13,800 in 2015.  This year's numbers haven't been published yet.

South Coast Football was 11,900 and Capital Football was 16,100.

Perry Park upgrade plans

http://pompey2j.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/perry-park-upgrade-brisbane.html

I see what you are saying, but what would be the selling point to potential fans apart from "Not Adelaide United". I am not sure if you could find a Geographic or other divide to make it sustainable, at least in the 1st division. 2nd div seems more realistic

And Sutherland Shire was 18,200 in 2015.

Traditionally AC's geographical area is the North East, ie Campbelltown... because of the Italian population there. I don't see geography working at all. Even the AFL rivalry isn't actually based on geography - the old SANFL rivalries are, but it didn't carry in to the AFL. They'd need to go with the tried and true formula - middle v working class.

Okay, well, in the middle of the night let's take the idea of a Geelong team quietly out the back and shoot it

I should think that the best attended Australian Association Football club in history in Melbourne Victory (followed by daylight in second, third and fourth) being based in a state with lower playing participation rates than their northern neighbour is more than ample evidence that participation rates do not necessarily imply causation with potential attendance figures, not to mention other key factors like corporate and sponsor support and TV interest.

They're a civically parochial and sport loving lot down in Geelong; far enough to provide a point of difference from Victory and plugging into the context of an existing sporting identity, but crucially being inside the FTA ratings zone for metro Melbourne. Expansion there has more than enough merit to be near the head of the rank, even without the fact that it'll provide derbies with the Melbourne teams.

Also funny that despite such allegedly low participation figures, the Geelong area has punched well above their weight in producing players like Horvath, Skoko, Spiranovic, Leijer, Didulica... This is an area that should be invested in, not shut out.

Perry Park upgrade plans
http://pompey2j.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/perry-park-upgrade-brisbane.html

It's worth clarifying this is a fan-made conceptual design. There are no plans that we know of to redevelop Perry Park.

One issue is I don't think people outside of Victoria understand that Geelong parochialism. We do, we know it, we've been there and seen it first hand. As a Victorian you know a Geelong HAL club has the potential to do very well. Small stadium is needed though. Could drum up Newcastle type support from the start. They'd be bigger than the Mariners. 

The only issue with Geelong is it is a very invested AFL area so i'd imagine a lot of opposition. But the idea should definitely be explored.

No more invested than Melbourne lol.

I think one thing that works in Geelong's favour is the fact that we have a successful major sporting team already - we have a history of making professional sport work in this town. For a town of 'only 200k' we somehow have 52k members for the Cats. Even if the A-League side gets a quarter of that success, that's still ~13k members, up there with the big boys in the competition. Add in we'd have a minimum of two home games against Victory and City, which in turn would help boost average 

We're probably not the first cab off the rank in terms of expansion, but I do think FFA would be silly not to look at us as perhaps a 14th team down the track.

I remember the Geelong Council did a feasibility study around 5 years ago looking into a boutique 15,000 seats stadium in Geelong (presumably at Kardinia Park). I wouldve loved to have heard the findings of this.
I had a quick look on google maps recently to see if there is any vacant land around the Geelong train line. There appears to be a significant amount of land across the road from Corio Station which is right near Geelong Grammar and the Oil Refinery.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Corio/@-38.0724028,144.3776946,915m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x6ad419d755e29d55:0x1d04567609f52130!8m2!3d-38.0724028!4d144.3798833

Here's some images of the Simmonds Stadium in Football mode, just click to enlarge.










 I'd suggest if they hosted games at Simmonds, they would push the ground towards the 3 new stands and leave the goals towards the Ablett Terrace vacant. Tbh early in the season they could probably even have a temporary stand in place in this void area to give the stadium a more intimate feel.

Geelong has carried out massive upgrades & redeveloped the precinct in the last 10 years so they are screaming out for a summer tenant for a better return on investment. I know they are pushing for a T20 franchise so if they get in first we ultimately miss out.

All that vacant land is earmarked for shopping centre development - the Council were pushing hard and looking at the new 15k seater in Armstrong Creek, the new growth area in the south of the city and heading towards Torquay. This growth corridor is where the majority of people are being pushed into in the coming 15-20 years. However, I think for any major club to work, it needs to be centrally located, otherwise people won't cross the city to see them. This leaves only the Kardinia Park precinct. Plenty of room there though, with some creative movement of other facilities, to build a 20k seater rectangle in time imo, although I'd imagine the Council would basically pay the A-League club to play out of Simonds, due to its only being used for 7 games a year by the Cats lol.

Potential for a South-West Sydney team?

http://www.greatersydneycommission.nsw.gov.au/What-We-Do/Three-Cities

I would be quite surprised if one spot on the next phase of expansion isn't in Sydney, Southern Sydney in particular looks to be the preferred option for the FFA, but Campbelltown have also spoken in support of a team. The second spot is harder to say.

My question about Geelong is what is the real market there? When Victory have played there have they just brought the crowd with them? If Victoria get 20,000 in Geelong are 100, 1000 or 10,000 from Geelong? From an admitted outsiders point of view I would think it would be a lot closer to 1000 than 10000. 

Don't get me wrong - another viable team in Victoria with a friendly council a good stadium deal would be very welcome. As you point out being in the Melbourne TV area is a big plus. I hope you are right and that Geelong can be a strong and viable candidate, I'm just not convinced yet.

So you can say when a Geelong team would play MV they would sell out. I think in a season if CCM didnt play eg. MV in Geelong, that Geelong would probably have a higher average than CCM. Would that be acceptable?

interesting article, however western city wont have the population pool or a significant level of local identity any time time soon, cant imagine it ever being introduced until atleast 10 years forward.

Macarthur and Liverpool combined have just under half a million people. Would be a good idea to get in now and build for the future. The population alone is more than most of the spoken about candidates, and IMO is a better option than Southern Sydney because this teams fan base potential will actually grow. 

Its one of the few situations where having such a young competition actually works in our favour, because as people move to the area, they likely wont already be supporting a team

Campbelltown stadium is pretty good to start off with. the problem with this area tho is that people have less disposable income. although long term strategy make sense considering they are also developing a town near Camden to be 'greater the population of Bathurst'

But with the negative of less disposable income of campbelltown folk, comes the positive of less things to spend disposable income on. Sydney fc has always struggled to compete with non sporting events in the city as well as other sporting codes. I would definitely go liverpool before campbelltown tho, its too isolated whereas liverpool has greater basin to draw fans from

The South Western Sydney Subregion currently has a population of 509,000 and is growing by 14,000 pa.  By 2036 the population is projected to be 861,000 and be growing by just under 20,000 pa.with growth at these levels expected until the middle of the century.

In 2015 there were 9,300 registered players in the Macarthur Football Association which was growing at 9% pa and another 8,800 in the Southern Districts Association which was growing at about 3% pa with about half of the 8,800 being in South Western Sydney.

i could see a southern sydney team being a hit, given the popularity of the sport in the st george and shire districts. They would be stealing fans from sydney fc but at the same time getting sydney fc to clean their act up even more.

a south-west team in campbelltown i can imagine getting mariners type crowds while being the baby brother of wsw trying to establish themselves but unable to because south-west doesnt have an existing identity yet, however that will come one day when badgerys creek and all that is developed.

Even if they did Mariners like crowds that certainly isn't the end of the world. Hosting WSW & Syd FC guarantees 18,000 crowds 2-4 times per season and therefore increasing interest in season tickets and memberships (ie. if you dont get a season ticket, your not guaranteed to get a seat to the home derbies).

I actually think introducing Macarthur ASAP would be a good thing. Why? Well WSW are playing at Spotless for the next 3 seasons and that makes it difficult for their south west fans to attend games in Homebush. So why not introduce their baby brother while games are difficult to get to. 
They become instantly the primary tenant at Campbelltown Stadium as West Tiger's only play 4 games or so a season there.
Basically Campbelltown appears to be a seed the FFA can plant and watch grow into fruition decades down the track.

Agent theory prevents Gallop from doing that. He wants instant hits. 

A side hosting WSW & Sydney FC x4 in a season is the closest they'll get to a side having instant hits...piggy backing off other clubs for increased interest in derbies.
Instantly the city of Sydney goes from 6 derbies a season to 18 which increases overall crowds, interest and TV viewership.

I think a team in the Shire with a big marquee would do better. Shire is on a high right now after the Sharks won. Never a better time to introduce an A-League side. 

IMO I feel as if regional areas are where you win the hearts and minds of the people. We need Townsville back up and running. As to with Gold Coast.

How would we rank potential bids by physical infrastructure?

South West Sydney, South Sydney, Geelong, Canberra, Wollongong and (face it) Auckland all with stadia ready to turnkey tomorrow.

South Melbourne, second Brisbane, needing investment, and Tassie, South East Melbourne, and other current NPL clubs needing significant investment.