There is a logjam at the top of the national football league table.
At the mid-season break, only five points separate the top eight teams and the top three all have five wins each. Team Wellington leads the way on 17 points, picking up after dropping its first two games. Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs trail it by a point, with Auckland City having a game in hand against eighth-placed Hamilton Wanderers. From there, Wellington Phoenix under-20 and Waitakere United are tied on 14 points, Canterbury United and Hawke’s Bay United are on 13 and Hamilton is on 12.
Only Tasman United and Southern United have fallen off the pace, with five and four points respectively, although have both picked up wins.
With such an even competition, who will win is anyone’s guess. Having the game in hand potentially gives Auckland City the chance to jump the field, particularly after its crucial 1-0 win over Eastern Suburbs before the break. However, defending champion Team Wellington is in a rich vein of form, having not lost since October. It is a team capable of scoring goals, led by former Southern striker Tom Jackson, who has netted eight this season.
Southern has been disappointing after things had looked promising in the build-up. Bringing in six Irish players was supposed to help bolster the team — the problem is everyone else has brought in players from overseas too. With up to eight imports allowed in a match-day squad of 16, it is easy for clubs with big budgets to buy a top-quality team. That makes it hard for the likes of Southern to compete.
Imports certainly have their place. They raise the standard of the league and bring quality that attracts fans. If they can be used in off-field roles to develop the game locally, as Southern has done, even better.
But you do not want them dominating the league. They should be the sprinkling to add flavour, rather than the main course. Let the league be about the players who have been developed by their regions, coming through the age grades with the goal of making the senior team. The trouble with allowing so many imports is that it only takes one or two clubs to stack their teams and everyone else has to follow. But not everyone has the finances to do that. On top of that, it blocks the way of potential All Whites looking to take the next step.
Perhaps it is a sign of the times and certainly football is like that the world over. Whether New Zealand is in a position to follow that model is another question, although it is hard to argue with the closeness of this year’s league, even if it means a tough time for Southern.
Southern gets things back under way on January 7 when it hosts Hamilton Wanderers at Peter Johnstone Park. Matches continue regularly through to the end of February, before the competition becomes more spread out over March. The final is scheduled for April 2.
