Tara Murray
Hume City is among clubs interested in being part of a national second division [NSD] competition.
The Association of Australian Football Clubs held a meeting recently with representatives from 60 clubs, including Hume City, Green Gully, Melbourne Knights, Altona Magic and Caroline Springs George Cross, about forming the new competition.
Of those clubs, 30 clubs have formed the Championship Partner Group, which will finalise a design, modelling and criteria to form the basis of consultation with football’s stakeholder groups and to submit to the FFA Board.
Hume City, Caroline Springs George Cross and Melbourne Knights are among the eight Victorian clubs in the partnership group.
Both George Cross and Melbourne Knights were part of the old National Soccer League, while Hume City has been one of the standout teams in the national FFA Cup competition in recent years.
It’s hoped the new competition will kick off in 2022, with promotion and relegation between the A-League, the new competition and the National Premier League among the goals.
Hume City manager Nick Hegarty said his club wanted to reach the highest level that it could.
“Obviously there is a long way to go in everything,” he said. “As soon as something opens up and suits the club and has the potential to allow the club to develop and grow, I’m sure we want to be part of it.”
Hegarty said there weren’t the boundaries and restrictions to travelling like there once was.
“We know we will have a lot of work to do in different areas, but we are in a good position already with our ground and facilities and the culture.
“We want to not only push into the second division but push into the higher division [A-League] as soon as possible.”
“We want to be at the forefront of everything good at football, not in just Victoria, in Australia too.”
Hegarty said the club had good support in the local community and had to do what was best by stakeholders as well.
There are talks of making a women’s national second division competition as well, which Hegarty said Hume City would also aim to be part of.
“The idea is to run something parallel, especially with the women’s world cup coming to Australia,” he said.
Tara Murray
