Football Australia has officially announced the next step of the National Second Tier Application process, with four Hellenic clubs among the 26 to progress past into the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase.

Australia’s football governing body has distributed RFP Materials to the 26 shortlisted teams whose Expressions of Interest were accepted in what is another huge move forward to getting the second division up and running.

Four Hellenic clubs have made it through to this stage: South Melbourne Hellas and Heidelberg United (Αλέξανδρος) from Victoria, Sydney Olympic from NSW and Olympic FC from QLD.

Football Australia CEO, James Johnson, expressed excitement over this advancement.

“The progression of the 26 shortlisted clubs to the RFP phase brings us another step closer to the realisation of our vision for this competition and an aligned football pyramid,” said Johnson.

The 26 clubs will now engage in a comprehensive evaluation process wherein they will use the RFP materials to formulate a proposal.

Clubs will be given a thorough briefing on the content of these materials, having until early August to submit a final proposal.

This will mark the conclusion of the RFP phase and it will then proceed to the Assessment and Review Phase set to begin in August before moving on to the Completion Phase scheduled for September.

The remaining phases of the NST Application Process will be conducted confidentially, with Football Australia appointing accounting and advisory experts, BDO, as an independent third party to assist.

The NST is anticipated to commence from March 2024, featuring between 10 and 16 teams.

The competition is currently slated to follow a home and away league structure and finals, with the goal being to elevate Australian football as well as provide a platform for the growth and development of the country’s clubs.

“We are excited about the continuing evolution of the National Second Tier from concept to competition and creating new opportunities for sustainable growth and development,” Johnson said.

While the structure of the competition is yet to be finalised, Football Australia is also considering a possible phased ‘group based’ model utilising the National Premier Leagues, commonly referred to as the ‘Champions League’ model.

Further information on the NST application process is available here.