Five things the UFL has to start thinking about doing

The United Football League may have concluded its 2014 league recently, but there are plenty of goings-on with the nation's top football competition. The Football Alliance Charity Cup, with the league's top six clubs, kicks off on Saturday. Rely San Agustin has just been hired as the new general manager, and Rico Meneses has come on board as a marketing consultant. The league has also held some mall tours to reach out to fans.

The UFL has a good niche following but needs to spread out to a wider audience. I've previously given my unsolicited advice to the league on this blog. Now in 2014, I'm back!

Here are more tips on how to give this league a boost.

Showcase its goals. When I lived in Hong Kong between the ages of five and seven, I used to watch a football highlights show called Big League Soccer. It featured the goals of the week's games in the English first division, plus a condensed match that ran about thirty minutes long. It was hosted by a fellow named Brian Moore and is one of my earliest football memories.

When I lived in Singapore in the eighties I also watched an Italian Serie A goals show. This was during the heyday of that league.

I can still hum the theme music from both shows.

The UFL has never had a goals show to my knowledge, and that is a shame, because when you think about it, goals are the league's main product. Of course, football is more than just about scoring, but for casual fans, it pretty much is.

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And the UFL has some goals that could make highlight reels anywhere in the world! My favorite from the last league season was Mark Hartmann's ludicrous volley from the edge of the box, I believe against Socceroo. There are so many eye-catching goals that could go viral and help draw in more fans.

If TV5 does not want to produce a goals show, (and I wouldn't blame them because it would be expensive), then the solution is simple and won't cost that much. Simply edit the goals for each game into a clip, upload to Youtube, and share on social media. You can do this per week or per game, or even start a liking contest on Facebook to make a goal of the week competition.

The league does have a Youtube channel but it only has five videos on it. The UFL on AKTV channel hasn't been updated in two years. It's time the league made the most use of these tools to promote its goals and itself.

Tweak its league format. The UFL uses a pure league format for its main competition, without playoffs. The team with the most points at the end of a double (or this year triple) round-robin is the champ. This is in line with most serious footballing nations like England, France, Italy, Germany, etc.

For sure this is the fairest format that rewards consistency throughout the season. But is it the right format for us now? Perhaps not.

In the 2014 league Global finished as runaway champions with fully three matches to play. The league was then stuck with three playdates of essentially meaningless football to air on TV.

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A pure league can create an exciting finish to a league if there is parity within it. That is lacking now, with Global using its resources wisely to lap the field. I thus believe it's time to switch to a format that guarantees a thrilling finish every year, and that is to go with a postseason playoff system.

I'd use that Pinoy favorite, the twice-to-beat advantage. Twice-to-beat is great because it makes the regular season very important to teams but also creates an playoff tournament. For me the playoffs would look a lot like the Football Alliance Charity Cup, only with twice-to-beat.

After the league, the top six qualify for the playoffs, with the top two teams earning a bye. Then the third seed plays the sixth, and four and five play each other in one game, with the higher seed having twice-to-beat advantage. Then the first seed has the right to choose who they play in the semis, with the second seed taking on whoever is left. Again, one and two enjoy twice-to-beat. Then the semifinal winners play in a two-legged finals series.

Now you have a meaningful regular season that rewards consistency, plus a thrilling playoff series and a winner-take-all two-legged finals.

Traditionalists will say this is heretical, since league football is meant to be played as a pure league and knockout football is reserved for cups. But other nations do use playoffs. Australia's A-League starts as league then goes to playoffs that end in a Grand Final. Mexico has a playoff system known as the “liguilla” after their regular season. North America's top tier, Major League Soccer, also has playoffs. Even Belgium takes their top teams after the Jupiler League and has a postseason competition.

Playoffs will level the playing field between the wealthy teams and those on a budget. Having playoffs is also more attuned to Pinoy sporting sensibilities, since that's how we do things in other sports.

Play games outside of Emperador Stadium. Good thing the Charity Cup will be played in Rizal Memorial's new artificial pitch. It's about time.

The last time I saw Global boss Dan Palami he implored me to write an article about how the league should play elsewhere, and not in Emperador. His main complaint is that Empy is undersized. I am told it's 97 meters long and sixty meters wide, as opposed to the size that FIFA likes, which is 105m by 68m. If my math serves me correctly, that's 1260 square meters of real estate that isn't there.

The small pitch sometimes creates unsightly play, where players have no time on the pitch before getting clattered. It also harms us internationally. A player always playing in a small pitch might not develop the stamina needed on a full-size pitch. When the UFL-based Azkals play in proper-sized pitches they have to adjust.

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But there's another reason why the UFL should use other venues. Empy is tucked away in a very inaccessible corner of Taguig. It's a pain to get to if you're commuting, and if you have a car, parking is scarce.

If the league is to win new fans it should try and play games, even infrequently, in other venues. I'm glad the Football Alliance Cup is back in Rizal's new artificial surface. Another possible venue is Ateneo's lovely new Moro Lorenzo grass pitch. Why not try FEU Diliman's venue down the road? Or even places outside the metro, like Santa Cruz, Laguna, home to this year's Palarong Pambansa football competition. The UFL once held a playdate in Marikina. It's a pity the league never returned.

Another place where I'd love to see a UFL game is at the Luneta. For sure a piece of it could be cornered off for a game. No doubt it would draw a big crowd.

The PBA has long held out-of-town games to cater to fans from all over. The UFL should do the same, if only to interact with fans in different areas of the capital city.

Force teams to have player contracts. The league needs to be more professionalized in terms of how players are formally connected to teams. I've been told that there are far too many players who play without contracts. This practice has to end, to protect both parties. Unfortunately much of the time it's the players who get the short end of the stick.

Without going into details, let's just say that not every promise made to a player by a club in the UFL has been kept.

Have a futsal mini-tournament. As I have written on this blog already, futsal, or indoor football, has tremendous potential as a driver of grassroots growth. Thus, I think UFL players should be encouraging it by playing it competitively.

UA&P has just opened what is believed to be the country's first regulation (40m by 20m) futsal court. Why not make that the venue for a mini-tournament during the rainy season right after the league? Ask the UFL teams to rustle up a squad of ten players who either like the variant or don't play much for the senior team. It can and should be just a short competition, since playing a lot of the small-sided game will likely wreck your 11-a-side game. If only eight UFL teams go for this, it could work.

Ideally I'd like UFL teams to develop like Barcelona in Spain, which, apart from its fabled 11-a-side team, also has a completely separate futsal squad playing in the Spanish futsal league.

A UFL futsal cup will also help us form a more competitive national futsal team for international tilts.

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UFL Football Alliance Cup Schedule

All matches in Rizal Memorial Stadium

Saturday July 12 quarterfinals first leg

3:00 pm – Kaya vs Pachanga

6:30 pm – Green Archers United Globe vs Stallion

Tuesday July 15 quarterfinals second leg

4:30 pm – Stallion vs Green Archers United Globe

8:00 pm – Pachanga vs Kaya
Saturday July 19 semifinals first leg

3:00 pm – Global vs Stallion/GAU

6:30 pm – Kaya/Pachanga vs Loyola Meralco Sparks

Tuesday July 22 semifinals second leg

4:30 pm – Loyola Meralco Sparks vs Kaya/Pachanga

8:00 pm – GAU/Stallion vs Global

Saturday, July 26

3:00 pm – Third Place Game

6:30 pm – Final Match

Awarding immediately after.

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.