Big increase in soccer prizemoney?

Press, 30 October 1981, Page 28

Big increase in soccer prizemoney?

Prizemoney in the Rothmans national soccer league will be in for a big increase if plans to scrap the subsidising of travel costs among the league’s clubs go ahead. The New Zealand Football Association's finance committee has recommended that the present “equalisation” scheme — where league clubs divide what is the bulk of the association’s $50.000-plus sponsorship money, according to what travel costs they , face — be dropped.

Instead, the committee suggests that clubs be left to sort out their own transport arrangements and meet the costs themselves. The money that would have been used for team travel could then be channelled into making a more attractive purse for the top place-getters in the league competition.

A member of the association's national council, Mr Trevor Gottermeyer, of Christchurch,, says alternatives have been put forward and one would lift the first prize into the region of “$15,000, $20,000 or even $25,000.”

Whether a new system was adopted would be decided at the council’s next meeting. A date had not yet been set, but it would be before the association’s annual meeting in February, he said. The main reason for looking at a new system was that a lot of teams wanted more control of their own travel plans, Mr Gottermeyer said. “With equalisation the N.Z.F.A. has had to know exactly what was going on and it was recommended that it did the booking because it could get concessions that the clubs could not,” he said. “Some clubs think they will be able to do things cheaper under their own steam.”

However, Mr Gottermeyer said that clubs would face increased costs next season through having to travel to Invercargill to play the newly-promoted Invercargill Thistle.

Representatives of the national league clubs are believed to be meeting in Wellington today to consider the alternatives raised in the finance committee’s recommendation.