Football Australia CEO James Johnson: “The receipt of EOI submissions is another crucial step in bringing our vision for the game to life”

Staff Writer
Sydney Olympic
Image credit: Chris Paraskevas

Football Australia has officially closed the Invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI) process for the National Second Tier Men’s competition.

In a positive and strong response, 32 Australian football clubs from across the country submitted their expressions of interest to take part in the new competition – by the Friday, March 3 deadline.

The EOI process was launched by Football Australia in February 2023 to assess the level of interest and refine the strategy, vision, competition format, operation, and administration for a new national tier of football between the A-League Men competition and the National Premier Leagues.

Expected to commence in March 2024, the National Second Tier will be contested between 10 and 16 teams, with a home and away league structure and finals, featuring 24 to 36 games.

For Football Australia, there are still thoughts of including a phased ‘group based’ competition model that will utilise the National Premier Leagues competition to decide the make-up of the competition format (the ‘Champions League’ model).

Following the evaluation of the EOI responses, the next phase will be the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase, which is expected to run from April to June 2023. During this phase, only shortlisted parties from the EOI phase will be invited to submit detailed proposals, with more information provided through detailed Bid Documents.

Football Australia CEO James Johnson shared his pleasure for the finalised EOI stage.

“We underwent a lengthy consultation process last year so we knew there would be great interest and we are thrilled with the level of interest shown in the EOI phase and the calibre of clubs which have expressed their interest,” Johnson said in a statement.

“It is also pleasing to see that we have received submissions from right across Australia, demonstrating that our football clubs have a deep desire and aspiration to compete at a national level.  The National Second Tier provides the perfect platform for them to do so.

“Australian football has undergone a journey of transformation over the last two years, and the establishment of a national second tier which reconnects and realigns Australian football competitions is an important element of Football Australia’s 15-year vision for the game.

“The receipt of EOI submissions is another crucial step in bringing our vision for the game to life.”

 The confirmed clubs by each state is listed below:

State / Territory (in alphabetical order) Clubs (in alphabetical order)
Australian Capital Territory

 

 1.      Canberra Croatia FC

2.      Gungahlin United FC
New South Wales

 

 3.      APIA Leichhardt FC

4.      Blacktown City FC

5.      Fraser Park FC*

6.      Marconi Stallions FC

7.      Rockdale Ilinden FC

8.      Sutherland Sharks FC/Cronulla Sharks

9.      Sydney Olympic FC

10.   Sydney United 58 FC

11.   Wollongong Wolves FC
Northern New South Wales 12.   Valentine FC
Queensland

 

 13.   Brisbane City FC

14.   Brisbane United FC (Wynnum Wolves FC, Brisbane Strikers FC, Virginia United FC)

15.   Gold Coast Knights FC

16.   Gold Coast United FC

17.   Olympic FC

18.   Peninsula Power FC

19.   Sunshine Coast FC Fire
South Australia

 

 20.   Adelaide City FC

21.   Football SA (Campbelltown City SC, North Eastern MetroStars, West Torrens Birkalla SC)

22.   Playford City Soccer and Community Club
Tasmania 23.   South Hobart FC
Victoria

 

 24.   Avondale FC

25.   Bentleigh Greens SC

26.   Brunswick Juventus FC

27.   Green Gully SC

28.   Heidelberg United FC

29.   Melbourne Knights FC

30.   Preston Lions FC

31.   South Melbourne FC
Western Australia 32.   Spearwood Dalmatinac / Cockburn City SC*

* Subject to the submission fee payment being confirmed.

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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