Strengths and weaknesses of ASB prem

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11188027

Article in Herald ...bloody brilliant as always ....

+ 1

Even got a coalface reference in, top work

Probably the best football article in the nz media for two or three years. Write to the editor to say si and we meet ght get rid of the usual lot!

Brilliant article and many great points. Wonder if anyone at NZF will have a read, and more importantly take note!!

Can I make on pedantic point? Wanderers may have got the points but they still haven't won a game.

Hello there.

Could those on high possibly change the title of this thread - it shouldn't be about me as such, but more the issues under discussion, and it's a bit incongruous as a highly opinionated poster here (not as much as Vader, mind) to be in a thread title.

Suggestion: Strengths and weaknesses of ASB prem....

JD, that's a great anorakish point for debate. Excellent. may come back to you, just for the sake of argument.

Sorry guy , but praise when and where its due ....

yet another excellent article my you mr holloway

Yep, great article.

I agree with Donut - it's a shame for HBU. It's also a shame that the rules don't allow for any intent or manipulation, as HBU were clearly not trying to gain an advantage from this. Already 3-1 up and the player only playing 6 minutes.

Thanks Bruce and great article.

Thoughts on this from Mainland CEO?

Good arguements raised.

If it is at the same time as youth footy then it might be hard to attract junior/youth supporters and parents.

Winter/spring just leading up to the a league start would seem like a good window.

I've always thought they should seriously get away from these Sunday games. Saturday 2pm end of.

Winter/spring for me.

i agree with this post

unfortunately, so many things are being done wrong with the league that it's hard to pinpoint one thing, or provide an adequate basis to argue for or against one single factor.

Let the franchises run it , thatd be a good start ...not going to happen tho...

agree

IMO it's an 'artificial' league. IMO NZF should pull all stops out to get permission for a 2ND NZ A-league franchise then get rid of the ASB. The Chatham Cup used to be a good way of finding out the country's 'top' club. Chatham Cup winner and runner-up to the O-League. Sorted.

It would place a greater emphasis on club football in the winter...

Not a bad solution. At the end of the day is trying to run an amateur (or at best - semi-pro) national league in a country the size of New Zealand just not viable?

Either that, or return to a club-based national league with strict financial controls and/or a player points system. You've still got the viability problem but financials controls might help with that.

Before you do anything you've really got to decide what the point of your league is though.

Is it about finding the best team in the country and having a decent run at the Club World Cup? And as Jerzy points out you don't necessarily need a national league to do that anyway.

Or is it a development league for youth, bridging the gap between regional football and one or more A-League franchises?

So we agree we have fixed the national league?

It would actually be a lot easier on NZF and funding for the 3 team home and away leg for the regional winners too. Make that a profile (along with CC) to make sponsorship maybe a little easier. Like the old Winfield Superclub comp.

Winfeild Superclub would be the way to go, have 30-36 teams paying entry fee of say $10,000 each would get you 360,000 as opposed to 8 teams having to front with say $55,000 each. All 30-36 teams will have a chance of being national league champs as they bring back the super 8 (3 north, 3 central and 2 south) one round of games. clubs would be paying similar entry fee to what they do know to play in central league etc. 

Sorry I have no idea of actually entry fees!

Oh no I'm not saying a round of 8. Just get the regional winners to play a home and away series. 6 weeks, 1 game a week. Two trips around the country...

Fixing the national league by scrapping the idea of a national league for a playoff series? 

yeah, i was thinking the same

good luck recruiting quality players for what would effectively be a regional league for most of the season

i played super club and whilst i always loved my footy it sucked because i spent my youth wanting to play national league

a winter national league has to be a national league with the best 12 clubs

Pile of shit if you ask me. 

Me and my lot go watch Premier League in Chch during the winter as well as play our own games in juniors, women's and seniors. Chuck in a National League while others are playing and in a busy weekend schedule, do you really think more people will come along. 

Or play them in super sunny days, over the xmas break when people have nothing else on, and then complain that no one turns up? Maybe it comes down to how well you market your product rather than blaming it on the people (he didn't ruddy call me 40+ did he?) who do turn up to games.

ha ha, i had you pegged as a teenager vim

i actually think you could run a promotion relegation league from mid jan - it'd give the promoted side plenty of time to prepare from the end of the previous season,but possibly give the relegated side a bit of time to fill

i agree that there are many problems and that seasonality may not be the biggest

"We need to build on what we've got to make it stronger before we look to make it bigger. We need to get the NZFC on a strong commercial footing in terms of sponsorship, which is something we're working towards now, and move towards a semi-professional league." - NZF CEO Graham Seatter, quoted in Soccertalk, issue 36, March 2007.

Hahaha! Hollow words. Still a work in progress NZF? My arse!

The ASBP has been a step upwards from the club based winter national league, certainly for the top four sides. Most of the old club-based outfits went bust trying to compete in a national league - look at North Shore, Gisborne, CHCH United, Mt Wellington etc today. I think going back to a winter national league, would be a very backward step. It would also plonk it in direct competition with all the other winter club competitions. You think that's going to attract more people to rain-lashed games in uncovered facilities when the calendar is chock full of other winter games?

The ASBP simply needs NZF to pull its finger out and seriously invest in its summer national league. Proper promotion, TV coverage for the best games and decent sponsorship funding would do wonders to boost interest at the gate.

Some people have said they are not interested because it does not involve their club. Some people have said they are not interested because its in the summer. Some people want a club league. Some people want it to be about the players and not the imports and charity cash. Some people don't watch because there are no players in the team from their town (Smithy). Some people don't watch because its the same old 2 Auckland sides (and it has been for the last 10 years)

I ask you, what gets more support, local winter football or national summer football? All I am saying is you give the winter leagues more meaning. Players wont sit out 3/4 of winter football and actually turn up to play. Those that are good enough, would play in 1 of the 2 A League sides (as was originally put up) You reduce the costs of the game. The 3 winners of the regional league then go into a home and away play off. By my reckoning, it should finish about mid October. Players then get a summer, fans get a summer (or support one of the 2 A League sides), winter footballers have a reason to play winter football, players that normally play the summer and take winter off now play winter, people that don't support a franchise have a valid reason to get in behind their club, less cash needed to be raised.

Granted its not an ideal solution but the national league we have now is not exactly setting the world on fire. I think you would have more chance of getting a sponsor for the 6 week play off league and TV coverage that goes with it. The other component, is that if you give the winner an O League spot, that then all 3 teams have a fair chance of cracking it where as at the moment, its been Auckland for the last however many years (that could change this year but 1 year does not detract from the norm). The beauty as well is that the 3 teams will never have met so the games will have a true unknown quantity about it.

Am I serious advocate of this? Not really, its just a different idea that could work and solve some of the issues that are in the game. Do I think it will happen? Nope. Just me flapping my gums.