Seeking a halt on relegation

JULIUS ROSS

April 20, 2010 09:24am

RELEGATION from the Southern Men's Premier League should be suspended for this season, club presidents say.

At a presidents' meeting held last Monday at Football Federation Tasmania headquarters, the presidents said the system was fundamentally flawed.

The concern has arisen as a number of Division One clubs have not met regulations.

Both Premier League and Division One clubs require a three-tier structure: seniors, reserves and under-19s.

This allows for the promoted Division One team to mirror the structure of the Premier League club, which is relegated to allow for consistency.

All Premier League clubs met the criteria at the commencement of the 2010 season.

But only four out of the participating eight Division One clubs -- Nelson Eastern Suburbs, Beachside, Hobart United and Metro -- met the three-tier requirement at the start of the season.

FFT stated that the Division One competition would be relaxed to a two-tier competition -- seniors and reserves -- for the 2010 season, but clubs who had not met the three-tier requirements would be ineligible for promotion to the Premier League.

FFT said the highest-placed club at the end of the 2010 season that demonstrated at the start of the season they could meet the three-tier requirement would automatically be promoted.

This means in an eight-team Division One competition, the fourth-placed side at the end of the season is, hypothetically, eligible for promotion into the top league in the South.

An FFT spokesman said the board would discuss the competition structure today.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/04/20/141001_soccer.html