ISPS Handa Premiership 2020/21 Season Preview
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE COMPETITION?
In a year like no other, we are looking at what could be the last NZ National League in the current format. With the proposal to change the competition to a ‘Champions League style’ tournament comprising club teams across the nation.
In the proposal the Northern, Central and Southern conferences would run from March to September, with the ‘Champions League’ phase taking place between September and December to find a national champion. This phase would involve the top 2-3 teams from the regional winter competitions that qualify for an eight to 10-team national championship. Add to this the fact that two of the franchises from the 2019/20 competition no longer exist (Tasman and Southern) due to COVID-19 and it looks like the writing is on the wall for the format change to go ahead for the 2021 season.
Currently only Hamilton Wanderers and Eastern Suburbs play under the same franchise name as their winter club, so can easily embrace the change. Franchise teams like Auckland City, Team Wellington, Hawkes Bay United and Wellington Phoenix Reserves will also lose their franchise names, but their players could probably be easily renamed/reshaped into their winter clubs that they ground share with; Central United, Miramar Rangers, Napier City Rovers and Lower Hutt respectively. However, remaining franchises like Waitakere United and Canterbury United will need to find clubs willing to absorb and integrate with the franchise. Waitakere is a club that has connections with the likes of Birkenhead and Melville, so both could be an option. While Canterbury would need to scour the South Island to find the perfect match, as Western AFC, who also play at English Park, have not had the recent success to potentially qualify them as candidates.
WHO ARE THE FAVOURITES?
Without a doubt the favourites are Auckland City, early winners of the COVID-19 affected season last year, they are a team who can once again call on experience all over the field despite a couple of key personnel losses. This includes last season’s top scorer Myer Bevan, after his transfer to South African Premier League side TS Galaxy FC. Perhaps an even greater loss is captain Angel Berlanga, the 33-year-old defender suffered a serious knee injury (ACL) in training at the end of October and will leave a sizeable 244 appearance gap until he returns, and we won’t know if he will even play a game this season until his injury progress is reassessed in January 2021. 36-year-old keeper Enaut Zubikarai has also moved into a coaching role, taking over third keeper duties while also goalkeeper coaching for incumbents Cameron Brown and Conor Tracey.
Despite these losses the squad they have is still elite, with the likes of Emiliano Tade, Albert Riera, Thomas Doyle and Brain Kaltak providing the experience. Meanwhile, classy players such as Logan Rogerson, Cameron Howeison and Mario Ilich will provide the spark. With a strong squad at their disposal, as well as a highly experienced coaching staff including José Figueira and Ivan Vicelich, Auckland City should have the depth, as well as the mentality, to win again.
DON’T THINK THE OTHER TEAMS AREN’T CAPABLE OF AN UPSET
With a COVID-19 disrupted build up for the players who play their winter football for NRFL teams (Waitakere, Eastern Suburbs, Hamilton Wanderers and Auckland City) , the other North Island teams have had the benefit of playing out their winter seasons. Hawkes Bay United will be made up of Central League hardened Napier City Rovers players, while Team Wellington largely consists of Miramar Rangers and Wellington Olympic players that competed for the Central League title in Wellington. Another side who narrowly missed out on the title, Western Suburbs, is full of Olé academy players, who will be integrated into the Wellington Phoenix Reserves and Eastern Suburbs squads. The Wellington Phoenix Reserves are a team to look out for, as they will also have Lower Hutt Central League players at their disposal and won’t be able to call on their fringe professional players, as they will be in training in Australia due to A League COVID-19 requirements.
WHO ARE THE OUTSIDERS?
The one South Island team in the competition, Canterbury United, last place finishers in 2019/20, will be forgiven if they struggle to gel having amalgamated with two other squads. They will be the outsiders in both location and odds. A lot of pressure will be on Director of Football & Head Coach, Lee Padmore (former Youth Development Coach at Wellington Phoenix), to take Canterbury United from potential wooden spoon getters to the playoffs.
