Australian Championship


The Championship is a proposed Australian national second-tier men's, soccer league, to be run by the Association of Australian Football Clubs. It has been suggested that the league will consist of 12 to 16 teams, the bulk of which would be drawn from the existing National Premier Leagues competition. The league's focus would be to improve player development and to boost the overall standing of the game in Australia by generating new interest and revenue.

History

Although informally talked about for many years, momentum for the idea of a national second division increased in October 2016. In March 2017 "The Association of Australian Football Clubs Limited" was established, with the goal of opening dialogue with Football Federation Australia and various other stakeholders about establishing a national second division. The board consists of several members representing their respective states and is chaired by Rabieh Krayem. In January 2018 the AAFC released a timeline for implementation of the league, requesting expressions of interest from clubs for participation in The Championship.
In February 2019, the AAFC announced they were of the belief that the competition would be up and running by the 2020–21 season. On 3 June 2019 the new national second division was given the green light by FFA, paving the way for the next stage of planning and a revised start date of the 2021–22 season.