Debate set for summer soccer
PA Wellington The 14 national league soccer clubs will debate at Labour Day week-end in Auckland whether to accept the summer league concept. The national league chairman, Noel Robinson, who went to Australia three weeks ago to investigate the Australian Soccer Federation proposal to switch its national competition from winter to summer, has prepared a paper which will be tabled at the conference. “Australia started this in January by accident because it had the Olympic play-offs and the Bicentennial Gold Cup tournament,” Mr Robinson said. “It found that originally the gates were quite high but they automatically decreased quite considerably once the other winter sports like rugby league,, rugby, Aussie rules and what have you started in March and April. “In the light of that experience it is considering starting the league early, like - mid-Novem-ber,” Robinson said. The concept in New Zealand found. favour in metropolitan centres although in provincial areas
there was opposition to it when it was first mooted. “I have prepared a paper and once we have a consensus then two weeks later it will be tabled at the Football Association council meeting,” Mr Robinson said. “I have my own views which I shouldn’t discuss just yet but there are the obvious pros and cons that the national league teams should seriously consider. “I hope the clubs don’t get pigheaded enough not to try something different primarily because of the decline of the game at that level,” he said. Only the national league teams would be consulted at this stage because it would affect them and their players. “If in due course other teams get to that level they too will be consulted but it really only affects the national league teams.” Mr Robinson pointed out factors such as: • A recognisable need to improve the image of the game. • The sport’s inability to compete with rugby for gates. ® Media coverage, in particular a dearth of television and radio time for local soccer.
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Press, 14 September 1988, Page 72
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330Debate set for summer soccer Press, 14 September 1988, Page 72
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