PROMOTION and relegation in Australia is a dream scenario, but not realistic just yet, says Fox Sports football expert Ned Zelic.

Football Federation Australia revealed its priorities for the next four years of the game this week, with chief executive David Gallop emphasising that promotion/relegation or the creation of a national second tier was off the short-term agenda.

The FFA has identified the need to bring the various disparate tiers of Australian football together, for example, via the FFA Cup, as a measure while promotion and relegation is not seen as a feasible short term focus.

“Promotion and relegation raises its own pluses and minuses, of course, because the investment that our owners make is critical to the A-League’s development and for us to place uncertainty around that investment would not be the right thing to do,” Gallop said.

That comment has brought the polarising football debate back to the forefront this week, and was a hot topic of conversation on this week’s Fox Sports Football Podcast.

Adam Peacock, Ned Zelic and Mike Cockerill are joined by Daniel Garb from the UK to review the week in football.

“There are a lot of people who want too much too soon,” said Zelic.

“Creating a situation where we have a relegation battle going down to the last three rounds; how much interest will you create with those situations?

“It’s a case of working through all these things and finding a solution.”

Central Coast Mariners are one club who could’ve faced relegation if a system was in place. Source: Getty Images

But Fox Sports commentator Michael Cockerill believes there would be enough candidates to form a second division in Australia, and the viability of the potential competition could only be tested by saying it will happen.

“If we advertised tomorrow, please apply, there’s going to be 10 teams, I reckon you’d get 30 applicants to start with and then when you workshop you’d come up with 15 legitimate candidates for a second division league,” said Cockerill.

South Melbourne celebrate a goal during the FFA Cup. Source: Getty Images

“We won’t know until we try. We haven’t tried to see if the economics are there. The only way you’d do that is to say it will happen.”

With NPL clubs desperate to engage in the idea and to have a greater focus to drive towards, ignoring the merits of a second division might have consequences.

But, given the FFA’s stand, it might require the initiative of those ambitious clubs to force the issue by presenting the case and business model to the game’s roof body in Australia.

“There’s a massive groundswell of hope that we will have a second division,” said Cockerill.

“Can the FFA keep that cork in the bottle? I don’t think they can.

“I think there’s so much of a groundswell now they can’t just ignore that it exists which is what they did yesterday in the four-year strategic plan.

“There’s huge agitation among some of these NPL clubs to give them some sort of motivation to spend money and get ambitious and I just don’t whether the FFA realise how strong that feeling is.

“In the end we may end up with a rebel situation to force the issue.”

But dreams and reality are sometimes poles apart.

Fox Sports football expert Ned Zelic believes the biggest roadblock to a second division is the professionalism and monetary costs that the NPL clubs would need to bear.

“If you look at what’s happening in European countries, you’ve got extremely strong second divisions and players are paid well. They’re all professional,” said Zelic.

“To create that here is a real challenge.”

The top NPL clubs have budgets around $600,000 while smaller clubs have $150,000.

Cockerill added: “You’d have to look at a jump to a $2,000,000 budget to run your football team and be in the second division,” said Cockerill.

“Are there enough clubs who can go from $100,000 to $2,000,000. I’d like to think there are.”

Therein lies the biggest hurdle.

Zelic added: “I think there’s a lot of people that are very passionate about and don’t realise you have to look at the economics and the fact that where’s the money going to come from? And those are the things that FFA, the clubs involved has to get together and work on a solution.”