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.
