Talking about competition without relegation, this format is actually not new in the world of football. In the Southeast Asia region, there are three countries that use the league format without promotion and relegation, namely the Singapore Premier League, the Philippine League (Philippines Football League) and the Australian League (A-League).
Each football association in the three countries has its own considerations why hold a soccer competition without promotion and also relegation.
The Singapore Premier League (SPL)
SPL is the top level competition and the only one in Singapore. Geographical considerations are the reason why the soccer league in Singapore does not adhere to a pyramid system in which there is promotion and relegation. With a country area of only 728.3 square kilometers, Singapore does not have many football clubs.
In fact, there were two clubs from outside Singapore that participated in the SPL, namely Albirex Niigata (Japan) and Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota FC or DPMM FC (Brunei Darussalam). This season, SPL is only followed by eight teams after DPMM FC resigned.
The Philippines Football League (PFL)
PFL was just formed in 2017 to replace the previous competition, namely the United Football League (UFL) which was the top tier competition in the Philippines. The situation in the Philippine League is similar to the Singapore League, namely the lack of participating teams. This season, the PFL was only followed by six teams with two phases of competition, namely the regular and the final series. Uniquely, since it was first held in 2017, only one club has won, namely United City (previously named Ceres-Negros).
Reportedly, the PFL will introduce a second division as the league progresses. This will make the Philippine League use a system of promotion and relegation in the future.
The Australian League
If you look at the size of the country, Australia is not a small country. Football in the Land of Kangaroo has also advanced and their national team has always featured at the World Cup since 2006.
Even so, football has not been very popular with the Aussie public. Citing the StatScore website, the popularity of football in Australia is still inferior to Australian football and rugby. Meanwhile, the A-League, which is Australia’s only professional football competition, started in the 2005-2006 season. Currently, the A-League is followed by 12 teams with one of the teams, namely Wellington Phoenix, a club from New Zealand.
With a few participating teams, the A-League does not implement a promotion and relegation system to keep the league competitive. One A-League season is divided into two phases, namely the Regular Season and the Series Final, which are followed by the top six teams in the final regular season standings.
