Actually that happened, quite a few regional teams are in, which is great.

The pyramid is ok, the NPL and then the State Leagues vertically and the 12 affiliated regional leagues below them. Some teams have moved from the regional leagues to climb the State League ladder, like Sebastopol Vikings, but it'll be great to see some tiny teams have their chance to put themselves on the map with the cup.

Red Devils members call for special meeting into club's corporate structure

Brendan Wrigley@brendan_wrigley
23 Aug 2016, 5:31 p.m.

See your ad hereSee your ad hereMembers of the Ballarat Red Devils have called for a special meeting which could see a new club formed in order to change the organisation’s corporate structure. Special meeting: The Ballarat Red Devils will hold a special meeting on September 15 which could see a new club formed in order to change the club's governing structure.Set to be held at Morshead Park on September 15, club members will get to vote on a recommendation put forward by the Red Devils’ board which could remove the influence of the Ballarat Red Devils Investment Company, owned by former chairman Duncan Smith.  Under the club’s current structure, the investment company is allocated three of the 11 seats on the board, with six seats allocated to the members club and the remaining two allocated to the Ballarat and District Soccer Association.
Currently the investment company is not occupying any of its allocated seats.  Smith, who is currently overseas, is unable to fill a seat himself due to having his membership revoked earlier this year. Red Devils board member Michael Bardsley said the influence of the investment group made it difficult for the club to function independently.“The current corporate structure with the entanglement of the members club and the investment group doesn’t allow for appropriate governance,” Bardsley said.  “It places far too much importance on the investment company’s role in the running of the club.”
At the Red Devils’ 2015 annual general meeting in November, Bardsley and fellow board members John Livingston and Andrew Burgess were asked to look into the corporate management of the club.  Bardsley said the board would hand down their findings into at the special meeting. 
Any changes to the club structure would need the support of 75 per cent of the membership.The scheduled meeting comes as the Reds look to extend their National Premier Leagues license with Football Federation Victoria.  Ballarat was one of the first clubs to gain a license when the competition began in 2013. Smith has been contacted for comment.

Red Devils membership votes to form new NPL club

Brendan Wrigley@brendan_wrigley
16 Sep 2016, 8:18 a.m.

See your ad hereSee your ad hereMembers of the Ballarat Red Devils have voted unanimously to form a new entity which is set to become Ballarat’s National Premier Leagues club for 2017, all-but ensuring the demise of the current organisation.At a special meeting on Thursday night members were presented with two options for the future of the club.  The first would have seen the club continue under its current structure, where the current board would have resigned.The second option which was chosen was for members to request the club’s NPL license be assigned to a new legal entity. A letter of support for the proposal from Football Federation Victoria was tabled at the meeting, giving the board a green light to transfer the club’s license.Ballarat Red Devils director Michael Bardsley said a working party featuring senior members of the club had been set up to determine a name for the new entity, which would be decided in the next two months.  
The decision will remove the influence of the Ballarat Red Devils Investment Company, which is owned by former Red Devils chairman Duncan Smith. 
Smith was instrumental in securing the Reds’ place in the inaugural NPL season in 2014, and also played a big role in advocating for the development of the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility. 
Smith stepped down from the club’s top job in May last year. In March this year he had his membership revoked by the board for unbecoming behaviour.
Speaking to The Courier from England, Smith said he created the investment company up during the club’s expansion into the NPL to protect the history and the financial stability of the club.  Smith also denied allegations of poor behaviour during his time at the club. The new club’s structure will bring it in line with the vast majority of other clubs within the NPL competition.Red Devils board member Andrew Burgess said it was crucial a new club was formed to ensure it could truly represent the Ballarat region in the state competition.  
The club had been known as the Ballarat Soccer Club and Ballarat United prior to changing to its current name.
“This is not just a rebranding of what was the Red Devils,” Burgess said. “We will be going to the community and opening the new club to the entire region.“While we have tried hard to do that in the past the Red Devils have suffered as people still see the club as Ballarat Soccer Club rather than the region’s representative team.”Members of the Red Devils board have also previously hit out at the difficulty of running the club in conjunction to the investment company.  
The members club constitution allows three of the 11 board seats to be filled by representatives of the investment company, although these seats are currently vacant.  “(The current structure) places far too much importance on the investment company’s role in the running of the club,” Bardsley said in the lead-up to Thursday’s meeting at Morshead Park. The current board of the Red Devils comprised of Bardsley, Burgess, Katie Spurgo, Herman Bogers, Tony Irish and John Livingston will take control of the new organisation. 

Geez

Absolutely. Desperate measures to get rid of one bloke's influence but at least the FFV is supporting the club to do so.