@ArsenalFan700 I disagree with you ...but won't use the button..will explain why instead. ..
If you completely disband the I-League 2nd Division , the pool of players that would normally play in this league would have to find an alternate means of livelihood ..the natural options would be Govt jobs via sports quota or moving to places with strong club structures for local leagues...Eg: Kolkata, Shillong, ( i don't say Goa Pro League , because most teams there have enough to choose from and don't take as many outside players as the other 2 leagues mentioned)
Having a regional 2nd Division is lower costs and the certain rivalry created between local teams , as seen in Santosh trophy group stages will attract crowds, after all we are a very communal nation.
I've spoken to owners in Chennai recently and in meetings, they are glad to invest in a club , but in the region of paying 15-25K a month to a player for the entire 12months, ( 1.80laks to 3 Laks for local players )this is pretty much the same as a Kenkre , PIFA types will spend paying 40-50K for 4 month contracts.
This kind of amounts would attract the younger players who are looking to break through , and the clubs are willing to provide some basic form of accommodation which would suit bachelors.... in a unique Indian way.. this would become some form of youth development. You will see a lot more U-25 players playing in such teams , with a few experienced ex-pro's.
If these clubs could be made to get proper foreigners, once again limiting it to 2 foreigners would improve the quality, as having 4 would then lead them to cost cut and get the type of crap Africans that Aizawl FC and other Mizo clubs are doing ( copying & not learning from the mistakes of Shillong teams in the recent past )
I think @ DX has also mentioned some very good points.
2nd Division is very much needed , but it can be a semi-pro league even.
Look at the number of clubs in US Soccer development program, the need of the hour here is that... we need more and more PROPER clubs and more lengthy & structured competitions.
If we shut down the 2nd Div, the numerous clubs will just run around playing 1-2 month local leagues and meaningless Governors Gold Cups etc.
Didnt find any other thread so here goes Although we find such articles every 4th year, i found this one worth discussing. The views of the author resonates with mine on the reasons behind the low standard of football in India http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140710/jsp/opinion/story_18596803.jsp
This is just a pure example of why clubs like United should not even be allowed close to the I-League or even the Calcutta Football League Premier Division for that matter. If you can't be professional then you just can not be in the top tiers. I am sorry they can't get a sponsor but obviously there has to be a reason that after more than a year now they are left sponsorless.
@Gaffertape First off, sorry for the late reply as I did not notice your post. Secondly, I still disagree and think it would be better to get rid of the 2nd Division until such a time a second division is feasible.
Before I go into my reasoning for disagreeing let me first clarify that my personal vision is eventually a 20 team I-League with a 24 team I-League 2nd Division with promotion/relegation among the two like Japan And then below the 2nd Division you would have the state leagues but under one umbrella, almost like the National Premier Leagues in Australia. Of course we are far from that but when it begins I would love to see an 18-team I-League and a starter 8-10 team I-League 2nd Division.
Anyway, as for why I disagree, I will start with your first argument. To be honest, it is very weak. So what if a player can not make a living as a footballer? The grand majority of players in the 2nd Division most likely already have second jobs so the scene would probably not look differently. Not everyone is born to become a footballer and based on the quality of football alone I doubt they even deserve it, that is the brutal truth on the matter.
As for the rest, ranging from costs to the youth factor... again, not really a strong argument for justification of a 2nd Division. Why can we simply not do this with the state leagues? Why can we not just redevelop the structure of the state leagues? A low-cost, youth focused league is perfect for the state leagues but horrendous on a nationally played 2nd Division.
Personally I believe we should be developing these types of structures at the state level and allowing the I-League to develop in a closed structure. It would benefit Indian football in the long-run and slowly start to weed out the players who otherwise are not good enough and bring through a new batch that would be good enough to increase the quality of play we see on the field. Also it would help us to create a calendar for the future as we would not be selecting a new batch of teams for a 2nd Division each and every year. In the I-League it would be the same exact teams from the previous I-League season but maybe with some new direct-entry teams and in the state leagues it would be the same teams as last season but perhaps some new teams from the state.
This would also allow us to finally create a proper FA Cup style league in India, which is completely different from the Federation Cup where we are still in the stone age with.
These are systems and structures that have been tried in countries that have seem rapid development in recent years such as Japan and Australia and they have worked.
As for the US Soccer Development League, as someone who plays in it, it is a massively overrated development league. Sure, there are a lot of them but most of them are shit, coached by coaches who still think that athletes deserve more chances than players who can actually play do. Many of the clubs here also still follow the play-to-play rule meaning that only the rich can afford to have their kid on a team. Of course there is a rule saying that clubs must get rid of that system come 2015 but who knows how many teams will drop out of the USDL by then because they either can't afford to follow that rule or are stubborn to follow it.
@archak, that was a good one. It categorically highlights our dishonesty and inefficiency as the cause for our downfall than lack of infrastructure or sponsorship or emergence of cricket.
Comments
Although we find such articles every 4th year, i found this one worth discussing. The views of the author resonates with mine on the reasons behind the low standard of football in India
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140710/jsp/opinion/story_18596803.jsp
http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/united-sc-to-appeal-cfl-premier-division-exclusion-still-want-to-play-in-i-league-second-division
http://tinyurl.com/owxwor7
via @Goal_India
United sc will not be allowed to participate in CFL