SOCCER - League battle is not over yet

It's a waste of hard-earned revenue to spend almost every last cent you have plus more on sustaining first teams, it's a fools world.Keith JohnstonUNITED Soccer 1 chief executive Keith Johnston is a man under the cosh - but despite a setback this week it seems unlikely he'll back down as he takes on New Zealand football's ruling elite.
The US1 Premier League kicks off tomorrow for its inaugural season but, rather than being a reason for rejoicing, Johnston's mood was tempered by NZF's decision to uphold the appeal of three of the competition's clubs, who want to pull out of the competition.
East Coast Bays, Waitakere United and Glenfield Rovers would prefer to play against the "elite" teams of the Auckland and Waikato-Bay of Plenty federations in a reconstituted Northern Premier League.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the NZF board directed their US1 contemporaries to reconsider the clubs' applications to play in the Northern League thus putting the ball back in Johnston's court.
Given the careful approach the US1 board has taken to the changes so far, there seems unlikely to be any change in the way the original applications were treated.
Johnston wants the clubs in the North Harbour-Northland region to have a strong, vibrant competition with money available to football through sponsorship, to be spent on facilities and junior development and not on maintaining expensive first team squads.
"It's a waste of hard-earned revenue to spend almost every last cent you have plus more on sustaining first teams. It's a fool's world," he said.
"We feel we have a very compelling case to support our decision, which has been made with the best long-term interests of all clubs within our federation, both singly and collectively."
Northland footballers, and North Force in particular, back the US1 league, although its bosses are reluctant to comment publicly.
The Northern League was expensive to play in, with high fees and large sums going on travelling expenses.
Added to that, North Force's inclusion in the new league means a higher standard of competition than last year. Don't be surprised if there is another twist left in this drama.