He says if each town limited their first grade sides, then the standard of play would increase drastically.

“If there was one side from Kempsey then we would field a very strong team. It would be the same for a lot of towns,” he said.

“It would return the competition to where it once was.”

Riordan believes clubs are losing their best junior players.

“A lot of the talented players coming up through the junior ranks end up leaving to get a job or attend university, we only get them for a few years,” Riordan said.

“We only have a couple of them stay at the club when they hit their peaks for first grade.”

The current nine-team competition will reduce to eight in 12 months, with the club finishing in last place to be relegated.

Football Mid North Coast general manager Bruce Potter said the decision was made to restructure the competition because they wanted to improve their product.

“The general consensus is that the competition is not as strong now as it has been in the past because a 10-team competition stretches the playing talent a bit too far,” he said.

“You want the best standard of competition because we have some of the best players in the zone playing on the Mid-North Coast.

“By having them play against each other it makes it better for everyone.”

Teams aiming to re-join the Premier League would have to effectively win two grand final-like matches.

“The winners of the northern and southern men’s league competitions will play off for the right to re-enter the Premier League,” Potter said.

“To get back in you need to be the strongest team which means you have got to fit a certain criteria.

“That’s the perils of playing in such a large zone where you have both a southern and northern division.”