August 24,
2004
The Prime
League, which is the S-League’s reserves competition, is likely to be scrapped
in 2 years’ time to make way for a semi-professional league.
The
proposal, which was bandied about for the past few years, is said to have been submitted
to the Football Association of
The Prime
League, a largely under-23 tournament, was conceived in 1998 as a stepping
stone for the S-League but critics argue that it has not served its objective
of blooding youngsters & that its annual budget of about $1 million can be
put to better use.
They feel
that it should be replaced by a semi-professional league, which will make it
easier to implement a promotion and relegation system for the S-League.
The
semi-pro league is likely to start with 6 to 8 clubs from the NFL.
Home United
Prime League coach Mohd Sani
feels that the semi-pro league will provide competitive exposure for players
who cannot make it to the S–League for they cannot remain in the Prime league
once they are past 23.
With the
new semi-pro league, he feels they can still carry on playing.
However
without the Prime league he acknowledged the club will need a new form of
scouting & youth development system to ensure that the club still gets
players to fill their ranks.