Introducing a new book about New Zealand's national league....
At a time when the future of New Zealand’s national league is once again under review, it may be timely for fans to revisit a few of the leading – and not-so-leading - ideas about our football structures which have emerged over the past 30 years.
“The National League Debates: A potted chronology of the twists, turns and conflicting ideas in New Zealand football since 1990” examines the historic ferment over the challenges of finding a sustainable format for our flagship competition.
For a competition that has been in existence for 50 years, there have been remarkably few publications dedicated to the national league.
But this 276-page manuscript is arguably even rarer, insofar as the focus of The National League Debates is strictly on the politics of the game, and arguments over how our football should be structured, as opposed to physical production of football and the on-field dramas.
It sets out a chronology of the twists, turns and conflicting ideas that the code has grappled with over an extended period of time.
In an era when our national league has evolved beyond featuring both an age-group team (Wanderers SC) and a Reserve team (Wellington Phoenix) there is naturally plenty to ponder.
And yet, even that curious composition of 2014-15 is arguably no stranger than some of the other structural convolutions chronicled within The National League Debates.
Think of the four points for a win and penalty shootouts for a draw instituted in 1996. Or the bonus point for scoring more than three goals of the 2000 season.
We’ve moved from a national league to regional leagues and back again, from winter to summer, and juggled with ideas such as franchising and representative teams with a great deal of debate not just about what was best for football, but also about what was and wasn’t acceptable as methods of work in effecting change.
This publication records the essence of the leading ideas of the day, both for and against, on just about everything that affected the national league since 1990, from the sobering costs levied on participants to the sometimes surreal administrative hierarchies the league has operated (or occasionally failed to operate) under.
READ the FOREWORD and the INTRODUCTION
Order an emailed PDF copy of The National League Debates HERE for just $12
“The National League Debates: A potted chronology of the twists, turns and conflicting ideas in New Zealand football since 1990” examines the historic ferment over the challenges of finding a sustainable format for our flagship competition.
For a competition that has been in existence for 50 years, there have been remarkably few publications dedicated to the national league.
But this 276-page manuscript is arguably even rarer, insofar as the focus of The National League Debates is strictly on the politics of the game, and arguments over how our football should be structured, as opposed to physical production of football and the on-field dramas.
It sets out a chronology of the twists, turns and conflicting ideas that the code has grappled with over an extended period of time.
In an era when our national league has evolved beyond featuring both an age-group team (Wanderers SC) and a Reserve team (Wellington Phoenix) there is naturally plenty to ponder.
And yet, even that curious composition of 2014-15 is arguably no stranger than some of the other structural convolutions chronicled within The National League Debates.
Think of the four points for a win and penalty shootouts for a draw instituted in 1996. Or the bonus point for scoring more than three goals of the 2000 season.
We’ve moved from a national league to regional leagues and back again, from winter to summer, and juggled with ideas such as franchising and representative teams with a great deal of debate not just about what was best for football, but also about what was and wasn’t acceptable as methods of work in effecting change.
This publication records the essence of the leading ideas of the day, both for and against, on just about everything that affected the national league since 1990, from the sobering costs levied on participants to the sometimes surreal administrative hierarchies the league has operated (or occasionally failed to operate) under.
READ the FOREWORD and the INTRODUCTION
Order an emailed PDF copy of The National League Debates HERE for just $12