Clubs get T-League chance

JULIUS ROSS | March 07, 2012 12.01am

NOMINATION forms for a proposed T-League will be distributed to all Football Federation Tasmania-associated soccer clubs.

As the push to resurrect a state soccer league next year gains momentum, federation chief executive John Boulous said clubs would receive the forms, which specify the criteria for T-League consideration, within the next fortnight.

The T-League is on track to begin next year.

The federation expects clubs to lodge their applications for inclusion in a proposed eight-team competition in May.

The governing body hopes to include eligible teams from the south, north and northwest.

Successful applicants are required to pay up $10,000 to enter. All clubs in the state will receive application forms.

The federation would hope to announce the league in August, or at least before the end of this season, Boulous said.

He said clubs' reactions to the move towards a top-tier competition had been positive despite some not being in a position to enter initially.

The start-up league will include eight teams but each club's tenure would be assessed every three years.

Boulous said southern Premier League and northern Premier League competitions would still operate and the teams in the state league would have teams in both tiers.

While details remain confidential, Boulous said the federation was progressing well in securing a major sponsor. That would be the defining factor for the league going ahead.

The previous incarnation of the state league collapsed when Devonport City, the reigning champion in 1998 pulled out 10 days before the start of the 1999 campaign.

Citing a loss of senior players and spiralling travelling costs, City was slapped with a five-year ban and $7000 fine, and the competition then became unsustainable.

The state has since been starved of a competitive state league for 13 years. Boulous said the federation would implement a foolproof system to avoid teams collapsing, with mid-season monitoring of finances and a thorough assessment of clubs' viability after each season.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/03/07/306921_soccer.html