While I don't mind having 1 Kiwi team in the mix, I do think the A-League can make a legit 16 team league with only Aussie teams. Its just a matter of time.
Australia could support many more teams but not in its current model. Clubs should be allowed to spend as much or as little as they want and compete in market similar to the leagues in Europe.
Pretty interesting to see how poorly areas like Geelong, Hobart, Wollongong and Canberra performed, while bids such as Brisbane, northern Sydney, and southern Sydney excelled. Long read: Unpacking the ‘metrics’ in the A-League expansion decision
So they essentially want to create a system that mirrors the relationship between MLS and USL with the possibility (or lip service) of pro/rel?
I would think it would be possibility since the two divisions won’t be separate businesses like USL and MLS... Not to mention the whole point if this group was because state league teams were complaining about being cut off from A-League. I would imagine the main reason they aren’t starting pro/rel immediately (or with a timeline) is related to stability. They need to make sure the newly formed B-League teams can survive in the new national format and that A-League clubs won’t collapse when they are relegated. It does also start pro/rel with the state leagues in year 5
A national second division is becoming more of a reality and could happen as soon as 2020. Clubs queue up to join proposed Australian second division
I hope its a success. Whilst I'm not someone who sees the need for promotion and relegation its what has been deemed to be necessary by the AFC and will affect our representation in the ACL if we don't comply at some stage. Reading some other articles it seems all the current A league clubs (not 100% sure if this applies to the Nix) have a license to compete until 2034. That's quite a way off and I can't see them agreeing to give up that licence while they are still a going concern. You may end up with some clubs guaranteed a spot and relegation only applying to handful of clubs if we go to 16 teams. We could also allow more teams in and have a conference type system. Lots of different ways to expand and restructure.
I don’t think pro-rel is a priority either, not that it’ll happen before 2034 anyway. Nix’s licence is expiring in 2020 and all signs point to them not getting a licence renewal hence why Rudan left (rumour is he’ll join Kurto at Western United next season). I’m glad we are finally working to get a B-League up and running. Failed expansion bids Team 11, Canberra, Tassie and Wollongong Wolves should all receive first priority IMO, followed by the stronger former-NSL teams.
I’m just going to say that I really like Japan’s licensing system and I hope they implement it in Australia. Basically every team has to be licensed for each level and need to show viable plans and resources to support the level they are licensed for. So, in Australia’s case, a NSL team would need to be licensed for B-League or A-league, then they’d have to win their league to get promoted. If a non-licensed team wins the league, then that year there isn’t a promotion.
The A-League needs to get onto relegation sooner rather than later. 2034 is to far away, 2025 would be a better option. The A-league is virtually dead in the water, it has become stale and boring (tv viewership has plummeted, attendances are following). The existing clubs would do better to sign up for relegation to bring in some excitement before the league dies. There is no way that the Mariners deserve to stay in the A-League, if they can't perform and don't want to spend. With the protection of no relegation they are just turning up year after year and offering nothing. There are multiple semi-pro clubs in the NPLs around the country that would beat Central Coast on a regular basis.
I think the key words in what you say are semi-pro. I think thats the biggest single factor that needs to be overcome before we can have meaningful promotion and relegation. We need to have a viable professional second tier. Clubs in the second tier don't need to pay their players as much as first tier (although they should be able to if they want) but I think for any club to have a chance of being viable when promoted they need to be able to pay a whole squad enough to keep them professional. To me that's a minimum of $50,000 per year for each person in the first team squad (probably a minimum of 15 players). I think in this country we are a long way from having a pyramid where clubs can move up and down based purely on results. I think a step from Amateur, to semi professional and then to fully professional should have extra requirements and a club should meet some basic parameters to give them a decent chance of success when transitioning between those levels.
Yeah I agree, the club coming up needs to be fully professional, but just being a professional club should not protect rubbish clubs like Central Coast from going down.