Heidelberg United FC has responded to Football Australia’s recent announcement of the inaugural National Second Tier Competition.
Football Australia officially confirmed last week the eight foundation clubs who will form part of the National Second Tier competition to commence in March/ April 2025.
The five teams from NSW include APIA Leichhardt, Sydney Olympic, Sydney United, Marconi Stallions and Wollongong Wolves, and the three clubs from Victoria are Avondale FC, South Melbourne and Preston Lions.
In early 2024, the focus will shift to selecting an additional 2-4 clubs through a refined application process, ensuring a sustainable and diverse composition of clubs for the inaugural NST season.
Melbourne-based Greek club Heidelberg United FC (HUFC) was not selected for the competition in the first round.
In a post on Facebook, HUFC congratulated the eight teams selected to compete and explained why they weren’t part of the competition at this stage.
“While we initially submitted an expression of interest, along with 28 other clubs, with the intention of finalising our Request for Proposal (RFP), concerns arose during this phase,” HUFC’s post read.
“Specifically, we identified issues with some of the participation requirements that remain unaddressed. Consequently, the Club had made the decision not to proceed with finalising our RFP at this point in time.”
The Club said it welcomes “the ongoing discussions with Football Australia and sincerely hope that our concerns and those of a few other clubs are considered in the coming months.”
“We maintain a strong belief that Heidelberg United Football Club deserves a place in a National 2nd Tier Competition, and we are committed to working collaboratively towards a positive outcome for our inclusion always considering the financial viability of the Club as a priority,” the Facebook post read.
