An Australian National Second Division appears closer than ever, with 30 clubs having expressed their interest in being involved during the week.
Chairman of the Association of Australian Football Clubs, Rabieh Krayem, this week joined Box2Box and gave an update on how their vision is progressing.
“Eighteen months ago, when we first launched our bid, everyone said ‘it’s never going to happen’. Now we’re talking about the clubs that are putting their hands up. It’s actually getting a lot closer”, he explained.
One of the major questions surrounding a supposed ‘Championship’ is whether or not clubs could run on a full-time, professional basis.
Krayem insisted it must be the case.
“There’s no doubt we want clubs to be professionally run. The Championship is about giving players the opportunity to go to the next level. It’s important we provide the right environment”.
Krayem is confident a 2nd Division would not lack for participants, and while open to new clubs (such as Team 11), he would would prefer to see existing National Premier League Clubs make up the majority of the competition.
“A lot of existing NPL clubs, from every part of the country, have indicated once Expression of Interest’s come out, they’ll put their hands out for it. There’s also been enquires from other parties”.
“We’ve got to make sure were not just creating franchises for the sake of it. A successful Championship is driven by the football community, not by made up franchises”.