ISPS Handa Premiership

comes down to the ability to monitor and prevent  the backdoor payments...?

Wouldn't that be a quasi-legitimization of (admittedly quite low) player payments? 

Or would there be some convoluted way of classifying $250 p/w as a reimbursement?

Have you seen what Andrew Voerman recieved from one club handy prem side previously (by accident?)

https://twitter.com/andrewvoerman/status/133147662...

Haha... classic. Obviously could be fake, but seems like a somewhat realistic spend for your average NRFL or central Prem side?

Although that's a lot of "housing required" for a regional side - so perhaps bottom tier of ISPS is more likely...? 

"Work required: BS"?

Obviously that meant they had to find a BullShark job for someone.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/domestic/12...

It is not just the championship phase, it is the whole season.  So the mid-to-bottom Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch clubs are finding 10k to put into the kitty to subsidise the plane and bus travel for other teams to/from Dunedin, Nelson, Napier etc during the regional phase, as well as the championship phase.

Eventually those Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch clubs might realise they don't have the aspirations to go all out and go for the big prize and opt to play the next level down where they only have to worry about borrowing the local school minivans for their 2 trips out of town per season.

Any travel equalisation should be funded top down.

Is someone able to clarify that as fact or not?

Isn't the idea that the squads remain unchanged from start to finish? So you wouldn't be able to bring in new players in the Championship round unless they played in the regional rounds first. 

I just realised: this proposal means the Nix will outlive ACFC.

I remember the Knitting Circle  chappies gloating about the imminent demise of the Nix, and how the Nix were parasites on "coalface Kiwi football" represented by ACFC - rather than a franchise backed up by pokies money - and I wonder what they're feeling now.

I was referring to the fact (or not) they need it for their license.

Not sure what you mean? the Phoenix aren't in the regional round

So you make it to the Championship round and don't succeed.  Then you start again at the same level as before.  What is the point of paying 10k to get recognition that you can't hold on to.  Isn't this like paying into an almost round robin Chatham Cup. 

So, they play as Lower Hutt in the Winter. What happens if they win the regional as Lower Hutt. Do the still get another automatic entry as The Phoenix to the next level. I see a lot of the players that played for Lower Hutt in the winter are now playing in their Phoenix team in the HANDA. Two teams would spread their players thin? Not probable, but a possibility!!

If Lower Hutt (or whoever the Phoenix have partnered with) finish in the top 3 of the Central Region conference they won't be allowed to qualify for the National Round as the Phoenix are there, so the 4th place team would get in

ACFC are a registered club affiliated to the Auckland FA so will continue, whether or not they decide to merge with Central United remains to be seen

Misunderstood the question. Carry on.

I've been thinking about the conferences and they seem quite out of balance with each other especially in the South Conference with Mainland and Southern Leagues. That travel distance for a combined South Conference seems silly and I would've thought this would burn through more cash and time per team than say expanding both Southern and Mainland Leagues to 10 or 12 teams and giving them their own conferences each.

Two potential ways National Championship qualification could happen with seperate Mainland and Southland Conference.

1) Mainland Conference gets 1 and 0.5 qualifying spots and Southland Conference will get 0.5 qualifying spot. Southland Conference champ can playoff with the 2nd placed Mainland Conference for the 2nd South Island National Championship rep (If people think Southern League is that crap then why not?).

2) Mainland and Southland Conference each get 1 qualifying spot

I still think the representaion from the South Island is crap with only 2 spots, hopefully for next expansion or the rebirth of the summer National League they can get 3 teams again.

That’s in the Regs? 

don't think the regs have been written yet, but it is in the memo to clubs from NZF

here is a link to that memo

Ok gotcha - so they formalise the link to the affiliated club (Lower Hutt)

And will unlikely be encouraged by the new one either.  Possibly even less so.

It really seems to be common knowledge that EVERY change which is made to the NL, in whatever direction, makes it worse, less attractive, imminent death of football in NZ predicted, etc

Genuine question here; some people have been suggesting that the new format won't allow the best players to play in the Championship/NL phase.

Whilst FIFA etc say that amateur players cannot go out on loan, won't the system operate much as it does now- players signed for a particular period of time (till end of winter season), then moving to franchieses other clubs for the NL part of the season?

Maybe there is something obvious i don't understand about this - what prevents that in the new format?

The relevant section of the memo from NZF about the changes...

It's important to think of the 'national league' as of 2021 as a competition that starts in March (or April) with the conference phase and somewhere between 30 and 39 teams spread across three conferences and culminates with a championship phase thats starts in September/October and consists of 10 teams. 

It's all one thing, it's not 'winter leagues' and then the 'best teams from the winter leagues playing in a summer league'.

simple they'll move the transfer deadline to earlier in the season

I'm not worried about the talent thinning out particularly - There will be a period where this will be true but you would hope if clubs take this seriously as a long term project that exposure for more players to a level they have not played before will increase the overall level in time.

My concern is that this format (like any format) is shelved before any benefit is seen - I have concerns about the constant short term planning from both NZF and in our case NRF.  

I could be wrong and this is the change that sticks - but history would suggest I have every right to be glass half full.

Tbf they stuck with the franchise format for 16 years, maybe they've learned the value of long-term planning and this one will stick for a decade too.

Doesn't that suggest that players can play for multiple clubs in a season? What am i missing?

You can play for two clubs in the same season, but you can't register with a new club after June 30. Whatever club you are registered with as of June 30, you can only play for them from then until the end of the season. 

It's pretty much the same regulation as the winter leagues all have now, it just brings the registration cutoffs into alignment. Players might jump from a team that doesn't look like it will qualify to one that looks like it will after the regional round is half-done, but the cutoff will be early enough that players won't be able play the whole regional round for one team and the national round for another.

*franchise format - with changes every couple of years, granted not massive changes but they flirted with a lot of big changes in that time as well, which is also unsettling.  There has been franchises removed, clubs added and a host of other changes with format rules.

So what are we actually trying to achieve with the national league concept? If that is established, then we can build something that suits. I’d imagine that is what NZF probably did. So can we discuss what we think the NL should achieve? Myself I’m not sure.  Is it as a pathway to pro football anywhere? To provide talent for our national teams to excel on the world stage such as qualify for and do well as world cup’s or simply just something entertaining for fans to watch?

Keeping an eye on player payments is an admirable goal, but reports are that a Central League club just tried to sign Tade for next year but couldn't afford the $60k plus he was demanding

Expect more of this to happen and more money to be thrown around than ever as clubs can now play the game of "mine is bigger than yours" as they strive to make the OFC Champions League and Club World Cup

These questions are an indictment of NZF's messaging.

Where will clubs get sponsorship when no crowds attend?

What is going to happen to the semi/professional players? Will they leave the game/country as cannot afford to be amateur?

ACFC professionals will scatter to their winter clubs, Ole players will go back to Wellington.

Is the Div 2 going to be amateur? What will happen to Waiheke?

A team of young amateurs will not be strong enough to win the OFC Champions league and definitely not strong enough to play Club World Cup.

Where will the Handa Premiership coaches go with only half a years salary?

Wont the best school graduates look to the States for a degree and experience? Europe does not look like a good option except for a couple of outstanding players. Singh is struggling!

Keinzley back?

Looks like it