When then-FFA CEO John O’Neil's uttered the phrase ‘old soccer versus new football’ at the advent of the A-League it caused an 'us versus them' mentality amongst many NSL supporters.

Nogoratto, who served on the board of former NSL clubs Marconi and Northern Spirit, believes that if he is elected to the board it would help bring an end to the 15 years of division.

“My appointment in itself would bring with it some strong symbolism,” he said. “It would show that there is a genuine desire on the part of the FFA because my football CV straddles both eras.

“But more importantly you have to move symbolism into action and it would be my task around the board table to provide context to decisions that we make.

“It is difficult to make decisions moving forward unless you understand where the game has come from and everything that I have done for the game prepares me for the challenges of tomorrow."

As well as running the national teams, the role of the FFA Board is to appeal to governments for funding, negotiate sponsorship deals and bring in broadcasting revenue.

Nogoratto believes his corporate and government experience will help the board achieve its financial goals.

“The single biggest non business challenge for the board is more affective stakeholder management,” he said.

“The management of stakeholders over the past couple of years has not been good enough.

“Obviously an understanding of those stakeholders and empathy with the challenges that they all face, as well as an ability to communicate with them will be key in that area and I have plenty to offer.

“With that comes relationships but relationships aren’t enough if we aren’t going to build a sustainable business model.

“So we really need to understand what we are offering to the market and work very closely with our commercial partners so that any outcome has a mutual benefit around it.”

Lastly Nogoratto believes that supporters should be excited about the what the future will hold for Australian football.

“Fans should expect a new era of transparency and more effective engagement with all stakeholders,” he said.

“We live in a day and age where fans feel a sense of empowerment, want to feel a sense that their voice is being heard, so it’s not unreasonable for fans to expect this board to be more transparent and consultative than perhaps previous boards.

“I’d like to think that this board will take some pretty bold decisions such as the expansion of the A-League quickly and not prevaricate over decisions but can signal very clearly to stakeholders on the key issues where it stands on the game.”