So 17 teams maximum in the two men’s Premier grade comps next season and that includes Jets. My mail is if the Jets go to Sydney like they want and have applied for there will be two divisions of NPL 1 and 2 played over 3 rounds with 8 teams in each for senior grades and a flat based structure for youth grades with all teams in. Been told 2 clubs to almost guaranteed to be be in 2nd tier are Lakes and Valentine based not only on results but very poor facilities and only need a shower of rain and games called off. Valo also have no suitable lighting at CB complex. Last club to go down if Jets are not admitted to Sydney is interesting with both Adamstown and Charlestown in the firing line. All officially revealed after the Grand Final.
imo, If you meet the NPL standards as all of the current teams do, they shouldn't be relegated for facilities (unless of course their facilities didn't meet the criteria in the first place.....). Relegation should be on results, and the bottom 3? teams drop down.
I'm curious to see how this works. Will it improve attendances or diminish them?
For any club relegated, I imagine there will be a loss of revenue from sponsors at least.
Tell you what would be fun to watch. A 16 team NPL in 2020. Play eachother once then split into top 8/bottom 8. Welcome to your NPL1 and 2. Play eachother once. Finals for each.
That seems contrary to all other information released previously.
Northern wanted a 12 team NPL competition with promotion/relegation. If they have 17 NPL licensed clubs then the intention was to run with 12 team NPL and a 10 team NL1 still. There would be the opportunity for the NPL licensed teams to promote from NL1 if they win the comp.
I like the idea of this as it gives teams like cooks hills, new lambton, etc the chance to retain their juniors and stop losing them to NPL clubs. However, I don't think it's going to be pretty watching Magic, Olympic, Jets Youth teams play the likes of Cessnock, Thornton, Singleton etc though.
The concerns raised about going to around 16 teams is that halfway through the season you have the prospect of clubs having nothing left to play for. Similar to watching Lakes, Adamstown or Valentine play each other now.
The Jets Youth also struggle for motivation as they really have nothing to play for week in, week out.
What’s the point of NewFM if there are NPL 1 & 2.
No one cares about NewFM as it is and the better players are already playing NPL or even some playing ZPL with their mates.
NPL 1 with 8
NPL 2 with 9
The other NewFM teams who didn’t apply, back to ZL.
Jets will go to Sydney leaving 16 teams for Npl 1 and Npl 2 with the rest of the newfm teams relegated to Zone football.
NPL 1
Edgeworth
Broadmeadow
Hamilton
Lambton
Maitland
Weston
Azzurri
Adamstown or Lakes
NPL 2
Adamstown or Lakes
Valentine
Kahibah
Wallsend
West Wallsend
Cooks Hill
Belswans
South Cardiff
With promotion and relegation between Npl 1 and 2
"It is not that I am afraid to die; its just that I don't want to be there when it happens" - Woody Allen
It will be damn hard to keep Cooks Hill out of NPL1. They have a history of performance, the juniors, the money and the ground.
Based on performance, grounds, juniors and any combination of the three, this would be my comps come the revolution:
NPL 1
1 Edgeworth
2 Broadmeadow
3 Hamilton
4 Lambton
5 Maitland
6 Weston
7 Azzurri
8 Cooks Hill
NPL 2
1 Lakes
2 Valentine
3 Kahibah
4 Wallsend
5 West Wallsend
6 Belswans
7 South Cardiff
8 Adamstown
Relegating 3 from the current NPL will cause much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but to give Cooks Hill a deserved shot then 3 go down unless they are happy with uneven numbers in the two comps or want a bye. Could they go 9 an 7? Possible.
Oh, and 3 rounds please.
A shame about Thornton. Such a growth area.
Youth: all in together. Yep, there will be smashings but they will lessen over time thanks to SAP or equivalent programmes. Allow Mid North Coast and North Coast to be part of the youth comp
"It is not that I am afraid to die; its just that I don't want to be there when it happens" - Woody Allen
The above scenarios are all dependent on the NPL licenses being issued.
If 16 clubs have applied (not including the Jets), there’s a likelihood that some of them won’t be granted.
Then we might end up with a 12,13 or 14 team competition anyway.