Football Australia’s confirmation its National Second Division, dubbed the ‘Australian Championship’, will kick off in October has not satisfied the masses who have long-held the dream of promotion and relegation with the A-League, but has at least ended what seemed an interminable wait for progress.
The 16-team ‘Champions League model’ tournament, to be played by clubs following their existing National Premier League seasons, will honour the commitment Football Australia made to eight ‘foundation’ clubs in November 2023, with the second half of the pool to be filled on sporting merit from around the country.
As one of those eight foundation clubs, the announcement couldn’t have come at a better time for Preston Lions. A storied outfit that spent twelve years on the national stage through the NSL era, they’ve since plumbed the depths of Victorian football, falling as far down as its fifth tier, since relegation from the top-flight in 2009.
But interest in the Lions has boomed as they’ve rattled their way back up the grades, culminating in a return to the Victorian NPL in 2025. Regularly drawing crowds of over 5,000 to BT Connor Reserve, that they’ll contest the Championship at season’s end only enriches their comeback story.
‘Aspiration has been the platform of our club’s journey, to go up four leagues in the last six years, to this year say we are an NPL club, is very exciting’ Lions president Cvetkovski told Box2Box.
‘Around 2013-2014, our club was not in a very good position. $300,000 owed to the tax department, only 30-35 children in our juniors, both mens and womens sides on the verge of relegation to what was State League 2. We’ve rebuilt the foundations on the core value set of taking care of our people.
‘Investment and relationships have come. Ultimately we are reliant on our sponsors, members; the local State, and now Federal Governments supported what’s been a $7-8 million refurbishment of four main grounds and two Miniroos grounds down here. As I say to lots of clubs, if we can do it, most can, if they work together as a community with their stakeholders.’
While Preston have been occupied with getting their own affairs in order to reach this point, Cvetkovski paid tribute to their fellow foundation clubs that have had their affairs in order for a long time, and have weathered the seemingly-endless period of stasis with immense patience.
‘Maybe we’ve actually been fortunate that over the past 6-8 years we’ve had to fight and aspire to success. We’ve come from a long way back, and I think we have to pay a lot of respect to those who have played in top-NPL – ‘locked’ leagues – for 10-20 years. Because, what were they playing for?
‘It was very difficult for them to aspire or sell a dream. We’ve [now] seen the renaissance of the NPL Victoria, the interest in clubs stepping up to the plate, to deliver not only the first 6-7 months to September, but also a vision from October to December.’
The long-awaited dream of the National Second Division will finally kick off, even if in a format that few dreamt of. The goal must now be to grow it, and Cvetkovski is confident progress will accelerate.
‘I think Football Australia’s been very clear in terms of where we need to go in the next 6-9 months, and clubs like Hume City, Melbourne Knights have said they’re considering putting their hats in the ring.
‘It’s become tangible, it’s real and we know there’s more to come. Nate Godfrey (Aus Championship GM) Peter Filopolous (FA Head of Marketing) are doing a great job of getting this out there while we’re still playing NPL, and more people are coming to watch potential Championship clubs play at NPL level. It’s really exciting.’