Soccer 2024: National second tier to start in Australia in 2025 in a Champions League style format with no promotion and relegation

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Football Australia’s long-planned national second tier will finally be launched in 2025 – but as a Champions League-style post-season tournament going head-to-head with the opening rounds of the A-League Men.

The national federation announced on Thursday that the 16-team competition would kick off in October 2025 and involve the eight previously approved “foundation” clubs for the second division and eight premiers from Australia’s NPL state leagues. As previously revealed by this masthead, hopes of a full home-and-away league of up to 14 teams were derailed due to financial concerns, paving the way for this compromise model.

FA’s national second division will begin in 2025 - but as a tournament, not as a league.Credit: Brett Costello for FFA

We don’t know much more than that – including what it will be called, who will broadcast it, or exactly when the first game will be played. But here’s what we do know.

FA has confirmed 16 teams will take part over nine rounds between October and December. The teams will initially be split into four groups of four and play six matches each, home and away, before an elimination finals series. The top two in each group would qualify for the knockout phase, consisting of quarter-finals, semi-finals and then the final.

The eight foundation clubs are APIA Leichhardt, Avondale, Marconi, Preston Lions, South Melbourne, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United 58 and Wollongong Wolves. All bar the Wolves are based in Sydney or Melbourne and all eight clubs passed a rigorous tender process, which included provision of a large bank guarantee.

James Johnson at last year’s second tier launch.Credit: Getty Images

They will be joined initially by the premiers from the eight NPL competitions: NSW, Northern NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Capital Football. The premiers are the teams that are top of the table after the home-and-away season, not the grand final winners.

However, the composition of the second tier may change, with FA committing to a further selection process while naming six clubs that met their technical requirements but not their financial ones: Adelaide City, Caroline Springs-George Cross, Gold Coast United, Gungahlin United, South Hobart and Sunshine Coast. It’s possible that one or more of these teams may tick the necessary boxes to be involved before the launch date.

No football code in Australia has successfully pulled off a second tier. Not even the AFL or NRL have national reserve-grade competitions at the moment, let alone a second division of clubs theoretically capable or with aspirations to play at the top level. It remains a challenge for financial and logistical reasons, primarily due to the high cost of interstate travel and smaller revenues involved with anything other than top-level sport – but since promotion and relegation is such an intrinsic part of club football globally, there is a strong desire for the game to at least move towards that direction.

South Melbourne president Nick Maikousis.Credit: Brett Costello for FFA

No, and not for the foreseeable future – and at least not until the second division becomes a full-blown standalone league and fully professional. And there is no timeline on that, either; FA said in a lengthy document that only once “minimum thresholds” are achieved would the competition’s expansion be contemplated, without clarifying what they actually are.

A-League clubs would probably resist any push for relegation regardless, even though there is a widespread view that it is the long-term goal for the game here.

It remains to be seen, but past evidence suggests the answer is probably not. Some clubs were furious with FA following this masthead’s report in July, which predicted Thursday’s announcement, and believed they were “shifting the goalposts” by not committing to a league format.

This masthead has seen a letter from South Melbourne’s president and chairman, Nicholas Maikousis and Bill Papastergiadis, sent to FA chief executive James Johnson on August 29, in which they said: “Any failure by [FA] to honour its previously announced schedule & ignore the will of the Foundation clubs would be a total abrogation of its role as the custodian of the great game … it will set football in Australia back decades and jeopardises a NST [national second tier] from ever being established.”

The clubs have since worked in consultation with FA to develop the compromise format.

It’s unfortunate that the second tier will compete for eyeballs and sponsors at the same time as the A-League, which begins each new season in late October – but it is also unavoidable. The NPL season runs through the winter months and, in NSW at least, wraps up in early September.

There are no other suitable windows for the competition to run; FA said the spring period was “strategically selected” after consultation with the foundation clubs.

Johnson and FA chairman Anter Isaac were unavailable for comment due to being in Seoul for the AFC Congress. But Johnson, in a statement, described the announcement as a “landmark moment” for Australian football: “The National Second Tier will provide a new platform for iconic clubs to showcase their talent and connect with fans nationwide.”

Australian Professional Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia welcomed FA’s announcement while noting the A-Leagues weren’t formally consulted. “We support the development of all club football. We want to see more successful clubs, and more people playing and watching football in Australia and New Zealand,” he said in a statement.

“Importantly, any second tier should play a role in the development pathway that benefits all levels of the game. Although APL was not part of the consultation process that defined the second tier, we welcome the opportunity to work with the FA to refine how this competition can help to connect the football pyramid and grow the game.”