The Australian Championship 🇦🇺🏆

[No Totti No Party]

Wowsers. I'm guessing a few of those are quite unnecessary and could support more local clubs instead?

They exist to funnel all the talent into the 1 club instead of spreading it thin over half a dozen.

If you aren't familiar with Sydney geography most of the Assoc backed clubs are in areas where they're the only game in town so you either play for them or nothing.

St George FA are probably the most unnecessary considering Budapest exist & there's half a dozen other clubs within a 15-20 min drive.

At the time though Budapest were dead broke in NPL2 & were playing out of a crumbling St George stadium so weren't the most attractive option

 

[Glenardo]

I’m prepared to give manly a pass. They’ve existed in the nsw state league in some form since pre nsl

 

[NicCarBel]

I’m prepared to give manly a pass. They’ve existed in the nsw state league in some form since pre nsl

This is why I'm confused about Rams, because that's also apparently true for them

 

[Glenardo]

Wowsers. I'm guessing a few of those are quite unnecessary and could support more local clubs instead?

And again re my earlier post, so many good community based clubs in the lower divisions who are artificially excluded, and that’s just Sydney. Not to mention the historic community based clubs in Wollongong and Newcastle. Open the pyramid

 

[NicCarBel]

Possibly.

So.. based off what I can see in Metro NSW - that's 12 association clubs (and there's 15 metro associations) in the NPL pyramid. When I finish eating my very late dinner, I might put a table together of each association, and what the highest club within it (not association club) is/where they are, etc. Only doing this for NSW at the moment as like I said, that's where it's most prevalent

Association	Association Club?	Level of AC	Highest non AC	Level of non AC
Bankstown	Bankstown United	League 2	Bankstown City Lions Canterbury Bankstown Berries	League 1
Blacktown	Blacktown Spartans	League 1	Blacktown City Prospect United Western City Rangers (Mt Druitt)	NPL League 1 League 1
Canterbury	N/A	N/A	APIA Leichardt Sydney Olympic Dulwich Hill Inter Lions Fraser Park Inner West Hawks	NPL NPL League 1 League 1 League 2 League 2
Central Coast	Central Coast United*	League 2	All the clubs of Central Coast Premier League	Central Coast Premier League
Eastern Suburbs	N/A	N/A	UNSW Hakoah Sydney City East Dunbar Rovers Sydney University	NPL League 1 League 2 League 2
South Coast	South Coast Flame	League 2	Wollongong Wolves	NPL
St George	St George City	NPL	Rockdale Ilinden St George FC Hurstville Zagreb	NPL NPL League 1
Granville	Parramatta Egales	League 2	Rydalmere Lions Granville Rage	League 1 League 2
Hills	Hills United	League 1	Castle Hill United Kellyville Kolts	North West Sydney Premier League (restructure of Hills leagues this season)
Macarthur	Macarthur Rams	League 1	Camden Tigers	League 2
Manly-Warringah	Manly United	NPL	All the clubs of Manly-Warringah Premier League	Manly-Warringah Premier League
Nepean	Nepean FC	League 2	Hawkesbury City Hawks	League 2
North West	NWS Spirit	NPL	Gladesville Ryde Magic	League 2
Northern Suburbs	Northern Tigers	League 1	All the clubs of Northern Suburbs Premier League	Northern Suburbs Premier League
Southern Districts	Southern District Raiders	NPL	Marconi Sydney United Bonnyrigg White Eagles Mounties Wanderers	NPL NPL League 2 League 2
Sutherland Shire	N/A**	N/A	Sutherland Sharks	NPL

* Central Coast United is an official feeder club to Central Coast Mariners and appears to have a partnership with CCF from what I've seen. I don't think they are an association club officially, but my quick scans appear to point that way
** Sutherland Sharks have an MOU beginning next season where they will co-manage the Girls and Women's representative program for the Sutherland Shire Football Association. I don't know if there's anything like this in place on the Boys/Men's side

Also of note - in a few cases, I'm assigning associations to clubs, as they may not actually compete in any association at all, and only compete in FNSW competitions (according to association club pages). In the event clubs are competing in the top 3 leagues of NSW, I've listed all of them.

Please forgive me if I have gotten things wrong - and provide corrections (I'll update/research/provide my reasoning for why/where I've included) - I've done the best I can from Canberra lol

 

[NicCarBel]

They exist to funnel all the talent into the 1 club instead of spreading it thin over half a dozen.

If you aren't familiar with Sydney geography most of the Assoc backed clubs are in areas where they're the only game in town so you either play for them or nothing.

St George FA are probably the most unnecessary considering Budapest exist & there's half a dozen other clubs within a 15-20 min drive.

At the time though Budapest were dead broke in NPL2 & were playing out of a crumbling St George stadium so weren't the most attractive option

Good points I think - it's also worth noting that NSW only has a three tier pyramid (spanning 3 leagues), compared to Victoria's where I've lost count, but it's 10 tiers deep with no clubs repeating

 

[Beretta]

or A-Liga or Uni. That's the vibe I'm getting out of NSW mostly

In seriousness, the one's I've identified in the NSW NPL (top division only) this season (and please correct me if I'm wrong) are:
* Southern District Raiders
* St George City
* NWS Spirit
* Manly United (this is the one that I might be wrong on?)

NWS Spirit is also a merger with the old Northern Spirt i believe, but they are an association.

 

[NicCarBel]

NWS Spirit is also a merger with the old Northern Spirt i believe, but they are an association.

Yeah it was something like that - kind of similar to the Manly situation

 

[Glenardo]

Good points I think - it's also worth noting that NSW only has a three tier pyramid (spanning 3 leagues), compared to Victoria's where I've lost count, but it's 10 tiers deep with no clubs repeating

Yea when the npl was set up there was a licensing system put in place. I seem to recall it was originally just the top tier of the state but it was then expanded. At that time there wasn’t pro rel between the npl divisions and the state leagues in vic either but they’ve since reconnected the pyramid. That hasn’t happened yet in nsw.

The idea at the time of the rebranding of the various state leagues under the npl branding and the licensing was to placate the afc and clubs into feeling like this was a defacto national second Div. They also brought in the national finals around that time which didn’t generate much hype

 

[LFC]

This is why I'm confused about Rams, because that's also apparently true for them

yer though the Rams are a new entity for the south west region having paid for the AL license in the area.
Whereas the long standing traditional local Club from my history is Camden Tigers.
Founded in the 60's - have been the sole Club in Macarthur having Youth Dev to Rep football.
They were near on gaining promo to the old PL3 before FNSW did their league shake up back in '20.

 

[erogenouszone]

Manly have a convoluted history, they’re a merger between an older Dutch club and another manly club. Hence the “united”. As far as I’m aware

Manly are not an association club. They've been around a while.

 

[Glenardo]

Manly are not an association club. They've been around a while.

1976 nsw state league table. Final year before the nsl started, plenty of familiar clubs in there

 

[LFC]

I get the question/angst towards Association Clubs BUT whats the issue on these clubs who look to climb out of Association football ?
For eg as Glenardo re Manly - I have no qualm regards Manly in the top flight - they have been for ages/decades.
They are professional/have the facility/they have competed some seasons very well.
Good for the league/geography and in better shape than stalwart Wolves have been in for ages for eg.
Spirit ? I'm no fan of them but they have shown for sometime their ambition to rise - and that they did in recent times, bit of a minnow player obviously but they are quite professional, they have healthy WRep sides as well.

 

[NicCarBel]

yer though the Rams are a new entity for the south west region having paid for the AL license in the area.
Whereas the long standing traditional local Club from my history is Camden Tigers.
Founded in the 60's - have been the sole Club in Macarthur having Youth Dev to Rep football.
They were near on gaining promo to the old PL3 before FNSW did their league shake up back in '20.

I think they are in what would have been coined PL3 these days at the moment? My cousin is the Youth TD at Camden - that's why they've been on my radar hahaha

 

[NicCarBel]

I get the question/angst towards Association Clubs BUT whats the issue on these clubs who look to climb out of Association football ?
For eg as Glenardo re Manly - I have no qualm regards Manly in the top flight - they have been for ages/decades.
They are professional/have the facility/they have competed some seasons very well.
Good for the league/geography and in better shape than stalwart Wolves have been in for ages for eg.
Spirit ? I'm no fan of them but they have shown for sometime their ambition to rise - and that they did in recent times, bit of a minnow player obviously but they are quite professional, they have healthy WRep sides as well.

Yes, this is pretty good explanation overall. I think if I had my way, now looking at the full landscape of who's in where, and what's an association club and not - I can see merit in some, but not in others. If I was to say "too bad, there's already plenty of catchment clubs, this area doesn't need an association club" I would remove/disband:

• Southern Districts Raiders
• Blacktown Spartans
• Bankstown United
• St George City

Manly are not an association club. They've been around a while.

View attachment 8865

1976 nsw state league table. Final year before the nsl started, plenty of familiar clubs in there

Maybe back then they weren't - but the Manly-Warringah FA website seems to suggest that it currently is one:

 

[Glenardo]

Time to open up the pyramid to clubs outside the offical npl system imo. To clarify for those interstate, once you drop below npl level here it subdivides into these various “districts” which you play within, in a similar way to how in Melbourne it divides into “state league south east/north west”. That could be a logistical issue re trying to sort out that bottle neck re pro rel but I’m sure it can be done. Again, so many good substantive clubs, often ones who generate more interest than npl ones who are currently stuck in the lower divisions

 

[NicCarBel]

Time to open up the pyramid to clubs outside the offical npl system imo. To clarify for those interstate, once you drop below npl level here it subdivides into these various “districts” which you play within, in a similar way to how in Melbourne it divides into “state league south east/north west”. That could be a logistical issue re trying to sort out that bottle neck re pro rel but I’m sure it can be done. Again, so many good substantive clubs, often ones who generate more interest than npl ones who are currently stuck in the lower divisions

I was thinking about this over lunch actually hahaha

My idea would be to piggyback off Champion of Champions - have it be that you can only compete in the first grade Champion of Champions bracket if you meet XYZ criteria (whatever it is to get into League Two) AND win the district Premier League. Whoever wins that gets promoted. Would mean every club in the NPL pyramid needs to be 'assigned' an association though, as they'd need to go somewhere if relegated by finishing last in League Two.

 

[Glenardo]

Wasn’t sure what thread to put it in, but for those outside of Sydney. Leichhardt oval to shut in a couple of weeks time and undergo a redevelopment. Set to reopen in 2028. This is what’s planned;

 

[NicCarBel]

Wasn’t sure what thread to put it in, but for those outside of Sydney. Leichhardt oval to shut in a couple of weeks time and undergo a redevelopment. Set to reopen in 2028. This is what’s planned;

View attachment 8875View attachment 8876View attachment 8877

I like it

 

[SMFC1959]

Wasn’t sure what thread to put it in, but for those outside of Sydney. Leichhardt oval to shut in a couple of weeks time and undergo a redevelopment. Set to reopen in 2028. This is what’s planned;

View attachment 8875View attachment 8876View attachment 8877

That would make a great football stadium ! That can definitely hold matches for A League, Australian Championship, Australia Cup and any NPL NSW Finals.

Looks like a great set up.

We just need the Queensland Government to redevelop Brisbane's Perry Park into a 10-12,000 boutique stadium.