"We've got the best of both worlds here" - The perfect metaphor for Australian football
- Ben Horvath
- Dec 21, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 18
"You say times are tough we've got the best of both worlds here."
Iconic Australian rock band Midnight Oil's song 'Best of Both Worlds' is the perfect metaphor for the current wave of hope and aspiration among the more optimistic sectors of the Australian football community.
Heidelberg United players celebrate a goal in the 2025 NPL Victoria Grand Final. (Image: Heidelberg United Alexander FC Facebook)
On the one hand, there's no denying that times are tough across the A-Leagues. A climate of austerity at A-League level, demonstrated by Western United being placed in "conditional hibernation" by the Australian Professional Leagues literally weeks before the 2025/26 season kicked off, was far from ideal.
However, the Australia Cup has been an absolute success in recent years, a breath of fresh air that brings "old soccer" and "new football" together, proving that reuniting the various Australian footballing tribes is wise and makes commercial sense in the current climate of restraint.
The Australia Cup Final, played the week before the much-anticipated launch of the Australian Championship, drew 10,000 fans to Lakeside Stadium, a perfectly sized ground for the occasion. It was broadcast on free-to-air television at prime time on a Saturday night.
The viewership on Channel 10 reached 837k, a significant increase on previous seasons, and more importantly, the football was exciting and highly competitive, pitting old NSL warriors and Championship foundation club Heidelberg against A-League stalwarts Newcastle. It looked, felt and sounded like the best of both worlds on the pitch, on the terraces, and on TV.
Similarly, the 'Super Saturday' line-up of old soccer and new football also feels like a win for fans. The Championship broadcast live on SBS at 1 pm, followed by the A-League also on free-to-air Channel 10 Drama, at 5 pm and 7:30 pm, was another symbolic step towards reunification.
A solution to securing sustainable growth and interest in the A-League, Championship, and NPL competitions is literally staring the powers that be at Football Australia, the APL and all eight state and territory federations right in the face.
If ever the time felt right to reunite the various footballing tribes from grassroots, NPL, Championship and A-Leagues by connecting the footballing pyramid, it is now.
The administration teams at FA, the APL and the state and territory federations have to put all their petty, historical differences aside, and work together constructively with the clubs for the good of the game to ensure they dangle the carrot of promotion to the A-League for the winner of the Championship sooner rather than later.
The Championship's foundation clubs and other aspirational NPL clubs are working hard to improve and need and deserve hope.
There are so many green shoots of ambition visible across state borders in NPL football right now. Whether it be club reforms and reinvention, or building crowds and revenue streams, the various state-based NPLs are clearly re-energised, so the onus is now absolutely on the administrators to ensure progressive impetus is maintained.
The latest attendance data across the NPL, Australia Cup and the Championship suggests the potential for incremental growth is well grounded, especially if the promotion carrot to the A-League from the Championship is fast-tracked. At the same time, work should continue towards implementing full promotion and relegation as soon as possible.
Should the APL and FA fail to offer the promotion carrot, I'm afraid the novelty and current momentum surrounding the Championship will eventually wear off for fans, clubs, players and coaches alike. It will be a huge opportunity lost.
Clubs are modernising, and communities are reconnecting with football. The signals of hope that the Australia Cup and the successful launch of the Championship have provided should serve to remind everyone that Australian domestic club football has a historic heart and soul that requires nurturing.
Surely it's plain to see the closed shop model has run its course. The obvious lack of incentive for all football clubs outside the A-League, and the lack of punishment for mediocrity within it, are now holding back the growth of domestic football.
In his final interview with 10 Football before departing Australia, Alessandro Diamanti said, "Promotion and relegation would be the game changer in Australia, raising pressure and the level of competition."
The most logical step forward to future-proof the A-League and ensure steady, durable levels of growth are also possible for the Championship and NPL tiers is opening the door to promote the strongest old NSL clubs.
The forgotten NSL clubs have survived for decades out of the limelight, on the smell of an oily rag. But in recent years, there's been a hint of new energy and purpose due to the advent of the Championship. Numerous clubs have been growing slowly and, in some cases, even thriving.
The APL and FA have absolutely nothing to lose by promoting two or three Championship foundation clubs to the A-League in the coming years. It will address A-League stagnation, add more games and more fans, and, most importantly, reunify all Australian football fans.
In the meantime, FA can keep building the Championship, adding new foundation clubs, and working towards establishing a genuine home-and-away national second division, complete with promotion and relegation, as soon as possible.
The time for further procrastination is over.
Talk of expansion franchises knocking on doors to join the A-Leagues has gone quiet. Should another football-loving knight in shining armour, like Auckland's billionaire owner Bill Foley, or another Scott Barlow or City Football Group materialise, and wishes to invest in a new A-League franchise in Canberra, that would be fantastic news. But in the meantime, the FA, APL, state federations, and football fans have to be realistic and act upon the obvious remedy staring everyone in the face.
The unification of the "old soccer" and "new football" tribes is an area where football as a code can achieve small but enduring growth right now.
If the powers-that-be do not fast-track the opening up of the closed shop model of the A-League sooner rather than later, I suspect economies of scale may well force their hand. I wouldn't be surprised at all if A-League crowds average below 8,000 this season or next. The APL and FA may be compelled to admit foundation Championship clubs as the best means to ensure the competition thrives rather than just survives.
If, heaven forbid, another A-League club were forced to withdraw in the coming seasons, the quality and value of the competition could be seriously compromised, not to mention the declining developmental value it would provide for young Australian players.
Fact is, the A-League desperately needs to grow into a 16-team competition in the coming seasons to ensure young Australian players remain competitive in Asia, with an absolute minimum of 30 professional, competitive league matches.
A combination of what worked in the past regarding the old NSL and what has worked best in the first 20 years of the A-League is what administrators need to focus on.
When smart football and fan-first policies and investments are made, clubs thrive, communities prosper, and the football economy grows.
At the recent Sydney Football Summit, held in Circular Quay on October 26, Done Deal, an impressive new app that specialises in making transfers simple, was launched by player agent Eric Santiago and his business partner, former Sydney FC striker Bobo.
The launch of the app is, for me, evidence of the potential growth in the domestic football economy. More importantly, though, was the collective positive vibe towards the Championship and the game's future at the venue.
Elite NPL NSW players like Nicholas Olsen, Alec Urosevski, and coach David Perkovic all outlined in their speeches how excited they were about the Championship. They shared the same sentiment, expressing hope that the Championship represents a considerable step towards connecting the tiers of the Australian footballing pyramid.
NPL NSW Coach of the Year David Perkovic spoke about the benefits of a connected football pyramid and promotion and relegation at the recent Sydney Football Summit. (Image: Harley Appezzato)
2025 NPL NSW Coach of the Year Perkovic said, "Promotion and relegation between the Championship and the A-League has to happen as soon as possible to ensure there is competitive tension and interest in all competitions, to both improve playing standards and keep things interesting for fans and club growth in a business sense."
There is no better example of an aspirational club that could make the jump than Preston Lions. No NPL or Championship clubs capture the spirit of local football better than Preston Lions. Preston averages almost 5,000 fans per home game, reflecting their solid community connection and refreshingly modern, professional approach.
Preston's digital marketing is setting the standard for NPL and Championship clubs. Their success is encouraging more NPL clubs to aim higher, having a positive domino effect, proving that when a club combines authenticity, ambition, and connection, a more professional footballing future is attainable.
In a recent conversation with David Basheer on The Home Ground podcast, Preston Lions President David Cvetkovski said, "We will get data from this successful first season of the Championship, and we are hopeful that will help us make the case for promotion and relegation within years."
"All the old NSL clubs cannot continue playing NPL forever without an aspirational pathway. You can't just rinse and repeat, rebuilding annually to play the same teams, and expect crowds, revenue and playing standards to grow out of nowhere.
"We believe we can compete with the bottom six clubs in the A-League and be a viable proposition in the A-League as we continue to mature as a club. The gap between the A-League and top Championship clubs is getting narrower by the year. We think we can have three to four thousand paid-up members and regularly draw six to seven thousand fans in our boutique home ground in the A-League, remembering we don't have to pay $80,000 stadium hire fees either."
Heidelberg comprehensively proved on the field, on a national stage, during their Australia Cup run, that the gap between the NPL and the A-League has been bridged.
The quality of football on display and the encouraging crowds in the first group stage of the Championship have shown that the gap between the top NPL clubs and the bottom half of the A-League is narrowing, both on and off the field.
Clubs such as APIA Leichhardt (Wests APIA) and Oakleigh Cannons have forged other notable off-field commercial advancements. APIA's lucrative Wests partnership and increased marketing ensured they drew, for example, 4,200 fans to Leichhardt Oval on what was a wet and wild night for their inaugural Australian Championship home game.
Around the same time, Oakleigh Cannons unveiled a new $15 million grandstand. Both are great examples of significant steps forward in bridging the gap between A-League and NPL standards.
Australian Championship clubs and fans have every right to demand more from FA, the APL and state federations as we move forward. A clear pathway that rewards ambition is urgently required.
"The Australian Championship is a pivotal moment for our game, and something we have made a priority at Football Australia," FA's interim CEO Heather Garriock said recently.
"It unites Australia's most storied clubs in a competition that celebrates where we've come from and where we're going.
"Building on the success of the Australia Cup, this Championship is about honouring history, connecting communities, and providing opportunities for the next generation.
"This new era of national competition strengthens Australian football. It's a celebration of football's enduring spirit and its power to unite."
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Go on then, now is the time to finish the work former FA CEO James Johnson started, by working with the APL to genuinely unite the tribes by introducing promotion from the Championship to the A-Leagues within years, and continue working towards adding teams and games to the Championship, fast-tracking the goal of adding promotion and relegation to legitimise Australian domestic football.
I think I speak for many Australian football fans when I say this: please don't blow this opportunity. The collective will and momentum among the clubs to succeed is omnipresent.
Australian football fans would love to see the most ambitious NPL and Championship clubs given another chance in the top tier of the national pyramid. Footballing merit and prudent economic management will sort the rest, as it does the world over.
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