I have to admit I love Cockerills use of the word ooze!

It has so much meaning.

Edited by Arthur: 17/9/2013 03:50:57 PM

If you get the qualifications now you'd have a better chance than ever before. There are going to be a lot of clubs looking for qualified coaches as the NPL rules kick in. Once you're coaching you work your way up. Results can't be ignored.

I would love to get into coaching as playing the game now just results in me paying to be injured on the sidelines. My legs are ruined from trying too hard to make it.

However from talking to people I would never get a look in at most clubs. So whats the point.

^^ This ^^

There are so many factors that go into making a good coach - having played the game at a high level is way down the list.

The ex-player makes a good coach thing is a myth. However it is a very popular myth.

I could fork out thousands of $$$, however not get a look in at even coaching a youth side because I don't have the player pedigree.

I just give up trying to convince people, say maradonna and walk out.

I also doubt many of them will actually make good coaches and/or are even interested in being one.

The second tier should consist of the very best available players not currently in the A-League - it shouldn't be a glorified youth league.

That said, I've no problem with A-League franchises fielding 'B' squads/reserve teams in the competition in the same way that the big German and Spanish (etc) clubs do in lower leagues in Europe.

Sick to death of saying it but surely NYL has to become step 1 to the second division.

We need 100s of coaches to work in the NPL... I doubt there are enough former Socceroos to fill the gap.

Where are the quality coaches, get the Socceroos older players retiring and take up coaching our youth.

Time WILL tell.

You've never heard of Cockerill? How long have you been involved in the game here, 2 months?


As for the supposed 'gulf' in quality between the two... I've no doubt that there's a signficicant gap in quality between some State Leagues and the A-League. However, I dont think it's that great between the VPL/NSWPL and the A-League. There have been players who have made the step up quite comfortably, while some players have stepped back down and struggled.

The key difference is the fitness/full time factor. Plenty of players running around the State Leagues who could match it in the A-league technically

[/quote]

The guy you claim has rocks in his head is a HAL coach.:)

He has played in Europe in a big league.

I understand the "dilution" argument. As an education policy maker I spend a lot of time looking at the research about "elite education” and the right models for its delivery and the development of human and social capital generally. I think the level of "dilution" proposed is not a concern, mainly because all the research supports the argument that of all the WITHIN institution variables, the quality of the educator is far more important than the quality or distribution of the facilities. This is putting to one side the broader problem that good learning rarely comes from quality institutions anyway, rather it comes from the broader social and economic culture of the learner. This explains why dirt poor people with only football to love live in some of the greatest football nations on earth and England are just plain shit relative to their clear advantage. The trouble with football development in wealth, non-traditional markets like Australia and the US is that we can’t rely on poverty/monopoly (fortunately) or institutions – but we can insist on quality instructors to make the greatest impact possible within the cultural constraints we face.

On the PPS, I honestly can't say. I have very carefully gone back through the case law and looked at the relevant legislation (Corporations Act, free trade provisions of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia and the relevant aspects of the Trade Practices Act) and I think this will be a very close run legal question. I, for one, hope it is challenged by the PFA because it will resolve the matter one way or another. If I were a betting man, I would expect it to survive in a modified form. But that is an educated guess - nothing more.

My final observation on this is that if your biggest concern about the model is "the FFV's refusal to engage with anyone with regard to the structure of the league" then I put it to you, with genuine respect, that you are clearly not separating out the “politics” from the “policy”. I have a different view about the consultation, but regardless, views about the consultation (from anyone, including me) are no substitute for cool headed evaluation of the model. They are certainly no sub statute for legal reasoning in a court.

Anyway – as I say. Time will tell.

I don't want to be a harbinger of doom and gloom for the NPL, but a HAL coach told a mate of mine that too many players find the gulf in class from the NPL to the HAL too hard to close. It is a cause of concern for him.

That was only a few months ago.

Cockerill has always talked up the NPL or old state leagues. He isn't an active stakeholder in football.

I wonder what Cockerill's football background is to make these assumptions? I don't think he knows enough about the game for his opinions to have any merit.

Empirically, the NPL players are currently not good enough for the HAL, but the new model improves the pre-conditions for closing the gap.







Edited by Decentric: 12/9/2013 04:00:28 PM

NPL and an end of season Champions League will, I'm sure, become part of the mechanism for promotion (and possibly relegation) in the future - I don't doubt that. However, as a tool for developing players rather than providing expansion options, it suffers through keeping the player pool too widely diluted. That's my biggest problem with it being the second tier competition. I've been on that train for a few years though.

PPS is a red herring. It won't happen in its current format, I have zero concern about that one.

Administration of zoning, finances, and viability/competitiveness of teams are my biggest concerns with the current model. No, strike that, the FFV's refusal to engage with anyone with regard to the structure of the league is my biggest concern. They want regional teams? They could have them easily. They want to have youth players signed on a zonal basis? That would be relatively easy to agree with clubs too.

In very broad terms I am for the reforms proposed in the NPL-V, however I think there are very specific issues that need to be addressed around the (1) administration of zoning, (2) the financial model and (3) the PPS - none of which are insurmountable in my view.

While I do not share the same LEVEL of concern about these issues as is stated in some of the hysterical communication from clubs (although they may be right about the PPS, but which is a good idea that only a court will kill) - but I do acknowledge that they are EACH areas that would benefit from careful design and a slow transition.

In terms of getting to a truely national Div 2 - the NPL (Vic or otherwise) is just the first step on what I hope is a long journey to some carefull "promotion only" (i.e. expansion) down the track and sometime when I am a fair bit ilder I guess, tue "promotion and relegation".

Edited by mahony: 12/9/2013 03:06:29 PM

As I said, NPL is a huge step forward... Without knowing your views about national div 2 or the role of regional teams I can't comment on whether we differ or not. End of the day I suspect we share many very similar opinions, the vast majority of your posts haven't expressed any opinion at all, merely highlighted the technicalities of the legal process. It would be interesting to know what your opinions are though.

You and I may have diffeent views about how to get to a National Div 2 and the role regional teams should play - but I broadly agree with what you write here and Mike's article.

This is truely a revolutionalry reform that, only in part, is actualy about the competition structure itself. The NPL is about so much more than that.

1. Is the NPL system going to end up being like the American College system where clubs become like schools?

2. I don't like this forced regionlisation. If all the elligible bids came from the metro area so be it. In South Australia, Mt Gambier is mentioned but in South Australia what other regional teams could there be? out of 30 FFSA clubs there are only 1 regional team and that is in Port Pirie. Are we talking Riverland, Murray Bridge, Port Lincoln, Victor Harbor???

3. With WA they have said there will be expansion around 2015/16 so teams like Rockingham, Mandurah City and Bunbury could be playing at the highest possbile state league level sometime soon.

4. What is the bloody point of the AIS playing in Capital Football NPL for two thirds of the season. Either they play the same number of games or just get rid of them as a side.

5. what should be the maximum number of teams in the NPL first division. 8-14 teams?

6. As of 2014 with the 8 state league teams who finish first past the post participating in the the NPL national Playoffs is this an indicator that we will be evenutally getting rid of grand finals and having a proper football league and a cup competition that will feed into the FFA cup??? Promotion/Relegation should be implementing from NPL up and not A-League down.

All I can think of at this stage.

Edited by Timmo: 12/9/2013 12:05:50 PM

most of it i agree with. i also share his concerns re the points system.
my biggest gripe with the npl is that for all of the advances in terms of coaching credentials, facilities and the like, the fact of the mater is that the participating clubs are expected to fulfill all of these obligations, and yet they get zero financial suppor from their governing bodies. it is in fact the opposite, to compete in the nsw npl youre looking at around $40k in participation fees. to put that into context, if you finish minor premiers and win the GF, you get just under $40k.

so on the one hand, clubs are expected to train their kids 9 months, have top coaches, facilities and the like- and yet theyre getting absolutely slugged for it.

this needs to be addressed.

It's not as cut and dried as that. I've no problem with more regional teams so long as it's not at the expense of teams who've earned their place at the top. The club's model is to retain the top 2 divisions and re-brand them as NPLV and NPLV-1, with two regional sides added to each division. I'd actually go further - increasing the top two divisions to 16 each, with the top 16 going into NPLV, the remaining 8 into NPLV-1 with 8 regional sides joining them.

The current FFV model appears to be to have 6 regional sides, leapfrong the entire structure and join 6 metro clubs (selected on a zonal basis rather than on footballing merit).


Edited by Benjamin: 12/9/2013 09:18:33 AM

You need regional interest for regional teams. You will lose players if they have to travel ages to play. No one wants to be playing in Melbourne in the top league and then get shafted off to Bairnsdale. Who will compensate them? Where will the money come from.

This, and and i agree with Cockerill on the need for more regional teams(I'm aware you don't Benjamin:P)

Edited by iridium1010: 12/9/2013 12:02:00 AM

Two things...

1 - The NPL is a huge step forward in terms of providing uniform coaching standards and higher standards of professionalism across all clubs. However, it still doesn't provide the genuine missing link between state football and the A-league. For that we still need a national second division. With a talent pool as relatively shallow as ours, we can't have the best of the non-A-League talent playing across 80 or so teams - they need to be condensed into 10-16 teams, so that they are all playing with and against the best of their peers. And they need to be playing at the same time as the A-League, so that when the A-League sides need to add to their rosters - to replace injured talent, or players transferred overseas, or those who simply haven't made the grade - they can dip into the 2nd tier for match-fit players who are already at a competitive level.

Ideal format would be to have the state leagues playing their current season, then have the NPL leagues playing 'behind' the A-League - this would provide all of the part-time NPL players with a source of income during the 'off season', creating an additional 100-150 full time professional football positions in Australia. Combined with the better coaching, that could only be good for the game.

2 - Victoria... No matter what happens over the next few weeks, the NPL-V WILL kick off in 2014. Either the FFV has their way and kicks it off with their selected sides, or the 53 breakaway clubs have their way and it kicks off with 2 divisions of established clubs. NPL either way.

National Premier Leagues ooze potential

Mike Cockerill
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 5:41 PM

We're not even one season into the NPL evolution, but already it's proved to be a resounding success. While bitter experience, and the lessons of history, teach you to take nothing for granted, I can see the NPL changing the face of our game beyond recognition. Finally we address the missing link in the pyramid - between the commercial end (Hyundai A-League/Socceroos) and the grassroots - and look what we reveal. Potential.

That potential was illuminated by record crowds in Brisbane (4,000) and Newcastle (5,200) for their recent grand finals. Hopefully we'll see another bumper gate for the NSW grand final in Penrith this weekend.

Two years ago I was at Belmore Sportsground when more than 10,000 showed up for the title-decider between Sydney Olympic and Sydney United, and thousands more fans gave up waiting to buy tickets and walked away.

I'm not sure if that was the moment the policy-makers at the FFA finally decided they needed to give some love to the semi-pro level of our game, but what it did prove is that it could no longer be ignored. Fast forward to 2013 and we have the NPL blueprint rolled out in five states, and the response has been little short of startling. By most of the key indicators - crowds, facilities, coaching and media coverage - the NPL has delivered above expectations. I can't see why the other major KPI - sponsorship dollars - won't eventually follow.

That's not to say the NPL rollout has been perfect. There are legitimate gripes about the Player Points System (PPS), which effectively discriminates against players above the age of 25. And I remain disappointed that NSW, ACT and South Australia haven't seized the opportunity to widen their embrace the way Queensland and Tasmania have. If the NPL is to truly fulfill it's charter, then regional areas like Bathurst/Orange, Griffith, Wagga, Albury and Mount Gambier must be engaged. Sadly, Northern NSW - by ignoring the huge catchment north of the Hunter River - and Western Australia - who for reasons best known to themselves have cut the Peel region and Bunbury out of the reckoning - have opted to compound those mistakes when they join the NPL next season. Hopefully, in the passage of time, all our states will come to appreciate that regional football is a significant part of the equation.

Which brings me to Victoria, the problem child of the NPL reform processs. With mediation and potentially court action on the agenda, I don't intend to take sides. What I can say is that the interest shown by regional towns such as Ballarat, Geelong, Torquay, Bendigo and Shepparton is encouraging. When the dust settles, hopefully they'll be in the mix.

Less encouraging, of course, is that with the state body and more than 50 of its leading clubs still at odds over the terms of reference, time is running out. With any luck communication, and compromise, can resolve the issues and Victoria will complete the set in 2014. It goes without saying that the NPL won't be what it could be without one of the game's biggest states.

Truth is, it was always going to be difficult, emotional, adversarial and exhausting to bring the lower tiers of football back into the fold. These are the clubs with history, and knowledge, and football culture, ingrained in their DNA. On their sweat and toil - literally - the game built more than a century of achievement, and tradition, before the Hyundai A-League came along and swept them to the margins. Re-uniting 'Old Soccer' with 'New Football' was always going to be a challenge, and it's a tribute to all those involved that, with any luck, we'll have all our states signed on for the NPL in 2014.

That's not to say the job will then be over. Far from it. My guess is it will take at least five years before the NPL even starts to fulfill its potential. But already we've seen how exciting that potential is, and I've got no doubt this level of football will become the envy of those rival codes who've had a head start but will eventually be left in the wake.


The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not reflect those of Football Federation Australia.

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/cockerill-opinion-display/National-Premier-Leagues-ooze-potential/74684