Gotta fact check this. Firstly I think when only 1 team cities that are broad based and played in the same stadium moving from NSL to A-League should be considered when doing a like for like comparison when talking about any future Wollongong team.

*note, i picked the highest average for a season each NSL team had that I could find

Jets 01/02 averaged 9383 and all time a-league average is 10,480
Glory 01/02 averaged 12,801 and all time a-league average is 8,588
United 03/04 averaged 12,568 and all time average a-league is 10,911

I fail to see any Wollongong team getting a significant jump just by being in the A-League compared to their prime support in the NSL and when they won 2 championships in a row.

Also aren't CCM having troubles because of a lack of corporate support? How is Wollongong going to be better at this when they have the Dragons and Hawks to compete with in getting local corporate support?

would love to see the cash from the sale of WSW put into a team in between Liverpool and Campbeltown. Stadium could be an issue, but that might even be the impetus for a boutique football stadium in Sydney south west. I think WSW could handle the competition for support. I also think that if it doesnt happen quickly, it will be very hard to place a club in that region in the future, and we would end up with a similar situation to MV/MH.

It's a well known fact that NZ is just an Australian state.

From the facebook page, looks like it'll be a lot easier to add an Auckland team now according to CNN!

Sam Malcolmson: Phoenix will rise, but we need an Auckland team

Despite their struggles I'm convinced the Phoenix will soon be a force in the A-league again. More importantly, though, I believe the time is right for the A-league administration and New Zealand Football to consider establishing a new franchise in Auckland.

Yes, I can hear the cry that the Kingz and the Knights were dismal failures. But the A-league has progressed as a professional organisation since those embarrassing days. A new franchise will also learn from those mistakes and the success of the Phoenix in their infancy. There are enough well-heeled business people in Auckland to relish this challenge.

Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick is on the right track with the attractive style of soccer they are playing, and even a 25 per cent success rate from the strikers would have them in the top four. Once Merrick can offload a few players and sign his own, they will be title challengers.

The standard of the A-league has dropped this season but such is its closeness and unpredictability that I agree with Merrick's prediction that the Phoenix will make the playoffs.

My major concern is the poor crowds - the last two home games have attracted only around 6000 spectators. That is a big problem when you consider that last Sunday's game was played on a beautiful evening, with a late kickoff making it attractive for families during the school holidays.

That match against Sydney City highlighted that the Phoenix are really a Wellington team. Only four New Zealanders started the game and one of those, Andrew Durante, is a recently naturalised Australian.

This is not a criticism, but an observation that the pathway to professional soccer for New Zealand youngsters is restricted.

Added to that, the national league is a dismal competition and interest sparks only for the O-league, where Auckland and Waitakere have represented New Zealand well.

An Auckland A-league team, based at North Harbour Stadium, would offer more opportunities for our youngsters as well as reinvigorating the world's number one game in the country's biggest city.

Auckland's population of 1.5 million must surely be able to maintain a successful and popular A-league team. It would also be easier to attract high quality overseas foundation players and coaches to a multi-cultural city like Auckland.

How about Ryan Nelsen as the coach and a player such as one of the Manchester United legends Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as the marquee signing who would double as assistant coach. Happy New Year, and be safe in 2014.

People criticising Wollongong's NSL crowds are forgetting that they're better than most NSL teams... average crowds took a huge jump from the NSL to the A-League. Within a few years with solid growth I can easily see a Wollongong team averaging 10k+.

People criticising Wollongong's NSL crowds are forgetting that they're better than most NSL teams... average crowds took a huge jump from the NSL to the A-League. Within a few years with solid growth I can easily see a Wollongong team averaging 10k+.

For me I think the next two logical places for expansion are Wollongong (as the Wolves) and Townsville, as long as the Fury manage to fulfill their current plans for community engagement, membership etc.

13th team has to be Ipswich, probably about ten years down the track (for the next expansion phase). From there I think any one of Canberra, Auckland and Geelong are options.

New teams will only happen in areas with a population of 1 mill + so more derbies. A 2nd team in Brisbane is a done deal, if you look at what has been done with qld NPL you will see where the new team will be.

New teams will only happen in areas with a population of 1 mill + so more derbies. A 2nd team in Brisbane is a done deal, if you look at what has been done with qld NPL you will see where the new team will be.

But close to the worst and fair enough, but others did say solid crowds of 6K which is even more over the top and I responded to them.

Fair enough on those crowd figures (not like I google crowd stats but I was attending games in 2000/01 when they were challenging for the title), but that was while they were playing out of Brandon Park Park not WIN stadium which is much more central and easier to get to. Brandon Park was a shit hole to be honest.

Let's example past failures CGU, and NF.

GCU:

2009–10   5,297   
2010–11   3,419   
2011–12   3,438

NF:

2009–10   6,358
2010–11   4,245

Hardly better, considering the hype and money pumped into the A-League on there years between inception and 2009.

The fact is Wollongong has a strong local league, would probably represent the rest of the Shoalhaven area (92,000+ people and one of the fastest growing areas in NSW) and MAY have some appeal for southern Sydney people disaffected by the dreadful play style of SFC.

And ask yourself how many supposed loyal SFC supporters have or will jump over to the WSW bandwagon.

The south coast region has a really strong football/ethnic euro culture, much more so than any 2nd QLD team.

No, but I never claimed they were. I was just pointing out that Wollongong didn't have "the worst crowds in the NSL."

Well you would hardly call them "solid crowds of 6K" :d

:lol: Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I don't have the statistics on me, but those figures above look like the average crowds of most NSL clubs (one or two clubs aside).

You beat me to it. I was just about to say my recollection was that the Gong had the worst crowds in the NSL.

In today's market they would struggle to get anything near CCM type of crowds, let alone make an impact.

That's why I included a QLD team in my edited post above.

There's already 3 clubs in NSW. FFA can't afford to leave the third biggest state with only one team when Qld has the largest participation rate in the land, has mens, womens and youth team that have been successful second to none and we keep churning out Socceroos ad nauseum.

Tassie doesn't have the population to create any meaningful interest, WA and SA are run by ALF who give no support to sockah and Victoria are just retards having the lowest participation rate in the country and controlled by an ALF state and media.

No one is more worthy than Qld.

I think Wollongong would work, but I wouldn't expect a "big" club out of it.

I also see benefit in them because you would have SFC, WS, NUJ, CC all within travelling distance.

I would hope eventually SEQ to have a similar set up.

The only viable option is Wollongong. Was a very successful NSL club with solid crowd (around 6k in the old stadium). Both northern QLD teams have proven flops both financially and on the table, it's time to go back to a club that will have an impact, much like Wanders have.

Wollongong City/Wollongong Wolves

1995/96 - 2,873
1996/97 - 4,701 - As Wollongong Wolves
1997/98 - 5,567
1998/99 - 3,560
1999/00 - 4,939
2000/01 - 5,104
2001/02 - 3,403
2002/03 - 3,025
2003/04 - 2,569