We Are The Reds

The FFA have announced that a national second tier will, hopefully, be in the place for the 21-22 season.

https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/ffa-pre ... d-division

The are talking about 8 clubs at this stage which begs the question......who? The paper suggests initially looking at clubs in markets not serviced by the A-League, which would preclude an SA entrant in the initial stages. I would assume Far North Queensland, SE Queensland, Canberra, Tasmania & Wollongong would be in the mix but after that it gets difficult to not encroach on areas already serviced by the A-League. Darwin?

Eventually one of the clubs will be from SA, so will we see an NPL club such as City take the plunge, a composite side formed from a number of existing NPL clubs or an entirely new entity in the AUFC Mark II mold?

Exciting times.

i like the odea of areas not represented already. Tasmania and north qld and canberra. Surely it will coincide with the ffa cup becoming a round of 64 start

A national second division (NSD) is now on its feet after the National Premier League (NPL) clubs in all states and the ACT voted in support of the new football competition.

The planning begun with the creation of the Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC) Championship Partner Group, involving 30 clubs across Australia.

https://neoskosmos.com/en/175821/six-gr ... -division/

I do wonder if the FFA got moving on something like this over only providing the national comp 2 new teams in the last decade, the game wouldn't be in this funk it has found its self in before the pandemic hit it for 6.

I do wonder if the FFA got moving on something like this over only providing the national comp 2 new teams in the last decade, the game wouldn't be in this funk it has found its self in before the pandemic hit it for 6.

Agree, however that has largely been the argument put forth by most of us over the past several years to little effect. Hubris at the top has been stifling.

A significant A-League player wage reduction raises the potential of a second tier with promotion and relegation with the first.

Perhaps we needed something like this crisis to loosen the licensing requirements to allow for a greater range in the type of clubs competing in the top tier. Certainly there wasn't much movement towards it while the Fox money was pouring in.

Why are junior fees so expensive in Australia?

Anyway another interesting read from Neos Kosmos.
Football is alive and well in its "deep root" heartlands.

South Melbourne FC Youth Director Peter Kokotis is passionate about integrating “new Australians into NPL football.” ...

https://neoskosmos.com/en/176020/young- ... her-level/

I do wonder if the FFA got moving on something like this over only providing the national comp 2 new teams in the last decade, the game wouldn't be in this funk it has found its self in before the pandemic hit it for 6.

Agree, however that has largely been the argument put forth by most of us over the past several years to little effect. Hubris at the top has been stifling.

A significant A-League player wage reduction raises the potential of a second tier with promotion and relegation with the first.

Perhaps we needed something like this crisis to loosen the licensing requirements to allow for a greater range in the type of clubs competing in the top tier. Certainly there wasn't much movement towards it while the Fox money was pouring in.

That's a very good point on wages. I wonder if we see a few HAL players decide to move back to the NPL and look to outside of Football to pay the bills. If there was ever a good time for a club to get relegated now would be it. No better excuse to make a large cull of players and staff.

Why are junior fees so expensive in Australia?

Anyway another interesting read from Neos Kosmos.
Football is alive and well in its "deep root" heartlands.

South Melbourne FC Youth Director Peter Kokotis is passionate about integrating “new Australians into NPL football.” ...

https://neoskosmos.com/en/176020/young- ... her-level/

I wonder how many more examples like this will need to occur before our government wakes up to the power of football. Nah lets throw millions of tax payer dollars at a sport only one country plays, while the sport played by billions, that welcomes thousands into the Australian community every year goes underfunded and under appreciated.

26 teams made it to the next stage
https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/ne ... on-process

This includes Adelaide City FC and ........................Football South Australia? Is FSA thinking of putting up an AUFC Mark II or a composite side from the SA NPL clubs?

26 teams made it to the next stage
https://www.footballaustralia.com.au/ne ... on-process

This includes Adelaide City FC and ........................Football South Australia? Is FSA thinking of putting up an AUFC Mark II or a composite side from the SA NPL clubs?

Composite side I'd imagine.

Disappointing no WA sides through to the next round.

Disappointing no WA sides through to the next round.

Agreed. Football West could have done something similar to FSA.

Queensland embracing the NSD, I see.

Queensland embracing the NSD, I see.

Make it even harder ...

Queensland embracing the NSD, I see.

Make it even harder ...

We sure know how to shoot ourselves in the foot don’t we. Clubs & associations that are just looking out for themselves, to the detriment of the sport as a whole.

https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/feast-for- ... wns-602492

No SA team. No WA team. I think there's only one Qld team. It's a competition for Sydney and Melbourne only. So much for being 'inclusive'. The only thing I can see out of this is our local league being drained of talent. I can't see any benefit to Australian football.