A proposed system for the return of promotion and relegation to Northern NSW men's football will provide the opportunity for two clubs to make the jump to NPL each year.
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The draft system is part of a promise, made last December when member zones overthrew the NNSW Football board, to implement promotion-relegation across men's divisions from 2024.
The system, sent to clubs last month for discussion and feedback, promotes the premiers from the second-tier Northern League 1 and relegates the NPL wooden spooners.
However, it also gives second, third and fourth in NL1 the opportunity at promotion through a play-off series featuring the 11th placed team in NPL.
The NPL side plays fourth from NL1 in a semi-final, while second and third meet in the other. The winners then clash for the available spot in the following year's NPL. The play-off series replaces the NL1 finals.
The proposal also allows for standard, one-place promotion-relegation between NL1 and the Zone Premier League, which will be renamed Northern League 2. That structure stretches to Zone League 1 and 2, to be renamed Northern League 3 and 4.
Performance-based promotion-relegation was last in place in 2015, after which the lack of clubs compliant with NPL criteria led NNSWF to put it on hold.
The former board's decoupling of NPL youth and senior competitions this year was a step towards the return of promotion-relegation.
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