TASMANIAN soccer is set to receive a significant makeover as the sport’s governing body looks to grow the statewide competition, introducing a promotion and relegation system.
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Sold as the biggest reform since the NPL Tasmania league was reinstated in 2013, Football Federation Tasmania plan to expand the top-tier men’s competition to 10 teams from 2019.
Two clubs will be promoted at 2018 season’s end with promotion-relegation to kick in for every season thereafter.
FFT president Sean Collins said promoted clubs would need to meet a set of mandatory criteria “prior to the relevant season”.
He said the highest “eligible” Southern and Northern championship clubs at the end of the 2018 season will automatically be in line to join the statewide league.
The 10th-ranked statewide team in 2019 will join the regional competitions and be replaced by the winner of a play-off between the top-ranked Southern and Northern championship sides.
The loser of the play-off will then face the ninth-ranked statewide team for an opportunity to be promoted.
Championship clubs that already have a senior side affiliated in the NPL Tasmania are ineligible for promotion.
This includes Northern Rangers and Launceston City championship sides, but Riverside Olympia and Launceston United could be promoted under changes.
“Two things that set football apart are Cup competitions and promotion and relegation,” Collins said.
Two things that set football apart are cup competitions and promotion and relegation.
- FFT president Sean Collins
“We already have a vibrant Lakoseljac Cup leading into the FFA Cup, and in the future we will also have promotion-relegation for our top tier competition. We believe this will add more drama and bring more meaning to our competitions.
“It also helps set standards and keeps our top performers on their toes, while providing a well-defined pathway for all clubs to reach the highest level of football that Tasmania has to offer.”
Collins said now was the right time for the overhaul given the success and stability of the state league competition in the past four years.
He said releasing the changes well in advance gives all clubs the opportunity to prepare.
“A priority of the board in establishing the state league has been to ensure the quality and sustainability of the competition and we adopted the current three-year licensing model for that reason,” Collins said.
“This has provided clubs with an element of security in ramping up to meet the demands of the NPL competition. The board’s view as we play through the second of the three-year license periods is that the game and the competition is now in strong enough health to transition back to a traditional promotion and relegation structure.”
Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
