In this thread on 6/8/25
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QUOTE:The previous board had already rubber stamped promotion/relegation its not something the new board should be hanging their hat on. The format was formed under their tenure no doubt and although it is very good it still my opinion needs a review and a few changes to make it even better.
The whole no standard final series for 2nd division is not right in my opinion and I said this last year when Belswans won. Premier League etc arguement's a side Australian sport is built around the Grand Final being the pinnacle of just about every team sport. Take last year for example Belswans won with 2-3 games to go and virtually had nothing to play for potentially affecting the integrity of the competition in 1sts and reserve grade then sat back and watched other teams play out a final series in their comp as well as every other comp in the area. Then you have the farcical trophy presentation/celebration to the Adamstown players at the end of the promotion game while Toronto were not acknowledged at all at the presentation. No blame to Adamstown they had every right to celebrate but it just didn't pass the pub test for me, it just wasn't right they run 11th in their competition they had every right to celebrate but be handed a trophy and medals. But, yes the game was exciting.
Like everyone that has a whinge you should have a solution.
Mine is a small change to what is a brilliant initiative to our game. 2 teams up and 2 teams down. 1st and 2nd of 2nd division automatically promoted to NPL and the 2nd Division has a regular final series .
The 12th team in NPL still automatically relegated then the 10th and 11th team do a one off relegation game to keep the excitement in week 1 of the finals series maybe on the Friday night, winner is safe loser gets relegated. No trophy presentation just one huge celebration for the winning team knowing they are safe.
This will keep the bottom of the table in NPL even more alive then it already is now, will also allow NNSW to not have to align the 2 competitions to end on the same weekend which must be a logistical nightmare especially with the wet weather we have experienced in the past few seasons.
Promotion and relegation has been awesome but in my opinion could be even better.
We ae all getting caught up in these playoff games, thinking it is good for the comps, i don't think it is, when as MM says last year Belswans had nothing to play for in the end, only to see Adamstown raise a trophy for what???
Why don't they just go back to 1up, 1down then semis as per usual?? I dont see the sense of playoff games when we have 12 team comps
Gunners have signed Keelan Hamilton as first grade coach next season, good appointment
Maybe the best solution is having NL1 a 12 team competition to mirror and align with the NPL.
Still retain promotion /relegation playoff game, but just 1 game.
But add a Final series to NL1
Week 1
1st are promoted and have week off in final series.
2nd have week off from final series but play a play off with 11th in NPL for a spot in following season's NPL. 1 game , winner takes all. Game at a Neutral venue
3 v 6
4 v 5
Week 2
1st play at home to lowest rank winner from previous weeks finals.
2nd play at home to highest rank winner from previous weeks finals.
Week 3
Grand Final at Neutral venue
NL1 gets 4 more regular season games, which is probably the right number. Opens up more spots in the pyramid for zone league teams in each division.
This model actually aids the ZL/non-eligible clubs. At the moment if a non-eligible club makes the top 4, they are not allowed to compete in the playoffs.
This new model proposed by anfield allows non-eligible clubs to compete in the finals series, while keeping the playoff concept and even making the playoff more exclusive with reduced access to get promoted. I like it.
How this model would've played out this season:
Week 1
pro/rel playoff
Toronto vs Valentine (neutral venue)
preliminary finals
West Wallsend (H) vs Wallsend (A)
Singleton (H) vs Dudley (A)
Week 2
semi finals
Kahibah (H) vs Lowest ranked W1 Winner (A)
Toronto (H) vs Highest ranked W1 winner (A)
Week 3
grand final
I actually dont mind this.
My only potential gripe is whether a relegation match should come down to just a one off 90mins winner takes all match. It is such a big moment in the future direction or even existence of some clubs should it be at minimum a two legged playoff over 180mins to ensure that a team does not go down purely because of a bad day at the office.
For the record im not saying I am against it though
As it stands currently...
"Should a team without Premier Youth League teams finish as premiers of Northern League One, they will not be promoted to NPL Men?s. In this instance, the team finishing in 11th place (qualifying for the play-offs) will remain in NPL Men?s and the team finishing 12th will take their spot in the relegation playoffs rather than be automatically relegated."