If NZ joins Asia,,, and if we are all committed to some sort of ANZ league, then yeh, chuck in Auckland and Christchurch maybe in the 2nd division to start off with, to spice up things and let them earn their way up. The finance and funding has gotta be fair though.
But I can't see that happening anytime soon. Hang in there Nomates!

Nothing wrong with adding Auckland if there's enough money behind it. Perhaps not ahead of some other Aus teams first, but the NZ derby would be great! Why couldn't we keep the two NZ teams separate from ACL considerations and they could be entered into the Oceania cup/tournament/however they decide the Oceania spot for Club World Cup.

Once we go to 12 teams we'd be entitled to four slots in the ACL, if it weren't for the Nix.

Is there a guarantee of 4 slots considering our performances?

From what I've read we're about to lose our 2nd automatic qualification in the 2021 season slot to Thailand now that Jets haven't progressed into the group stage, meaning we would be down to 1+2. 

Wonder who gets the auto qualification spot should this happen (Assume GF winner instead of regular season). 

Ok for me if NZ joins Asia and they find a boutique rectangular stadium.

Good!

Why not Auckland & Canberra?   

1. 12.1.  To meet the sporting criteria, a club must have earned one (1) of the following (which shall be utilised in descending order for seeding purposes for any draw):
2. 12.1.1. winner of the national top division league; 
3. 12.1.2. winner of the national knock-out cup;
   12.1.3. runner-up of the national top division league; 
4. 12.1.4. third-place of the national top division league.

You and Rob are related aren't you?

Na not me man, I'm from Detroit.

On current points we're above Thailand, 64.752 points to 42.568. Has someone already crunched the numbers for 2021?

https://twitter.com/nikimbaev/status/1056437744661135360



Unless the way the ACL allocates spots drastically changes we're in big trouble for 21/22 and onwards. Need us and Sydney to go on a good run (knockout wins vital) whilst hoping Thai clubs get grouped. 

But aren't the 2021 and 2022 seasons based on rankings at the end of the 2019 season, assuming the current method stays in place?

I think that's what his tweet says, and makes sense as 2019 and 2020 use the rankings from 2017. Lower down he replies saying "Mine is 75% on the way to 2021 - 2022", notice how the 2019 column is blank? It also isn't counting National Team FIFA rankings, which should account for 10% of the score.

That should mean we at least have this ACL season to make up for it, hopefully both Victory and Sydney get some good results, and Thailand only has one team in the Group Stage, Buriram, who made the Ro16 last time but this time are in with Urawa, Korean champs Jeonbuk and Beijing Goan so hopefully don't pick up too many points. We can safely assume Nix will be gone by 2021, so hopefully we can get those four slots!

Also important to note that the current entry manual runs from 2017 to 2020, and rules may change for 2021 onwards.

Yeah we have this season, which is why its important for both of our participants to do well. Probably a blessing that Newcastle didn't qualify as them getting smashed each week would have killed us.  Having a read of the rules and taking note that points are averaged out with multiple participants, with our current deficit of 5 points, we'd have to have our teams earn (cumulative) 11 more points than Buriram to overtake them. 

Fortunately it seems that averaging only applies for clubs in the Group Stage, check the appendix at the end of the entry manual. For example, in 2018 Victory got 8 points and Sydney got 6 points in the Group Stage for an average of 7, plus Brisbane's 0.3 points for entry in the Preliminary stage gets you the 7.300 you see in old mate's table.

That should mean Australia will stay on top of Thailand provided Sydney and Victory average 5.5 or 6 points better than Buriram, possibly getting away with 5.0 once the FIFA Rankings get included (if they still do). The bonus three points for making the knockout stage would really help out.

:D:D I new someone would pick that up.

Why is it so complicated

Take the 2 top teams and play off the 3rds in knockouts would sound a simple way but I guess a mate somewhere has a job that relies on all these figures and formulas who gets what, who goes where, etc.

Any complications can be decided by FIFA rankings, and there you have it.