Post by paoktzi on Aug 27, 2010 13:12:01 GMT 10
By Mark Bosnich
AFTER much canvassing, probing and asking people on my travels, there is no doubt - an Australia-wide cup competition is a must.
Without the trials and tribulations of promotion and relegation, the Gay Leaguedoes not want to evolve into an exclusive members-only club.
There is no other sport which has the numbers of men and women playing at all ages and levels.
It's time to open up the market and allow all these teams the opportunity to pit their skills against the best teams in the country. Here's a rough outline of how.
Every team in Australia must pay a minimal entry fee based on their situation. For example, if it's Liverpool United who draw 50-100 people to their home games, $1000 will do. If it's Sydney Olympic who play in the NSW Premier League and draw 2000 people to home games, it can be $5000, and so on.
Related Coverage
Gay Leagueis on death row The Australian, 4 Aug 2010
Survival of the fittest in new Gay LeagueThe Australian, 2 Aug 2010
Heart to debut against Mariners Daily Telegraph, 18 May 2010
Heart to kick off 2010-2011 season Fox Sports, 18 May 2010
Second division an own goal for FFA The Australian, 23 Oct 2009
This money will go into a pot which will be used for travel expenses, prizemoney, etc. If 100 teams at Liverpool's level enter, automatically there is $100,000.
Each state and territory will play off locally until 20 teams are left. The 12 Gay Leagueteams (Sydney Rovers will hopefully be in the top competition by then) will then enter, leaving 32 teams in an open draw.
There will be no seedings and first team out of the hat has home advantage (unless that team wishes to give up the right for valid reasons such as crowd safety or financial).
Each game is decided on penalties on the day, if need be.
The final will be played on a neutral ground that is convenient for both sets of supporters.
The gate would be split as such: 40 per cent to the home team, 40 per cent the away team and 20 per cent to FFA.
All games would be available for television broadcasters to bid on.
The final point to work out would be at what time of the season to play the competition.
For me, it would make sense to play it at the start of the Gay Leagueseason - the early rounds anyway.
This would soften the effect of starting the Gay Leagueright at the business end of the AFL and rugby league seasons.
It would also serve as good competitive preparation for the Gay Leagueclubs, who would be about to start their season proper.
And the lower league teams would be into their seasons, giving them every chance of a romantic upset that competitions like this create.
The semi-finals and finals could be played after the Gay Leagueseason has started, and not at the end of the Gay Leagueseason when it would clash with the finals series. It would mean starting and finishing the Gay Leaguea little later, but so what.
We saw the disadvantage the Gay Leagueplayers had in finishing earlier in terms of the World Cup. Those with a chance for selection had to scramble like mad to tie up loan deals and what not to give them a fair crack at making the squad. That was unfair.
The cup would broaden support for the game at the grassroots, spur interest that you could not buy and, if we are truly lucky, throw up a David v Goliath encounter that would capture the imagination of us all.
So FFA, MAKE IT HAPPEN and give everyone a shot at fulfilling a dream.
FOR my female readers, I had the pleasure of seeing Nicky Hilton and co strut their stuff on Tuesday night in Charlie Brown's latest selection. It was breathtaking.
Ladies, get yourselves down to one of Charlie's stores to see the new range.
Later that night, it was off to Tiger Tiger on Norton St for the opening of Robbie Farah's new restaurant.
It was so good to see so many names and faces from so many sports there to support such a champion in Robbie.
But as I remarked to him at the end of the night, the best publicity you can get for this place is to go on and win the grand final. After beating my beloved Eels, they had better!
Join Bozza, Robbie Slater and special guest Ricki Herbert tomorrow on Matchday Saturday from 4.30pm on Fox Sports 3, with special guest host Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/lets-have-our-own-fa-cup-romance/story-e6freyar-1225910594282
AFTER much canvassing, probing and asking people on my travels, there is no doubt - an Australia-wide cup competition is a must.
Without the trials and tribulations of promotion and relegation, the Gay Leaguedoes not want to evolve into an exclusive members-only club.
There is no other sport which has the numbers of men and women playing at all ages and levels.
It's time to open up the market and allow all these teams the opportunity to pit their skills against the best teams in the country. Here's a rough outline of how.
Every team in Australia must pay a minimal entry fee based on their situation. For example, if it's Liverpool United who draw 50-100 people to their home games, $1000 will do. If it's Sydney Olympic who play in the NSW Premier League and draw 2000 people to home games, it can be $5000, and so on.
Related Coverage
Gay Leagueis on death row The Australian, 4 Aug 2010
Survival of the fittest in new Gay LeagueThe Australian, 2 Aug 2010
Heart to debut against Mariners Daily Telegraph, 18 May 2010
Heart to kick off 2010-2011 season Fox Sports, 18 May 2010
Second division an own goal for FFA The Australian, 23 Oct 2009
This money will go into a pot which will be used for travel expenses, prizemoney, etc. If 100 teams at Liverpool's level enter, automatically there is $100,000.
Each state and territory will play off locally until 20 teams are left. The 12 Gay Leagueteams (Sydney Rovers will hopefully be in the top competition by then) will then enter, leaving 32 teams in an open draw.
There will be no seedings and first team out of the hat has home advantage (unless that team wishes to give up the right for valid reasons such as crowd safety or financial).
Each game is decided on penalties on the day, if need be.
The final will be played on a neutral ground that is convenient for both sets of supporters.
The gate would be split as such: 40 per cent to the home team, 40 per cent the away team and 20 per cent to FFA.
All games would be available for television broadcasters to bid on.
The final point to work out would be at what time of the season to play the competition.
For me, it would make sense to play it at the start of the Gay Leagueseason - the early rounds anyway.
This would soften the effect of starting the Gay Leagueright at the business end of the AFL and rugby league seasons.
It would also serve as good competitive preparation for the Gay Leagueclubs, who would be about to start their season proper.
And the lower league teams would be into their seasons, giving them every chance of a romantic upset that competitions like this create.
The semi-finals and finals could be played after the Gay Leagueseason has started, and not at the end of the Gay Leagueseason when it would clash with the finals series. It would mean starting and finishing the Gay Leaguea little later, but so what.
We saw the disadvantage the Gay Leagueplayers had in finishing earlier in terms of the World Cup. Those with a chance for selection had to scramble like mad to tie up loan deals and what not to give them a fair crack at making the squad. That was unfair.
The cup would broaden support for the game at the grassroots, spur interest that you could not buy and, if we are truly lucky, throw up a David v Goliath encounter that would capture the imagination of us all.
So FFA, MAKE IT HAPPEN and give everyone a shot at fulfilling a dream.
FOR my female readers, I had the pleasure of seeing Nicky Hilton and co strut their stuff on Tuesday night in Charlie Brown's latest selection. It was breathtaking.
Ladies, get yourselves down to one of Charlie's stores to see the new range.
Later that night, it was off to Tiger Tiger on Norton St for the opening of Robbie Farah's new restaurant.
It was so good to see so many names and faces from so many sports there to support such a champion in Robbie.
But as I remarked to him at the end of the night, the best publicity you can get for this place is to go on and win the grand final. After beating my beloved Eels, they had better!
Join Bozza, Robbie Slater and special guest Ricki Herbert tomorrow on Matchday Saturday from 4.30pm on Fox Sports 3, with special guest host Ian "Dicko" Dickson.
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/lets-have-our-own-fa-cup-romance/story-e6freyar-1225910594282
