By David Schout
DANDENONG Thunder has joined 47 other Victorian clubs in boycotting the proposed National Premier League for next year.
All 12 Victorian Premier League clubs, including Thunder, have now said they will not participate in the new NPLV.
They claim it will be financially unviable, ignores key Football
Federation Australia recommendations and is inconsistent with
competitions largely rolled out in other states.
The state’s governing body, Football Federation Victoria, plans to
introduce the FFA-endorsed revamped top tier of competition at the
start of next season.
This new league would operate in much the same manner as the
current VPL, but would include a national play-off at the end of each
winter season.
However, the boycotting clubs say FFV’s model is different to those in other states and would be detrimental for clubs.
One club, South Melbourne FC, said it would take the FFV to court if it did not suspend the NPLV process.
However, FFV chief executive Mitchell Murphy took a hard line and
said clubs that did not lodge an application for the new league by
Thursday would simply be placed in the second tier of state football,
similar to the current State League One model.
This poses a potential embarrassment for the federation if none of the state’s best sides are in the top league.
The NPL state competitions have already been successfully rolled
out in Queensland, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and ACT, with
Victoria, Northern NSW and Western Australia due to join in 2014.
A Dandenong Thunder spokesman was not available for comment last week.
