Pretty sure NRL still owns the Knights since the Tinkler fiasco and are having trouble offloading them.

Probably think they are worth more/have more upside as a SE Qld team.

It is.

This is just a ploy from the NRL to get scare someone into stepping up sooner rather than later to buy them. Always been talk here of the Wests group (big clubs with pokies galore) buying them but there's been bad blood in the past stopping it.

Cronulla riots would pale in comparison to the shit that would go down here if the NRL ever relocated the Knights!

I never understood why leagues would relocate teams like that. Happened quite a bit in the MLS, the governing body decided the team had failed so 'relocated' the team to another city. Why would the inhabitants of the new city want the image of a failed team? Wouldn't they want to make their own history? 

Random point I have been thinking about lately with the weather. It has definitely been discussed as a factor, let's say we brought in a Tasmanian team. Is that not your 5.30pm game locked in for the season? Hobart is much cooler than even Melbourne, let alone the rest of the country. Even on its hot days, you probably aren't going to get temperatures where you need to move the game back a few hours. Ideally all the games would be at 7pm or whatever but given Foxtels scheduling there is most likely always going to be a 5.30 game, and you'd rather that game be at 25C Hobart than 37C Newcastle for example. I could throw in all the weather statistics to prove my point but I'm sure you all get my point either way. 

Between them and Wellington you have 2 locations where you can pretty much guarantee the heat isn't going to be as much of a detriment (as it is elsewhere) to the quality of the football being played. 

This is correct. NRL do still own the Knights and want to offload them. Can't find a buyer in Newcastle.

Our problems of multiple bids for two A League licences look pretty minor in comparison.

Agree. People are not going to embrace another cities failure. Only successful example I can think of in Australian sport is the Sydney Swans relocating from South Melbourne. (Brisbane Lions don't really count as they were already there as the Brisbane Bears before merging). I wasn't around to know how the Swans were taken when first arriving in Sydney or how long it took for people to get on board though.

The heartless "franchise" approach of sporting teams in America is terrible... I stop following a sport for a couple of years and the teams change dramatically! Look at the Charlotte Hornets/New Orleans Pelicans debacle, or just recently in the NFL the San Diego council decided to not spend billions on building a new stadium so the owner moved the Chargers to Los Angeles. Seriously hope that approach never happens in our game and towns/cities are allowed to grow organically with their own history/culture.

I listened to a sport historian discussing the Swans relocation. He believed that aussie rules had a grass roots establishment in Sydney for a long time which was effectively wiped out when the Swans arrived in the city. The reason was basically branding - the playing base was in western sydney, but nobody in Sydney would follow something called the Swans. So they targeted the north shore crowd with the marketing and focused all their energies on glitz and glamour and warwick capper. Their club owner even fucked in and off from the SCG in a pink helicopter etc. Within years anything that existed at the grassroots level died off.

I actually think the idea is similar to Fitzroy.

How many people would support Jets?
Jets aren't an option.

They could become Brisbane Knights and play the odd game v eg Manly in Newcastle and try to retain that brand.

Would Brisbane Bombers be better than Brisbane Knights? Tough to know.

Personally I would like Souths Logan Magpies, but that won't happen. I think they would do better than Jets anyway because you incorporate Southern Brisbane, Logan and Ipswich.

There was talk about Sharks moving to Central Qld at one point. Even Easts are playing in Adelaide this year.

Knights are a strong brand but would they get much love in Brisbane? Many people don't support Broncos in Brisbane but they all have another team already.

If my club got relocated there is fuck all chance i would be dumb enough to follow them. 

A Sydney team relocating north of the border in NRL would be a disaster.Don't NSW people know Qlders hate them by now?:)

Chances of the Newcastle Knights moving to Brisbane = 0%

It will never, ever happen. 

If Ipswich want to waste their time pursuing that pot of gold that's their choice though

AFL guy on why Tasmania don't get expansion


While conceding the AFL “failed” in its bid to send a team to The Apple Isle several years ago, Fitzpatrick maintained the biggest roadblock to a potential Tassie-based team remained the questions over where the club would be located.

“In many ways the difficulty is north-south issue in Tasmania and that has to be resolved before Tasmania can be resolved,” Fitzpatrick said.


The north-south divide refers to the hostility that exists between Hobart (south) and Launceston (north). This angst has been an enduring and often problematic characteristic for the state for more than two centuries, with the English settling in Hobart and occupants of Sydney settling in Launceston.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/outgoing-afl-chairman-reveals-reason-why-tasmania-has-never-been-granted-its-own-afl-club/news-story/a4cedbfc21597b272c601b5f345c6ddb

1) is he correct?
2) if he is correct why would football be any different?

^
Yes, because one will always feel alienated. "Oh but the HQ is in Hobart, who cares if they play half the home games here (Launceston)?"

I do believe it can be worked around, and that she the most feasible way, giving the other city half the home games, but it could still prove to be an issue.

Yeh, I reckon it's correct, you will not find Tasmanians disagreeing too much with that point.

People often talk about Tassie having a population of 500+k, which is true, but they are split North and South.  The biggest city, Hobart has about 180k, and the 2nd biggest, Lonnie, has about 90k, and there's about a two hour drive between the two.  Note that both the Gong and Canberra are 320+k, and the Gong is only an hour south of Southern Sydney.  Geelong too is about 180k, and is about an hour west of Western Melbourne.

In short, you'd have to have rocks in your head to prefer Tassie over the Gong, Canberra and/or Geelong (and that's before we even throw South Melbourne into the equation).

Another problem for the AFL would be that of a list of 40, they'd be lucky to have five locals, that means they have to convince 35 young men to move to Tassie and live there for at least a few years - in the meantime, every kid finishing school in Tassie is going the other way.

Hobart AND Devonport Strikers for A League. 

As others has said, a-league needs to be bold make the jump to 14 teams and have 26 rounds. The 4 expansions
2 melbourne/victoria (from geelong patriots or south melbourne or dandenong/casey)
1 sydney (south sydney)
1 other  (brisbane strikers or hobart timbers or wollongong wolves)


then  in the long-term when the a-league does reach 16 teams the breakdown should be:
4 melbourne/victorian
4 sydney
2 brisbane 
[therefore 10 teams to cover 50% of the population]
2 regional nsw
1 perth
1 adelaide
1 hobart
1 canberra or wellington or wollongong

@pippinu

I disagree.

I've only ever heard that in AFL circles and amongst the older generations.

I think anybody under 35years of age realises that naturally most of the big events happen in Hobart as it's the capital.

Yeah a tokenistic game up here in Launceston would be nice but I wouldn't expect it and it definitely wouldn't affect my support.

I'm not sure on the other reasons for the north/south rivalry but amongst Aussie Rules circles there is one due to an agreement 20 odd years ago to develop cricket infrastructure in the South and AFL in the north as it was more central then over time the south has wanted more and more of that pie.

There are also other reasons for example when there was the 3 regional leagues in the 50-70s the controlling body made it so anybody wanting to play for the state had to play in the Hobart league.

It's little things like that from decades ago that put the older generations noses out of joint. Like I said anybody under 35 doesn't know or care for that and has no issue travelling to Hobart for BBL, concerts etc.!

May not get a huge amount of full season memberships from up north but 3-6 game memberships would be a hit in my opinion.

This intra city parochialism died a generation ago. Attitudes have shifted globally. As you say, it's either the oldies clinging to it or a minority of the new generation looking for some sort of identity to cling to before they discover Metallica. Hell, even the SA hatred for Victoria fell out of fashion. Sydney v Melbourne and QLD v NSW still exist in some form but that is well up the scale compared to some shanty towns in the Tasmanian forest.

NSW and Victoria are pitchers and Tasmania is a catcher. If the AFL or FFA granted them a team they would cry thank you and go to Bernie for it.

Just did abit of googling and the north/south divide originally stems from the convict era where Hobart was built and paid for by the English while Launceston had to establish itself. The animosity grew from there whilst at one point in the early 1900s Launceston and the north had a greater(almost double) the population than Hobart but all the infrastructure was still built in the south to effectively migrate people towards there.

Since the 70s the government has looked to spread the infrastructure evenly hence why people in the age bracket in mentioned earlier don't seem to fussed by the 'divide'.

NEWS
We will be ready for A-League expansion: Boyle
16th February 2017 2:06 PM
UPDATED 2:48 PM

Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle and player Corey Lucas who is preparing to play against New Zealand. READY AND ABLE: Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle with defender Corey Lucas. An A-League club in Ipswich would give young rising stars like Lucas a magnificent goal to achieve. Inga Williams
by Joel Gould
GIVE them the criteria and the Western Pride will move heaven and earth to meet it.

That was the word from Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle as the club continues to get ready for D-day, or the moment when Football Federation Australia (FFA) releases the criteria for clubs wanting to enter an expanded A-League.

It is hoped that release will be in the coming months.

"The FFA originally had scheduled it for February but with FIFA asking a few questions around governance they have said releasing the criteria will be put on hold," Boyle said.

"I envisage that will be around April or May but they haven't given us a specific date.

"It hasn't been set in concrete but I imagine they will be looking at 2018-19 (to expand)."

But Boyle has made it clear that if FIFA sets a goal, he and his colleagues at the Western Pride will move mountains to kick it into the back of the net.

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"How many times have you seen sports people or people in the community told 'you can't do that'?

"That just gives you the inner drive to almost prove people wrong.

"If someone said to our entity 'we want to have you in the A-League representing the western corridor but you must do this, this and this' - trust me and given the work ethic of the people in this region - we would move heaven and earth to achieve it."

The Pride will be guided the criteria for expansion clubs released by FFA but the preference at this stage is to play out of a redeveloped North Ipswich Reserve.

"It is a central location within Ipswich, representing the western corridor," Boyle said.

"We are also going to get a lot of support from the Brisbane and Logan area, and also from Toowoomba.

"There are football tragics in Toowoomba and being almost neighbours we could also get support from those guys.

"The fields (at North Ipswich) are operating as a sporting facility already so for the region to have a stadium of sorts it will not only benefit football, but also other sports in Ipswich and potentially attract shows and artists to come to the region and run concerts.

"We see it as beneficial to the whole of Ipswich."

A staggered redevelopment of North Ipswich Reserve has been discussed with the council, once again built around the philosophy of finding a way to get things done rather than a reason not to do them.

"We will put together a detailed plan as to what we will have in place over different time periods," Boyle said.

"That is not only to appease the criteria but also the supporter base."

Boyle and a Western Pride delegation met with city sports boss Cr David Morrison and Mayor Paul Pisasale recently to discuss their A-League plans.

Boyle said he was delighted they were all on the same page.

"The council's support has not wavered and we are the luckiest football entity, not only in Queensland but nationally, to get the support we do.

"We get council's backing and support to engage businesses and services and without them we wouldn't have been able to kick the goals we have done."


https://m.qt.com.au/news/we-will-be-ready-for-a-league-expansion-boyle/3144401/

'If they want a stadium of 20,000 we would get it'

news
Councillor David Morrison and Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle look over the playing fields at Briggs Road Sporting Complex. The grounds are now the Pride's official headquarters.
Photo: Claudia Baxter / The Queensland Times ALL FOR ONE: Cr David Morrison, the city's sports supremo is backing Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle's plans to enter an Ipswich side in the A-League. Claudia Baxter
THE BACKING of Ipswich City Council sports boss David Morrison for an Ipswich-based A-League side has ramped up a notch.

Cr Morrison, who met with Western Pride general manager Pat Boyle recently about the club's A-League plans, said he would back upgrades of North Ipswich Reserve to meet criteria for an expanded competition put forward by Football Federation Australia.

The QT asked Cr Morrison if the FFA said 'you need to do X' whether council would 'do X'.

"It depends what 'X' is," Cr Morrison said.

" Pat Boyle has been good about this and has said we have to see what the FFA criteria is.

"But (FFA boss) David Gallop has said when he was the head of the NRL that Ipswich is a place to put a national team.

"If they want a stadium of 20,000... we would get it it with a staggered approach.

"If we were granted a licence I hope that the A-League would see North Ipswich Reserve as suitable, with a crowded grandstand and hill," Cr Morrison added.

"The council can assist to add to the seating over the years so that we can have formal seating for 15,000 to 20,000 people.

"Now, if everyone is on the grassed hill and on the seating it can probably hold about 10,000.

"If we get a national team based in the city we would seek federal and state funding to update the facility and put our fair share in as well.

"There are a lot of seating options available."

Sunshine Coast Council has similar plans at Sunshine Coast Stadium at Kawana.

An impressive grandstand has been constructed on the western side with a grassed area similar to North Ipswich Reserve.

The ground attracted over 10,000 fans to watch the Warriors v Storm trial last weekend and the council intends to increase the seating over time to hold over 20,000.

"They did that with the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville where they started off with a grandstand and a grassed hill, with the vision to eventually put formalised seating around there," Cr Morrison said.

Tony Ireland Stadium has a capacity currently of 10,000 which it has attracted for a Twenty20 cricket match.

https://m.qt.com.au/news/if-they-want-a-stadium-of-20000-we-would-get-it/3144434/

With more of these bids coming out , it is just so sad that FFA can't take the initaitive and capture all this enthusiasm and create a second division.With all the money these bids will save by not being in the HAL,a second division could surely be easily funded for four or five months of the year plus finals.
With a carrot of promotion to the HAL over a few years of teams proving themselves sustainable entities,the goodwill and interest for the whole football community would be huge. .....but alas...the myopic dull number crunchers at FFA can only see metrics.

So which bidding consortiums have indicated that they would accept an invitation to form a franchise (lacking in TV exposure/revenue) to play in some second division if denied entry to the A-League?

It's A-League or nothing for them at the moment because that is the only option they've been given. We wont know until a second division is offered up to them. One can only assume, as most bids have football people behind them, that it wouldn't be an issue.

Lets say that the a league clubs and FFA agree to the middle ground figure of a $4M grant per club per annum from next season (FFA expect $3M and clubs want $6M). Adding 2 teams would cost a total of $48M. Would it be better to keep the a league at 10 teams ($40M) and find an extra $8M to start an 8 team 2nd division with grants of $2M per club per annum ($16M)? Considering that $2M is not that far short of the $2.6M that a league clubs get today, the quality of such a 2nd division could be decent enough to interest Foxtel. Limiting the 2nd division teams to one marquee would keep costs down and ensure plenty of opportunity for the development of local talent.

I have not read much of this thread so sorry if I am just repeating what others have already said.

sydney derby again showing why the a-league needs more sydney and melbourne teams. a-league fans love away days, they are what drives crowds, there is no fluke that mariners and jets pull their biggest crowds against wanderers and sydney fc.

No market for it.  Melbourne Heart I mean City I mean who? 
Rugby is a shit sport, but soccer in Sydney is up against T20 cricket in summer.  If anyone knows anything about AFL the Sydney sides GWS and Swans are about the best sides in it.  And fuck me the women's game has been pulling the crowds which has me gobsmacked.  Even in Sydney the chicks are smashing the ratings and pulling big crowds.  Once the mens AFL teams from Sydney dominate the comp, and they will this year AFL will grow rapidly in the region.  I really think the a-league should just tread water and concentrate on 2 teams per glamor city Melbs Sydney.  As for Melbourne, Victory is pretty awesome and City have been a joke, but there's AFL in this town. 

Stick with two teams in Syd and Melb me thinks. 

Joondalup will be in before an Ipswich team... at least they would allow tv to use the WA timezone better

South Melbourne are ready to join A-league

Seems this will be the pattern every time we lose a game this season, and when we win it will be "eh its just the npl". Cant win either way. Guarantee you south will be close to the title at the end. We might get slapped around a little at the start with our 7 straight away from home but we always come good in the winter.