![The FFA Cup has motivated NPL clubs to form a national second division.](/web/20170312122825im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/w/6/n/5/image.related.landscape.460x307.guw6lx.png/1489282238677.jpg)
National second division is kicking off with or without FFA
A second division is off and running, whether Football Federation Australia likes it or not.
Michael Cockerill is Football Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald
A second division is off and running, whether Football Federation Australia likes it or not.
Instead of talking about a third Sydney team joining the A-League, everyone's talking about Wollongong. Unloved and unwanted for more than a decade, all of a sudden there's a tug of war for the Steel City's affections.
Bobo scores the goal which should deliver Sydney FC their first silverware after seven barren years, and I'm thinking, once again: "Maybe this will finally make some people see sense." Maybe.
So Ange Postecoglou is going to have to save the game. Again.
Forget the debate about whether a salary cap is good or bad for the A-League. The real arm's race has already taken off. It's in the semi-pro ranks of the National Premier Leagues, where competitions in NSW and Victoria in particular are gearing up for day when they might get the chance to join the A-League in their own right.
Enough is enough. Players milk penalties. And yet as the honour system in the A-League disintegrates week-by-week, who gets the blame? Not, mostly, the players. Rather those who are supposed to see it, in a split second. Am I missing something here?
Since Englishman Mike Charlesworth took over four years ago, the "little club that could" has slid dangerously close to the abyss.
Are Sydney FC that good, or is the rest of the A-League that bad?
An inability to sell the message and the increasing unwillingness of the football community to listen has led to this.
Is it time to panic for the women's game in Australia? Not really. Is it time to be bold? For sure. As women's sport across the country enters a golden age, football needs to think outside the square or it could be left behind. Sunday afternoon in Perth will more than likely offer a stark warning. It's one the female game should not ignore.
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