Football Australia announces eight teams for new national second division

Eight semi-professional clubs are a step closer to a place in the A-League Men’s competition with Football Australia today announcing the make-up of a national second division starting in 2025.

The new league will consist of at least 10 teams and eight foundation participants were named on Monday - former National Soccer League clubs South Melbourne, Preston Lions, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Marconi Stallions, Wollongong Wolves and NSW Premiers APIA Leichhardt, join Avondale, who won the Victorian state title for the first time in September.

Football Australia also announced that between two and four additional teams will be selected early next year “as part of refined application process”.

Advising that the creation of the second tier was “a transformative step for Australian football”, Football Australia Chief Executive, James Johnson “each club demonstrated not only their readiness in terms of operational and commercial elements but also their alignment with the strategic objectives of Australian football.”

After 32 clubs initially expressed an interest, 26 were part of the request for proposal phase. An assessment and review phase produced the list of eight foundation clubs. Football Australia said it wanted a “sustainable and diverse” composition of clubs for the competition’s first season.

The foundation clubs will still be able to compete in their state premier league competitions next year.

Johnson said the goal of the league was to encourage grassroots football, noting “it’s really to ensure that clubs like these eight are able to grow and don’t have a glass ceiling over their head.”

However, the new competition will not include promotion and relegation with the A-League Men’s with Johnson saying it was important to look at the football ‘pyramid’ more broadly. The operator of the A-Leagues, Australian Professional Leagues and the clubs will be involved in those discussions.

Johnson added “while we may not connect the second tier to the elite immediately, what is important is for clubs that would like to hold on to players, sign contracts for longer periods - which means an increase in value of the transfer value of the squad - there may be ways to align through transfer windows so the players can effectively make loans between two tiers.”

While the competition is initially a men’s competition, Johnson said he wants to eventually expand it to the women’s game, explaining that a “champions league” of the country’s best women’s clubs would be introduced at the end of the winter season in 2025.

Of the clubs named by Football Australia, several have encountered severe financial challenges in recent years - and the financial stability of the new competition remains a question.

In addition, Sydney United, one of foundation clubs, was sanctioned by Football Australia last year for “deeply offensive” fan behaviour during the FA Cup Final.

The new competition will form part of Football Australia’s broadcast rights bundle which includes the Women’s World Cup in 2027, Asian Cup competitions, the Australia Cup and international friendlies.

The rights tender process concludes in December, when Johnson said he was expecting a “record financial deal”.

Images: Sydney Olympic take on Marconi Stallions (top) and Sydney United players celebrate (below) during the 2023 NPL NSW season.,Credit: Football NSW.