Jeeze I love the Australia Cup. The games so far have been immense and in conjunction with all of the recent Australian Championship conversation it’s hard not to get carried away with dreams of a more connected Australian Football Pyramid. The spectacles put on by Olympic Kingsway and South Hobart in particular shined a light on what second tier football could be outside of Melbourne and Sydney, and it looked fantastic. Both of these clubs are rumoured to have applied to the Australian Championship, but neither has been confirmed to have met the criteria for whatever reason, although most speculate it’s likely due to financial reasons with the $500 thousand bank guarantee often derided by those who just want to see the competition get up.

Many are hoping that Champions League format this year will eventually be turned into a full home and away season, however even in this best case scenario it is likely that a new home and away competition will be another closed league, potentially even a costly one for teams participating. Our lessons from the A-League (honestly not being critical) include the necessity of relegation to add meaning to games, and value to league status, but also the necessity of new teams to keep the competition fresh. I believe even a Home and Away Australian Championship will eventually fall into the same existential questioning the A-League faces if it is not open to promotion and relegation to the lower leagues from the get go.

The Australia Cup though also provides its own lessons, namely one of the biggest point of difference for football in this country is its national footprint. The AFL and NRL will never evoke the same level of passion from a Sydneysider, watching a game in Tasmania as the Australia Cup did when the football community turned on to watch South Hobart. I’ve come to realise that although a Sydney-Melbourne Australian Championship still has its benefits, the game needs to underline its national footprint in the second division structure. Enter my latest harebrained scheme – forget the Australian Championship enter the Australian Football League (name subject to review).

This plan draws on the Brazilian Football system and promotion/relegation principles whilst offering expandability and reduced costs. Instead of delivering a single Australian Championship with 16 teams, this plan proposes introducing three leagues with eight teams each, connected by promotion and relegation and played between October and December.

• The Australian Championship
• The Australian League One
• The Australian League Two

The competition structure will see each team play each other once (seven rounds) with the top two to contest a final, and where relevant, the bottom two to be relegated to the lower league and the top two to be promoted into the higher leagues. Amazingly this proposal would result in less travel costs than a 12 team home and away second division based on my back of the envelope calculations below.

Number of teams per league	8	12
Away trips per week	4	6
Number of weeks	7	22
Number of leagues	3	1
Number of people per trip	19	19
Cost of accom per person	200	200
Cost of travel per person	800	800
Additional cost per person	200	200
Total Cost per person	1200	1200
Total travel costs	$           1,915,200	$           3,009,600

The competitions can be marketed as one but also allows teams to find their level. The structure also guarantees national league football for clubs with a smaller barrier to entry, allowing them a more sustainable way of growing their professionalism without the potential randomness of the current Champions League model for non-foundation clubs.

What will this look like in practice? Let’s consider South. In the winter they play their bread and butter NPL and in the spring they play in the Australian Championship. If this were to start this year, we could put the current foundation clubs in the Championship and the NPL qualifiers in the League 1. See an example below.

2025

Australian Championship	Australian League One
South Melbourne	Heidelberg (Pro)
Avondale	NSW Spirit (Pro)
Preston Lions	Bayswater City
Marconi	Canberra FC
Sydney United	South Hobart
Sydney Olympic	Moreton City
APIA (Rel)	Broadmeadow Magic
Wollongong (Rel)	MetroStars

2026

Australian Championship	Australian League One	Australian League Two
South Melbourne	APIA	Croydon Kings
Avondale	Wollongong	Dandenong Thunder
Preston Lions	Bayswater City	Launceston City
Marconi	Canberra FC	Olympic Kingsway
Sydney United	South Hobart	Edgeworth
Sydney Olympic	Moreton City	Rockdale
Heidelberg	Broadmeadow Magic	Queensland Lions
NSW Spirit	MetroStars	Tigers FC

Crazy? Absolutely. So crazy it just might work? Probably not.

However it does make me realise arguably THE biggest issue with have in Australian football, which is namely the lack or harmony in the football calendar. The summer football and winter football is disastrous on as many levels as it is necessary. Consider for a moment how much simpler things would be in the A-League was played in winter. Even without promotion and relegation there would be many benefits. We would be able to enjoy sensible aligned transfer windows. We would better align competitions like the Australian Championship, Australia Cup and even Emerging Socceroos/Matildas competitions. We could better plan for the future. We could create better media products that run in line with seasons. It would even better align with people’s lifestyles, and potentially lead to better conditions for professional football.

Alas, I understand the reasons for the summer divide, however regardless of what format the NST eventually goes with, whether it be the Champions League, Home and Away or my AFL system (trade mark pending) the timing of any such competition poses different existential questions for clubs.

Held in winter a H&A style makes sense. You can more easily built promotion relegation to the State Leagues and clubs would be able to fully transfer across to the new competition. In spring/summer any format will see clubs like South effectively play two competitions begging questions of how to set up squads and which competition is more important.

Add the OFC Professional League and we have another headache. As a South fan my head is spinning from the possibilities. So…. we could play H&A NPL in winter, followed by a Champions League NSD in Spring and a circuit series OPL in Summer… insane.

What’s the panacea? For me, a H&A NSD played in winter, connected to the state leagues below it.

What’s the reality? Who the heck knows, the only certainty seems to be that we’re bound to stuff it up.