Let me start this article by saying that I am not a member of any state league club, ‘ethnic’ or otherwise. The local team that I support is ECU Joondalup, but I don’t attend their matches because of some British heritage or youth association; they’re just my local team. I’m a fan of state league football and lower league football in general – I’ve watched teams from Wanneroo to Floreat, Inglewood to Armadale; and when I was in England I dabbled in some Ryman league as well. In short, I’m writing this free from any bias that a South Melbourne or Sydney United fan might typically be accused of having. 

I say this because what I’m writing about today is something that directly affects fans of these clubs – the FFA’s National Competitions Review, and the sweeping changes it proposes to each state’s league structure. It’s something that has been well documented on this site and there’s been passionate debate and extreme views held on this subject – from those who believe this is some form of ethnic cleansing of migrant-formed clubs, to those who believe that we won’t have a true Australian league until Broome Thunder can take on FC Devonport in the A-League Third Division.

As usual, in my mind the ideal path lies somewhere in the middle; and looking through some of the ideas proposed as part of the review I can see some excellent concepts, as well as the threat of poor implementation. Watching the state league in WA, I can already see that things need to change – crowds are low, clubs and diehard fans are deluded about the level of competition, and foreign players demanding relatively high wages are signed with regularity. Some sides are able to pick and choose opponents’ best players in an attempt to buy the league, whilst others don’t even have a regular ground to play out of.

Football West has already undertaken somewhat of a revolution of their own, introducing a new Saturday Division Two this season and continuing the experiment of the National Training Centre team as a side unable to be relegated from the top tier. Yet some of the NCR proposals go well beyond this – and even Football West’s own tinkering has drawn the ire of clubs and supporters. Yet considering that changes do need to be made, what rules can be brought in to appease both sides of the argument and make a positive step forward for Australian football?

 

Points Systems

The notion of a squad points system is a novel one; and the idea that young players developed by your club should be favoured over journeyman foreign imports certainly seems to be a sound concept. The perception of state leagues clubs in WA is that some, such as Stirling Lions, have a traditional reputation of producing quality young players – whilst others such as Perth SC or Balcatta have been accused of buying up other teams’ stars in an attempt to form a ‘super team’ with which to win the league. Now as I say these are just reputations – but they do come with a grain of truth.

In my mind, bigger clubs should be able to flex their muscle; but perhaps only if their wealth is a result of being well run and fiscally sound. Leagues should also not be pre-determined by this strength at the beginning of every season – look no further than the (until now) regular 1-2 of the Scottish Premier League. So I would view the use of a wage cap or points system as a positive measure, so long as it was executed with care. There are a number of approaches one could consider here – but in the end what you want to achieve is a sustainable, entertaining league that produces young players yet showcases a decent quality of football and features existing state league stars. You would also like to see the ‘spikes’ in state league player wages mitigated – thousands and thousands of dollars should not be thrown at players who play in a competition with little to no prize money. 

It’s just a rough idea, but an ideal system in my mind would see teams forced to play at least two or three youngsters in their first eleven, and at most two or three imports. Poaching players from other teams would still be allowed, but wage limits or a points system would mean that each acquisition would need to be carefully considered by the poaching club; reducing the instances of Team A’s stars ending up on Team B’s reserves team sheet. Players who have been at the club a long time – including foreigners and players who started with the club at under 12s – should cost less as time goes on, rewarding a club for maintaining a regular squad that people can connect with. Finally, those clubs that are able to sell players on to a higher league – be it the A-League or overseas – should be rewarded with more points/salary to spend, encouraging player development. On this note, teams should also earn more than the fixed pittance they currently receive for feeding players to the A-League.

 

Keep Promotion And Relegation

One discussion that has fascinated me as I’ve followed it round various forums is the idea of how to structure each state’s tiers. Some proponents of the FFA’s review would almost envision the state leagues becoming development farms, void of any real competition with a focus on simply producing young talent for the A-League. To me this seems completely out of touch with reality. Even amateur suburban AFL competitions play for pennants and prizes; and in my own mind, it’s a must that state league football retain a competitive spirit and structure – bragging rights and traditional rivalries are a must for an attractive competition.

As is promotion and relegation, too – one of the things that many people crave in the A-League, despite the logistical nightmare that would be Port Headland Panthers promoted in the place of Sydney FC. Clubs in lower divisions simply must have something to strive for to keep their players, members, and staff interested. Whether it’s staving off relegation or fighting to get to the big boys’ table, promotion and relegation adds spice to state league competition and separates it from the boring, meaningless A-League clashes that occur late in the season. To me an ideal structure would see at least two semi-professional leagues in every state, with 12-16 teams, and further semi-pro or amateur divisions below this. Promotion and relegation would be mandatory in each division, with amateur teams being promoted only if they met certain criteria to bridge the gap to part-time professionalism. 

I would also remove the NTC from the top leagues, and place them in the reserves league to allow them to gain the match experience that Football West argues the experiment is all about. Alternatively, make them play for their place in the premiership, letting them be promoted and relegated until they find their level. Another option is to replace the NTC with A-League clubs’ youth teams, and once again allow them to find their correct position through promotion and relegation. These sides would likely include players from state league clubs, and again I would expect compensation to be involved if players cannot leave their existing clubs for free in order to join a National Youth League team on a permanent basis.

 

Set Logical Barriers to Entry

If there’s one thing to be learned from the A-League, it’s that we should not demand too much of teams that initially join the competition. Charging an exorbitant licence fee for the ‘honour’ of playing in your league makes no sense; existing clubs already do a community service by providing sporting facilities and events, and there is no need to gouge them with registration or licence costs above and beyond what they currently pay. What should be demanded of each club is a level of professionalism and facilities that reflects the status of the league they take part in.

Clubs competing at the top level of state competition should thus have a ground suitable for competition – with stands, permanent fencing, and lighting. Those clubs that lack this, for whatever reason, must show plans lodged with and approved by a local council for these facilities to be built within the next 12 months, or face remaining at a lower level of competition. This will avoid the somewhat embarrassing site of WA’s league champions playing out of a suburban park, complete with children’s play equipment! The national body should also do something to lobby local councils that impede state league teams’ development plans – Western Knights were at one point denied a revamp of their ground because ‘people walk their dogs on the nearby oval’.

There should also be a spotlight shone on the administration of football in each state and/or territory. State federations should maximise staff spend on development, training, and football operations (referees, officials, fixturing) and minimise the number of middle-management positions available in their administration. This is a sporting body, not a government office or corporate head office, and it should be staffed as such. Football should also be nationalised – agreed-upon transfer windows and cup schedules will go a long way to ensuring that an FFA Cup runs smoothly, where and when this mythical beast eventually appears.

 

Clubs v Regions

With our league structure sorted, and rules and regulations mapped out, the final question that needs to be asked is this – who will be the clubs that compete in our new state competitions? One of the most contentious points of the review has been the idea of ‘regionalisation’ – making sure that each competition features teams from a wide range geographical range within the state. Jerry-rigging the leagues like this presents a number of problems in my eyes:

  • You risk alienating established traditional clubs and their fanbases simply because there’s another team located up the road from them.
  • You risk removing traditional rivalries and local derbies.
  • You increase transport costs to a stupid level – Derby Daredevils v Rockingham City anyone?
  • You possibly have to create new teams in areas that simply show no football interest – if there’s not already a decent football team in Exmouth, it probably means that people simply aren’t interested in one.

 Of course, new teams should always be encouraged to join the state league system – but doing this at the expense of existing teams would be a stupid move in my eyes. On the ‘ethnic’ argument, frankly there’s nothing wrong with having a history or being founded by migrants in the 1950s. At the end of the day, as long as you play by the same rules and compete in the same competition as everyone else, there’s no issue for me. I would expect a side like Melbourne Knights to be held to exactly the same regulations and standards as a team like ECU Joondalup – if violent conduct, racial discrimination, or match-fixing is present at either club, I expect the same punishment to be dealt out regardless of name, colours, or the nationality of the club’s founders. Incidentally, I expect exactly the same of the A-League.

 

 

Those then are my ideas for state league football in Australia. You may think it’s a bit vague as far as details go, but there are enough points there for a proper brains trust to thrash a decent implementation out. Maybe it doesn’t quite line up with what the people in the FFA offices are thinking, but given that I’m one of the people that actually attends state league matches at present, I think I’m entitled to opine on where it could improve, without sacrificing some of the best parts about it (and I haven’t even mentioned the food this time).

The A-League took the NSL and distilled it into a more media-friendly and marketable package, but it did this through somewhat turbulent means. The state leagues don’t need the same treatment – but they do need to be improved. Football West have already stated that they won’t be making any NCR-related changes until 2014, but with the issue already gathering momentum around the country, I wouldn’t rule out a move on that stance. Let’s just hope when change does come, cool heads prevail and we move to unite, rather than split, the Australian football community.

Above all, we need to be realistic about this. Existing clubs need to recognise that (for now at least) their glory days are long gone, and they won't be packing out stadiums with five to ten thousand fans each week. We also shouldn't delude ourselves that a FFA revamped state league with franchises instead of existing teams will all of a sudden trigger a mass interest in lower league football in this country - it simply won't. But we can make positive change, and I'm hopeful that by listening to all stakeholders, rather than just a couple of people at the FFA, we'll be able to come up with something superior to our present system.