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Could COVID-19 stunt progress towards the Second Division?
The ongoing worldwide pandemic has seen the A-League, as well as all state competitions postpone their fixtures until further notice.
The current situation is bleak, with no timeframe set for when on-field competition can restart or whether the current season will be cancelled in favour of a fresh start next season.
The FFA has a lot on their plates right now and no-one would envy them right now. However, if they’re not careful enough, they could potentially set Australian soccer back several seasons.
The COVID-19 pandemic will end, but things won’t normalise for a long time. The health and safety of Australians is of the utmost priority and thankfully, the country hasn’t been as seriously affected as some.
In saying that, several aspects of the game in our country cannot be sacrificed and must not be put on the backburner.
The National Second Division was easily the most necessary adjustment to the elite level of our sport prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obviously, these bizarre times have altered this. But when the dust settles, and it will, the FFA needs to act upon the National Second Division.
When life-changing events take place, it becomes second nature to drop whatever you’re doing and focus solely on the important matter at hand.
After a while, it becomes easy to forget on what you were originally focused on. Sometimes, it gets left in the rear-view mirror altogether and you never do a U-turn to find it.
The FFA cannot do this to their current plans on the National Second Division.
At the time of writing, no ‘set in stone’ plans currently exist for the FFA and the National Second Division. Nothing concrete has been put to paper.
On the flipside, it is known there are strong motivations to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. Like a cheese wheel going down a hill.
Weird analogy, but the point remains. The FFA is acutely aware of how important the National Second Division is to the future of the A-League and the sport in Australia, as a whole.
It goes without saying what makes the European leagues so cutthroat and enviable to Australians.
The promotion and relegation, the seemingly endless divisions in countries like England, Germany and Spain. The possibility of playing against some of the best in the world, both domestically and in continental tournaments. The knowledge that if you’re not up to scratch, you can be out the door as quick as the snap of a finger.
Or as quick as a cheese wheel going down a hill. How’s that come up again?
There isn’t as much accountability for poor performance in Australian soccer. If you finish bottom in the A-League, there’s no real punishment. Some seasons can be a real lottery.
The point of all this? To ensure the FFA doesn’t allow COVID-19 to halt their plans on the National Second Division.
They can be excused for ignoring other issues right now, some just simply aren’t essential. But the future of Australian soccer is one of the most essential issues for them.
Let’s say for arguments sake that the FFA planned to introduce the National Second Division at the start of the 2022-23 A-League season.
Let’s also say that the COVID-19 pandemic happened in another universe, allowing them a near uninterrupted 18-24 months to figure out a setup for the National Second Division.
With their current motives to get the National Second Division started, it’s more than plausible that it could become a reality in that timeframe.
However, we live in the universe where COVID-19 has wreaked havoc upon the world and these plans have been temporarily put to the side.
It’s foreseeable that the FFA will allow things to completely settle before they resume planning on the National Second Division.
That is easily one of the biggest mistake they could make at that time, when it comes.
They can’t afford to delay any longer. If they push plans back to 2024-25 or even longer down the line, the game in this country will suffer even more.
We can’t imagine having to make these tough decisions during this time such as cutting or furloughing staff amongst other things.
But if they make the decision to delay the National Second Division plans, they’ll regret it sooner than they think.
We’re hopeful this is not the case.
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The 2026 Queensland Football Convention has expanded its speaker lineup. Robbie Kruse, Emma McKeon, Jon Moss and Tony Wilson are joining previously confirmed headliner Mark Bosnich. The four new additions will bring experience from football, elite sport, refereeing and high performance to the two-day convention at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on the 10th and 11th of October.
Bosnich was announced in August as the event’s featured speaker. The former Socceroo and Premier League goalkeeper will take part in an exclusive Q&A covering his career, life in football and the pathways available to Australia’s next generation of players. Robbie Kruse adds another strong football voice to the program. Queensland’s most-capped Socceroo will share lessons from a career that took him from local football to the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League. Now working in coaching and player development, Kruse will focus on pathways, talent development and the challenge of making the step into elite football.
McKeon – Australia’s most decorated Olympian – will bring a different perspective in exploring the principles behind high performance. Her session will cover teamwork, resilience, goal setting and the value of small improvements when competing at the highest level.
Former Premier League referee and current-Football Australia Head of Referees Jon Moss will also return, examining the relationship between coaches and match officials. He will focus on communication, mutual respect and collaboration, while also looking at the future of refereeing in Australia and the role coaches and clubs can play in supporting officials.
Tony Wilson, founder of Performance Lab, completes the newly announced group. As keynote speaker, Wilson will examine mindset, leadership, culture and resilience, drawing on his work with elite athletes, teams and organisations across Australia and the United States. The expanded program gives coaches, administrators and football professionals access to perspectives from across the sporting landscape.
The Queensland Football Convention will take place at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The convention takes place from the 9th to the 11th of October.
To purchase tickets to the 2026 Queensland Football Convention, click the link here.
South Melbourne versus Melbourne Victory is more than a long-awaited rivalry. It is an opportunity to unite Australian football around its history – and its future.
On 10 October, South Melbourne FC and Melbourne Victory will walk onto AAMI Park for an Australia Cup Final that represents far more than a trophy.
It brings together two proud clubs from different chapters of Australian football’s history.
One is among the most successful clubs of the former National Soccer League era. The other has become one of the defining clubs of the A-League era.
The atmosphere will be extraordinary. The rivalry will be genuine. The football will be fiercely contested.
Such is the anticipation surrounding the match that it also has genuine potential to break the modern Australia Cup Final attendance record of 18,751, set at the same venue in 2016.
That would represent much more than a number on a crowd sheet. A record attendance would send a powerful message about the public appetite for meaningful fixtures, authentic rivalries and competitions that connect every level of Australian football.
But this final can – and should – mean even more.
It presents Australian football with an opportunity to bring its past, present and future together.
It is an opportunity to dismantle the tired and damaging distinction between “old soccer” and “new football”.
Most importantly, it can demonstrate what becomes possible when the entire game is connected.
We Cannot Build the Future by Discarding the Past
Australian football needed reform at the beginning of this century.
The game required stronger governance, greater professionalism, better commercial structures and a national competition capable of reaching new audiences.
The establishment of the A-League in 2005 opened an important new chapter. It created clubs, rivalries and major occasions that have contributed enormously to the development of the professional game.
But somewhere during that transformation, the idea took hold that Australian football could only move forward by separating itself from much of what had come before it.
The labels “old soccer” and “new football” became a fault line.
Too many clubs, supporters, volunteers and communities that had carried the game for decades were made to feel that their history was no longer welcome at the top table.
In creating something new, the game sometimes appeared determined to dispense with everything associated with its past.
That included the clubs and development pathways that identified, nurtured and produced many members of Australia’s Golden Generation.
Australian football should never be embarrassed by that history.
It is one of our game’s greatest competitive advantages.
Traditional clubs were built by migrant communities that brought their passion, culture and football knowledge to Australia.
They established clubs, built grounds, developed players, created lifelong supporters and sustained the game when it received little mainstream attention or investment.
These communities did not merely support Australian football.
They built it.
Recognising that contribution does not require us to reject the progress made during the A-League era. Both can be true.
The game needed to evolve, but it did not need to marginalise its foundations to do so.
This Is Not “Old” Against “New”
It would be easy to promote South Melbourne against Melbourne Victory as “old soccer” meeting “new football”.
It might create a convenient headline, but it would miss the greater significance of the occasion – and perpetuate a division the game must leave behind.
South Melbourne is not a relic from Australian football’s past.
It is a living and ambitious club with generations of supporters, a distinguished record of national success and an enduring role in developing players and representing its community.
Melbourne Victory is not separate from Australian football’s history.
It is another important chapter in it – a club that has built an enormous following, delivered some of the country’s most memorable sporting occasions and demonstrated the scale that professional football can achieve in Australia.
These clubs were created in different eras, but they belong to the same game.
The future of Australian football is neither “old” nor “new”.
It is one football.
Supporters Want a Connected Game
This final arrives at a time when the appetite for a properly connected football pyramid is becoming impossible to ignore.
Supporters want clubs to have something meaningful to aspire to.
They want success on the field to create opportunity.
They want to see a genuine connection between grassroots football, state competitions, traditional clubs, national competitions and the professional game.
A connected pyramid is about more than promotion and relegation.
It is about unlocking aspiration, investment, relevance and growth throughout the sport.
When clubs can see a pathway forward, they invest in facilities, coaching, academies, commercial capability and community engagement.
When supporters believe their club’s journey can lead somewhere, they become more deeply invested.
When local rivalries carry national consequences, new audiences, media attention and commercial partners follow.
That energy already exists throughout Australian football.
Our opportunity is to harness it.
The Platforms Are Demonstrating What Is Possible
The Australia Cup has repeatedly shown what can happen when clubs from every level are given the opportunity to compete on a national stage.
It connects the grassroots and professional game. It creates genuine jeopardy. It brings national attention to clubs, grounds and communities that rarely receive that level of exposure.
It also produces compelling stories that cannot be manufactured through marketing alone.
The Australian Championship represents another important step. It gives some of the country’s most historic and ambitious clubs a new national platform and creates a stronger bridge between state-based football and the professional game.
Neither competition should be viewed in isolation.
Together, the Australia Cup and Australian Championship can help reconnect the game, restore national relevance to important clubs and build momentum towards a more integrated competition structure.
They also demonstrate something commercially significant.
These communities are not simply part of football’s history. They are active audiences with passion, identity, purchasing power and an enduring commitment to their clubs.
When those communities are respected and properly engaged, they respond.
That creates value for broadcasters, commercial partners, governments and the wider professional game.
A Perspective Spanning Different Eras
My perspective has been shaped by experiencing Australian football across different clubs, competitions and eras.
I served as CEO of South Melbourne Soccer Club during one of the most successful periods in its history.
After leaving in 1997, I returned 12 months later for the 1998/99 season, when South secured its second consecutive national championship under Ange Postecoglou.
Nearly two decades later, in 2015, I returned to the professional game as CEO of Perth Glory in the A-League.
I subsequently joined Football Australia as a senior executive, where I played a key role in strengthening the Australia Cup as a national platform and developing the Australian Championship.
That journey has reinforced my belief that Australian football’s future will not be secured by choosing one part of its history over another. It will be secured by bringing the best of every era together.
The game will fulfil its potential when it connects its professional clubs, traditional clubs, grassroots participants, diverse communities and national teams within a coherent and ambitious system.
This is not about returning to the past.
It is about carrying the best of our history into a stronger future.
South Melbourne Soccer Club newsletter, 1997. After stepping down as CEO, Peter Filopoulos returned 12 months later for the club’s 1998/99 national championship season.
More Than a Final
On 10 October, AAMI Park – the spiritual home of football in Melbourne—should become the stage for more than an Australia Cup Final.
It should be a celebration of the people and communities that built the game, the progress achieved during the professional era and the possibilities presented by a connected future.
South Melbourne supporters should be proud of what their club has contributed to Australian football and excited about what may lie ahead.
Melbourne Victory supporters should celebrate what their club has built and the role it continues to play in growing the professional game.
Every Australian football supporter should be able to look at this occasion and see something bigger than a contest between two clubs or two eras.
This final is not “old soccer” against “new football”.
It is Australian football – proud of its entire history, united around its future and ready to unlock its true potential.
