A-League clubs should fear sleeping NSL giants

My boys are 21 and 27 and I have brought them up to love South Melbourne. NPL standard is not the best but they will come to the occasional match. If South every went national they would be the first ones through the gate.

"Remember, it was only 2002 that Manchester City won the Championship in England, and we all know what’s happened since then" Yes we do - they were bought by a Middle East consortium, had more than $1B pumped into them to ensure that they could/would win trophies. Not sure what his sentence has to do with former NSL Clubs and a second tier in Australia? Hopefully the GC is given a look in for the second tier and can build from the ground up and hopefully earn promotion to the A-League. First issue will be a suitable home ground as CBus Stadium at Robina is far too large and expensive...

That's HIGHEST ever Con. Lowest was 3,294. The average of the average was around 5,000, which was the number that turned up for one of those glamour clubs you mention, Sydney FC, in the FFA Cup. I have nothing against South Melbourne, nor any of the other former NSL clubs, and if they are part of a new 2nd Division, then great. But the fact is, they had 27 years to break the mainstream. They failed. There's zero hard evidence to suggest that has changed.

Interesting article, it raises some interesting points and some more come to mind. Q1. What happens if some second division sides draw greater crowds and play better football than existing A-League clubs, particularly the new clubs (for example, if Marconi draw a bigger crowd than Macarthur)? If they do - how long before the 'no relegation for fifteen years' crowd change their mind? Q2. Will A-League clubs have a say in who enters the second division (Would Sydney FC object to Sydney Olympic, St George FC or Sutherland Sharks)? Q3. Should the 'one city, one team' idea still hold? I think it should in a modified form - keeping in mind there are about 10-12 'cities/areas' within Greater Sydney (Sydney, St George, Sutherland Shire, Bankstown, Parramatta, Liverpool, Macarthur, Penrith, Hawkesbury, North Shore, Northern Beaches, maybe Hills, Blacktown). That doesn't mean each should be in the second division - but it should rule out clubs from the same area. No point in having a new team from Parramatta when the Wanderers already represent that area.

as for the average turn out to an ffa cup at SM well who said the ffa cup was a success and as for south supporters they will not turn up until south melb are back in the highest league because they got spoilt with 4 championships ,world champions league countless cups and thumping all the so called great nsl clubs hard 6,0 northern spirit . 6,1 Brisbane strikers that was in the last year of its nsl league. Its pretty hard going to watch them in a low competition it makes me sad more than anything else and I would say that goes for a lot of supporters ,does any one believe that if Melbourne victory was playing Victorian NPL that they would get big crowds , its like your in mourning for your great club and where they have ended up ,if there is a second division they is hope and with hope come belief and belief brings support

wow bobby have you been to school or just around it where in my comments did I say that the A league should be worried if some of the old NSL teams get into it ,your hatred for the old NSL teams fogs up your mind ,if anything it will enhance the A league give it legitimacy ,history and make peace with the new and the old . Its will be better than what we got now in Melbourne city with no supporters, no culture, NO GUTS, NO GREET, NO PASSION ,they will never get it right because everyone involved in that team has it easy ,their like a rich man"s son never ever really tying cause he has it all ,they are the one the A league should be worried about

"as for team 11 the logistics and politics will be to great for them to get of the ground ,because they have no ground lol" - NEWS: CASEY FOOTBALL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE TAKES FLIGHT Exciting times await football in Melbourne’s south-east with the commencement of works on the Casey Football Centre of Excellence at Casey Fields. At a sod turning ceremony attended by local MP Pauline Richards, Football Victoria chief executive Peter Filopoulos, City of Casey Mayor Cr Amanda Stapledon and councilors Cr Gary Rowe and Cr Geoff Ablett, work has officially started on the $18 million facility set to be completed by the end of the year. The Centre of Excellence, funded by $13m of council money and a $5m grant from the Victorian State Government, consists of three synthetic pitches, one turf pitch – all floodlit – and an eight-changeroom pavilion replete with all the amenities needed for the region’s footballing stars of the future to thrive. The facility will be a community asset, available for use by local clubs, schools and academies. The would-be home of the Team 11 A-League and W-League bid, the facility could yet one day be home to a local professional club competing in either the top flight or potential National Second Division. A dollar-for-dollar funding partnership is still being sought by the City of Casey with regards to a $20m Stage 2 development of the Centre of Excellence. That investment would further expand the pavilion to include more high performance features and would also provide for the development of a fifth main turf pitch. The main pitch would also act as a boutique stadium capable of hosting elite level sporting events. https://www.weareteam11.com/casey-football-centre-of-excellence-takes-flight/ - ABOUT THE FACILITY: "The main pitch will initially have the capacity to cater for up to 8000 spectators if necessary [temporary seating] and will be capable of hosting W-League and National Youth League fixtures, as well as A-League games on an interim basis. Marquee games featuring local clubs would also be on the agenda." https://www.weareteam11.com/ourvision/caseyfields/

Well we saw how many sleeping giants turned up for the sth melbourne ffa cup matches - no need for the a league to worry

Thanks Freddie for that stat sound like a great number too me 8,330 ,since back than its opposition was not Melbourne victory and WSW and no publicity what's so ever you just backed up my opinion that south melb will be a major hit, big time stay tuned I also am part of a soccer community on the ground and we talk and breath it every day and the burning desire to be back in the highest league is still ,there also its history and its name will sell tickets ,ratings and God know we need some new and interesting stories if there is a second division and they promote clubs to A league , than south will be the one going thru and all the knockers can jumb on their heads ha ha

Team 11 has publicly stated they will be interested in entering the National 2nd Division. From what is being reported, National 2nd Division will have teams picked for geographical spread across Australia & regional areas are included. I'd expect 3-4 teams from Victoria in the National 2nd Division. Knights & SMFC are clearly interested. Also in the mix based on merit would be: Heidelberg, Bentleigh Greens, Avondale but not sure if they're seriously interested at this stage. Team 11 is definitely interested in coming through via 2nd Div. It will be perfect for them.

Con, are you aware that in 27 years of the NSL, South Melbourne's highest-ever average crowd was 8,330? That's lower than Melbourne City's average this season.

"Melbourne is now spread over a large area. We have more than 4 million residents. People are not going to travel around 1-2 hours by public transport to watch ALeague in the CBD, kicking off at 8 p.m." yet afl fans from the region seem more than capable of travelling into the cbd for night games that start at 7.50pm on a friday night ..... games i might add that go for longer and finish later than any of the rectangular codes poor eyesight, unfair distances to travel ..... when will the suffering of your average soccer fan stop .... we need government to act ..... now

Isn’t Gippsland regional Victoria?????? I don’t think we’ll go back to Melbourne and Sydney until the 2nd division is in. 1st: Canberra 2nd: Brisbane 3rd: Wollongong 4th: Tasmania/Perth (On the fence) 6th: Dandenong So i think we’ll need to 2 clubs to fold before we can go to SE Melbourne

The area defined by Team 11 covers over 100 football clubs and over 22,000 registered players. 55 clubs in the area officially partnered with Team11 to support the ALeague/WLeague bid. The region includes: Greater Dandenong, City of Casey, Cardinia Shire, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Frankston City and City of Monash councils as well as the Gippsland region. Football is the biggest participation team sport in the region. As someone who lives in Melbourne, I have no doubt any ALeague team that is able to engage the whole region would be grow to be as big as, if not bigger than, Melbourne Victory.

A lot of my family live in South-East Melbourne. When i went there for 2017 christmas, couldn't see a football field anywhere. Plenty of basketball courts though.

How would anyone from Perth know what South East Melbourne needs. I live in Melbourne & my observation is SE Melbourne desperately needs an ALeague team to represent their region. The people who live in South East Melbourne confirm this. If I lived in that part of Melbourne, I wouldn't be travelling into the CBD to watch sport & I certainly wouldn't have any reason to follow a team that's based in the CBD. Just as people who don't live in SE Melbourne wouldn't have any reason to follow a team from SE Melbourne. Melbourne is now spread over a large area. We have more than 4 million residents. People are not going to travel around 1-2 hours by public transport to watch ALeague in the CBD, kicking off at 8 p.m.

Agreed. I don't think South-East Melbourne needs a team. Basketball has beaten us there. It's the most played sport and they just put a team in there.

the A league has nothing to fear from the new second division it will enhance it and keep it honest once pro and rel is implemented. Some weak A league clubs will fall and so they should , as for Melbourne city they will loose supporters,. South Melbourne will become giants again as they have the will to do it and the passion is there its community of the past will support it greatly as a form of protest ,why did you kick us out in the first place . the northern subs of Melbourne are soccer mad and need a team in there as for team 11 the logistics and politics will be to great for them to get of the ground ,because they have no ground lol, unless they are given another free ride by the FFA. Adelaide city will do well and the rest well who knows I don't think no one knows

Nail on the head....

Chris - You don't indicate what experience you had in NSL football, but you should ask yourself the question,how many of the NSL "giants" you describe missed out on entry into the original full time professional competition. Despite the many rumours and claims made since 2004, there is a simple answer, the existing clubs in the then NSL could not raise the amount of capital required for entry, estimated at around $10,000,000, 5 millions for the entry fee and another 5 millions to put upwards of 30 people on to full time wages. In the final 5 years of the part-time NSL, there were 11 long term identities who failed to make the transition. Have you ever asked yourself why? for the answer is quite simple,they did not have access to that sort of money. You have to understand how many of your "giants" were financed,even in that part-time scenario,the fact is that in many cases they were being supported by social clubs set up to service their community,and while a couple of thousand was nothing to those poker machine "palaces, $10,millions was another story altogether for a committee, elected ever year, to allocate to what could well be described as a gamble of gigantic proportions. The HAL has struggled on for these last 13 years most clubs playing in front of crowds that in NSL days would have been regarded as "huge". Only 3 identities out of the original entries have "failed" and that could be put back to the FFA's expansion plans,and a poorly performing national economy as well as poor decision making by those owners. Chris, it is going to be a long time before we see a successful full time second division, finance is going to govern that,but the means is not going to be found by searching around lower division leagues with some NSL history. Costs for an HAL team,like your salary, have risen with the passing of time. Cheers jb.