teams in the First Division were laid before club affiliates last night in a Bermuda Football Association special council meeting.

It was recommended that the First Division be slashed from ten to eight teams and a format employed by which only one club would suffer relegation at the end of each season.

Those suggestions, along with another aimed at improving the player transfer system, were included among several proposed changes which the BFA would like to see implemented before the start of the 1999-2000 season.

A letter circulated to affiliates noted that the recommendations came as result of the Restructuring Report conducted on behalf of the executive committee in 1997.

"We have extracted from the report many recommendations that will assist us as we move football into the next millennium,'' said the BFA letter.

"They are presented from each standing sub-committee of the BFA and they are presented in point form because we are asking for your input and support in determining how best to institute these recommendations.

"Please carefully review and discuss within your committee the recommendations presented and within a short time we will come together and discuss the future direction of football in Bermuda.'' In many instances the BFA have made amendments to the recommendations contained in the Restructuring Report that was produced by long-time administrator Calvin Smith and his committee.

The specific plan for senior soccer is to have the current First Division renamed the Premier Division and cut from 10 to eight teams -- the eighth, ninth and tenth placed sides being relegated next season to create an eight-team league for the following season.

The current Second Division would then be called the First Division and would consist of the three relegated teams from the old First Division and the second through sixth placed teams of the old Second Division.

That format would see the new Premier and First Divisions each having one team relegated with the First Division promoting just its top side.

But there would also be a new Second Division consisting of 10 teams, one of which would be promoted yearly to the First Division.

One change recommended by Smith's committee that didn't win BFA support was the scheduling of night matches on Thursdays to Saturdays on a regular basis to ease the strain on officials on Sundays.

Also a proposal to increase admission fees from three to five dollars as suggested by the restructuring committee wasn't mentioned in the series of recommendations put to the affiliates.

A change in the transfer system, if accepted, would allow players who failed to make it with their new team to still switch to another club. Present restrictions mean that a number of players are left idle when their proposed transfers fall through.

The BFA's new recommendation reads: "By December 31 of each year, any player not playing in a minimum of four games (not including the Alliance Division) from the start of the season is entitled to a release without the consent of the club to which he has registered. This release will take effect on January 2nd of the following year.'' There are also revamping plans for women's and youth soccer, both of which have suffered a sharp decline in recent years -- particularly the women who have this year had to operate with just four teams following the surprise withdrawal of last year's champions PHC Teasers.

In a bid to strengthen the women's programme, it is being proposed that the league structure be reviewed and improved and special developmental clinics set up aimed at enhancing the quality of play. The best players would be selected for specialised training and to play against visiting foreign teams.

A number of recommendations have been put before the BFA's youth committee: A plan to guide coaching development; The establishment of national teams for all age groups; and The development of plans to improve the football programme and to promote awareness of football development.

Other suggestions include the continuation of an annual international youth tournament involving all age divisions; the disbandment of the under-21 Premier Division and extension of the Bantam Division age limit to under-18.

This, says the recommendation, would enable the current Alliance Division to be used as a developmental league for promising players.