‘We’ll go for a parmi’: Why Ange loves the return of old soccer

Ange Postecoglou might manage a top-four English Premier League club, but he is still a South Melbourne boy at heart.

The Tottenham boss, who migrated from Greece to Australia with his family as a five-year-old, had joined what was then known as South Melbourne Hellas by the time he was nine, and went on to play almost 200 games – including under the late, great Ferenc Puskas – and coach 160 more with the former National Soccer League club which doubled as a hub for Greek immigrants. Postecoglou, unsurprisingly, thinks “it’s great, mate” that South Melbourne will be one of eight foundation clubs in the country’s long, long-awaited national second division.

Another will be an old NSL rival, the Sydney-based Marconi, which produced legendary players like Harry Kewell, Paul Okon and Mark Schwarzer. “I’m looking forward to Marconi v South Melbourne,” Schwarzer told Postecoglou this week in an interview with Optus Sport. Postecoglou agreed it “will be massive, mate”.

“We will go for a parmigiana at the club first, play a bit of pokies and then go watch the game,” he continued.

“It’s always been my frustration in Australian football that we’re such a small community, but even within that small community we’re divided. And it didn’t need to be that way, even from the start of the A-League. I understood why the A-League came to be, and it definitely offered some really important pathways for footballers in terms of professionalism and opportunities to pursue a career. But there was so much history, and so many passionate football people [who] were cast aside at the time. It just gives people hope now, and more opportunity … hopefully this kind of brings everyone together and creates something special.”

It is a way of saying that “new football” is welcoming back “old soccer”, as it were. It is also a way of saying that the identity of “old soccer” actually never went anywhere. That, by sheer weight of history, it feels obvious that some of the clubs who played in the defunct NSL and have since retained rusted-on followings in the state-based semi-professional National Premier Leagues are the best-placed to be ready for a professional second division set to start in 2025. That seven of the eight named by Football Australia on Monday have roots in the NSL – only Avondale do not – is both exciting and fascinating. Exciting because this significant step in remedying some of Australian football’s structural issues has been on the horizon for an eternity, and it feels scarcely believable it is finally here. Fascinating because of the context.

The latter is thus: the A-Leagues – the country’s top flight since 2005, a year after the NSL folded – consciously uncoupled from FA, the national federation, at the end of 2020 and is now run by the newly created Australian Professional Leagues. The A-League Men competition has since continued to struggle for mainstream traction (A-League Women is breaking attendance records). Now FA is effectively – if one considers the initial clubs involved – relaunching the A-League Men’s predecessor. It will be branded differently (news to come) and broadcast differently (also news to come) and played at a different time of year. To even mention the term “rebel league” would be to theorise a conspiracy, but you have to admit it makes for a damn interesting set of circumstances.

Ange Postecoglou after winning the NSL with South Melbourne in 1999.Credit: Vince Caligiuri

In an ideal world, the two will blend seamlessly and serve to enhance the other’s success. They will, as Postecoglou says, unite what has previously been divided. Then, once the national second tier is deemed both stable and sustainable, the two will hopefully be formally united through promotion and relegation – the principle which binds traditional pyramids of soccer leagues all over the world. When that will happen is unclear, and what it entails could be complex. The APL is open to the concept, evidenced earlier this year when it circulated to A-League clubs a proposed plan to facilitate a staggered system of promotion first and then eventually relegation.

The obvious potential hurdle is that, according to the APL, the A-League clubs’ top-tier licences are now valid in perpetuity, which means they technically may never agree to a system which may bring about their relegation. FA, however, says this does not matter because, under the terms of the league’s unbundling, its regulatory functions “include a new club licensing framework for the professional leagues and control over access to the professional leagues (whether by expansion, contraction, or promotion/relegation)“. Any anyway those conversations, says FA chief executive James Johnson, are for a later date. The same goes for connecting the second tier (already colloquially being called the “B-League”) to the NPL, though that appears a simpler medium-term step.

For now, Johnson said FA will encourage state federations to allow second-tier clubs to continue fielding sides in their local NPL competitions, and foreshadowed a Champions League-style competition for both the NPL men’s and women’s from 2025.

Joel Griffiths is sent flying during a 1999 NSL match between South Melbourne and Sydney United.Credit: Tim Clayton

There is also the question of the two to four clubs to be added between now and the launch, which would form a 10- or 12-team home-and-away league. Right now, with five clubs from NSW – Sydney United 58, APIA Leichhardt, Sydney Olympic, Marconi and Wollongong Wolves – and three from Victoria – South Melbourne, Preston Lions and Avondale – this is more of an east coast league rather than a national one. But everything has to start somewhere. The cost of travel and other logistics played a part in this composition, and Johnson intimated the additional clubs may assist with a wider geographic spread. A 10-team competition would play home-and-away fixtures across 18 regular-season games, plus finals, while a 12-team competition would play home-and-away fixtures across 22 regular-season fixtures, plus finals.

Symbiosis can be parasitic, but it can also make a happy couple. Right now, at least, the feeling from both sides of the fence is one of positivity. FA is content with its first choices and its first choices are content to be there.

“I’ve been a big advocate of it for a long time – it’s something that had to happen,” says Zeljko Kalac, a Sydney Croatia (now Sydney United 58) product turned AC Milan and Socceroos goalkeeper, who now coaches his boyhood club.

“For me, it’s great to see the names actually that are in it. They’re massive historic clubs in Australian football. I’m a true believer in loyalty, and these clubs have played a big part in Australian football, and I think they’ve still got a massive part to play. It’s just exciting overall for the game. You’ve got to keep evolving.”

Zeljko Kalac during his days as goalkeeper coach at Sydney FC.Credit: Brendan Esposito

This is saying something; trust has not always come easily between clubs and peak bodies, and FA’s relationship with multicultural outfits has, in the past, been strained. That reached a peak in 2014 when, on the eve of the inaugural FFA Cup, the then-named Football Federation Australia introduced the National Club Identity Policy (NCIP), banning clubs from using names or logos featuring “ethnic, national, political, racial or religious connotations either in isolation or combination”.

The divisive and widely derided move was, in truth, just the latest of many policies dating back to the 1960s which were designed to “de-ethnicise” the code, apparently for the benefit of Anglo-Australian audiences. It did not change the pivotal contributions of Australia’s migrant communities, nor stop some supporters of different ethnicities from clashing with one another. But since 2019, when FFA rescinded the NCIP, the hallmarks of some of these traditional clubs have undergone a reawakening. That includes NST inclusion APIA Leichhardt, who have reinstated their original logo from 1954, replacing the “Tigers” mascot with the silhouette of a man throwing a discus, taken from a statue gifted to them by the Italian government many decades ago.

D’Apuzzo wants to see APIA fans fill the famous Leichhardt Oval grandstand.Credit: Wolter Peeters

What that decision looks like right now is the club’s honorary president pointing to Leichhardt Oval’s main grandstand and saying he is going to fill it. “There’s two and a half thousand seats,” says Tony Raciti. “We’re confident within the next six months we’ll sell every one of those seats. Then you hope to get 1500 walk in, some the opposition, meaning you might hover around 4500-6000. When we have a derby game, we might get 7000-8000.”

The 1987 NSL champions have a base of long-time supporters, averaging around 800 a game at their traditional home ground of Lambert Park, according to Raciti. “But apart from our traditional supporters, we need to move forward and embrace our massive local community, and we’re confident of doing that.” he says. “If we don’t, it won’t work.” Part of APIA’s strategy is to play women’s first-grade games right before NST matches.

Similarly, Preston Lions FC say they have been preparing for this moment for more than a decade, and feel ready to make the leap from the NPL2 to a national level.

“We formulated a strategy,” says president David Cvetkovski. “We were in the state leagues so we’re a little bit different here, but what it’s done is enabled us to create some aspirations and realise them year over year. When you look at our crowds, I think we undoubtedly probably have the largest crowds in football in Australia outside the A-League: we average out at 4000 people. So we’ve got a good community feel and we’re engaging with our community. Attendances this year were around 35 per cent females. We’ve really tried to build the club from the ground up, and that seems to be working for us.”

‘We’ve been there, we’ve been out, now we’re going back in and we’ve got to make sure it works for us as a club.’

Preston Lions president David Cvetkovski

Preston, who operate off multiple revenue streams rather than funding from a single entity, have established an NST advisory board to ensure they do not sacrifice the identity of an already-beloved cultural institution.

“I’ve been on this project now for five years and it’s been pretty transparent with us as clubs, so we know what we are getting ourselves into,” says Cvetkovski. “We feel like we’ve been engaged the whole way through. And we’ve turned this thing upside down, because we can’t compromise ourselves. We’ve been there, we’ve been out, now we’re going back in and we’ve got to make sure it works for us as a club.

“We need to make sure that we are mitigating it against any risk, and we’re moving forward. Not one eye is looking at the past. For us, it’s ‘what can we do in the future’ – to continue to grow our club – because we’re on a good wicket as it is. We don’t have to build the crowds, what we need to do is build a game-day experience. But not only for our club – we need to create healthy rivalries with these other clubs for this to work.”

Such rivalries, and the resulting spike in quality, are a coup for player development, and part of the anticipated benefit is that fringe players at A-League clubs can go on loan to the NST and get more game time – something Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has repeatedly called for. The clubs, too, can begin to earn some proper transfer fees for some of the players they have developed over decades and then signed with big clubs overseas.

“We’re doing all the work and everyone’s just taking these players for free. It doesn’t happen anywhere in the world but here in Australia,” says Kalac, whose $1.7 million transfer from Sydney United to Leicester City in 1995 was, unbelievably, a national record until this year.

Bayern Munich signing Nestory Irankunda is just the latest Australian to make a big move overseas.Credit: Getty

“So now if you’re going to invest properly and you’re going to develop your coaches, develop your players, and the players develop into good players – Sydney United’s had a lot go on and play for the Socceroos – they can actually earn some money from it.

“These clubs have produced so many players who go into the A-League, play for the Socceroos and had careers overseas, yet they try to kick them to the kerb – and they still survived. Now you’re going to give them a little bit of support … a little bit of respect in the game goes a long way. And think, there’s another 300 players who are going to get the opportunity to be professionals in Australia. That’s massive.

“I’ve still got a few questions I’d like to ask … how’s this all going to operate? Because we need a governing body as well to drive this competition.”

FA has also done its due diligence. A part of that involves public standing and behaviour, which evokes memories of last year’s Australia Cup final, when Sydney United were sanctioned by FA after a small number of fans performed Nazi salutes. It will also need to prepare for flares.

And, of course, the long-term viability of a national second division hinges on money. Johnson said FA would impose a “regulatory instrument” of some description, but stopped short of saying it would come in the form of a salary cap. He expected all clubs to take immediate steps to increase their on-field and off-field products, including an increase in training loads and signing players to longer-term contracts.

“If we talk about the business model of the competition, there’s really three main revenue streams that we got to look at,” Johnson says. “The first is sponsorship. So how can we sell sponsors as a league and then the clubs also need to sell sponsors locally?

“The second is broadcast. I don’t expect the league to generate broadcasts to start off with; it’s more about making sure that it’s produced, it’s visible and it has as much reach as possible. If we can get that right, it’s going to help the clubs with sponsorship as well.

“The third area is its match-day revenue. So it’s getting bums on seats or selling tickets. It’s getting into the community and making sure that the community is engaged with the clubs.”

Each club was required to provide a bank guarantee, understood to be $500,000, and will also have to pay an annual participation fee which will cover the league’s administrative costs. Johnson would not confirm the bank guarantee amount but did say the objective was “to manage risk”.

“We don’t want clubs falling over, and if we do need to step in we’ll be calling on the bank guarantee,” he says. “So it was really to give us some security with the selections. And there is going to be a participation fee. Now, we’re not looking to make money out of this competition. We’re looking to invest in the administration, and also key roles that can market the competition so that we can build a business model through those three revenue streams: broadcast, match day and sponsorship. So any bit of investment that comes in is really to run the competition but also to help us build the business model, which is going to take some time to do over the coming years.”

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