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Thumbs up for league changes

During the last week I've heard many different opinions regarding Bermuda Football Association's restructuring of the domestic league system.

For me the recommended changes are long overdue and are the right solution to help Bermudian football move forward.

I particularly like the introduction of the Development League for players aged between 17 and 23 as in the current system too many talented young players fall by the wayside.

An 18-year-old may be a good player but could find himself up against an experienced player in his position and therefore would find his game time limited and may lose interest. However, now he will be able to go and get regular football in the Development League, improve as a player, and still fight for a first team jersey.

I know some of the Commercial League teams are upset as their league no longer exits, but I really believe it will be for the good of the game. Many of the Commercial League players are over the age of 30 anyway and will be able to join the newly created Master League.

To be honest I still believe the Masters League should be for over-35s who are at the end of their playing days and just looking for a light-hearted kick around. Obviously teams like Robin Hood and MR Onions field younger players and take the Commercial League seriously. I believe they would be more than capable of playing in the First Division and maybe both clubs and the BFA can come to some sort of an arrangement.

Increasing the Premier Division to ten teams is also a wise move. Having an eight team league is ridiculous and reminds me of the Scottish League. How can you call yourselves champions of Bermuda when you only play against seven other teams.

No disrespect to anyone but I think it can only be a good think to make the league more diverse and not so repetitive. I'd also like to see the champions enter the CONCACAF Champions League.

Too many Bermudian players think they are good and yet haven't tested themselves against players from overseas. Outside of the Island they haven't achieved anything and that's why I feel it's very important our champions compete against teams from the Caribbean and South America etc.

I think every team would be excited about the prospect, although it would take a long time before our teams were able to make their mark in the tournament like PHC did back in the 1980s.

Finally, I was pleased to see Khano Smith's got the move he wished for. From what I gather the New York Red Bulls coach has been after Khano for sometime and that should give him confidence.

Obviously there's a little bit of a question mark over Khano at the moment, but now he has a great opportunity to prove New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders wrong and deliver like we know he can.