There’s hardly a discussion in present day soccer circles
that does not resurrect the topic of promotion and relegation of clubs between
leagues/divisions/levels/tiers of competitiveness (based on preference the rest
of the article will use the term division). Years ago, it was a concept that
only a handful of American soccer fans knew about and fewer understood how it
functioned or what the purpose was. That isn’t the case as the 2015 season
kicks off for our national leagues. More and more players have experienced it
plying their trade in Europe or Latin America and the general American soccer
fan has also heard about it especially with the topic being frequently
mentioned during nationally televised games. Beyond that, the persistent
challenge by passionate fans and reporters of the sport who firmly believe in
this system has forced the executives of the game to discuss it. Most national
federations around the world practice it, and FIFA expects it. Almost everyone
participating in the king of sports in our country, be they fans, players,
owners, or executives knows that at some point American soccer will include
this system. But there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that a system involving promotion
and relegation would be a paradigm shift for our sport culture. Thus a number
of supporters have developed some sort of system. This article serves as an
attempt to do the same, understanding that ideas generally begin and develop
through stages with the participation of different and diverse people before a
plan becomes reality.
Purpose
Ideas and systems are only useful if they serve a specific,
intentional, and beneficial purpose. Identifying the purpose of a promotion and
relegations system for a sport is probably the first question to be answered.
The answer is quite simple and it is fairly straightforward. In order to serve
the sport of soccer, performance on the field must be the determining factor
for rewarding the respective club and players. Therefore, clubs are assured
that the system will reward them for their core activity: playing soccer. Thus
when teams win games they are rewarded with higher standings in the respective division.
When a team is a season champion, at the top of the standings in its division,
the reward is that they move up the ladder of competition to the next division,
switching places with the team at the bottom of the standings of the division
above. Certainly there are many other activities that make for a successful
soccer club: coaching, business acumen, marketing, visionary leadership,
financial viability, health training, youth development, community outreach,
public relations, great sales people, etc. Indeed as business entities, soccer
clubs everywhere have many aspects to consider in order to be successful
organizations, however, the main purpose for existence is to play the best
soccer possible, win games, and advance in competition with other soccer clubs.
That’s precisely the purpose for which a soccer club exists, and a system that
promotes and relegates clubs truly reflects performance on the field. Having
identified the purpose, it is worthwhile to address the challenges that such a
system brings forward.
Challenges
The first challenge that is often identified is that the
North American sports culture does not have this concept as part of the fan
experience. Other sports, such as: baseball, basketball, hockey, American
football; all sports that currently attract more fans than soccer do not even
have a concept of promotion and relegation.
The second challenge is the ‘franchise’ concept, by which a
person (or group) are awarded a franchise/team in exchange for a fee paid to
the respective league office. At first glance this might not seem very complex
an issue, but the fact is that a franchise owner essentially buys ‘rights’ over
a specific territory and within a specific league. Major League Soccer (MLS-D1)
and National American Soccer League (NASL-D2) are both functioning based on
this concept, although the NASL has made statements in favor of promotion and
relegation on a few occasions. Therefore, current owners of these 30+ clubs
would have to come to terms with this dramatic shift.
The third and perhaps the only true stumbling block is the
necessity for financial viability of various clubs to sustain the increased
level of competition. Many aspects of a club depend on the financial might of
its owners. The stadium has to meet a certain minimum number of seats. The
players have to be paid a base salary at a different level. The coaching staff
and training facilities must improve based on increased needs. The front office
infrastructure would have an increased workload. Naturally promotion to a
higher league of competition would place an expectation of increased such
standards of operation on the respective club.
Solution
Naturally there will be clubs who might have a great year on
the pitch and earn promotion based solely on the performance. However, it would
fall in the authority of the national federation – USSF – to establish certain
minimum requirements beyond performance for any club that aims to be promoted.
These areas of requirements would have to include, but not be limited to: (1)
players’ salaries, (2) suitable stadium, (3) coaching and health training
staff, and other reasonable requirements. If a club does not meet all the
requirements, it is not awarded the promotion even it has won the championship.
Potential Pyramid
It is important to have a top division that is national in
representation and coverage. Therefore the top division would be national, it
would include (for example) 20 clubs and be divided in 2 conferences – East and
West – of 10 teams each. The clubs would compete in a single table, balanced
schedule of games where each team plays the others twice – home and away. This
would make for a total of 38 league games crowning as champion the table
leader. As an example we will call this the National League.
The second division would include 2 leagues one in the
Eastern States and the other in the Western States – again as example we will
call these the Eastern League and the Western League. Each of these leagues –
EL & WL – would include 16 clubs and be divided into 2 conferences. Thus
the EL would have a North-East Conference and a South-East Conference; while the
WL would likewise have a northern and a southern conference of 8 teams each.
The land area of the Eastern League would be the same as the National League –
East Conference, and the same correlation would take place in the West. Just
like in the National League the clubs of the Eastern and Western Leagues would
compete in a single table crowning a champion in each. For fun the Eastern and
Western Champions could have a match leading to second division trophy.
The third division would include 4 leagues, matching with
the territory of the 4 conferences of the second division Eastern and Western
Leagues. The could be named – Northeastern League, Southeastern League,
Northwestern League, and Southwestern League – and each of these would include
12 teams for a total of 48 clubs. The clubs in each of these D3 leagues would
compete for a season championship in the same manner as the D1-National League
and the D2-Eastern and Western Leagues.
Promotion and
Relegation System
Based on the pyramid described above there would be an
assurance of national and regional representation for all the leagues in all
three divisions. At the end of the season of the National League the bottom
team from the D1-National League Eastern Conference would switch places with
the Eastern League Champion. Identically, the bottom team from the D1-National
League Western Conference would switch places with the Western League Champion.
Thus the top two clubs of the D2 leagues would be promoted to D1. The bottom 2
clubs of the D1 division, in their respective conference, would be relegated to
the D2 league of their region. The National League as well as the Eastern and
Western Leagues would maintain their regional integrity and national footprint.
The same concept would be applied for promotion and relegation between from D2
and D3.
The recommendations for the number of clubs are for
discussion purposes only, as these numbers can be decided upon by the national
federation, and they can be adjusted if necessary. As is clearly visible this
system can be replicated for further lower divisions. This system addresses the
need to accommodated players at different levels of playing proficiency. It
also addresses the financial burden of cross-continent travel, and number of
matches in a season.
D1 - National League
– 20 teams
West Conference
East Conference
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D2 - Western League
– 16 teams
Northwest
Conf. Southwest Conf.
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D2 - Eastern League
– 16 teams
Northeast
Conf. Southeast Conf.
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D3 – Northwest League -12 teams
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D3 – Southwest League -12 teams
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D3 – Northeast League -12 teams
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D3 – Southeast League -12 teams
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Conclusion
As this article closes, a useful reminder is appropriate;
this writer does not expect this to be the perfect solution. The numbers of
clubs in each league and division can be adjusted as necessary. The regions can
have borders that the national federation deems most useful and beneficial. The
salaries of players and staff can be set and adjusted as necessary. The standards for facilities such as stadium, training grounds, medical facilities and staff, may be discussed and set in
reasonable and appropriate fashion. This system offers a system that includes
100 clubs, which means that 100 local and regional communities would support a
home team with homegrown players (especially in D3). Additionally, it offers a
door and a ladder of increasing opportunity in the king of sports to more than
20,000 players. Our current leagues – MLS, NASL, USLPro, USLPDL, & NPSL,
along with a few other regional leagues – already field these players who are
hungry for promotion possibilities. Most of these same clubs already boast
reasonably sound investors who are strongly interested in the opportunity to
advance and grow their organizations. Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, all
the clubs of these already existing leagues – a total of 185 clubs in 2015 –
have passionate fans in their respective communities who are eager to see their
local club advance up the pyramid of success in the beautiful game.
