start of the season that if they are promoted they have access to that alternate stadium of at least 10,000 capacity for higher drawing matches. The criteria for promotion must be met before the start of the season. 4) Promotion/relegation to the HAL and back to the state NPLs to begin at the end of the 2022/2023. a) Northern winners and runners-up to play Southern winners and runners-up to determine two possible promotions with playoffs against the bottom 2 HAL teams..
Griffo
Roar Guru
Of course financially this all can’t happen over night. P/R is one of the last pieces to the puzzle. I’d rather have more professional teams added over time than hamfisting in P/R. The A-League needs to expand. 16 teams sounds about right. Maybe more could be added over time. (18? For 34 round h/a)... ...what is important is a competition between A-League and NPL - I’d call it the Championship. It doesn’t have to be equal to the A-League initially (on wages) but it does have to be professional. It doesn’t have to happen overnight either. But planned for and ready to go when team 15 and 16 are called and announced. More NPL teams can strive to enter this ‘Championship’ but not all will be able to or will want to. When enough teams are there decisions can be made. Do you have enough teams for two large professional tiers or three? That’s when P/R can come in. Just not all the way down past NPL into regional leagues. Whatever you might say on an A-League teams struggles, enough has been invested and learnt about running as a profession team that it would be a waste to throw that away down to semi-amateur status. Similarly an amateur team can misstep the jump to pro operations if they’re not ready. Both those are extreme cases. An A1, A2, even an A3 with P/R would be a good place to be, but is a long way in the future. A full pyramid to grassroots is unlikely, or only in the 22nd century...
Griffo
Roar Guru
Kanga, I don’t think the Jets would fold. The Fury are evidence of what would likely happen. An A2 is a different division to what potentially an amateur tier would be.
pacman
Guest
Waz, your comment "Size wise Russia and China are comparable. So not unique." is somewhat simplistic. There is more to this than size. China is almost 25% larger in size than Australia. Australia is approximately 7,741,220 sq km, while China is approximately 9,596,960 sq km. Meanwhile, the population of Australia is 25 million people (1.4 billion people live in China), so I understand 1.375 billion more people live in China. Russia has a greater land mass, but only six times more people than Australia. Last time I looked at Russian football, only one team was located east of the Urals, so their economies of scale are far better than ours, but of course nowhere near those of China. If you dislike the term "unique", then how about different? For we are very different, in many ways. As far as sport is concerned, Russian football has, let's see, ice hockey as a combatant for spectators. And China, well, table tennis is booming. Little else comes to mind. Australian football battles against AFL, NRL, RU and Netball for spectators or viewers. Whether this is unique or different is a matter of interpretation, but it is one or the other.
Fadida
Guest
Exactly. Crazy idea
Kangajets
Guest
I get moderaters on everything Must be in the red card list
Fadida
Guest
So many people criticize FFA for their failure to have a second division ready, not one has ever said how it could possibly work financially
Fadida
Guest
Any monkey can bash away on his keyboard and have an incoherent, factually error strewn article designed to mock or criticize the game and get it posted. It's evidently much harder for genuine football lovers to meet the editor's standard
shirtpants
Roar Guru
I dont like the idea of this but im all for the outside the box thinking! As others have mentioned regarding conferences - i love the idea and it'll make the league far more financially viable.
shirtpants
Roar Guru
This seems tongue in cheek but I honestly thought everything got through
Kangajets
Guest
Mid I get moderatered on every comment . That’s why I’m hardly bothered to come on these days .. it all goes back to this author , when he called everyone on here a sook It’s noticeable today , that the author didn’t do the name calling thing , maybe the roar moderaters are onto that .
Midfielder
Guest
Fab It blew me away it was not published I honestly think this site from a Football stance has gone backwards over the past 18 months and its lost a lot of excellent posters.
Mark Roth
Guest
If everyone plays everyone else, and twice at that, why shouldn't the leading "2nd Division" team be named premiers if they earn more points playing the teams "ahead" of them? There needs to be a real split or no split...
fadida
Guest
Given the number of atrocious articles I have read in the last few months I had assumed everything was published without scrutiny!'
Midfielder
Guest
Kan Look out for my article if it gets published I sent one in the day after the grand final about the Newcastle media and it was never published ... also I get moderated a lot so my coming to this site is but a fraction of what it used to be ... P & R will work as will a second division but it will require much more work than the just put it in boys think.
Worried
Guest
Plenty of people willing to make assumptions about what will or wont work or who will or wont put up the money. The ONLY way to be sure what will work and who will pay is to give them the chance! Football is about what happens on the pitch. Boardrooms have always caused problems throughout the games history, and should be sidelined as much as possible. Tell the Accountants "Put up or Shut up" then let the teams decide who deserves promotion! If a New team want to come into the A-League, make them play a season or two in the NPL to prove how good they are, and how much backing they have. Surely waiting one or two years is not a deal breaker!
Kangajets
Guest
Ok I agree with the semi professional thing , which I couldn’t articulate properly last week, but I think full time professional for 2 divs is not viable yet I actually favour, no promotion or relegation system. I prefer a large number of teams separated into conferences eventually 4x 8. Eventually in each conference