Olympic Park wasn’t a bad facility overall but was certainly in need of significant investment. 

“AAFC @AAFClubs · 10h Replying
We’re presenting shortly to all AAFC members around the country via video conference, seeking input. Then ‘The Championship’ draft model will move to final version. EOI then gets released nearly immediately.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/AAFClubs/status/1291243323009536000

Sounds promising.

Looking forward to the EOI's.

Oh look a collaborative body of Australia wide clubs looking to further the interests of football with a viable working second division.  
Oh look a collaborative body of self interested franchises & governing body looking to further the interests of themselves. 

Which one do people prefer?  

Hope there is some transparency in the EOI process but understand that it will be secretive.

Very interested to see if Hakoah want in. 

ofcourse they will, they are investing in White City redevelopment and we all know who is one of the backers :)

https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-cannot-satisfy-everybody-plans-revealed-for-historic-tennis-venue-20200207-p53yu3.html

The below has the usual paywall

White City Paddington: Hakoah Club allay community fears ...

www.dailytelegraph.com.au › newslocal › news-storyJun 17, 2020 - Developers of the White City tennis centre in Paddington say theyre back on track after COVID-19 and have a plan to allay the mounting
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnewslocal%2Fwentworth-courier%2Fhakoah-club-paddington-white-city-traffic-plans-to-be-fixed%2Fnews-story%2Fc7a48fa294a6825e62a3fe728baa785f&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium

YouTube clip

https://ajn.timesofisrael.com/hakoah-on-track-for-white-city-development/

im pretty sure the one grandstand has limited places. But looks like temp seating could be installed.

“Phase one of the development, which was approved in September this year, will see the construction of a full-size artificial turf football field with 260-seat grandstand for the Hakoah Sydney City East FC team (which competes in the National Premier League NSW competition).”
https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/latest-plans-revealed-for-redevelopment-of-sydneys-white-city/

Interesting way of expressing your view.

Looking at the plan endorsed by their board in May this year the AAFC are seeking the alignment of the professional A-League with the semi professional NSD and the NPLs with the latter adopting greater professionalism on a club by club basis as clubs can afford it.  So that is 5% of the football players and clubs covered.  They sought and rightly won representation as a member of FFA for the AAFC and one of their aims is to return membership of State Federations to each club and I think the FFA.  I wonder how they see community football, the other 95%, fits in?

You should follow them on twitter. You don’t need to have an account. But this question you asked pops up and they have answered it numerous times-

”...Logistically it’s incredibly difficult to open up membership & represent over 700 football clubs that exist nationally. We are a volunteer organisation.However the principles we expose apply for all clubs in all leagues. Please refer to our website.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/AAFClubs/status/1280059472442871814

95% should arrange a similar group themselves (of volunteers). Whether they do it by zones, association (state) or nationally.

It’s not really AAFCs problem or responsibility imo

Easiest way would be for FFA to mandate membership is a defined structure and reach out for volunteers if possible.

So why can’t we just run a low budget fully professional NSD? 

I read the authorised documents and media releases on the AAFC website rather than snippets on twitter which are just short grabs of information and spontaneous responses.  One example of this is seen in the tweet you posted.  It mentioned not being able to represent the 700 clubs than exist in Australia when in fact there are over 2,300 clubs in Australia, 700 is the number in the FNSW territory. These sorts of errors of fact are not as likely to occur in considered authorised documents.

I accept that representation of the vast majority of clubs in Australia is not their responsibility but I am interested in their views on how all the parts of football link together both at governance level and operational level.  They have been strong in their view on how their part of football should link with the professional part of football but they haven't said so much on the link with community football and their views on it need to be heard.  

I suspect that they would be supportive of every club and local association being members of their respective State Federation as that is what they want for their members but I would like to know if that is the case.  Would they like to see the German system adopted where every club is not only a member of their local/regional association/state federation but also a member of the DfB  (equivalent to FFA)?  Do they seek at State Federation level to have a higher representation on voting numbers like the A-League does in the FFA congress or do they want "true democracy" that would see the bottom tier of  football, community football, have the largest representation and votes?  

The list goes on of things that it would be good to know what their views are just like it would be good to know the views of local associations and State Federations are so that we can be informed what everyone is thinking about how football should be set up and work.  Hopefully out of it all we might end up with a better FFA Constitution, better leadership structure, better administration and better operation of football across the country.

I assume the 700 number that is commonly bandied around has links to the FFA Cup participation number.

I understand but AAFC and FFA have been very quiet to outsiders for sometime now. I don’t expect too much information.

if a NSD is set up it will be interesting to see what happens. 

Pro rel to AL would mean a fixed league with teams missing out. The left out teams one would assume would be the existing AAFC and teams in the NSD would join the APFCA bloc.

Pro rel down (and not up) could mean AAFC would grow in members depending howl linked the divisions are. 

I assume no matter how big AAFC grew they would only have members that are FFA affiliated.

The first scenario of teams being excluded could lead to a universal membership group but this is just speculation. It requires people with the energy to carry it forward. I again assume the main people involved in driving the process are fans/involved in clubs that could be considered “shoe ins” to a NSD. Once they disappear what is left of AAFC?

we will have the same thing as now. A CCM equivalent club that finishes bottom of NSD and teams outside complaining they can’t get in.

https://anchor.fm/the-round-ball-project/episodes/Episode-23-The-AAFC-Project-with-Nick-Galatas-ehjufq/a-a2rqgpj

Not sure if a link to this podcast has been posted in this thread  earlier. Nick Galatas provides some insight into the AAFCs vision for the NSD.

listening to it now, good interview

Galatas admits to being an AFL fan, I think he said he follows Richmond.
Is that the team in the news at the moment for sticking digits up each others assholes?

I've only followed football post launch of the A league. Guus Hiddink and the Socceroos got my attention rather than the A league itself though. I say this to clarify that I have zero emotional connection to the old NSL. But the AAFCs desire and vision for a second division is so incredibly sensible and achievable, it seems impossible that there could be any opposition to it. I really like that they are choosing to call it the Championship rather than the second division on the basis that it is not a second division until it is connected to the A league. I also like the realism that there is no expectation that it must connect to the A league, and such a decision can only be made if the Championship can reach the required standard of play.

Why does it have to be professional? Streaming is probably going to cover costs to produce it at best but hopefully the clubs will be able to attract a little more sponsorship and gate takings to offset the costs a bit.

Seriously if we just start something it can grow over time. We just need to start something. Getting the best players (and coaches) outside the a league playing at the highest level is the most important thing. 

“Preston Lions (Makedonia) Nostalgia & Fan Account. @Preston_Lions
Tremendous news of late that @CityofDarebin have endorsed a $3m upgrade of the clubs facilities. In addition to the vast amount of upgrades at BT Connor Reserve already in place, a new social club/pavilion will soon have its footings poured alongside the existing grandstand.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/Preston_Lions/status/1293453197411901440

“...Preston can easily get 8-10k to all your home games... My sincere opinion is that once they killed of the ethnic clubs like Knights, Hellas, Preston, Heidelberg, Sunshine & J.U.S.T. in Victoria, thats when our pool of producing quality players declined...”

https://mobile.twitter.com/ZedStar5/status/1293507609064923136

“AAFC @AAFClubs So, the soon to be announced NSD Expression of Interest (EOI) will have minimum facilties criteria requirements. Once NSD is established, Promotion to it requires compliance with min facilities criteria.
This encourages ambitious clubs acrossFlag of Australiato upgrade & expand our Flag of AustraliaSoccer ball Footprints Fisted hand

@AAFClubs · 2h Typically clubs advise & build the narrative to their councils & members before hand about their intentions. Many clubs co-contribute to strengthen their applications for facilities funding with local councils/govt. Many clubs interested in NSD have already started dialogue.

AAFC Retweeted AAFC @AAFClubs
We expect significant numbers applying for NSD will comply with min facilities criteria from day one. It’s important in our view to address the critical facilties deficit in Australia as a priority over & above all else. Way too much has been squandered on peripherals. “

https://mobile.twitter.com/AAFClubs/status/1293757461929721856

I do tend to agree that the development pathways lost their way over the years as the game lurched from one issue to the next, but really hit a wall when the A-League started. 

If you dismantle a system where 2 or more clubs were playing in the same city from juniors to seniors and replace it with 1 team policy that has no juniors of course there will be a negative outcome.

Yep. It’s strange that it seemed to be overlooked as a priority in any change, but as usual, things get done in a rush and it takes a decade or more to rectify. 

It also seems to be forgotten what damage was done in regards to trainers and set up. All the youth trainers suddenly banned from div 1.

Local rivalry is imo a major driver to succeed even at junior. Football has not recovered yet.

FFA convinces people to support the league. It falls apart there. People should support clubs.

Hopefully once a NSD starts, far more connectivity will occur.

The football pyramid needs to be strengthened, giving clubs a purpose for the future. That is the A-League clubs also, as they have had to follow the FFA’s path for so long, which was often littered with potholes too.

“Figuring out the financial future of the A-League

A-League’s Central Coast Mariners have known to be searching for a new owner for quite some time and early last current owner Mike Charlesworth publicly announced the the club was officially on the market.

Newcastle Jets owner Martin Lee has also placed his team up for grabs.

There has been a lot of talk about which is the best way to financially support the league.

A-League sources confirmed that early discussions have taken place between some owners to possibly establish a central hardship fund.

A central hardship fund could be used to provide clubs at risk of collapse with a safety net.

Another option may be to let current club owners bid for the teams, however Football Federation Australia (FFA) current rules disallows any one person from controlling or influencing more than one club in a competition to maintain integrity.

The establishment of a central fund or trust may be the way to avoid stepping on toes and the FFA’s regulations state the organisation itself is able to hold more than one A-League licence at a time for an interim period.

The National Premier League’s (NPL) Wollongong Wolves head coach Luke Wilkshire may also want to get in on the action, telling the Illawarra Mercury that the reigning NPL champions would be ready to take on the Mariners licence and relocate the Gosford based team.

A change of scenery for the Mariners would require FFA approval.

The Sydney Morning Herald also reported last week that the club might stay put if part owner of Spanish team Rayo Vallecano Abdul Helou manages to lead consortium negotiating with Charlesworth over a purchase.

Whilst there are a few avenues the Jets and Mariners could go down (perhaps even a fan-funded model), NPL’s South Melbourne FC President Nicholas Maikousis told ESPN that they would not be looking into acquiring the Mariners and instead believes his club’s focus should be put toward getting a National Second Division (NSD) up and running.

“I don’t think the A-League understands we can breathe life into the A-League by having a NSD. The only way to unite the game is by the creation of a NSD. That will bring everyone back into the fold because after 16 years of the Lowy experiment, that simply hasn’t worked either,” he said.

The FFA chairmen behind the idea of a central hardship fund acknowledge that the development of their own clubs is essentially tied to the health of the smaller clubs and the A-League as a whole, so Maikousis may have a good chance at getting an NSD on the field.”

https://neoskosmos.com/en/172453/figuring-out-the-financial-future-of-the-a-league/

Happy SM are focused on NSD. It will bring a lot more focus on the comp. People will have an opinion about them, as in wanting them to win or lose, more than any other team in Australia imo.

Also their man is correct when he stated “That will bring everyone back into the fold because after 16 years of the Lowy experiment, that simply hasn’t worked either,”

We have today written to members to let them know of a meeting to be held next Tuesday, 25 August, to discuss the criteria for a national second division with a public statement to be issued after that meeting. We are forging ahead with a view to commencing a NSD in 2022.12:32 PM · Aug 17, 2020

https://twitter.com/AAFClubs/status/1295186588624977920

Proactivity and investment in the community, that looks very impressive, with Council approvals. Now, lets look at the backward council at the Central Coast that did nothing for the Mariners in comparison. No not interested, the only professional club in the area.

I do wish them luck in getting a NSD off the ground, but hold limited confidence at this stage to be able to get things going soon with many clubs and potential sponsors likely struggling to stay afloat over the next couple of years.

We need a NSD though so let’s hope I am wrong and that the appetite to take part and support it is strong enough to overcome those obstacles.