+x+x+x+xFor the people in the capital. I saw a suggestion on Facebook the other day(not sure whom) that Canberra United should enter a men's team into the NSW NPL structure. A representative of Capital NPL of sorts and start in the bottom tier and work their way up into the top tier and even a national second division in the future.My question is how would this be supported by the people(and clubs) in Canberra?
This would be amazing for Canberra. Canberra is been left behind at the moment I've worked with CUA in the past and it's hard seeing the best young players Canberra flog the talent in their local leagues and not really get challenged. Canberra is missing exposure to the intensity Sydney offers. It's all good having this regional sides come to Canberra as it means those regional sides get to experience a rise in their normal intensity but it does nothing for the best Canberra players. A team in the NSW NPL would offer a pathway for the best Canberra players to showcase their talents on a bigger stage, while allowing the best young players a more challenging environment against players of the same age. Whether it happens or not who knows probably to much politics involved unfortunately.
Unfortunately i don't think we'll see a club from Canberra join the NSWNPL again without totally destroying the legitamacy of the current CF NPL. At the moment the best players in Canberra get to play maybe one or two games a season against A league teams in trial games so really it is going to be up to the players to move to either the NSWNPL or VICNPL if they really want to chase a career in football
I was told by ACT football stakeholders that when ACT clubs (Belconnen?) played in the NSW state league, they were quite competitive.
In 2000, Belconnen United switched to the
NSW Premier League and were renamed the Belconnen Blue Devils. Belconnen first competed in the NSW Premier League in the
2000-01 season.
[3] The Blue Devils competed in NSW top flight for five straight seasons before a dispute between the Blue Devils management and board of
Football NSW resulted in the club losing its licence to compete in the competition from 2006 onwards.During the club’s brief time competing in
NSW, The Blue Devils enjoyed success, reaching the finals series in each season post their first and becoming league premiers in the
2003-04 season, beating
St George Saints to the title with a +3 goal difference over the South Sydney club. Belconnen started the finals series with a narrow 4-3 overtime loss at McKellar Park to Sydney club
Bankstown City Lions in the major semi-final. This meant The Blue Devils had to compete in the preliminary final while Bankstown advanced straight to the grand final. Belconnen once again played host in the preliminary final against league runner-up and winner of the minor semi-final, St George Saints FC. The Blue Devils were victorious over St George with a 2-1 victory thanks to a brace to Belconnen striker Macor. The victory led Belconnen to reach the 2003-04 NSW Premier League Grand Final, held at
Marconi Stadium, where the Blue Devils faced-off against Bankstown City Lions once again. In front of a crowd of 5,000 the Blue Devils succumbed to two second half goals to lose the grand final 2-0. Bankstown were given a penalty in the sixty-fifth minute that was converted by Saso Boskovski before Belconnen player, Lee Pietrukowski, scored an own goal seven minutes later.
[4]In the
2004-05 season Belconnen won the ‘Challangers League’ by three points over
Marconi Stallions and
Wollongong Wolves after the league split into two groups following the combined league section of the season. As such, Belconnen qualified for the 04-05 finals series along with the top four clubs of the ‘Champions League’. The Blue Devils defied the odds to beat former
NSL club,
Sydney United on penalties 2-2 (7-6) in the qualifying final and
Blacktown City Demons 2-1 in the minor semi-final to reach the preliminary final. 18 June 2005, the Blue Devils took on
Bonnyrigg White Eagles in the preliminary final held in Sydney. The match ended 0-0 after regular time meaning extra time was needed to split the two teams. The White Eagles’ scored twice in the first half of extra time to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the final fifteen minutes of the match. Belconnen scored in the one-hundred and seventeenth minute to set up a tense final few minutes, but the Blue Devils failed to score again, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for Bonnyrigg, who progressed to the grand final.
[5]