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The Australian Championship Thread

Just for hypotheticals, if this was going ahead right now for this year, this would have been the make up:
  • APIA Leichhardt (NSW)
  • Avondale (VIC)
  • Marconi Stallions (NSW)
  • Preston Lions (VIC)
  • South Melbourne (VIC)
  • Sydney Olympic (NSW)
  • Sydney United 58 (NSW)
  • Wollongong Wolves FC (NSW)
  • Gungahlin United (ACT)
  • Rockdale Ilinden (NSW)
  • Broadmeadow Magic (NNSW)
  • North Eastern MetroStars (SA)
  • Oakleigh Cannons (VIC)
  • Gold Coast Knights (QLD)
  • Olympic Kingsway (WA)
  • Glenorchy Knights (TAS)
 
Correct me if I am wrong, Sydney Olympics social media pages suggests the 16 clubs is made up of the 8 member federation clubs + 8 premiers from the 8 state federations for 2025?
 
Beretta said:
Correct me if I am wrong, Sydney Olympics social media pages suggests the 16 clubs is made up of the 8 member federation clubs + 8 premiers from the 8 state federations for 2025?
Click to expand...
Correct - there a few things not in the media release in the attached FAQ that was updated at the bottom of the media release:
The hypothetical makeup of this years tournament would be as above (noting that Oakleigh finished third in the league in Victoria, behind two NST Foundation Members, although they did win the Grand Final).

FAQ also states (as someone mentioned a page back) that the format is indeed 4x groups of 4 playing home and away, with top 2 in each group advancing to quarter finals, then semi final, then final (all single leg) resulting in:
  • 6x matches for all clubs as a minimum
    • 3 @ home and 3 away
  • Assuming the final is between two group winners, and held at one of their home grounds (assuming the one with the more superior record - this bit is unannounced), and elimination games are played at the home ground of the team with the superior record:
    • 9 games total (6 at home for the Grand Final host, 5 for the visitor)
 
I think this can go 1 of 2 ways

1) new teams are announced before kickoff and the cl has a bit of a buzz as an appetizer for the real thing. 11 months to pull that off
2) no new teams are announced and it becomes a damp squib that lasts a couple of seasons tops
 
it does look like there'll be another round of bidding for the competition. They should release the financial conditions needed to join the league as well tbh.
 
nm.apia21 said:
it does look like there'll be another round of bidding for the competition. They should release the financial conditions needed to join the league as well tbh.
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yeah I noticed that too. On the plus side it shows that all the eggs aren't in one basket for 4 of those 6 extra clubs to make it past the fa's criteria

on the downside it isn't a show of confidence that these 6 clubs are just a year away
 
Yeah, looks like 2027 should be a goal of sorts. Would love to see a rockdale/west adelaide/strikers and the other two big melbourne clubs to make bids
 
grazorblade said:
I think this can go 1 of 2 ways

1) new teams are announced before kickoff and the cl has a bit of a buzz as an appetizer for the real thing. 11 months to pull that off
2) no new teams are announced and it becomes a damp squib that lasts a couple of seasons tops
Click to expand...
The forces from within are designing this to be number 2, both according to your list and figuratively speaking
 
www.smh.com.au

Football Australia will launch a national second division in 2025. Here’s what you need to know

The long-awaited competition will finally begin in 2025 - but only as a post-season tournament.
www.smh.com.au www.smh.com.au

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.
 

Will there be promotion and relegation?​

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

The format​


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.
 

Will this satisfy the clubs?​

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.
 

Why is it on at the same time as the A-League?​

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.
 
Thanks for sharing Muz
Thoughts
1) yes it makes sense for no p&r before it is a full h&a. But why does it have to be fully pro first? Unless they mean p&r between a league and 2nd tier (rather than npl)
2) the lack of transparency on minimum thresholds is another bugbear
3) don't care about relegation from a league. Need promotion first until both leagues have enough clubs
4) Spring is better to build towards p&r with a league, winter better for p&r with npl
 
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