Central Coast Football’s Men’s Premier League changes tentatively welcomed by clubs for 2025

Central Coast Football have announced changes to the MPL competition for 2025, with a focus on eliminating player payments. Here’s what the new changes mean for the competition.

Berkeley Vale SC won the CCF 2024 Men's Premier League Title. Picture: Supplied

The new changes to the Men’s Premier League recently announced by Central Coast Football have received mixed reviews by clubs.

The changes include a new U23 league to replace the U21 competition, a new promotion/relegation system and increased coaching accreditation requirements and were implemented after ‘extensive research, data analysis and consultation’.

An interesting addition is the introduction of signed Player Participation Agreements for the premier competitions, to reinforce the amateur status of the competitions and ensure fairness across the leagues.

It follows rumours throughout the 2024 season that at least one club was paying their players or offering financial incentives to be part of the team.

President of Berkeley Vale Soccer Club Greg Brownlow, who was consulted along with every club’s presidents on the changes, said the rumours of this allegedly taking place had more of an impact on the season.

“The challenge is the rumour mill,” Brownlow said.

“We’ve all heard about that club allegedly paying players and that number at the start of the season was $80,000, and by the end of the season it was $180,000 so I don’t really buy into that stuff.

“But my feedback in the president’s meeting around it was, I thought the competition this year in first grade, and probably all the grades, to be honest, but primarily first grade was one of the most even competitions for the last 10 years since I’ve been here.

“So I thought the all the rhetoric around paying players, I don’t know how to play into it.

“I don’t know players being paid, but I thought the competition was really even.”

The Berkeley Vale MPL side took home the championship after downing Woongarrah in the grand final after they were crowned premiers in the final round of the season.

“There was three teams that could have won the minor premiership going into the last round,” Brownlow explained.

“So that’s, that’s a pretty decent competition.

“And then Woongarrah won the minor premiership by a point over us, and then we beat them in the first semi final 7-0, and then beat them in the grand final.

“So I think Kanwal (Warnervale Rovers FC) and Southern and Ettalong, even Woy Woy who got relegated are all just really good sides.”

Questions have also surrounded the new U23 league and whether it will be a better support for youth development than the current U21 competition.

“I think most of the rhetoric was ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” Brownlow said.

“From a 21 (league) perspective, it’ll be potentially a fraction more challenging for a 16 or 17-year-old player, or a team that has predominantly 17-year-old players, playing against a team that’s predominantly 23.

“However, I’m a big advocate for grade, and if they’re capable in those in those environments, then they should participate in those environments, so I feel it’ll strengthen up to reserve grade.

“So it’ll be interesting to see what certain clubs do, whether they encourage players to go on an all age path, as opposed to this new grade.”

Overall, Brownlow said the changes are positive ones and even if clubs were indifferent to certain ones, they’ve been backed up by plenty of research.

“The due diligence has been done by Central Coast Football,” he said.

“The committee they put together presented a lot of data and it does make sense that the changes have happened.

Originally published as Central Coast Football’s Men’s Premier League changes tentatively welcomed by clubs for 2025