Thursday 16 March 2017

Is a 2nd division on the way?

As most people would be aware by now, after years of being neglected and bossed around by FFA the clubs have decided to take matters in their own hands by forming the Association of Australian Football Clubs.

In a very short amount of time clubs from all over the country have signed up, and in an even shorter amount of time a handful of whining A-league fans have started to put the boot in, even going as far as alleging certain clubs funnel junior fees straight into first team wages. Can't quite figure out if this is coming from previous butt hurt experienced during the NSL years or just out of fear.

I think it's safe to say that the power this association holds may well and truly be causing some people to shit their pants. And for FFA or anyone else to be writing them off would be doing so at their own peril. I am not suggesting they will or would, but you could imagine the impact it would make if every club in that association refusing to pay fees or take the field for competition matches.

So what about all the other clubs or groups that fall under FFA? Well what about them? No one is stopping them from doing the same. If they want a seat at the table it's up to them to make it happen.

Anyway enough of that, let's skip all the bullshit and go straight to the fun part. It's fast approaching the 2019 season and FFA have agreed to a second division, so who should be in it?

VICTORIA

Melbourne Knights - For obvious reasons I will put my club first. I don't need to, but I will mention that we have a proud history, one of the proudest this country has ever seen and may see for some time to come. Also one of the only clubs in the country that has exclusive 365 day access to it's own purpose built facility.

South Melbourne - Pretty similar reasons to Knights, bar the exclusive access. But it would be pretty fucking funny to see the Oceania club of the Century left out. Mike would have a heart attack.

Heidelberg United - They have sorted themselves out in the past few years, facility will pass for now, probably the only other club that are worthy of a seat at the table at the moment. 


NEW SOUTH WALES

Sydney United - The Melbourne Knights of NSW, without the back to back championships.

Sydney Olympic - Not too different from South Melbourne, but a much worse circumstances facility wise if their history is anything to go by.

Marconi - Were great in the NSL. They have the facilities, they have the finances. Why not?

Wollongong - Another proud NSL club (I think a pattern may be emerging). They showed they could pull off a crowd in the FFA Cup. Great stadium to play out of. Even without any of that, the epic come back against Perth Glory should allow immediate entry.

QUEENSLAND

Northern Fury - Oops these guys weren't in the NSL. Perhaps aren't quite A-league level but going by how they were when in the league, would be a welcome inclusion to a second division.

Brisbane Strikers - It's been too long since I listed an NSL team.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

Adelaide City - Very successful in the NSL, caused us some heartache but also some joy when they finally did their balls against us at home in 95, let em in.

West Adelaide - Came back from the dead to win back to back state titles, one of the more ambitious ex NSL clubs in recent times.

TASMANIA

South Hobart - Have been dominating the local competition for the past few years. It's time to give Tasmania a club on the national stage.

ACT

Canberra FC - Have won the league 12 of the past 16 seasons and have always spoken out whenever the opportunity of playing at a higher level has come out. Can't do any worse than Cosmos surely.

At this point in time I'm not sure that the league would be ready for a WA side, but should be the priority for expansion within 3 years along with another Victorian side.

This is obviously what I would like to see happen as someone who dearly misses the 'bad old dark NSL days'. I'm sure if and when the time comes, proper thorough procedures will be put in place and followed to source the best possible candidates from each state, ensuring the best possible outcome for FOOTBALL IN AUSTRALIA.

Happy to answer any questions about clubs that didn't make the cut in the comments section!

12 comments:

  1. In regards to NSW, I am shocked that other clubs have been left out.

    Fair enough Wollongong, Marconi, Olympic were great in the NSL which i loved growing up as a kid, but look the first is a basket case which the entire Gong region despises whilst having done nothing in decade, if you include coming second a few years back.Sydney Olympic hasnt done much since being in the State Leagues, crowds have dwindled aswell as their home ground crisis. Marconi is a basketcase, club wanted to disband them but are now spending big bucks to get them back.

    I would say Rockdale, Bonnyrigg & Sutherland have a greater case to be in the league, you can talk about prior achievements etc all you want but in my honest opinion it should be about who has been performing & who has the budget.

    I loved the NSL & its clubs, but dont think we should be basing a new second division on clubs who havent performed for years.

    Just my two cents

    Regards - Dafte

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is there anything stopping the AAFC from going direct to FIFA and the AFC and saying 'we have a plan sorted for a second tier in Aus. Can you help us out?'

    ReplyDelete
  3. Surely taking the piss... west adelaide barely drew a crowd in the 90's. Marconi are half-dead. Although I hear Inter Monaro pull great crowds these days...

    Seriously though, it's all nice and romanticized to wish for a 2nd division and a restoration of the glory days, but have we actually asked ourselves about this? We barely draw 250 these days, where would our crowds come from? Sure we could pull a one-off 4000 in the ffa cup with the right opponent, but it's an entirely different ball game when requiring such numbers consistently long-term. The wogs are either gone or inactive. Do people actually think the Oz-born element of our Croatian community is viable enough to sustain crowds good enough to be even considered as potential a-league material (which is what a 2nd division is)? That's a laughable suggestion IMO.

    The only clubs on that list that would possibly only come close to sustaining a level near enough to what's required for a-league participation (esp crowd wise) are Wollongong and South Melb. W because of a unique soccer culture in the town and SMH due to the sheer number of greeks in Melb. I still think both would fall short and fail in the end though.

    Ethnic clubs as they are don't belong up there no more not because of the FFA's racism, but because the respective ethnic communities are not strong enough to sustain them. Culturally, Australia is a harsh place and has regretably mostly stripped us of who/what our parents were.

    It's a no-brainer really. Ask the generation that built the club and I'm sure most would manit rukom at the absurdity of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think to say we barely draw 250 is bullshit and you know it.

      Average crowds of 2000 are definitely achievable in a national league.

      Delete
    2. Long term, I honestly doubt it, but lets say your right. Avg of 2000 ain't gonna come close to cutting it... you're effectively saying that the occassional 1500 is ok.
      I'd say 4000 is the lowest possible avg figure to be up for consideration - racism aside of course. We're certainly not viable enough as a community to be pulling that consistently.

      Delete
    3. So what you're saying is a 2nd division isn't viable. In which case we may as well just settle for a community club and stop taking the senior side of things seriously.

      Delete
    4. I'm saying a 2nd division attempt by our club is not viable. I wouldn't go so far as to say lets stop taking seniors seriously, because doing so would decrease club participation further, but I wouldn't advocate throwing money to win a title that is nothing more than cosmetic either.

      Delete
    5. Does the club have direction or even an aim? Me thinks the soccer should be #2.

      Delete
    6. Agreed. Preserving our Cro identity should be no.1, but I think we've lost sight of that a long time ago.

      Delete
  4. suggestion: the comments font is squishy and difficult to read. Consider changing it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Curious as to why Blacktown City arent named in your list ? Most successful club in the NPL NSW & have put their hand up for promotion time after time.

    Would also have a decent supporter base to pull from, give the people a team & they will come.

    No interest in watching Blacktown City take on the likes of Hakoah or Manly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Familiar with the current on field success of the club, but can't say I'm very familiar with the off field side of things. What sort of numbers are we talking about support wise?

      Delete