TRANSCRIPT
"I imagine the message has got through. And here's a break led by Leckie. He's all on his own. No help whatsoever. Mathew Leckie. What a goal. He didn't need the support. He did it all on his own."
Football in Australia has been experiencing a renaissance during the last few months.
With recent success by the Socceroos and the Matildas, interest in the sport has been skyrocketing.
A new announcement by Football Australia comes to build on that success.
"We're here today to announce the eight founding members of he National Second Tier, that's the main point for us being here. We're very excited about that. But we're also happy to talk about where the Second Tier is going and how i fits into the broader ecosystem of Australian football."
South Melbourne, Sydney Olympic, the Marconi Stallions, APIA Leichhardt, Avondale, the Preston Lions, Sydney United and the Wollongong Wolves are the founding members of this new tournament.
They all went through a rigorous screening process, meeting the FA’s criteria for the National Second Tier.
With kick-off set for 2025, Football Australia CEO James Johnson says they hope to get more teams involved.
"We'll talk to the clubs more about the process going forward but, I did want to say that we're looking for an additional two to four clubs as we move towards the kick-off in 2025. So there will be an ongoing process for additional clubs. There's a lot of competition for these places. And we think, with a little bit of extra time, we're going to get some additional bids to enter this competition because we have already eight outstanding bids in the eight clubs that are here today."
Even though a professional football league does already exist in Australia, in the form of the A-League, calls for yet another professional tournament in Australia had been growing.
The Association of Australian Football Clubs had set it as one of its key targets during its board meeting back in 2019.
Its chairman, Nick Galatas, explains how this new competition will give football the boost that it needs.
"We're talking about the game, for a start. We're talking about the game in ways that we haven't talked about it in a long time. We're giving the game depth. So now we know that he game existed, that some of us knew but, many of us will find out, they can learn about the game that existed in this country for a long, long time. Not just in the last 20-odd years. So that's what gives our game gravitas, strength, history and connection."
In becoming the second professional football league in Australia, the National Second Tier will also provide greater pathways for young players who hope to get involved with the sport.
One of the main issues for young players in Australia is the lack of sufficient funding as many clubs around the country remain on a semi-professional level, unable to provide full-time contracts to their athletes.
This is another one of the issues that the NST hopes to address in time.
Mr Galatas explains how the new league will be financially sufficient.
"What this competition will do is, it will be comprised of teams which exist, and which have told the FA what their capability is as part of the application process, as part of the establishment process, so the FA knows what the clubs can and can't do. And, what we're expecting will happen of course and what's happening with the model that they've developed - that is FA - is that it will reflect the best of what clubs can do, rather than reflect some sort of dream or arbitrary standard that they can't quite do. So that should mean that we're doing what we can afford."
But even though this league is still in its foundations, the football community has already voiced their concerns.
One major issue appears to be the involvement of teams from New South Wales and Victoria alone, in what is said to be a national tournament.
Football Queensland, the organising body behind the state’s semi-professional football leagues, released a statement in which it claims that it supports the efforts of a National Second Tier.
Clubs from Tasmania and South Australia have also expressed interest in joining this new competition.
Football Australia aims to find at least two to four clubs to join the competition before it begins in 2025.
CEO James Johnson says there have been some strong bids from across the country.
"What I can say is, other clubs that have been involved in both EOI and RFP , there are some very strong bids from outside News South Wales and Victoria. And we're very excited to see who those two to four clubs will be when the competition kicks off in '25."
All eight founding members of this National Second Tier are deeply rooted in Australia’s multicultural community.
South Melbourne and Sydney Olympic were both founded by Greek migrants, while Avondale and Marconi have ties to the Italian community.
South Melbourne chairman Nick Maikousis describes the last few years of being relegated to National Premier League football, Australia's state-level semi-professional football categories, as a dark period for the club.
"We've been playing in the wilderness and I call it the dark ages of the club for the last two decades. But this is a real renaissance for us."
The Preston Lions and Sydney United are also connected to migrant communities from the Balkan region.
This has led to clashes between fans of the clubs in the past, such as the incidents between Preston Lions and South Melbourne fans.
In last season's Australia Cup final, several Sydney United fans received lifelong bans from football stadiums after performing Nazi salutes, with the club itself being hit with a $15,000 fine and several sanctions.
With all this in mind, the AAFC's Nick Galatas says the NST will seek to embrace the rich cultural heritage of these clubs while keeping out all the negativity.
"Teams are their background, teams are what they are. And this idea of keeping teams separate from their background is what held this country back so long. We have to embrace who we are and to the extend that there are any problems, we have to face them and deal with them. There's no point running around and putting fences around things and excluding... If have a club has an issue with anybody, it's up to the club and the league to deal with it."
As for the possibility of a similar league for the women's game, the FA's CEO James Johnson says that while it is under consideration, it's not on the cards just yet.
He says there are other plans on track to help advance women's football in Australia.
"Yeah look, we've considered that. And we've put a lot of investment, a lot of time and resources into women's football during my tenure, particularly at the national team level. And we do want to do that at the second tier. So, men's and women's club football are at different stages. We're focused on the second tier kick-off for the men's. But also, as I mentioned, introducing a UEFA Champions League model for the third tier, which will be the NPL. The first step for us, in terms of investment into club women's football, which we've thought a lot about, would be the establishment of a Champions League format for the NPL."
The new competition will form part of Football Australia's next media rights deal, beginning in 2025.
