Greek-Australian Soceroo veteran, Peter Katholos, views the establishment of a national second tier as a crucial step towards a more competitive league - but this comes with challenges.

Earlier this year, Football Australia revealed its plans to form a National Second Tier kicking off in March or April 2025.

The new league will consist of 8-12 teams, and Football Australia intends to create a relegation-promotion system, connecting the Second Tier to the A-League.

However, the relegation-promotion system will not come into effect immediately, with Football Australia CEO, James Johnson, saying “the new league's stability and sustainability will be prioritised ahead of the introduction of a system by which A-League Men clubs can be relegated and NSD clubs can be promoted”.

In Peter Katholos' opinion, the proposed league structure will increase fans' interest and increase attendance at stadia.

“The goal is to have competition between the A and B divisions. We all hope that the new competition will be a success, because it will give young players a chance to show their talent," said Mr. Katholos

Read & Listen in Greek

Παναγιώτης Καθόλος: Πολύ καλή η Β’ Εθνική κατηγορία- Ποιες είναι οι προκλήσεις

SBS Greek

27/12/202311:03

Play

Although this is a positive development for the sport, it comes with many challenges.

Peter Katholos hopes that all teams will have the financial means and sponsors, including broadcasting rights, so that the new league succeeds.

Moreover, the ex-Soceroo stressed that it is necessary for clubs to find the right way to bring the youth back into the stadiums.

"This is the biggest challenge. The generation of migrants who watched Sydney Olympic, South Melbourne Hellas and other teams in the old NSL league have now aged and many are no longer alive. One way to bring in younger crowds is for the management to bring in familiar names from overseas. In our case, local clubs could bring names from Greece so that the youth can get excited and come to the grounds."

Peter Katholos does not agree with the idea that teams linked to a particular migrant community should try to open up to attract fans from other communities.

Ο Παναγιώτης Καθόλος σε περασμένες εποχές, με την φανέλα του Σύδνεϋ Ολύμπικ και κρατώντας ένα τρόπαιο. Source: Facebook / Sydney Olympic FC

"Sydney and Melbourne have thousands of Greeks. The community is capable of maintaining their clubs. If Greeks embrace their teams and go to the stadium, I think they will do well. The same goes for the Italian community, the Croatian community, etc. " Mr. Katholos said.