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Opinion
The A-League was launched to replace the National Soccer League, and with that Football Australia should have walked away and let the competition get on with it, but this is not what happened.
It took 15 years and threats of club breakaways to form a new league before FA relinquished its grip on the competition. The new A-League, run by the Australian Professional Leagues, now has to stand on its own two feet, and so far things look okay.
The problem is that FA is back, promising another national competition and we need that like we need a hole in our collective heads. Please don’t get me wrong, there is a place for FA and running the Australia Cup is it, as well as all forms of our national teams, but as for another national football competition, no, they need to stay away.
I am all for a second division. We need one and we need it sooner rather than later, but it needs to be owned and driven by the APL, and here is my – brief – vision for that
First: the current A-League to expand by two more teams, probably Canberra and maybe a second team from either of Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth.
Second: a call for expression of interest from existing NPL clubs and new franchises for an A-League 2, which will consist of 12 teams in all, from all states with a compulsory spot set aside for a Tasmanian team and a country team from Queensland.
If necessary (and I think it may need to) the APL also needs to provide seed funding for the new teams and equivalent funding for the existing NPL who successfully apply.
This of course needs more money invested in the game, but hey I believe in a “build it and they will come” approach. It goes without saying, the AL2 needs to be full-time professional from the start as well. The more games, the more interest, the more media exposure, the more potential for investment.
Third: the A-League and A-League 2 need to run at the same time, not be run opposite to each other (like an early proposal I saw published by FA a few months back).
Finally, the issue of promotion and relegation will need to be addressed. I suggest no promotion or relegation for 2-3 years until the AL2 establishes itself but there is no stopping all these clubs meeting in the Australia Cup and clubs really testing each other out.
I am not denigrating FA, it is just that I think that a proper second division needs to work with the A-League, and I can’t see that happening if FA run the competition. Professional football needs to own the concept and bring it to life.
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