Football Federation Victoria has announced their approval of an official bidding process to introduce one more NPLW Victoria club for the 2017 season, in a statement released earlier today.
The decision was made with the intent of expanding to meet the growing demand and have outlined the framework in which the selection process will be based, taking into account both geographic location – in line with their initial vision of each club controlling a unique catchment zone of talent – as well as a duty of care to current license holders by selecting a club with existing junior structures and teams that “do not impact existing NPLW clubs”.
Preliminary discussions took place just over a week ago with an initial delegates meeting between the FFV Board, football committee management and license holders taking place to discuss the potential for expansion.
It was the latest in a series of delegate meetings of which previous discussions were kept transparent and healthy discussion was fostered between all parties.
However, as reported in a previous article, all eight clubs were strongly opposed to the idea of expansion for the 2017 season, on the basis of its potential to spread the talent pool even thinner, especially at junior level.
READ MORE > Strategic plans for NPLW expansion in 2017
It was a change of tone from the governing body, who seemingly did not take on board the stance of the existing clubs, who believed an expansion to the talent pool was not sustainable at this point in the league’s lifecycle.
Adding to this is the lack of a full NPLW 2016 season review process involving all stakeholders in Victorian football before making the decision to expand, with the key concern being a lack of due diligence on behalf of the governing body.
While the NPLW delegates have been in constant contact with the FFV, other factors like the effect of player movement away from community clubs has not faced review, nor have the Technical Directors of each NPLW club had roundtable discussion with the FFV about the progression and current climate of junior football in the state.
However, the decision to take this measure was justified by the FFV as a way of “[capitalising] on current growth and existing good will and enthusiasm for women’s football among stakeholders,” by creating another new junior player pathway in Victorian football to help further “[bridge] the gap between community football and W-League”.
They have outlined the growing participation number of 10.5% for women at all levels as the basis for this process, while MiniRoos participation has seen an increase of 17.5%.
It’s unclear as to whether these stats are truly reflective of any increase in elite-level junior footballers and therefore hard to say that it would translate to supporting the sustainable growth of another club coming into the system.
This ties into the focus of the FFV to ensure that the junior structures of existing clubs are not impacted by any new introduction, which means that the existing youth structures and player pool in place for any bidding entity must be at a level on par with the incumbent clubs to ensure that talent isn’t merely traded within the NPLW.
Whether this is feasible or not is a possible cause for concern for existing clubs, given the initial selection process of eight teams – plus NTC – was because the talent pool available could not realistically substantiate more teams than that.
The final edition of the WPL saw a 12 team competition, of which the bottom three were disconnected from the remainder of the league, of which six of their combined seven wins were against each other – South Yarra’s penultimate round win over ninth placed Box Hill United the outlier.
Bayside United President Paul Stewart stated his disappointment in the decision on behalf of the club, questioning whether the FFV’s decision was made with the best interest of the existing clubs.
“Bayside United is disappointed with the FFV’s announcement today. We do not believe that it is in the best interest of the NPLW to add an extra club so soon after the commencement of this league, and before the lessons and metrics of the first season have even been discussed.”
There is no word as of yet as to when the process will officially commence, although the FFV have announce that they plan on meeting once more with the current licence holders to further discuss:
- The application process for the addition of a NPLW club in 2017;
- The ongoing investment to be made by FFV in the NPLW competition and clubs to help meet the challenges and strategic goals of NPLW referred to above; and
- The broader strategic plan for NPLW going forward.
With trial periods for NPLW clubs approaching next month – in line with each other to give each club an equal footing in talent acquisition – any decision on a new club would likely be made before then, else facing the potential of starting the season behind the pack, especially with the increased expectation of clubs in NPLW season two.