Hear me out.

with the ffa and all clubs running on shoe strings, losing money, etc. sponsorship, possibly broadcasting rights. This is a blessing in disguise. 

It could lead to a laxing of rules such as no salary cap, no minimum floor apart from minimum wage, stadium requirements could also be reduced as clubs struggle to be able to pay out their contracts. 

What this means ? could this be the revival of old football and new soccer ? Could this be the catalyst to free the game and bring in promotion and relegation and allow clubs to spend by their own means naturally in order to survive ? 

This is what we should be pushing for. If the A-league as we know it does die, it’s rebirth, could be beautiful. 

It's not guaranteed, but I agree it pushes us further along that path.
We would have stayed on the old path for antoher 10+ years.

I agree 100%

This could be the new beginning we crave for.

Let's hope so man. They game in it's current format was dying.

We need some fresh ideas and excitement back.

Just make NPL Vic national league with invitational (applicant)  teams in their pyramid.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/aleague-salary-cap-crisis-club-owners-discuss-cutting-cap-in-half/news-story/d1ad4979651f8da2947afec08952af56

It takes a particularly perverse view to see that a major event causing a cash rises in football, might lead to a relaxing or removal of a measure designed to constrain costs.  If the salary cap alters at all, it will be tightened.  I also think it delays pro rel, for a long long time.

it could issue in a new golden gen as clubs will only be able to field a lot of young local players.

hopefully running a semi pro league opens peoples eyes to the way we can set up and run a 2nd and 3rd tier without having to break the bank.

This is a strong possibility.
We will become a no frills comp, semi-pro, at least a quarter of all lists will be youth players, the whole bench might be youth players.

All this madness has definitely forced the clubs and HAL to rethink and hopefully be more self sufficient.

I think the days of 50% of club losses being the result of discretionary spending will be long gone.

They've gotta open up the domestic transfer market asap - let the rich clubs (Sydney, City and Victory) distribute some of the cash to their poorer cousins via transfer fees.

I'll be disappointed if they slash the cap before trying other methods (you know, as used around the globe) to generate more revenue. Domestic transfer market will be more of a incentive for the likes of the Mariners and Jets than anything else.

I wouldn't mind if the whole A-League was folded and we start all over again. The current stronger clubs will survive and still be here for this.
What Lowy did by appointing by starting the A-League was great at the time, but then things started falling apart with too many restrictions and self imposed rules.
We've learnt from the bad experiences of the Lowy era, we've been nuovo new dawn slapped in the face with some of the inaction of the new group, and to be fair they had alot of legacy stuff to deal with.
If the league does crash because of Covid19, I would imagine any new set up would be run more sensibly that what has happened in the past.

no frills comp sounds more exciting than anything we've had for a long time.

get the teams in. get the tiers. let the ambitious teams and players work through the system building on home grown young talent. stop the restrictions and interference from the ffa and let all the clubs get on with it.

No cap ceiling or floor, squad minimum of 12 pro contract players with a minimum wage each of $65k (for age 21 and over), for any of the clubs going for the minimum chips they can use youth and scholarship players for the rest. Tentpole clubs are allowed to spend as much as they want. Ideally 20 clubs in each of the two national divisions.

A surprising number of 'glass half full' types in this thread.

To be fair, it's a glass half full world we have suddenly all arrived in. 

Alright, what about this for a glass half full outcome that could possibly occur in a post-COVID A-League (based on the above post suggestions); to have an A-League champion team comprising a first eleven comprising of Australian players. 

I think we'd all pay money to see that.  
 

If we come out of this and still think the franchise model is the way forward to may as well call it a day.

It really is striking what an unloved competition the A League has become, even with committed supporters.

However, I really don't think clubs like Melbourne Victory are "franchises" anymore, in the derogatory sense.  These clubs have real tradition and identity now.  The only clubs that feel plastic now are Western United and Melbourne City.  They could disappear and no one would care. 

I suspect CCM will disappear, but I expect all the other clubs bar Western United (what a pointless exercise they are) to survive in a new setup.  City will survive only as long as CFG back them.

Great conversation and some very positive ideas. This crisis is terrible and there will always be dickheads in society but we are seeing a lot of good come out of it as well, and much generosity. There is no reason Australian football can’t emerge as a more exciting, stronger, community based endeavour. And please please let a Canberra team emerge in any new format, in the first or second tier! Our local talent rocks, and under a Paladisious model we would be very competitive in a national comp. finally, as well as getting rid of salary floors and ceilings, allowong clubs to play out of community grounds in the early years is a must!

I would personally align div one and div 2 stadium requirements with the afc 5k capacity for champions league 

If it’s good enough for the pinnacle of Asian football it’s good enough for OZ...

Yep, good points!

“Coronavirus isn’t a problem just for football, it is a worldwide community issue that unfortunately has arrived on our shores,” Mr Filopoulos said. “We need to remain calm and I am positive that if there are good intentions by all members involved and we remain united, then we can find an appropriate solution.”

Mr Filopoulos didn’t leave out the possibility of extending the season until November, as long as the clubs are willing to agree to this.

“We’ll re-examine the situation on 14 April. I admit that in only a week after the postponement of all leagues things have only gotten worse, however I still believe that even we need to move to push the season back even further, we can still avoid the cancellation of the season, as long as we’re all in agreement.”

”Mr Filopoulos didn’t neglect to talk about how far the Victorian NPL has come in these last few years, stating that after the A-League, it is without doubt the greatest football league the country has to offer.

Furthermore, he once again pointed out his stance in support of the creation of a National Second Division, an opinion he had shared in his previews interviews with Neos Kosmos.
 “I believe that we’re ready at this point, because I firmly believe in (FFA) chairman Chris Nikou and all the members of the Board of Directors,” he said. “Finally, the Federation has found a capable person with experience in football, the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) James Johnson, with whom I maintain contact almost on a daily basis and he seems to be in full support of kicking off the Second Division. Both myself and FV chairperson Kimon Taliadoros have played an important role in the development of this new national league, but also in several other key developments that need to be made in football.”
 In closing, Mr Filopoulos also shared a message for the Greek clubs that all have a rich history both within the community and the sport itself: “I would be extremely happy if we see the historical clubs of our community such as South Melbourne Hellas, Heidelberg United or any other team participate in this new league. The only thing I would like to point out is that all interested parties need to work hard on their finances starting now in order to be at a good point for a league with much higher demands.”

https://neoskosmos.com/en/161884/peter-filopoulos-message-of-optimism-for-the-future-of-state-leagues/