Inside Sport

Dream League Pyramid Structure for A-League id like to see implemented as a 25 year goal


https://forum.insidesport.com.au/Topic3111936.aspx

By RBB Wanderer - 7 May 2024 9:55 AM

I think FFA should be bold and outline a 25 year plan for a fully functional league pyramid from top to bottom.

I know this might not be feasible right away, but I think it can definitely be feasible in the next 10-25 years if we set the correct targets.

• 16 Team A-League

— 30 rounds H/A

— Top 6 Finals series

— 1 Automatic Relegation spot

— 1 Relegation Playoff spot with Second Division

— No Salary Cap, But Setting Minimum wage multiplied led by total squad d size as a salary floor. Could even have a Salary cap where teams can only spend max 2-3x the TV deal similar to the concept being floated around for premier league in England.


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• 16 Team Second Division.

— 30 rounds H/A

— 1st Automatic Promotion

— 2nd - 5th Promotion Playoff with 15th in A-League

— 15th & 16th in Relegation Playoff with NPL champions league Finalists

— Minimum wage is salary floor multiplied by squad numbers.


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• NPL Champions League

— 1st Place from each NPL Conference + the winners of 2nd - 5th Finals series in each individual state Conference

— Two Finalists qualify for Promotion Playoff with 15th & 16th in Second Division


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• NPL

— 14-16 teams in each NPL Conference

— Winners Qualify for NPL champions League at end of season

— 2nd - 5th in each conference play off for the final NPL champions league spot for each Conference

— Relegation/Promotion with existing state leagues



We could start Pro-Rel from the second division and NPL within the first 5 seasons imo, but to have Pro-Rel between the A-League and Second Division needs to be a 10-25 year goal at the very minimum.

I know a lot of people will say “well what if Perth or Adelaide get relegated? Well tough luck. Those markets can play in second division and work on building teams and clubs strong enough to stay in the top flight.

Regarding TV deals and markets being affected if Perth or Adelaide go down. Those viewers would just be watching the second division with their team participating in that league and hoping they get promoted again.

Clubs should not just be gifted first tier immunity just because of where they are located, the first division should be for the best teams and best run clubs doesn’t matter where they are located. In order for our league to be the best possible league in our country, we need the league to have elite status where every game, every season means something. It will instill a mindset in Australian players who have constant promotion / relegation pressure with every game this will lift the intensity and standard of our game, preparing our youth for big matches, and it gives every single club in the country from the top down something to aspire and aim for. You’ll see state based clubs investing in facilities, academies, infrastructure in order to aim for the top flight, which will in turn help our game grow as a whole. Right now hundred of clubs around the country are not incentivised to grow or invest in the game because no matter how much they invest or how bold they dare to dream, they will never be able to move up the pyramid to the top.

The closed shop system does nothing but hinder growth, hinder investment from the bottom up, and hinder aspirations of the majority of clubs and players across the country.




By NicCarBel - 19 May 2024 3:54 PM

df1982 - 19 May 2024 8:00 AM
A nationwide pyramid should be pretty easy. NT doesn't really have anything beyond park football, so shouldn't be part of it. Then you can have:

A-League 1: 16 clubs, 30 rounds, 2 relegated

A-League 2: 16 clubs, 30 rounds, 2 promoted (the second team via play-offs), 2 relegated

Championship: 2 conferences x 16 clubs, 30 rounds, 1 promoted from each conference (via play-offs), 2 relegated [the conferences would be divided into North: NSW/QLD/NNSW/ACT and South: VIC/SA/WA/TAS, although experience suggests they will be dominated by NSW and VIC teams respectively]

NPL: 8 conferences, 1 per state. 10 clubs, 27 rounds for ACT/TAS, 16 clubs, 30 rounds for everyone else. Inter-state play-offs determine the 4 promoted teams.

Below NPL level it should just go State League 1, State League 2, etc., splitting up into regionalised conferences as you get further down the pyramid. VIC could keep its current model. In TAS, SA, and WA you would just go with a north/south split and that should be enough. QLD could go straight to a North/Central/South split below the NPL, then to its nine regions.

NSW is the complicated one. Riverina and Monaro should be fully integrated into Capital Football (which would become an ACT & SNSW federation). The north coast and New England clubs should be properly integrated into a NNSW pyramid. And then you have NSW proper. I would suggest three statewide tiers as currently the case (NSW Premier League, League 1, League 2). Then a conference split four ways (NE, SE, NW, SW). And then 16 regional divisions at the base of the pyramid, with 13 of them roughly corresponding to the present metropolitan districts, plus Central Coast, Illawarra and Western NSW as regional districts.

A key element of the pyramid is to cover all parts of the country, allowing clubs representing mid-sized cities (like Ballarat, Rockhampton, Coffs Harbour, etc.) the chance to ascend up the tiers, rather than being stuck with district level football. If they make it all the way to the A-League it would be quite the fairy tale (like Morwell Falcons back in the day).

That pyramid should only apply to First Grade teams (except perhaps for A-League academy squads). Reserve and youth teams should be part of a separate pyramid that tops out at statewide level, and runs on a club championship basis. There's no point getting 12 year olds to fly interstate.

I like it.

As you said, NSW (and by extension, Victoria, as you have brought up Riverina) is quite tricky. 
The Western NSW Branch can easily be folded into NNSW or continue as part of NSW (it essentially covers Bathurst, Lithgow, Dubbo, and as far as Bourke and Cobar).
Riverina Branch can be easily folded into Capital Football (I have suggested this before) - with Albury, if they choose to, formally moving into Victoria, as they straddle in both FFV and NSW.
Southern Branch... well that's a tricky one. Parts of it (Southern Tablelands/Goulburn) tend to come in and out of Capital Football, so I think that's the best home for that. Other sections of the Southern Branch (such as Shoalhaven and Highlands) seem to have some representation in Metro NSW in the Illawarra/South Coast. The rest of the Southern Branch (Far South Coast, Eurobodalla) probably could come into Capital Football as well. Will be an issue for travelling to Riverina if there's ever any need to though...

Best way to run this new Southern Capital Football, would be for the NSW associations that they absorb to continue to run "independently", with their own Premier League/first grade competitions. If they choose to want to look at being promoted, they can formalise some sort of playoff system similar to NSW and NNSW Champion of Champions to determine which teams can go up.

But... one thing about the conferences I don't like (Tier 3) is that it is still tied by borders. I think having NSW and VIC split across the two conferences alleviates that, but at some stage, some leagues are going to be stacked or deteriorated because of promotion being defined by borders.
I think it's fine to have conferences, etc. But that we should be taking a season-by-season approach, and re-distributing based off who is in the league (the 16 most north-east clubs in one conference, and the 16 most south-west, as one example)