THE NATIONAL LEAGUE MOVING FORWARD - 2020/21 AND BEYOND - Sporty.co.nz
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THE NATIONAL LEAGUE
MOVING FORWARD
2020/21 AND BEYOND
The Background
In October 2015, New Zealand Football released the National Competitions Review 2015, which confirmed
that the existing competitions structures could be enhanced to provide better outcomes for the participating
clubs and the football community. Additionally, the review identified that there are inherent challenges in
designing and successfully delivering national league competitions in New Zealand.
The review outlined the following non-negotiables for the men’s national league:
• We must have an open competition to create an aspirational pathway
• We must raise standards through FIFA Club Licensing criteria
• We need a longer competition that provides one training and playing environment
• We must create a financially viable model
• We must embrace youth development through an aligned system
It recommended a phased approach to gradually move towards an optimal competition structure.
To view the National Competitions Review 2015 please click here
In March 2017, New Zealand Football released the National Competitions Review – The Way Forward.
The Way Forward set out a blueprint for transformational change in order to establish an aligned National
Competitions Framework and either extend or expand the men’s national league by March 2020.
The blueprint included 11 priority areas for investigation and action in order to realise its vision of:
• A national league that is the pinnacle of the Whole of Football Plan
• A single season that provides our top-level domestic players with circa 30 matches per season
• Well-resourced, well-supported and capable clubs
• An aligned and integrated pathway for all players
To view the National Competitions Review – The Way Forward please click here
2
Stakeholder Consultation
Since the release of The Way Forward, New Zealand Football has conducted a series of meetings and
discussions with its key stakeholders including national league clubs, federations, players and aspiring clubs
participating in regional leagues to advance the planning towards and/or achievement of the 11 priorities set
out in The Way Forward.
It was clear that there remained a number of critical areas affecting the future of the national league that
remain hotly debated and, in most cases, divided stakeholder opinion. These included the affiliation of
national league participants to their member federations, integration of national league entities into the
player development pathway, the format and calendar of the national league and, most importantly, the
financial viability of the national league.
In April 2019, New Zealand Football released a concepts paper to selected stakeholders to provide an overview
of the work to date and set out some format and calendar concepts for debate, discussion and refinement.
A final and focused consultation process then took place with key stakeholders where input and feedback on
the draft concepts was collected and taken into consideration to refine the concepts into a number of final
proposals that would evolve the men’s national league over time to achieve the vision.
A Stakeholder Working Group was established to consider the sporting elements (format, calendar,
promotion/relegation, development criteria) and whole-of-game elements (alignment, competitions
framework, integrated pathways) and debate and discuss these.
Following the above process, a final proposal was submitted to the New Zealand Football Executive
Committee for discussion and approval.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
01 A Single Integrated Season
Moving to one single integrated season is fundamental to creating a unified competition framework. New
Zealand Football will amend its Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) to provide one
single season, being a period of 12 calendar months from 1 October to 30 September.
Importantly, players will only be permitted to register with a maximum of three clubs during one season.
During this period the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs.
This change will remove New Zealand’s unique dual season structure (national league season and winter
regional leagues season), better align our regulations with FIFA and global best practice and is expected to
have a positive impact on reducing the level of player movement during and between seasons.
In order to safeguard the sporting integrity of the regional league competitions and protect player welfare,
New Zealand Football will introduce a limit to the number of matches players may take part in across the
national league and regional leagues during a season.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
02 An Exciting New Format
The revamped format is an extended competition featuring 10 clubs playing in a competition consisting of
two phases – the regular season and the championship.
The regular season shall consist of two rounds (18 matches). At the end of the regular season, the league is divided
into two tiers with the top six teams advancing to the major championship to compete for the title and the bottom
four teams advancing to the minor championship to compete for final placings that count towards relegation.
An extended competition aims to drive player development by giving players the opportunity to play more
matches in a season at the highest domestic level, as well as generating further interest by allowing all teams
to continue their involvement past the regular season. It increases the minimum number of national league
matches for players from 18 matches to 23 matches a season – a critical step towards the vision of 30 matches
per season set out in The Way Forward.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
03 Summer Football Here to Stay
The competition will be staged over a predominantly summer period of November to May.
A November to May competition calendar ensures the least conflict with the global football calendar including
Oceania Football Confederation and FIFA tournaments, and in particular the revamped FIFA Club World Cup
which may affect New Zealand teams for up to five weeks during June and July. A November to May calendar
therefore causes the least disruption to the staging of the competition and player availability in the league.
It also provides the best playing and training conditions conducive to player development. Additionally, it
minimises scheduling conflict on strained floodlit training venues which are at a premium in winter. It enables
national league entities to train up to four nights a week under natural light on high-quality surfaces.
A predominantly summer calendar will also support the sustainability of the competition and participating
clubs by providing the greatest opportunity to spread the funding requirements of the sport over a 12-month
period, allowing the national league clubs the greatest likelihood of financial sustainability.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
04 Open Competition Creates an
Aspirational Pathway for Clubs
The consultation process confirmed that the football community wants a competition framework which
enables aspiring clubs to progress into the national league.
There is also strong support for the current regional entities and to maintain the national league’s geographic
representation.
A promotion/relegation system will therefore be introduced to the national league, taking the form of a slot
protection model.
This model balances geographic representation with competitive selection, enabling movement of the league
structure based on performance while still protecting a minimum geographic representation.
There will be one protected slot allocated for each regional premier league to protect geographic
representation and maintain a pathway for all clubs into the national league.
The following table shows the current allocation of slots and number of protected slots:
NRFL CENTRAL MAINLAND SOUTHERN
Slot Allocation
PREMIER LEAGUE PREMIER PREMIER LEAGUE
Extended 4 slots 3 slots 2 slots 1 slot
(10 teams) 1 protected slot 1 protected slot 1 protected slot 1 protected slot
1 Phoenix slot
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
04 continued
The frequency of promotion/relegation shall be every four years. This is to provide suitable preparation time
for teams promoted from regional premier leagues, as well as mitigating the non-playing period for teams
relegated from the national league.
One team will be relegated from the national league and one team will be promoted from the regional premier
leagues every four years.
An annual play-off series between regional league winners will be introduced and New Zealand Football will
work with the seven federations to develop a system to measure sporting performance across the various
regional leagues and determine the highest-placed club.
The highest-placed club shall be measured during the first three years of the four-year cycle in order to
provide promoted clubs with at least 13 months to complete their sporting and financial preparation for
national league participation. For example, sporting performance will be measured during 2021, 2022 and
2023 to determine promotion for the national league commencing November 2024.
Relegation shall be based on sporting performance during the last three years of a four-year cycle. For
example, sporting performance will be measured during the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons to
determine relegation to the regional premier leagues commencing March 2025.
A relegation-zone consisting of the final three places (8th, 9th and 10th) in the national league shall be
established. The team selected for relegation shall be the team with the lowest accumulated sporting
performance across the final three-year period of the four-year cycle. In the event that the relegation of the
lowest-placed team results in a regional premier league having no representative participating in the national
league, the second-lowest placed team would be relegated and so on.
By 1 March 2020, New Zealand Football will release regulations governing the movement of teams between
the national league and regional league competitions in line with the promotion/relegation model. Such
regulations shall seek promotion from the regional leagues in 2020 for participation in the national league
2021/22 season and relegation from the national league in the 2020/21 season with a frequency of every
four years thereafter until 2025.
In addition to creating the opportunity for aspiring clubs to reach the highest level and maintaining the
national league’s geographic representation, introducing promotion/relegation in this format brings New
Zealand further in line with the wider football world, in which ‘open’ competition formats that enhance
community connection are the norm.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
05 Improved Player Development Pathways
The National Youth League will discontinue following the 2019 season in order to consolidate investment and
resourcing into the national league to establish the extended competition and support its ongoing sustainability.
To ensure the national league continues to support and drive player development, New Zealand Football
shall amend its Club Licensing Regulations so that clubs participating in the national league are required
to, either directly or indirectly through a partnership approved by New Zealand Football and the relevant
federation, operate a second team (development team) in a regional league and/or implement a player
development programme.
Clubs participating in the national league shall be permitted to register up to 40 players to a combined squad
(which includes the first team and development team/programme) with at least 17 of those players required
to be development players (under 21).
There will be no development player directives introduced into the national league start lists, allowing clubs
to select their best available players.
The development pathway proposals will support and drive the development of young players while still
providing measures to protect the sporting integrity of the regional leagues.
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THE 2020/21 SEASON AND BEYOND
06 A League For All
It is accepted that in New Zealand’s complex sporting environment one national league club model or
structure will not meet the current needs of all.
Following extensive discussions with stakeholders, it has been decided that three types of entities are
permitted entry into the national league, provided they can demonstrate a commitment to player development
as outlined previously. These entity types align with New Zealand Football’s Whole of Football Plan, enable
an integrated player pathway and are compatible with the various conditions of each tier within the National
Competition Framework.
The types of entities permitted entry into the men’s national leagues are as follows:
CLUB – affiliated member of New Zealand Football or Federation of New Zealand Football
NATIONAL LEAGUE CLUB – see explanation below
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE TEAM – representative team of all member clubs of a federation or district
association
The National League Club concept will enable the historical standalone national league entities (franchises),
as well as any current or new clubs, to establish a partnership with a community club or clubs affiliated to
a member federation through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This would be in a form approved
by New Zealand Football and the federation with the purpose of delivering, in whole or in part, the Talent
Perform pathway of the Whole of Football Plan.
The mixed-model concept, in particular the types of entities permitted to participate in the national league,
aims to further connect the game by driving greater partnerships and collaboration between the national
league entities and community clubs.
To view the Whole of Football Plan please click here
10The Best ‘Way Forward’
The extensive consultation and evaluation process showed strong support for the general principles proposed
in The Way Forward in order to achieve a unified competition framework.
In view of all the findings from the consultation process, a mixed-model, 10-team national league running
from November to May with promotion/relegation is considered the best overall competition structure in
order for the national league to deliver on its purpose, which is the following:
To provide the best competitive environment that enables more New Zealanders to succeed on the global stage
and helps more people to connect with football in New Zealand.
New Zealand Football is looking forward to adopting the above from the 2020/21 season onwards and
continuing to grow and develop a men’s national league that best meets the needs of its stakeholders, as well
as entertaining those passionate about sport in New Zealand.
Further information will be forthcoming in a full competitions circular to be released to national league clubs
and federations (for wider circulation).
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