That...... that would be truly awful. No one from ipswich or woomba is going to give a fuck about a team that plays half their games in gold coast and vice versa, let alone if you called them something utterly bland like South Queensland.

And Illawarra sharing with Sydney would be just as much of a disaster. Ask the Illawarra Steelers fans what they feel about the Dragons taking over their team.

if a bunch of soccer enthusiasts/investors with more money than sense want to establish a 3rd franchise here in Melbourne that has a training, admin base out of Lakeside and uses the current SMFC as its 'junior arm' then this is something the FFA may look at.......probably not but it's a 'cheap' option never the less.
ideally if there was a decent 15k+ soccer stadium out in the S/E suburbs then this would be the perfect spot for a 3rd team but there is zero chance of the that ever happening. The costs of establishing a WSW style franchise out in the s/e would be astronomical. the days of FFA/govt welfare for privately owned football franchises is over.

While I see your differentiation logic there is no way that Victory should move to Etihad with the AFL's sway and eventual ownership of the venue. That is just going to give the AFL a chance to screw the most successful football club in Australia.

Depends how desperate the AFL will be for summer business. I can imagine that they'll be backing the expansion of T20 cricket in order to provide more summer activity for Docklands.

The obvious candidate for inclusion would be a team in Auckland (and perhaps elsewhere in NZ). A population that large can surely sustain support for one side. Those in charge would have to formulate a way to make playing in New Zealand a sexy place to play though for Australian players. Whether that means small salary cap concessions and/or allowing them to play in the FFA Cup I dunno. I just look at the success of Canadian teams in MLS/NASL and wonder why that couldn't be replicated with the Kiwi's.

How is that the obvious choice? :lol:

Laugh it up but sheer population number make Auckland (perhaps Christchurch as well), which is a major city, an untapped resource for growth of the A-League. As I stated, look at the success of Canadian teams in the American game, all well supporter. Unfortunately we've come to associate New Zealand sides in the HAL with muck, mire and failure. The FFA have to recognise the tyranny of distance associated with playing in New Zealand and make it a sexy place for Australian players. The FFA have allowed the New Zealand franchises to rot . They must ensure the next coach for the Phoenix is a world class as Merrick is completely sub-standard and continues the low expectations everyone has associated with clubs over there.

I don't think anybody, even those advocating NZ out would fail to recognize the potential Auckland offers to the A-League. However politics at both a local and international level, and a fare degree of Xenophobia is at play, not to forget the tyranny of distance and debatable economics, ensure a second team in NZ is no lock.

NZ teams DO play in the FFA Cup.

Can anywhere in Australia match these figures for an A-League fixture featuring no home sides?

Auckland
Wellington Phoenix 1–1 Adelaide United 20,078
Wellington Phoenix 1-0 Perth Glory 11,566

Christchurch
Wellington Phoenix FC v Adelaide United 19,276
Wellington Phoenix FC v Adelaide United14,108


Canberra hasn't been able to match the above figures
Geelong hasn't been able to match the above figures

Campbelltown & Kogarah have both drawn similar numbers for one off games

Edited by Joffa: 13/10/2014 09:01:55 PM

Yes
Sydney will have more than 12k this season at Wollongong, CCM will get over 12k at North Sydney Oval.

Just because a team is from Sydney/Melboune doesn't meant they should get automatic inclusion either

You might want to fish where the fish are but what happens when there is too many fisherman in the same pond....

Nobody goes hungry. The public have more choice, better options.

It also forces clubs to be innovative and not relax. They are forced to market themselves better and produce a better product.


Edited by scott21: 13/10/2014 09:08:27 PM

mIghts and maybes?

19 December 2013
Central Coast Mariners 1 – 0 Wellington Phoenix North Sydney Oval, North Sydney
Attendance: 6,755

Phoenix #-o
They play Victory this year

ccm out, auckland city in

Well check out who the Nix played at home, on no occasion did they play a high drawing opponent, in fact the opposite.

in other revelatory news Sydney FC V WSW is going to sell out in Sydney....

You are talking about a club that like it of not ATM represents the entire country.
People in Canterbury and Auckland get 1 game every 2-4 years. Of course they turn up.

Really, then how do you explain this

12 December 2009 Wellington Phoenix 0 – 1 Sydney FC
FMG Stadium, Palmerston North
Attendance: 6,459

Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar
Forsyth Barr Stadium Dunedin
Attendance 4,628

If I was to go off your research and crunch the numbers I'd say that AdelaideUnited are the most popular club in NZ and should think about relocation

classy response =d> =d> =d>

Love your work Joffa, and quality post there from Scotty :lol:

Do you all think it was a smart or less smart move by wsw to play at Penrith instead of Campbelltown?

With journalists and others flirting with the idea of sws and southern Sydney as candidates, would it have been better for wsw to play at Campbelltown to give them an all inclusive feel or reinforce Penrith.

Are Wanderes leaving Campbelltown to the dogs?

I wrote early I'd like to see a team
"Liverpool McAuthur FC" playing out of Campbelltown because Wanderers will eventually run out of capacity.

It's hard to tell with wsw fans,

Some write 50% of fans come from Penrith,
Then parramatta, then Blacktown and Liverpool etc.
that's 200%
Which one is it I'm curious?

Joffa were are the TV dollars going to come from for the FFA and football?

Answer Sydney and Melbourne.

I actually think we need to keep NZ but we also need to look at expanding in Sydney and melbourne.

Edited by multibet: 13/10/2014 11:07:28 PM

its hard to tell but i believe the majority of fans are around parramatta (central), blacktown (north-west), with penrith (far west) having marginally more than liverpool (south-west).

Palmerston North has a population of around 75,000. It is a big uni town. In December a lot of that population would have gone 'home' for the holidays. One of its' other claims to fame include a run in with John Cleese.

Cleese calls the city "the suicide capital of New Zealand" and says, "If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick."

What would technically be "far west". West of parra? blacktown? Either way it still leaves 50% left for Parramatta, inner west and south west. Either way the SW doesn't seem to have as many fans as some on here suggest.

At the end of the day all you need is 15000 fans.... Who are willing to attend. If wsw had eg 250000 fans in the region and 16k at the games, and Sws had 30000 fans and 14k at the games that would be enough.
Tigers have pretty much abandoned down there. Maybe it's time to pounce.

anyone who believes this rubbish about Penrith having 50% of WSW fans has got to be bonkers.
Do you know the irony is that some Panthers fans were talking about moving to Blacktown so they could be where the population is going to increase dramatically .Campbeltown stadium is slightly better located as there will be new housing areas south and west of liverpool and where the two new railway stations will be. In terms of higher density housing though its all increasing surrounding closer to Parramatta.