Sustainability of changes questioned

Southern Football chief executive Dougal McGowan does not want changes to the national league to come at the cost of local clubs.

Friends of Football is reporting New Zealand Football has proposed changes to both the men’s and women’s national leagues shifting to winter from 2027. Both play September to December after regional competitions.

Three options are proposed for the men, including a 12-team competition with, and without, a finals series — including two South Island teams — and a 14-team competition without finals. Entry fees ranged from $19,000 to $25,000.

If the change occurred, the Southern League, which involves the Dunedin City Royals and Wanaka, could remain and run concurrently.

The women’s national league would see the hybrid system, which includes club and regional teams — including Southern United — scrapped.

Two options are for a 10-club competition, with or without a finals series, which could include two South Island teams. Entry fees ranged from $14,000 to $15,000.

Promotion-relegation systems would be installed with regional winners playing for promotion and bottom national teams relegated.

NZF will host a summit to discuss all proposals and McGowan said everything was still up for consultation.

McGowan believed all competitions could not be viewed as mutually exclusive.

"My opinion is strongly around the fact that you cannot look at these competitions as standalone. You’ve got to look at the whole system that feeds into it.

"The questions that are paramount for us is, if this goes ahead, what does it look like for the Women’s South Island League?

"How sustainable is that? And it’s the same in the men’s, how sustainable is that?

"If you take three men’s teams out of the South Island League... is the quality of that going to be good enough? Who pays for the travel for that? How does that work?"

Airfares for the Women’s South Island League were upwards of $200,000 at present and entry fees for the men’s Southern League "doesn’t cover anywhere near" the travel costs.

If NZF no longer supported those costs, it would be tough.

"If New Zealand Football take that money away from the men’s, and from the women’s, South Island leagues, I worry about the sustainability of clubs being able to stay in there and continue to make it happen.

"It’s a lot of money for clubs to be able to find."

Paying for multiple teams — men’s and women’s across different grades — put pressure on resources and smaller clubs carried a "much larger burden" than those in Auckland.

McGowan wanted to ensure Southern Football remained relevant for as a pathway for players.

"That’s our No1 goal, so that they get a chance to shine on the bigger stage.

"But it does get harder and harder. History will tell you that standalone clubs, and teams, in our region have always found that difficult.

"They go in cycles where clubs really struggle financially over a period of time... and that’s only with one team. Then there’s all the other feed ones that’ll be underneath.

"If you’ve got a male and female side in your club that’s doing that, it’s a big deal because it’s not just the money. It’s the volunteer time... they are the lifeblood of our sports."

Southern Football were also keen to explore a Southern-Central competition — which has been run in different formats previously — including teams from the South Island and Central region.

"It's probably one thing that we'd like to investigate a little bit more, so that we continue to get best with best, but it keeps all of our other leagues below a bit stronger as well."