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2015 Observations
Some Points To Ponder
by Jeremy Ruane
One of the disadvantages of having twelve-team divisions in the Lotto NRFL is that, come season's end, you end up with a raft of postponed fixtures which leave some teams completing a season up to a month - and sometimes beyond that - after the scheduled conclusion of the campaign.
It's particularly noticeable this year with three teams from the northern region - two Premier League teams and one from the First Division - having reached the ASB Chatham Cup semi-finals. The way things are shaping up, unless there is a bit of smart thinking employed surrounding the remaining fixtures, the 2015 Northern League may not be completed until the first weekend in October!!
In an ideal world, what should happen is that each division concludes on the same date, so that situations such as Wednesday night's rescheduled Second Division clash between Lynn-Avon and Te Atatu - where LAU went into the match knowing precisely what they had to do to relegate Albany United - can be avoided.
The final round finish date is employed in both the Mainland and Capital Federations, so it's not that difficult a thing to address.
Four common sense suggestions I would like to see employed in 2016 and subsequent Northern League seasons, arising from the lessons learnt in this campaign, are:
1 - a fixed final round date on the September weekend before the Chatham Cup Final. Councils usually give a couple of weeks' grace after the end of August because of overflow, so this fits in with that arrangement. It will mean just about every club kicks off that round knowing that where they finish the season almost certainly hinges on that day's results. Ideally there should be no league fixtures needing to be played beyond that date, but if there are some, they will be very few in number, unlike at present, where some fixtures have still to be
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arranged!
2 - one or two rounds of fixtures involving clashes between teams in the greater Auckland area taking place in midweek throughout the season. With the number of floodlit football turf facilities now fully operational around the city, this should not be too difficult to accomplish. Matches involving teams from North Force and the WaiBOP federation will obviously need to take place on Saturdays (refer point 4) due to the travel requirements entailed, but for teams from Hibiscus Coast to Waiuku, and all points in between, there really shouldn't be any excuses for not playing at least one midweek (Tuesday or Wednesday) match during the course of a season. (And by no excuses I include the likes of "We don't want to play under floodlights". If this is the case, pray tell what it is you train under?!)
3 - when cup rounds are scheduled, if possible use these weekends to play rearranged league fixtures, rather than scheduled rounds, thereby doing a great deal to avoid the situation currently facing Waiuku, three of whose four remaining matches have been postponed due to the progress of their opponents in the Chatham Cup.
4 - weekend matches involving long-distance travel to take place on Saturday afternoons, so players aren't travelling home to/from the likes of North Force, AFC Fury or Tauranga on a Sunday night, getting home late then having to be up first thing on Monday for work. This is both a player welfare and HS&E issue, which should take priority over when certain clubs would prefer to play their home matches.
Further constructive ideas / alternatives welcome. The overall objective is to improve the current situation, because there is no way a league which kicked off on March 27 should still be operational on the first weekend in October, as seems likely at present.
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