It’s going to be a Victoria-NSW battle ground with big names from the NSL era stepping up to compete in a competition designed to ultimately provide an A-League pathway via promotion/relegation.
 
Whilst the likes of Victorian state league premiers Avondale FC and their NSW counterparts APIA Leichhardt appear locked in, along with South Melbourne, Marconi Stallions, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United,Wollongong Wolves and Preston Lions, sources suggest at least two other teams - likely franchises from Tasmania and Queensland - will be vying to join them before the new competition kicks off in March-April 2025 - a delay of 12 months from the original plan.
 
Football Australia’s blueprint to construct a national tier below the A-League has been several years in the making, with the ultimate goal of promotion/relegation to be “considered” once the new competition has reached an appropriate level of “maturity”.
 
Traditional powerhouse South Melbourne, who have been unsuccessful in previous attempts to become an A-League expansion club, view the competition as a stepping stone back to the pinnacle of the pyramid after 19 years in exile from the mainstream.
 
South Melbourne president Nick Maikousis, who is “comfortable” with the launch delay, is content to play the long game in pursuit of a place at top table.
 
“It’s about getting the model right and building the pyramid (to be in line with the rest of the world),” he told FTBL.
 
“At South Melbourne we’ve been in the dark ages for the last 20-odd years and this is a renaissance period for us.
 
“I genuinely believe this process will also breathe life into the A-League (which has struggled to stifle a drift of supporters away from the game in recent seasons).
 
“Just before the NSL shut down we were one of the biggest and most successful clubs in Australia. Three years before the doors closed we were playing Manchester United in the Club World Cup in Brazil.
 
“Then all of a sudden we’re out of the competition (in its re-launch under billionaire Frank Lowy's FFA auspices) - it’s an extraordinary the fall.
 
“That’s why a lot of people stuck with us, and the other NSL teams, and chose not to follow any of the A-League franchises.
 
“I think this second tier will unlock a lot of support and bring everyone together - we finally can put behind us the terminology of new football and old soccer. It will only enhance our game, so I’m very positive about it all.
 
“There are things the old NSL did very well, and things it did it did very poorly. What we did well was produce players because young kids got the chance to play and we were selling players overseas every year, certainly when Ange Postecoglou was in charge (at South).”
 
To undermine the chasm between the A-League and NSL, Maikousis admits to having never watched an A-League game in person during its 19 years in existence.
 
“I might have watched a minute of highlights here and there, and only then when Ange was with Brisbane Roar,” he said.
 
“I thick one of the big differences is that our club is owned by its members and they have a direct say in the management of the club. We think culturally that works very well.
 
“But, moving forward, I think what we’re witnessing now will be good for everybody involved in the game.”