South Melbourne (Hellas) hoping big FFA Cup run could be ticket into expanded competition

                                      South Melbourne president Leo Athanasakis, and board member Nick Maikousis.

South Melbourne (Hellas) president Leo Athanasakis says his club is “all in” in its bid to be elevated in to the A-League.

And Athanasakis says a successful FFA Cup campaign, starting with Wednesday night’s round of 32 clash against Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, can provide quantifiable evidence to support its push for inclusion.

It’s been 4132 days since South’s last match on the national stage, a 2004 semi-final loss to Adelaide United in the final season of the old National Soccer League.

The former NSL powerhouse is a four-time national champion and was voted as Oceania’s club of the 20th century, but Athanasakis insists his club is not basing its case for re-entry in to the top flight on history.

Rather it wants to be seen as a commercially viable entity — with a large supporter base — in its own right.

Key to its financial security — the club turns over more than $1m annually and expects to double that when its social club and futsal centre is completed in the next year or so — is the 40-year lease it signed at Lakeside Stadium last year.

The arrangement would allow it to make returns on home matches that other A-League clubs with crippling stadium deals could only dream of.

It has its own television show on Foxtel channel Aurora each Thursday night and, with 41,830 likes on its Facebook page, has attracted more followers than the Central Coast Mariners (37,560) and Newcastle Jets (36,519).

Fox Sports will be keen to see the how the club’s matches rate and the broadcaster is also airing a half-hour documentary about the club’s history leading in to its coverage, while Wednesday night’s game is also being shown live in the United Kingdom on BT Sport.

Athanasakis said the round of 32 tie is “more than just a game” for his club.

“I think if we give a good account of ourselves in this tournament it could open doors,” Athanasakis said.

“Foxtel has given us a great opportunity to show them what the ratings numbers will be on that game and I think they’ll be quietly surprised by the viewers.

“And I think a successful FFA Cup run will only hold us in good stead with Football Federation Australia when they make their decisions about expansion of the league.

“If they can see that South Melbourne, with a decent Cup run, can generate the hype and fan engagement that they consider appropriate, I think that’s only going to give us that extra edge when an expansion team is tabled again in Melbourne.

“We believe we are ready. We’ve got Lakeside Stadium, which is a more than adequate stadium to cater for an A-League team, we’ve got the facilities, the junior structure and we’ve got the fans and the financial support.

“So a good cup run will be a huge shot in the arm. This is all in for the club.”

Athanasakis said that, from his perspective, football in Australia is now mature enough to have a conversation about welcoming back some of the former NSL clubs in to the top flight.

But he said each club had to be considered on its merits today, not what the club once was, insisting that any hypothetical admission in to the top flight would not necessarily put it at odds with the likes of Melbourne Knights, Sydney United and Adelaide City.

“We don’t want to get in to the A-League based on our history — that’s all done and dusted — you’ve got to earn your right,” he said.

“There’s a lot of clubs with great histories who are playing second or third-tier football. We’ve actually evolved and actually got stronger financially, secured our stadium, our social media numbers and fan engagement numbers are rivalling A-League clubs, so you’ve got to mimic an A-League club before you actually get accepted.

“This is a whole new era, it’s a great era of football, we want to be a part of that, so we’re working our way through, ticking every box that is possible to qualify for that spot.

“We don’t just want to get in there because we’re South Melbourne and we were the Oceania club of the last century.

“The 10-year hiatus in the NPL has actually done us a massive service in terms of being able to look at rebuilding our foundations and making the club a lot stronger financially and not focusing on just the senior team.

“With a bit of proper fixturing, Melbourne could have a very viable and successful third team.”