WHB proposal for restructuring the Aberystwyth Digs League (part 2)

The issue of promotion and relegation raised its head again this week, firstly by a member of another ADL side, and added to by We Hate Ben. WHB posted a previously written article (which was then updated) stating a possible proposal for a restructure. The ADL has so far stated that the idea of promotion and relegation is currently 'impossible to work'. The ADL has declined to comment on the WHB article so far.

What the ADL has said so far is that as too many teams that drop out and so many new teams join every season, that it's almost impossible to make it work and that an old but under performing club could be rewarded with promotions to the top division in two to three years if too many teams drop out of the league.

1. “There are so many teams that drop out and so many new teams every season, that it's almost impossible to make it work”

This isn’t true. On average 6 teams leave the ADL each year. If you take into account also that the league has grown every year bar one (2009/10), this increases the amount of new teams added each year.

2006/07: 18 teams over 2 divisions. Over the summer, 8 folded, replaced by 11 new teams.

2007/08: 21 teams over 2 divisions. Over the summer, 6 folded, replaced by 5 new teams.

2008/09: 20 teams over 2 divisions. Over the summer, 5 folded, replaced by 4 new teams.

2009/10: 19 teams over 2 divisions. Over the summer, 5 folded, replaced by 10 new teams.

Example:

2010/11: 24 teams over 3 divisions. Over this summer, on average 6 will fold, and 7.5 new teams could join. If the league is capped at 24 teams, on average there will always be enough teams to meet the league requirement. The reason for so many new teams each year is that the league has generally always increased in size, thus requiring more teams.

Table 1: ADL season 2011/12 with no teams folding

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	On The Pier	Pathetic Athletic
SH Pandas	We Hate Ben	Arcelona
Pornstars	FC Hammer	U Tekkers
Phoenix	Glengower	Commodore
Diamonds	Inter Yournan	Barstuds
Geltaidd	Gwatch	Abertina
Obi Wan	Beaver	Gential Giants
Average Anne	ATFC Lions	NWAUC

In terms of teams leaving the league, there are on average 6 leaving every season. Of these 6, on average 2.3 ‘established’ (teams who have played in the league for at least one year) teams leave, and 3 new teams leave after just one season. So if we say that 3 established and 3 new teams fold over the summer, there will be 6 places to be filled for the 2011/12 season.

Folded teams:

Established: Obi Wan, Beaver, Arcelona, don’t return for 2011/12 season.

New: Average Anne, Gwatch, Genital Giants, don’t return for 2011/12 season.

Table 2: ADL season 2011/12 with 6 teams folding. These teams are in italics.

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	On The Pier	Pathetic Athletic
SH Pandas	We Hate Ben	Arcelona
Pornstars	FC Hammer	U Tekkers
Phoenix	Glengower	Commodore
Diamonds	Inter Yournan	Barstuds
Geltaidd	Gwatch	Abertina
Obi Wan	Beaver	Gential Giants
Average Anne	ATFC Lions	NWAUC

Example:

The 2011/12 Season sees the average of 3 ‘established’ and 3 ‘new’ teams leave the league. The new 6 replacement teams will be put into Division 3. These teams are in italics. These 6 teams are replaced by 6 new teams..

Table 3: ADL season 2011/12 with 6 new teams

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	FC Hammer	Abertina
SH Pandas	Glengower	NWAUC
Pornstars	Inter Yournan	New team A
Phoenix	ATFC Lions	New team B
Diamonds	Pathetic Athletic	New team C
Geltaidd	U Tekkers	New team D
On The Pier	Commodore	New team E
We Hate Ben	Barstuds	New team F

Unless a there was a huge influx of new teams (which there shouldn't be, going on past averages), there wouldn't be a problem. New teams would always start in the bottom league.

2. “There is one problem with this. I'm going to use Naked Wednesday as my example here. If they stay in the league two or three seasons they will find themselves in the top league despite not winning many games, just because of teams dropping out and new teams coming in, which propels the older clubs up the league.”

This is true to a degree, but a team finishing towards the bottom of D3 is very unlikely to end up in D1 over two or three seasons. As new teams come in some will be better than that team, and will get themselves promoted. As on average of 6 teams leave each season, it would require around 8 or 9 teams from divisions above to leave over one summer for that team to gain a promotion. Also, on average a higher percentage of teams that have only played for one season, are more likely to leave the ADL than the teams who have played for more than one.

Once teams in higher divisions leave the ADL, they should be replaced by the next highest-placed team. In this order:

1. The losing team in the corresponding play-off final.

2. The team who finished 7^th in the league above, who lost in the play-off semi-final.

3, The team who finished 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th (in that order) in the league below, and lost in the play-off semi-final.

4. The team who finished 8^th in the league above.

5. The next highest placed team in the league below.

Example:

Once the 2011/12 season is completed, and all play-offs completed, the teams are provisionally placed into their new leagues for the following season.

Table 4: Completed ADL Season 2011/12

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	FC Hammer (P)	Abertina (P)
SH Pandas	Glengower (PO Runner-up)	New team A (P)
Pornstars	Inter Yournan (PO S-F)	New team B (PO RU)
Phoenix	ATFC Lions (PO S-F)	New team C (PO S-F)
Diamonds	Pathetic Athletic	New team D
Geltaidd	U Tekkers	New team E
On The Pier (PO winner)	Commodore (R) (PO S-F)	New team F
We Hate Ben (R)	Barstuds (R)	NWAUC

Example: The end of the 2011/12 season sees 1 team relegated from D1 (On the Pier won the play-off final against Glengower so stayed up). 2 teams were relegated from D2 as Abertina won the play-off final against Commodore. 

Table 5: Provisional leagues for 2012/13

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	We Hate Ben	Commodore
SH Pandas	Glengower	Barstuds
Pornstars	Inter Yournan	New team B
Phoenix	ATFC Lions	New team C
Diamonds	Pathetic Athletic	New team D
Geltaidd	U Tekkers	New team E
On The Pier	Abertina	New team F
FC Hammer	New team A	NWAUC

Then over the course of the summer, although the average is 6 teams leaving, I’ll raise it to 7. Of this 7, 3 are new and 4 are established. 

Table 6: 2012/13 season with 7 teams folding. Folding teams are in italics.

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	We Hate Ben	Commodore
SH Pandas	Glengower	Barstuds
Pornstars	Inter Yournan	New team B
Phoenix	ATFC Lions	New team C
Diamonds	Pathetic Athletic	New team D
Geltaidd	U Tekkers	New team E
On The Pier	Abertina	New team F
FC Hammer	New team A	NWAUC

Folded teams:

Established: Pandas, Diamonds, Hammer, Commodore

New: New team B, New team D, New Team E

Table 7: 2012/13 season with 7 new teams

Division 1	Division 2	Division 3
Sex Panthers	We Hate Ben	NWAUC
Pornstars	Pathetic Athletic	New team G
Phoenix	U Tekkers	New team H
Geltaidd	Abertina	New team I
On The Pier	New team A	New team J
Glengower	New team C	New team K
Inter Yournan	Barstuds	New team L
ATFC Lions	New team F	New team M

Note 1:

D1: Glengower lost to On The Pier in the play-off so they are first choice to take the spare place in D1. Inter Yournan lost in the semi-final, and as the highest-placed team they are promoted. ATFC Lions lost the other semi-final so are also promoted. We Hate Ben who finished 8th in D1, remain relegated.

Note 2:

D2: New team A won the play-off against Commordore and were promoted, but Commodore have folded so their place is free. As no play-off runner-up is available (New team B folded), the other relegated team Barstuds are given a reprieve. The final two places are filled by the next highest placed D3 teams, New team C (play-off semi finalist) and New team F (7th in D3).

Note 3:

D3: 7 new teams (New teams G-M) are placed into D3.

This should clear up any confusion. All tables are examples and no disrespect is meant to other clubs or the ADL.