Former Socceroo Kimon Taliadoros is hoping to “unlock the impediments of football’s growth” in Victoria if he is elected president for the Football Federation of Victoria (FFV).

Taliadoros says he wants to see the federation take a more affirmative approach to dealing with the sport’s skyrocketing popularity.

“The game needs to be able to provide the facilities to service that demand,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“For instance, football can’t get access to grounds after the cricket season and for vast periods of time the grounds remain vacant.

“It’s a major impediment.”

As a former board member of the federation during the turbulent National Premier League (NPL) launch that saw more than 50 local teams boycott the FFV’s proposed structure, Taliadoros knows that much more is needed to repair the federation’s damaged relationship with the clubs.

“The FFV in its process failed to discharge responsibility to arrive at a decision it made,” he says about the boycott.

“It disenfranchised a good part of the Victorian football stakeholders and resulted in division between clubs and amongst clubs which needs to be repaired.”

A collective of the clubs took the FFV to court over what they called an unworkable and financially risky NPL model, eventually winning the case after the Football Federation of Australia stepped in to mediate talks.

Mr Taliadoros admits that the current structure of the NPL still has its problems and knows much more needs to be done to make the league fairer to less financially able clubs.

“It’s a source of anxiety for the clubs participating and for those clubs wanting to create pathways to their local community,” he says.

“We have to still solve the NPL problem, and in so doing we hope that the relationship, the trust and mutual cooperation will be at the heart of doing that.”

Fellow Greek Australian Nicholas Tsiaras is also running for election at the FFV, this time for a director’s role.

Vice president of NPL1 club Box Hill United, Tsiaras brings with him a sound knowledge of finances, having been working as an accountant for more than 25 years.

If elected, Tsiaras says he will work towards ensuring transparency in the board and making the game more affordable to Victorian families.

He also will work on implementing a new strategic plan the FFV will implement in 2016 if elected.

The FFV will announce who has been successful in the two roles on Monday March 30, 2015.