That's a shame, that sounded like a pretty good idea. Bit of a conflict of interest for Capital Football to be running it though, so I can see why the other clubs were upset. 

During the last round of A-League expansion, Capital Football ran Canberra United in the ACT NPL competitions (a rung higher than the age groups, exactly the same as the A-League youth teams play in their respective NPL competitions), and it got scrapped after a season, as the local clubs rejected it since the system took all the local clubs best youth players from them. This was the same season that the CoE was disbanded.

We commonly hear the expression:  connect with the grassroots.

To my mind, there has always been a fatal flaw in that thinking:  it presupposes that there is one single elite level, and that everyone and everything below that level is subservient to the elite level.

For example, if you're in a junior South Melbourne team, why should you feel the need to "connect" to an A-League team?  Aren't you dreaming of helping South Melbourne get into the top division?

So we should get rid of the Jets and replace them with Edgeworth Eagles? Get rid of the Glory and replace them with Floreat Athena? Look what happened in Adelaide. In the NSL you had two clubs both with limited drawing power (crowd averages were usually 3-4000), which both eventually went bust. Then Adelaide Utd came in and suddenly were getting 12k+ to games. That was undeniably a positive for the game. The same should apply to regional centres like Canberra, Hobart, Gold Coast, NQ, or even suburban fringes like Dandenong, Penrith, Ipswich.

If you want a viable second division, it is going to have to be a mix of established NPL clubs from the big cities, and all-embracing regional entities. Otherwise the latter will be cut out of the picture and you end up having no pathway for player development (which is a big issue right now for these areas).

Just shows then that the model of planting regional clubs on top of an existing club environment is dumb really. 

FA have resources but it could create a backlash 

i am pro clubs every form. Old new franchise private NFP. We don’t need rules. Only rewards for success.

Every club will need to be innovative in their revenue streams, so getting significant youth development returns has to be a top priority. 

Brommapojkarna (The Bromma Boys) who I have talked about with the large youth was set up as a youth club. They have been a yo-yo team to Allsvenskan. But remain a focused production factory which is their meaning. Eventually their better players are sold.

With FFA you teams limitations wouldn’t having FA youth teams be an option? Of course there is a funding question but couldn’t Football NSW have an “excellence” team up to 21-22 year olds that play in a NSD NPL league system? 

Because let’s not pretend it won’t be like now with Nichols and Smeltz playing for GC knights and united. I don’t think it is a bad thing to have ex AL players in a NSD.

This was my point from the other day bit expressed from another point of view. People saying we should just have a Sydney/Melbourne NSD miss this point. It should just be the best clubs that meet the criteria and can stay there through P & R.

I can't see how entering a team (youth team, really) in the lower leagues first would stop a prospective bid being seen as a broadbased bid, but maybe that's just me. If some youngsters for a prospective Canberra United or Tasmania FC team played a season or two in their local leagues first they'd never be accepted? I think the opposite is true.


Merging clubs would mean a net loss of long established clubs which would be a loss to our game. I can't agree with this.

We have to lose this idea of representing regions.
The only thing which matters is that a club does enough to win promotion, doesn't matter where they come from, doesn't matter whether NSW has 10 teams or zero teams in the comp, doesn't matter whether a club has 10,000 members or 50.
A club like South Melbourne doesn't have to amalgamate with anyone, nor does it have to represent a geographic area, it already has a fan base.
It just needs a chance to win promotion.

That wouldn't work for teams like Canberra and Tasmania, as they should ideally represent the whole region (the way Newcastle Jets do for NNSW). If they spend several years scrapping around in their state leagues, then they just become one of a couple of dozen of clubs for locals to support, and end up developing rivalries with existing clubs and thus alienating potential future fans. 

Likewise, Team 11 did at least manage to get backing from most of the existing clubs in the Dandenong-Casey area, who are unlikely to make the step up to a national division by themselves. I could see a similar thing happening in places like Penrith or Ipswich. I don't see a problem with an entity like that parachuting into a second division, as long as they are rooted in the area's football ecosystem.

I also wonder if some NPL mergers to create superclubs might not be on the cards. Things like Adelaide City-Adelaide Blue Eagles, West Adelaide-Adelaide Olympic, Avondale-Moreland Zebras, South Melbourne-Port Melbourne, Perth SC-Bayswater all make sense (in the sense that they teams draw on a similar geographic area and ethnic community for their support base).

In the case to get this up and running I wouldn’t mind a license fee. But, you get it back when you get relegated and that is covered by the team that gets promoted. 

Every one pays when they come in every time. Keep this as long as needed. Doesn’t need to be much.

Ideally we'd be in an environment where the first thing a newly created first or second division bid would do is form a club ahead of time and enter it way down the tiers in their local area, giving prospective fans a rallying point to demonstrate demand.

Imagine if Team11 (who are interested in a second tier spot) spent $10k on putting together a team of youngsters in State League 5 South and ten thousand fans showed up so they could say that they were at their club's first ever official match and signed up as prospective inaugural season ticket holders of an A-League team.

Unfortunately in the current Lowy-derived system, existing clubs way down the pyramid are seen as icky, so I see why past bidders haven't tried this approach.

Another advantage of this approach would be the opportunity to become a legitimate member of the AAFC.

The model isn’t confirmed.

The model yesterday calls for immediate connection with the NPL leagues via P & R from day 1. 

Existing clubs carry baggage and are harder to control given their established structures. That likely explains why many prefers to start a new project instead. 

The threat of relegation from the get go may be a deterrent for new entities. Pity these new owners dont invest in existing clubs instead of starting their own.

But I think AL teams would be on the same wicket with their youth teams if FFA can work it out. 

AL youth teams has to fit into this somehow. 

Yeah I meant BC. Hakoah are a member of AAFC that’s why I thought they would attend 

Informative article

Johnson with more “do I like it? Yes”

but states pretty much - FFA will run NSD and AL won’t be independent until FFA start running a NSD.

Also touches on PFA “NPL on planes” and how that sentiment remains

Ellenbrook United and Rockingam City from W.A., not sure if they’re actually interested in joining a NSD though.

https://www.espn.com.au/football/australian-a-league/story/4166284/australia-ready-to-focus-on-national-second-division-ffa-ceo-james-johnson?platform=amp&__twitter_impression=true

BC is a surprise not on the list but re Hakoah, I feel it could be the Lowy background influence not to be part of it, arrogance and struggling in PL2 at present not that that would matter.
Surprised SU58 is missing as mentioned.

Interesting with a reconfiguration to no salary cap the NSD comp is potentially taking on the IAL with ambitious NSD clubs whether new consortium's or refinanced existing NPL and or ex NSL clubs being enabled to out bid IAL clubs for the best players. 

Unfortunately, a womens NSD might be one bridge too far.
But I can see that might be problematic, and might end up putting the kybosh on the whole thing.

Curious about how they go about setting up a women's NSD. I hope entry into the men's league is not dependant on whether a club can also enter a womens team. More financially viable for clubs to enter one league or the other. Also makes promotion and relegation more straight forward in that the two leagues (men's and women's) will not be aligned in their club makeup.

Surprised me that 5 of the clubs listed are from the Newcastle area (Broadmeadow Magic, Newcastle Olympic, Lake Macquarie City, Edgeworth Eagles and Maitland Magpies).

Though presumably the NSD would be open to new entities. Depending on how future A-League expansion goes I can see Canberra, Hobart, Dandenong, Geelong, Penrith, Townsville, Fremantle and possibly Auckland represented by newly formed clubs. Some could have tie-ins with their federations.

The Aafc currently only represents NPL clubs.