Adelaide City — founded by Italian migrants from the back of a sports shop after World War II — returns to the national stage as the Australian Championship begins its second season. The club won three national championships and was the first-ever Oceanian champion in 1987, and produced players and coaches such as Alex Tobin, Damian Mori, Sergio Melta, Carl Veart, the Vidmar brothers and the Aloisis.
Now 80 years after its founding and 23 years since its last season in the National Soccer League, Juventus is back in national competition proper. Playing at Adelaide City Park rather than their former NSL home of Hindmarsh Stadium, the club secured qualification on the final day of the NPL SA season and will open its campaign on Friday when it hosts foundation side Avondale. Preston and the Wollongong Wolves will kick off the competition a day earlier. “We have been starved,” club chairman Angelo Carrozza told ESPN. “And I think our community is super excited by the opportunity to be playing at this level again.”
The Australian Championship was launched as a national second-tier competition with “aspiration” central to its messaging. While not yet linked to the A-League Men, the competition is intended to give clubs more games against stronger opposition and a national stage for players and teams. South Melbourne won the inaugural edition, earning an Australia Cup berth they would go on to transform into a historic triumph.
The 16-team format returns in 2026, with participants divided into four groups of four. The top two sides from each home-and-away group advance to a single-elimination knockout stage. Football Australia executive director of football Heather Garriock told ESPN the organisers expect “a bigger and better season” after implementing lessons from year one, and said there are “some really quality games” in the draw.
Eight foundation clubs are again joined by Bayswater City (WA), Broadmeadow Magic (NNSW), Canberra Croatia and South Hobart (TAS), alongside first-time qualifiers Adelaide City (SA), Oakleigh (VIC), Lions FC (QLD) and the Sutherland Sharks (NSW). The competition arrives just days after Hellas’ Australia Cup win over Melbourne Victory, a result and a raucous AAMI Park atmosphere that shifted attention to the strength of football outside the A-League and fuelled wider conversation about promotion and relegation. “We were able to watch with envy the first year,” Carrozza told ESPN. “To be playing it in the second year, collecting the data, seeing what you know is out there; we’ve just seen an enormous boost in people. From our social media following to merch sales to membership.”
