People seem to underestimate the difficulty that regional areas face when engaging at the national level. Clubs in Tasmania or Canberra aren’t really set up for movement between local and national structures. However, clubs in these regions are supportive of efforts to create new clubs that “unite” these regions (the Canberra and Tasmania bids had strong local support). It’s infeasible to suggest these clubs compete in the local leagues in order to gain promotion.

In this system federations can tailor 2nd division nominations to reflect local circumstances. Victoria and Sydney footballing communities might like to see existing clubs given the opportunity to compete at the national level while smaller federations might prefer to create clubs to represent their federation.

In this system the quotas are allocation on sporting merit. Teams that finish third can’t lose their place due to quota changes, they can only lose their place if their member federation decides to reallocate it in some way.

The only team that loses its place due to quota reallocation is the team that finishes last.

(See my response to Mr Football with further elaboration regarding the “third place relegated” example).

That I leave up to individual clubs. But the AAFC are advocating for a second division and they have 100+ members. They are talking about it being self-funded. If they think they can make it work then why not give it a go. This is just a demonstration of how to ensure that national participation is accessible to all regions in Australia.

Any system that incorporates both regional representation and promotion and relegation will by necessity be convoluted (feel free to expostulate a system with these features that isn’t). Given the lack of detail about why it is too convoluted, should that be taken to mean that you didn’t understand it?

The example of a team finishing third and being relegated was a possibility, not a probability. Let me give some other examples from one extreme to the other.

Everyone get relegated: All federations decide that the club quotas are filled in the order that they finished in their federation npl the previous year (this could mean that every year we could have 16 new clubs).

Every lowest finishing member gets relegated : Federations decide that club quotas are filled by the order that teams finish in the 2nd division, unless they finish lowest relative to other member clubs, in which case they use performance in the previous year of their npl to determine club licences (this could still mean that, barring federation quota changes, every year we see the same clubs compete, but only if a club competed in both the 2nd div and their federation npl).

One lowest finishing member gets relegated : Federations decide that club quotas are filled by the order that teams finish in the 2nd division, unless they finish in the last in the league, in which case they use performance in the previous year of their npl to determine club licences (this could still mean that, barring federation quota changes, every year we see the same clubs compete, but only if a club competed in both the 2nd div and their federation npl).

No one gets relegated: Federations decide that club quotas are filled by the order that teams finish in the 2nd division. (this could mean that, barring federation quota changes, every year we see the same clubs compete).

The extreme situation are unlikely as each federation establishes its own system for promotion/relegation.

Furthermore, this system is not predicated on proomotion and relegation with A-League. In fact, this is where I will give the AAFC props if they do indeed institute a system of promotion and relegation with the lower tier.

As for criteria, I should hope they do indeed institute appropriate criteria for admission. Most importantly an appropriately sized bond that ensures teams can play out the season if they run into financial trouble.

Congrats to the Roar on their (new?) football analysts. The focus on football and its tactics that Evan Morgan Grahame and Tim Palmer bring is a high quality change in focus for the Roar football tab.

I disagree that Cahill deserves a farewell Socceroos game before the Asian Cup. To be a proper farewell I believe Cahill would need to start and play until the 60th minute of the game. Basically it would use up a friendly that would otherwise be used as a warmup for the Asian Cup defense.
Since there are only two friendlies organised with FIFA international match windows between now and our Asian Cup defense this would constitute 50% of those games. With a new coach, I don’t think this is an appropriate use of these games.

I do believe Cahill deserves a farewell match immediately after the Asian Cup. However, what form this farewell match takes is a different discussion.

Not overly impressed by the ‘science’. For example, how do you quantify spatial awareness? Was hoping for easily measurable dimensions. Where are the statistics?

I think more interesting would be an analysis of variation in body type across the codes. Weight, height, speed (a bit restrictive perhaps). Of course, such analysis would also be subject to the criticism that Sport X produces good players of X but less so.

If there are quantifiables, as the comments above seem to suggest, then why does it need more than one article to show them?

Kutztown University is a member of NCAA Division II. However, the club rugby team plays in the East Conference of D1-A rugby, which is first tier. College club sports in the United States are any sports offered at a university or college in the United States that compete competitively with other universities, or colleges, but are not regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and do not have varsity status. However, college rugby, which is governed by USA Rugby (except for some Women’s programs) does have quasi-varsity status in some colleges and scholarships do exist.

(mainly taken from Wikipedia)

I did not ignore Nemesis’s comment. I pointed out that if you take a fairly well-understood and respected ranking system the point still stands. If you bothered to read my comment carefully you could easily find out for yourself that Wales (European championship semi-finalists) are ranked 28.

Based on the well-understood Elo ranking system (see http://eloratings.net/world.html) this is the current top 48

26 UEFA
9 CONMEBOL
5 AFC
4 CONCACAF
4 CAF

I think the point still stands that IF representation was based on quality Europe and South America are getting dudded.

The anecdotal evidence I have as someone who has lived in China for the past 8 years suggests that the Chinese football ‘boom’ is indeed alive and well. The President is a big football fan and has put in place many policies to encourage football participation in China. Two examples are mandatory football in schools and a plethora of coaching deals across a range of countries (Netherlands, UK, Argentina). In the second tier city that I live in there are 5 coaches from Argentina employed full-time at different high schools. It probably helps that there are few other team sports viewed as viable alternatives for young ones (except basketball). It also helps that a domestic football club is an easy way for billionaires to splash their cash (see e.g. Jack Ma).

That said, the idea that the Chinese will pillage Australian players is a little misguided. The money offered to foreign players is already higher than most A-League contracts. As it increases, the Superleague will draw players from leagues richer than the A-League (Europe in particular). That is to say, the number of foreign players in China will increase but the direct effect on Australia will be marginal (even with the 3+1 rule).

The benefit is, as others have pointed out, the increased value in the AFC Champions league. If Chinese football rights can increase so dramatically then it stands to reason that Champions League rights/revenue generated from China will also increase – and this revenue will be shared by all clubs who can succeed in the Champions League.

One last point, long-term, I don’t see Chinese/Euro partnerships flourishing. Chinese, at heart, are proud nationalists. They want to support a Chinese team, and with the money coming in and success already in Asia (which is very important to them), these teams will garner that support quickly.

In case it wasn’t clear.

A safety comes about if the ball carrier gets tackled in his defensive end zone or if the ball comes loose and is recovered in the defensive end zone of the team who snapped the ball (the offensive team). It results in two points for the team who did not snap the ball (the defe.nsive team).

A little like an own goal in soccer, a little like a rushed behind in Aussie Rules. No equivalent in Union or League (I believe). If you get tackled in your own try scoring area in rugby, you must drop kick the ball from the try-line to restart play.

In case it wasn’t clear.

A safety comes about if the ball carrier gets tackled in his defensive end zone or if the ball comes loose and is recovered in the defensive end zone of the team who snapped the ball (the offensive team). It results in two points for the team who did not snap the ball (the defe.nsive team).

A little like an own goal in soccer, a little like a rushed behind in Aussie Rules. No equivalent in Union or League (I believe). If you get tackled in your own try scoring area in rugby, you must drop kick the ball from the try-line to restart play.

As an small aside, can someone show me what these numbers mean using a simple diagram with GK at the bottom (or weblink)

As an (obviously wrong) example of what I mean

11 10
9 8 7 6
5 4 3 2
GK

Thanks

Wow, great read. “Magnificent irrelevance” in deed.

“The Melbourne Football Club has a finite amount of players on their list. They are entitled to pick any 22 of them to represent the club, under any circumstances they like, in any configuration they wish.”

Point well taken. I meant, I don’t know the exact median wage of a women football player in the U.S. (as for nothing, it’s all relative to my Roar peers).

The previous post seemed to suggest that since there was a large viewing audience for the (once every four years) final in the U.S. and that this fact supported the article viewpoint that women soccer players should be paid more. I would suggest that U.S. viewing figures have little relevance for what Australia women soccer player’s are paid.

Exactly. There is clearly a market for Women’s soccer in America. I don’t know the figures, but I suspect the gender pay difference between Men and Women in the U.S. is a lot less than in Australia. Once, we see those types of ratings in Australia then we will see a reduction in the gender pay difference identified here.

Gift: Something of value given without the expectation of return

Bribe: Something of value given with the hope of a future influence or benefit

I am sure the bid team gave without hope.

Since you asked, the vast majority of countries do not grant citizenship to people born there.

Canada, France, China, Russia..

The obvious counter example is the US.

well played

And what about the heat? Football is a winter sport for a reason. This story is a week late I think.

Maybe Uncle Junior caught his tongue.

I enjoyed the read. And to be fair to the author he didn’t write the heading and never used the word hooligan to describe the “well ‘ard” Vinne.

Skippy:
Just find the appropriate two-beat nickname for your favourite player. Very Austrialian to just add a y at the end. Timmie, Robbie, Jedda, Marco, Matty, Tommy, and so ….

Timmy, Timmy
Timmy’s our man, he’s true blue
(Timmy’s our man, through and through)
Timmy, Timmy
Timmy, our best Socceroo
(Timmy plays best for our Roos)

Time lords is a good one. Exterminate works very well in context.

Aeroplane Jelly:
I like Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou for me
Liked him at Brisbane, liked him at MV
(Liked him at South Melbourne, liked him at MV)
(Liked him in the A-League, like him for my team)
Ange and the Roos is a good recipe
(A high pressing game is a good recipe)
I like Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou for me