National League review and future

10 month-long season for ACFC? The board would run out of money.

Or they could bring in fewer European (ex) pros.

A model the Phoenix could follow especially

Are the consultants who wrote this review the same advising FFA to delay expansion until "everything is perfect"? 

LOL'd at the bit that said preference would be given to replacing a team that falls over from the same geographic region. So if southern united fall over will CHCH Utd claim they are southern men? Clubs with ambition can sit on their arse for 3 years? 

There could potentially be giant killing results. Could you imagine for example Waiheke Utd vs Auckland City. Both of these clubs/teams have supporters in South America. 

If reporters in New Zealand would get off their ar**s and stop filling the Herald Sports section with rugby stories (when they already have a section just for rugby) they may actually find a world that is very interested in hearing FOOTBALL stories from this part of the world.

Oops sorry. ...that was in reply to : 

chubbs wrote:

The Chatham cup overlaps with the Premiership ?

So I guess that means Premiership franchises play in a near 100 year old club competition ?

Don't like that at all

I like the idea of keeping the SSP format as it is, but I would expand it to 12-14, specially considering how many teams were insterested and couldn't make it in the last expansion. I think most of the points made in the document are quite good except for the idea of letting the franchises play the Chatham Cup

Just remember the entry fee is to cover Refs, team air travel, NZF rep for regular season games. Oh and SKY fee. 

 So the larger the number of teams, the larger the entry fee. 

I don't think moving to 12-14 teams would be a good idea, firstly the costs would increase massively and secondly the quality of the league would drop. It's what happened in the late 80's when they moved to 14 teams. 10 is just the right size at the moment

Agreed, ten teams means clubs that aspire to the league can professionalise to NZFs desired level and see if any current teams drop out when their licenses expire at the end of next season.

Those are fair points. I was just saying that I would prefer the SSP to expand to 12-14 teams rather than see it played on a three-round basis like the A-League, which would also increase the costs. 

10 is two too many.

Surely it's the teams not on the AUK-WGTN-CHCH flight route that add significant cost: Napier, Nelson, Hamilton, Dunedin. Can anyone elaborate? Are there different criteria based on geographic location, or is it one size fits all?

Different criteria for what? Everyone pays the same entry fee, if that's what you mean.

Any idea when the new season dates for the National Youth /Womens / Men's published?

Next week or two - waiting on the OFC Champions League draw to be made.

NYL starts w/o Oct 14

NWL starts w/o Oct 14

NML starts w/o Oct 14 (one game); for real w/o Oct 21 (full round)

So, now that the season is over, what do you think will happen to the National League? I personally hope that the system remains the same but the number of teams is expanded to 12, assuming there are two clubs/franchises with financial capability that can put togheter a competitive side (looking at you Hamilton Wanderers).

I hope the system remains the same, perhaps take a risk and have a target to attract a wider audience with more broadcasting coverage ie. online streaming subscriptions, free to air coverage maybe 2 or 3 games a week.

Seeing the young players come through has been the biggest highlight so far and we need to be giving them more opportunities to play at the highest level while being able to showcase their talents to a wider audience. If the talent production keeps pumping the next few years and the coaching keeps improving then the standard of play will keep improving and maybe, just maybe we could have start of a semi-pro league.

Not too sure how people feel for the Hamilton Wanderers, as a BOP lad they replaced the one franchise that covered the catchment area where I was from. I hope they can improve next season for the sake of their supporters and volunteers. Since the phoenix getting a regular kicking from other fans and media across the ditch I have a soft spot for the bottom dwellers, I hope we don't go down the evil path of people demanding them to be kicked out because that won't address the issue.

The sooner we have our own self sustainable pro league, the better. I would prefer to keep Auckland City in this league then have another NZ based club having to pander to the FFA demands while the FFA reap the rewards.

NZ Football have already locked in a 10 team league for two more seasons, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

See below, from last April's competitions review document.

"New Zealand Football is committed to expanding the national league but the expansion must be financially viable. In view of this, New Zealand will maintain the 10-team national league competition structure until 2020 and until the financial implications of an extended competition are better understood, the regulatory reforms to establish a single season are established and the competition framework is aligned.

During this period, if a current national league participant fails to meet club licensing requirements, or voluntarily withdraws from the competition, New Zealand Football will seek a replacement to maintain both the 10-team competition structure and the league’s current geographic representation. Aspiring clubs wishing to enter the league will need to register their interest by May each year during the club licensing application process, meet the required club licensing criteria and standards and qualify through on-field performance by being the highest-placed aspiring club from the relevant regional league.

Reviewing and exploring a suitable model and mechanism for on-going entry and exit into the national league beyond 2020 will be a priority. The alignment of the competition framework must come first and is fundamental to the success of any on-going entry and exit mechanism. It’s critical that the mechanism allows adequate time for clubs to prepare for entry and provides a pathway for those clubs exiting the national league. This means that clubs will be restricted from having teams participating in both national league and regional league premier competitions.

Reviewing regional entities and maintaining geographic representation will be a key consideration. Investment to support the financial sustainability of clubs entering and exiting the national league will also be considered.

Following this initial transformation phase, and subject to the financial stability of the league and its participating clubs, New Zealand Football will provide an opportunity to expand the national league as follows:

• Preferred option: extend the existing 10-team competition structure to three full rounds with open promotion and relegation with regional leagues by March 2020; OR

• Alternative option: if the preferred option is unviable, provide an opportunity to expand the competition structure to a maximum of 12 teams as a means of extending the competition to better integrate the league within the competitions framework by March 2020.New Zealand Football will also explore the potential re- alignment of its national cups competitions – Chatham Cup and Women’s Knockout Cup - and the integration ofnational league clubs to further extend the national league competition window.

Clubs wishing to enter the national league will need to register their interest by May 2020 and every May thereafter, meet the required club licensing criteria and standards and qualify through on-field performance. The mechanism for entry and exit will determine how on-field performance is measured in 2020, however the introduction of a play-off series between regional league winners will be explored."

Didn't remember that! Thought the current system was up to this season and then they would decide what to do. 

The expansion of the old National League was the beginning of the end. Started with 8 then 10, which did not seem to cause any issues but once went to 12 and 14, with up to 25% of the teams facing relegation things started to come apart as costs continued to increase causing most clubs to carry debt for many years or go to the wall in some cases.

Does the overall is the standard of current ISPS Handi league warrent an increase in numbers in the coming years. What happens when the Handi sponsership stops, not many queuing up to jump on board with Footy NZ.

If the FIFA Club competition is ditched, which seems on the cards, then a bucket load of money not heading to the league.

This winter was meant to be the decision point, but they then kicked the can down the road last April.

Pro/rel would be fantastic, I'm sick of following leagues without it!

I feel that broadcasting results and highlights on the national sports news would be a great next step. Too many kids and even football-loving adults wouldn't be able to name more than a team or two in the entire league, let alone follow the league

With the Phoenix future up in the air when their deal expires with FFA or a possible merger, what would happen to the Weenix license at National League? Would Wests/Ole come in or would it be open to interest?

It would be opened up , Would guess that Wests and Wairarapa and possibly Olympic would apply, also could be other clubs from elsewhere interested

I reckon they'll stay afloat as a national league organisation. They've invested too much in player development to just stop completely. Would hurt TW I reckon

Very optimistic view. With current facilities, staff and other costs shared by Nix, that's a lot to finance without Welnix.

Why? There is even less chance of profit and there is already a Wellington team. Remember that Welnix came in because they didn't want to see professional football leave, while there is a lot of amateur and semi-pro football around.

really?? have you not seen the other threads?, the owners want out, If the Nix go they will be gone. The nix were even trying to offload their academy last season to Ole, no way will they stick around in the NZ national league if they are booted from the A-League (remember also the National League currently costs circa $90k to enter)

Ole and the Phoenix had negotiations about Ole taking over the academy last season, it apparently fell over due to ideological differences between the two organisations

As an Auckland-based Feverite, I despair that I'll have no National League team to support if the Nix fall over. It would feel wrong to back TeeDubs; and of the Auckland clubs, Waitak are awful, Suburbs are too posh, and honestly supporting ACFC is like supporting Manchester City, there's no challenge to it.

You bring up a good point of Phoenix fans all over the country that haven't adopted a National League team yet. The Phoenix has represented all of us in NZ for professional football. For the last 3 years I've been in a limbo between ACFC and Teedubs (originally from the BOP, used to live in Auckland, now live in Wellington). Not enough tribalism yet but it has to start with everyone picking one and sticking with it. I know alot of people support Liverpool in the EPL yet haven't even been there before. This doesn't mean that we should choose a team based on where we are from or where we live but it helps us identify something in common with our local population to spin a yarn about. Watching the National League for the last 3 years I'm still no closer to choosing. I know that this is a Phoenix forum but maybe there could be a forum user feature on here that shows which national league/regional league team we identify with to increase the following of local football other than the signature? Might not be fair on the foreign people on this forum but you could make them choose Weenix/Wellington United by default :p

Found this interesting for some Oceania context in terms of number of teams playing in the national league AND pro/rel...

The word going around club football circles over the last few months is that we will see Ole and Eastern Suburbs working together in this years Handy Prem. So Sancho you could also have the choice of supporting a combined Wellington / Auckland team.

https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/72770

If anyone on here can translate this into conversational English, I'd appreciate it.

Did they show Above average football enthusiasm?

Today I just happen to be wearing a t shirt featuring that very phrase. That is all. As you were.