A-League clubs open to merging expanded youth league with second tier

Graham Arnold's pleas for Olympic-age Australian players to receive more game time could be answered by a hybrid youth competition featuring A-League under-23 teams and aspirants for a national second division.

Friday night's Y-League grand final between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory could be the last in its current guise, with A-League clubs ready to progressively expand it into a full home-and-away season and lift the age cut-off for players from 21 to 23, sources have told the Herald.

Graham Arnold celebrates Australia's qualification for Tokyo 2020 after the Olyroos' win over Uzbekistan.Credit: The AFC

That would provide Arnold with the sort of "meaningful reserve-grade competition" he has long been crying out for, having steered the Olyroos to Tokyo 2020 despite most of his players being on the outer at their A-League clubs.

But the clubs are open to merging their Y-League plans with the work being done concurrently on a proposed national second tier, the sources said. Several other stakeholders - including Football Federation Australia's technical and national teams staff - also are of the belief that the two competitions could be successfully joined.

One idea that has been discussed is for the current two-conference structure of the Y-League to be retained - but each would be comprised of half of the A-League's under-23 teams and approximately six of the best NPL teams from around the country, and would play a home-and-away season with a finals series involving the other conference.

The result would be a 24-team competition closely mirroring the second tier of football in the United States, which includes a mixture of Major League Soccer reserves teams or affiliates, and independent clubs in other markets.

Nick D'Agostino, the Olyroos' goalscoring hero against Uzbekistan, is a prime example of the sort of player who could benefit from an expanded Y-League - too old to play under the current structure, and not yet in Perth Glory's first-team picture.Credit: The AFC

The NPL teams would have to satisfy criteria around minimum standards and their junior academies, but would be allowed to field senior teams, and the competition would be renamed in recognition of that, sources say.

A-League chief Greg O'Rourke confirmed "conversations" were ongoing about the future of the Y-League and whether it could be intertwined with a second division.

"It will be important over the next six months for all parties to get in a room with an open mind about how we build a clear pathway from youth to the national teams," O'Rourke said.

The hybrid concept is rooted in the belief that the economics of the Australian game most likely cannot sustain an additional two national men's competitions - an expanded Y-League and a second division - but that the primary aims of both can be achieved together.

While that may not please purists who do not want any A-League teams involved in a second division, those who support the idea believe it is a step in the right direction, more financially viable and attractive to broadcasters and sponsors than a second tier, and that the competition could evolve over time - including the introduction of promotion and relegation with the A-League for non-youth teams.

The proposal has not yet been formally tabled to the Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC), the umbrella body for NPL clubs which has been spearheading the push for a second division. The AAFC remains staunchly opposed to the presence of A-League teams in any second tier, chairman Nick Galatas said.

"This is not the model that's being discussed by the steering committee. It's formed no part of national second division deliberations," Galatas said.

A-League clubs are content to press ahead with their Y-League strategy without NPL involvement, if that is the agreed outcome, in the belief the current model does nothing for youth development and must be changed to compliment recent investments in club academy systems.

"Building out the Y-League is an integral part of the upcoming CBA and our discussions with the clubs and FFA on that point are really positive," Professional Footballers Australia chief John Didulica said. "There's a shared appreciation of how important that competition is."

The Y-League once provided players with 18 matches per season, run in parallel with the A-League. But in the 2015-16 season, a dramatically reduced format was introduced by FFA in response to cost concerns from club owners, with teams split into two conferences and playing just eight games each.

Five years on and those same owners are now ready to spend to improve the Y-League, having wrested control of their own futures from FFA after the A-League's independence war.

The mooted age-limit increase from 20 to 23 is significant - Arnold said earlier this week that many players eligible for the Olyroos are stuck in a structural conundrum as they are too old for the Y-League.

"These kids are deemed not good enough for the A-League, which is no problem - coaches make their decisions," Arnold said. "[But] these kids need to play, and if they're not good enough for the A-League, then give them a reserve-grade competition like it is all over the world ... with the resources of professionalism where they can develop and become great players."