The Indian Football Structure
Arsenalkid700
7 Points
Right now this is our structure in India (excluding cup tournaments)...
1) I-League (Promotion/Relegation with I-League 2nd Division) (14 clubs)
2) I-League 2nd Division (Promotion/Relegation with I-League) (21 clubs [2011 season at least])
3) State Leagues (No Promotion/Relegation with Professional Leagues) (There is promotion/relegation within the state leagues though like with West Bengal. There is the Calcutta Football League which has the loser relegate to the 2nd Division Calcutta Football League.)
Then the cups:
1) Federation Cup
2) IFA Shield & Durand Cup
3) State Cups
So that is our current real football structure in India which is shite. So my question is what do you think of the current one and what would you do to change it.
For me I would revamp the structure...
League Structure:
1) I-League (10 Franchises)
2) I-League 2nd Division (14 Franchises)
3) Indian Football League (56 clubs) (I will explane in the explanation)
4) State Leagues (1 League in each state that runs along side I-League)
EXPLANATION: The reason I put I-League at 10 franchises is because at this moment financially this is whats best. Then as financial growth gets better we will add two franchises per season from the I-League 2nd Division. (Yes! There is no promotion/relegation) Also in order to determine who gets expansion to I-League is not based on performance overall in the 2nd Division. It would be based on stadium, training ground, cyber websites, fans, past attendance, finance and performance on the pitch. (So say we expand the I-League, and a club called Chennai United wins the 2nd Division Championship yet don't have a good stadium, no website, nor good finance or attendance then they would not go up. Also the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the 2nd Division have the same problem so they don't go up but the 5th best team in the 2nd Division goes up even though they where the 5th best team because they have a good stadium, website, and a good financial record)
Then obviously if you make 2 teams go from the 2nd Division to 1st then you need to replace them, so you do that by promoting 2 teams from the Indian Football League. Now in order for a team to qualify for the 2nd Division they must have there team name represent there state/city, have a stadium (quality of stadium does not matter), training ground anywhere (school, there playing stadium etc.), good financial record which does not have to be as good as an I-League team but still must be good. (Oh and did I mention that no more than 2 teams per state in each league so for example you can have 2 teams from Goa in the 2nd Division and 2 more from Goa in the I-League but can't have more than 3)
Now the National Football League which will be the third division will have 56 clubs (2 per state). Here is how to qualify from the NFL... In order to make the inaugural NFL you would need to be in the top two of your Top Division State League (So if two teams like Mumbai Rovers and Nagbur FC want to go to the NFL (both from Maharashtra) then they would need to be in the top two of the Maharashtra League). Then from the 2nd Season of NFL and onwards in order to make the league then you would not only need to be in the top spot in your league but you need one of the 2 teams already representing your state to fail either performance wise of financially so that team can go down a level and you go up. Anyway once you know what 56 clubs are in the league you will divide the NFL into 4 groups of 14 teams where your team plays the other 13 clubs in your group once. Then the top 4 teams from each group moves on and play a 2-legged Round of 16 then a two-legged Quarter-Final then a neutral hosted Semi-Final along with the neutral hosted Final. (NOTE: The other 10 clubs from the group stage that don't finish top 4 play each other again for a total of 22 games per club) (NOTE: The teams that lose the round of 16 play each other; same with quater-final and semi-final) (Teams that make it beyond the group stage play a maximum of 19 games per club) (Also the groups will make sure that the teams are based close to each other. So you will never see a West Bengal team and Goa team in the same group but you could see a Sikkim team and a West Bengal team together)
Now the State Leagues will run along with the professional leagues and NFL (September to May). The state league criteria is up to the states themselves. Also the state leagues will also include the I-League and I-League 2nd Division Reserve Teams to give there reserve players playing time. (So an I-League club like Kerala FC can't have there first team in I-League and States, they will have to send there Reserves to states).
1) I-League (Promotion/Relegation with I-League 2nd Division) (14 clubs)
2) I-League 2nd Division (Promotion/Relegation with I-League) (21 clubs [2011 season at least])
3) State Leagues (No Promotion/Relegation with Professional Leagues) (There is promotion/relegation within the state leagues though like with West Bengal. There is the Calcutta Football League which has the loser relegate to the 2nd Division Calcutta Football League.)
Then the cups:
1) Federation Cup
2) IFA Shield & Durand Cup
3) State Cups
So that is our current real football structure in India which is shite. So my question is what do you think of the current one and what would you do to change it.
For me I would revamp the structure...
League Structure:
1) I-League (10 Franchises)
2) I-League 2nd Division (14 Franchises)
3) Indian Football League (56 clubs) (I will explane in the explanation)
4) State Leagues (1 League in each state that runs along side I-League)
EXPLANATION: The reason I put I-League at 10 franchises is because at this moment financially this is whats best. Then as financial growth gets better we will add two franchises per season from the I-League 2nd Division. (Yes! There is no promotion/relegation) Also in order to determine who gets expansion to I-League is not based on performance overall in the 2nd Division. It would be based on stadium, training ground, cyber websites, fans, past attendance, finance and performance on the pitch. (So say we expand the I-League, and a club called Chennai United wins the 2nd Division Championship yet don't have a good stadium, no website, nor good finance or attendance then they would not go up. Also the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the 2nd Division have the same problem so they don't go up but the 5th best team in the 2nd Division goes up even though they where the 5th best team because they have a good stadium, website, and a good financial record)
Then obviously if you make 2 teams go from the 2nd Division to 1st then you need to replace them, so you do that by promoting 2 teams from the Indian Football League. Now in order for a team to qualify for the 2nd Division they must have there team name represent there state/city, have a stadium (quality of stadium does not matter), training ground anywhere (school, there playing stadium etc.), good financial record which does not have to be as good as an I-League team but still must be good. (Oh and did I mention that no more than 2 teams per state in each league so for example you can have 2 teams from Goa in the 2nd Division and 2 more from Goa in the I-League but can't have more than 3)
Now the National Football League which will be the third division will have 56 clubs (2 per state). Here is how to qualify from the NFL... In order to make the inaugural NFL you would need to be in the top two of your Top Division State League (So if two teams like Mumbai Rovers and Nagbur FC want to go to the NFL (both from Maharashtra) then they would need to be in the top two of the Maharashtra League). Then from the 2nd Season of NFL and onwards in order to make the league then you would not only need to be in the top spot in your league but you need one of the 2 teams already representing your state to fail either performance wise of financially so that team can go down a level and you go up. Anyway once you know what 56 clubs are in the league you will divide the NFL into 4 groups of 14 teams where your team plays the other 13 clubs in your group once. Then the top 4 teams from each group moves on and play a 2-legged Round of 16 then a two-legged Quarter-Final then a neutral hosted Semi-Final along with the neutral hosted Final. (NOTE: The other 10 clubs from the group stage that don't finish top 4 play each other again for a total of 22 games per club) (NOTE: The teams that lose the round of 16 play each other; same with quater-final and semi-final) (Teams that make it beyond the group stage play a maximum of 19 games per club) (Also the groups will make sure that the teams are based close to each other. So you will never see a West Bengal team and Goa team in the same group but you could see a Sikkim team and a West Bengal team together)
Now the State Leagues will run along with the professional leagues and NFL (September to May). The state league criteria is up to the states themselves. Also the state leagues will also include the I-League and I-League 2nd Division Reserve Teams to give there reserve players playing time. (So an I-League club like Kerala FC can't have there first team in I-League and States, they will have to send there Reserves to states).
Comments
Ya but really when you think about it, every franchise league in the world is complex. Wether it is criteria or league format. They are all complex because franchises are meant for stability.
I wasn't critisising your view...my dream league is also somewhat similar to yours...!! But, these are always something really hard to swallow for those fans who are single handedly dominating indian football for years without even given other regions to even come up surface from underground!! <!-- s:confusion-shrug: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/confusion/shrug.gif" alt=":confusion-shrug:" title="Shrug" /><!-- s:confusion-shrug: -->
I never said you were criticizing me. In fact I took that as a complement. You basically said my idea was good but maybe a bit complex. Then all I said was that it is complex because all franchise leagues are complex. Mainly due to the criteria's that must be filled.
Anyway I knew you would like this post. It is very similar to what you want here.