I couldn't imagine what it would be like in FNSW's territory with over 70k 18+ players if it was organised like that.

“Gallop is, however, concerned that a second tier could be a drain on the finances of A-League clubs, increasing their average losing margin of $1 million-$1.5 million a season to $2 million“ ....

That sums the ffa up.

Plus it’s also how he’ll drive a wedge between AAFC and AAPFC - you can have your second tier but you’ll have to vote against those nasty AAPFC boys and/or you owners can have more money but you’ll have to vote against those nasty AAFC boys.

It’s football. We’re unique. And we’re fucked.

Its also a tactic to scare A-League fans and send them into a frenzy. 

That spin must have made you quite dizzy...  Put their hand up?  They were against it until they realised they had lost the Victorian vote then it was panic stations.

You keep telling yourself that. 

What you don't understand is the importance of building Football Culture.
If we don't develop Football Culture there will be no fans for the A-League.
There will be no players of the level we need to build international success.
There will not be enough infrastructure to cater for players.

If money becomes a problem for a particular Club there will be 10 ready to take their place.

No fans for the A-League?  What were the 35,000 that turned up to watch a game in Melbourne AFL heartland and Sydney NRL heartland.  No fans, please.

The reason why the A-league can't turrn players in to fan is because we have a gazillion tin pot clubs, each with a copile of 100 fans all of whom are wrapped up in their tin pot clubs to not give a fig about any other club outside of it, but rock up  on Monday with EPL replica shirts.

BTW, you mentioned that State clubs pay players $1k per game.  For farken what?  Being a shit kicker?  Its no wonder parents are forking out $1000 in fees when basketball and AFL charge about $150- all these shit kickers need to supplement their weekly wage. 

And what do parents get for the hundreds of millions that they throwing at State Federations- where are are your players playing as seniors- oh yeah the local tin pot State league club.  Its a a Ponzi scheme funded by gullible parents.

Because the is no where else to go for players with only 9 Australia professional clubs. This second division is about providing opporunities and pathways for youth to professional football.

Quote 35,000 all you want but next year you'll be quoting 32,000 the year after 30,000 and so on so forth. The only people interested in the A-League are supporters of those 10 clubs, there is no growth and no plans to grow.
You bring in a second division and all of a sudden 16 groups of new fans to the summer season. Whether the numbers in those groups are great or small they are still more numbers... growth.  

Until there is chance for everyone to be represented, from Tassie to Perth to Nth Qld, then support for the professional game will stagnate. A second division is the quickest way to that!

To add to my previous post..

What you will also see happen is, for example, if Melbourne Knights are in the 'Championship' all of a sudden supporters of North Geelong and St.Albans(if they aren't in second division) grow an interest in MKFC and the 'Championship.' They become feeder/pathway clubs to MKFC so their youth have a chance at a higher level. It doesn't happen now because they are competing against each other for players and supporters. Yes their alliance is based on ethnic heritage but that is no different to  Northern Tasmanians having an interest in a Hobart club playing in a second division, only its based on a geographic alliance not their heritage.  

Players have nowhere to go?  Football is played everywhere in the world!  They can go anywhere in the world.  But they don't, because they're shit!  Thy can't even make it to the A-league.

The local clubs are conning gullible parents to fork over thousands using what players earn in Europe as the carrot.  Yet none of the kids they coach actually ever get there and make it. Instead, the parents money is being used to pay shitkicker seniors to play in front of 50 people. This is scandalous!

This is season has had a lack luster start because very little has been spent on marketing and promotion, and the clubs have not invested in any note-worthy marquees.  The governance uncertainty has played its part in that.

The second division will bring in the same 100-200 fans per game that show up per club today.  Even if they double that its two fifths of fuck all.  These clubs will never grow to 10,000 plus fans because the fans are spread thin over too many local clubs.

Football as a spectator sport in this country is limited because half the fans watch A-League, and the other half go the club they have some personal connection with- kids play, partners play, they're on the committee and therefore are on the take, they're Cro, Serb, Maco, Greek or Itals.  Thats it.

I have no objection to a second division- as long as they stand on their own two feet and don't drag the A-League down with them.

the creation of a 2nd tier with real clubs scares plastic fans like enzo, roberts/paulc, because they know the "tinpot" clubs will attract serious interest from the 80% of players who currently arent interested in the stale pensioner franchise league. 

And lets be realistic, i cant imagine it would be that hard for 2nd tier on SBS to beat current HAL ratings on Ten.

BULLSHIT.  The fans of St Albans and North Geelong will not give a fig about Melbourne Knights.  They're all Cros, but different clubs, with their own committees and pyramids of power.  They will not undermine their club to become feeders for another club.

 like asking an Alexander fan to go and watch Hellas.  NOT HAPPENING.

Those 80% of players are interested in THEMSELVES!  The juniors are hoping to be scouted and "Make it" as pros, and their seniors are hoping their $1000 per game keeps rolling in to supplement their real job.  They're no interested in attending games as spectators, or watching games on SBS2.

Yes lets be realistic- The second division will collapse because you can only ask parents for so much money before they cotton on that they are being scammed.  and thats fine, but the problem is when they start to stick their hand out for A-League money.

You have no idea do you. Socceroos Culina, Pondeljak, Horvat, Franjic & Spiranovic to name a few, started at feeders St Albans & North Geelong, before moving to Knights & then onwards. Best you stop ranting as you are embarrassing yourself.

I'm sure no A-League player is interested in themselves or their career.

And took the St Albans and North Geelong fans with them, right?  Best you stop posting, full stop.

You know it, I know it, this is just a money grab from clubs who want to ride on the A-league owners coat tails who have lost millions, whilst these same tin pots with their 60 year histories get 200 people to a derby.

The A-League cannot be just about Melbourne and Sydney.
And Football Culture is about educating the newcomer to the sport how the game should look.
That no we don't clap the 11yo who can kick the ball 50 metres. We clap the kid that can dribble past 3 kids or we clap when 2 kids outplay 3 or 4 opponents with inter play.
We don't say get rid of it.

North Geelong and St. Albans were feeder clubs to knights in the NSL days, go on YouTube and watch north Geelongs 1992 vpl triumph, then see how many of those players ended up at knights. They're all sister clubs and knights would pick up those fans,

This wouldn't happen with south and Heidelberg because unlike the clubs above they hate eachother and in all likelihood both would be in the championship anyway. South playing in the summer though would be a massive off field move, it moves the club directly out of competition with oakleigh, Kingston, bentleigh, port Melbourne, northcote etc and you would find those local type fans would be more open to going to lakeside during the summer when nothing else is on as they did in the NSL days,

People think playing in winter is just about crap weather and competing against afl/nrl, those are factors, big ones in fact, but the biggest factor of all is your npl all the way down to the provisional leagues compete against eachother, and then you have juniors, a 2nd tier played in summer would only be competing against A league and nothing else, the teams that are in the championship are gonna get x10 the crowds they ordinarily get now.

So what?  There's about 200 of them.  They and their families irrelevant in the context of attendances and viewership that numbers in the tens or hundreds of thousands.  Whereas for the State League clubs, they and their families ARE the fans and the spectators.  All 100's of them.

Because the A-League clubs aren't losing millions. Only the a-league clubs are piggying off the millionaires they sink piss into them.

I know you are panicking because your plastic monopoly is coming to an end and you know the foreign pensioners just wont be able to keep up with the young aussie kids in the 2nd div. The facts hurt and you dont know where to turn so you are just lashing out. It's OK, you may become a HAL bitter for while but you will get over it.

ps who did you think went to the Knights games when they were in the NSL, the Bentleigh Greeks (sorry mean Greens) supporters? 

This thread is s disgrace - full of ExNSL bitters
SELF INTEREST
There is no way in hell this BS league will take off
It’s 2017 and your exNSL club is never coming back
Got it

‘16 groups of new fans ‘
That’s 16x0 equals 0
There are no fans that can come from this BS league.
Everyone has already jumped ship — ask the Hellas bitters - 99% have gone to MV
The 1% that remain that’s 20 people pollute this forum with BS daily as per this stupid topic

Am I an NSL bitter if I support a 2nd Div and pro/rel, but never went to a single NSL game?

Pretty expensive lesson.  Parents deserve to know where their $1000 dollars go.

0 is still better than the negatives the A-League produces each season.

Come on pauly, even Gallop & Lowy are believers now, come lets do this together, Hollandia, Hollandia, Hollandia.....  

What about the $4,000 Roar academy kids are paying because Roar cant get a shirt front sponsor

This thread is full of posters who are members/supporters/affiliated with NPL clubs.

Of course they are for "The Sweatshop".

Me, as a Victory member, I'd like to see a second division of fully professional clubs, and eventually pro/rel, but I'm extremely wary of the plastic mono-ethnic social clubs (pretending to be football clubs), given their history of holding the game back, their cash grab from juniors, their poor administration and also the current poorly put together AAFC proposal.

Yep same here.

The Championship excites me because being from Tassie I'm (finally) realistic that this is my best chance of having a team to support on the national level. Even if I go watch my local NPL club play now against South Hobart or Olympia or whatever Tassie side ends up in The Championship I'm still going to get behind the Tasmanians in the summer.