Just wondering what people think the future fot the VFL will be. What clubs will die out if any? Who will come into the comp?
Will they stay the butt kissers to the AFL or will they gave Victoria a premier comp we can be proud of?
First step I can think of is allowing the team that finishes high on the ladder to host the game. Also the 12/10 rule should come in permanently!
Sad to say but I reckon the VFL will become more reliant on the AFL clubs to survive and their identity will diminish even further over the next ten years. The only alternative to the total dominence of the VFL/AFL was the VFA and when it was killed off so was any hope of an independant competiton surviving.
With TEN AFL clubs in Victoria soaking up all the best players and sponserships you dont need a premier State league and there really is no place for one to survive on its own.
The afl alignments are short term fixes for some clubs , supported by gannon and co. If a few more clubs ( other than frankston or now port) , could go alone and actually promote their club to working class fans , disillusioned with the way the afl treats you like sheep ; they would have a good whack at starting up vfa mania again . That's all !
Just as a matter of interest , what sort of crowds do people think would be needed to maintain the competition as viable ( i.e at least 10 clubs with medium to long term futures ) without any AFL involvement.
This isn't meant as a smart arse question , I genuinely am interested in what people think is required.
I'll see what I can come up with. Might take a day or two.
Its not only crowds which ofcourse need to be increased at least 5 fold but the total income streams of the clubs have to large enough to be able to hold and recruit top class players that now tend to go interstate where the big bucks are.
As I said in the previous post there is really no room in the Melbourne football market for a "premier State League" while you have ten AFL clubs sucking every last dollar of potential income for VFL clubs and also getting a huge over the top coverage in the media.
Sadly the horse has bolted and although I would love to see a return to the glory days of the VFA as an alternative to the almighty AFL -it aint going to happen any time soon.
So I think we have to make the best of the present situation and hope the VFL dosent just slowly degenerate into the AFL reserves.