Things are not perfect, i don't agree with everything decision the FFA make. But to think they are only marginally better then the NSL of 15 years ago, well that is where you are delusional.
I was sitting in the Novotel bar in Homebush after beating New Zealand 4-1 to qualify to play Uruguay, when the Socceroos players & officials all were having a quiet drink after the game, Moore, Okon, Emerton, Lazaridis, Alosi, all playing Europe at that time & remember thinking we can produce such good players & there was Tony L (can't spell last name & someone happy to forget) the SA CEO, I remember looking at him with disgust. The distrust, the self agendas of those regimes, the local scene was pathetic.
Yeah marginally better, your memory has deserted you.

Like I said far from perfect, but not the doom & gloom I felt that night.

The distrust, the self agendas of those regimes, 

Wooooooowwwww. Denial is one hell of a drug. The clubs are at war with ffa as we speak...with lowys corruption raising eybrows all the way to zurich.

I advise you google "FIFA FFA Visit" and wake up from lala land. 

I often wonder how things might have panned out if a Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC were to enter the old NSL whether it might have finally kicked things off for it. Dragged the capable clubs up with it. 

*Yes I do remember Parramatta Power and Carlton but ultimately their connections to the NRL/AFL clubs is what turned people off in my opinion.

No. The NSL itself as a competition and as a product was anathema to the wider Australian public. Incremental changes would have, at best, achieved only incremental success. Whether one is for or against the way everything happened, it is the only way it could have happened and had any chance of success.

Imo 2nd division take priority over expansion. The league is practically dead to me. We need better and the only way to get that is through the national premier league. 

So let's aim for mediocrity and be happy things are better even though there are only 9 Aussie Teams, and so many dead rubbers which is akin to watching paint dry or the grass grow. 

We have a dormant product with zero growth over the last 6 years. FFA and HAL are corrupt to the core. Probably one of the most corrupt sporting institutions on the planet. And we are falling out with FIFA who in my opinion should have sanctions against the FFA and even boot them out of the AFC and back into Oceania. Australia isn't a special case. 

Interesting. 

FFA should have been sanctioned years ago. 

The old Soccer Australia regime was an open organisation and not a little boys club family affair that it is today.

Honestly, I can't even figure out what you're on about. 

I agree! 

They are in contravention of so many FIFA regulations it's starting to get quite embarrassing. We are literally a laughing stock internationally. 

I guarantee you, that no one here will be able to get a job at the FFA or help out even if they were qualified to do so. It's a closed shop and very autocratic and authoritarian.

Can I please have the scientific research and evidence to back up these resounding conclusions please? 

Here we have it, the winner!!! I bow to this.

Big back Soccer Australia.

Are you denying that Soccer Australia was in a far better position in terms of Governance compared to the current situation we currently have with the FFA?

Have a look at Di pietro's comments reported today about expanding the league. As I've said before, the clubs want someone to come in who will add value to the product they are already delivering.
“When thinking about expansion criteria we’ve seen that derbies are a proven winner. We need to pack stadiums."

“At the core of any expansion, we must be confident that any new licenses don’t compromise the mainstream integrity and the marketability of the competition.

“They must embrace all of us who enjoy sport. We’ve got to learn from lessons past, both good and bad.”

To me, reading between the lines, that's saying; he wants a new team in Melbourne;  he's worried about South Melbourne and the old NSL image. He sounds like he might want the Dandenong bid to get up.

Well too bad. Thats the history. Thats the legacy. Dandenong will flop hard without it being ethnically aligned. 

Sorry to break it to you. 

Will South get 8k+ Greeks every week?

Will Dandenong ever get a suitable stadium that even fits 8k?

Even though I'm on the 2nd division//pro and rel bandwagon it would be an absolute travesty if expansion occurred in Victoria and we aren't chosen, we are so far ahead on every metric it's not funny. Would rather Wollongong or tassie gets a team instead of Dandenong.

Funny you mention that, as Victory was originally pitched as a broadbased club for the NSL, but by the time things got going on that, the A-League was on it's way, and the rest is history.

Would've been very interesting to see how they would have went in the last years of the NSL.

I didn't mean it in that way, I'm genuinely asking - are there 8k SM FC fans waiting in the wings for the club to join the A-league?

If so, get them in next season.

Current A-League format so completely ridiculous, we’ve revamped it

The Wolves playing in the NSW National Premier League at WIN Stadium. Should they have a future in the A-League? Picture: Adam McLean
The Wolves playing in the NSW National Premier League at WIN Stadium. Should they have a future in the A-League? Picture: Adam McLean

Comment

Welcome to Football Federation Australia’s Illawarra edition of ‘Married at First Sight’.

Because the current format is so completely ridiculous, we’ve revamped it, making it more like the 1980s hit ‘Perfect Match’. It’s simple. You, the humble football – sokkah – fan, can ask a series of questions to the three potential A-League entrants standing behind the wall.

But choose wisely, because who you marry today will be your only shot at happiness and success on Australia’s elite stage.

Now before we start, be aware we are also shooting versions of this show around the country.

Geelong, South Melbourne, Tasmania, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are other locations and let’s face it, if their version is better than yours, the episode may never make it to the television screen at all.

Now, let’s get on with the show.

Contestant No.1 is tall, dark and handsome.

He’s considered an ideal catch by the FFA, with a big population area and potential to be a huge player in the competition.

The only problem is, no-one really likes him and based on the personality tests done before the show, it’s likely this will be a loveless marriage, or certainly one based on convenience.

Sure, he’ll produce some flashy goals, maybe even a couple of trophies, to keep you wanting to fall deeply in love.

But deep down, you know there’s no real emotional connection, because he spends most of his time away in Cronulla, or Kogarah, and not with you in Wollongong.

Still, what if it really is your only chance at love in the A-League? Contestant No.1’s cousin, St George Illawarra has been the most successful of the NRL joint ventures, but many on the South Coast still struggle to completely accept them as their own, almost 20 years later. Contestant No.2 is an unshaven, blue-collar battler, who still regularly talks about his glory days, a time when people were relieved the millennium bug wasn’t actually a thing. He has something of a shady past and has been to some dark places in his time, but it’s character building, right?

As much as some struggle to warm to him, many accept he’s a loveable rogue.

Showing signs of reform, contestant No.2 is hoping to earn your trust and show everyone deserves a second chance in life.

He’s a bit of a romantic at heart and would love to reunite with some of his old mates, like Perth Glory, who he still likes to taunt and reminisce with about the 2000-01 NSL grand final.

There’s also suggestion contestant No.2 has a wealthy guardian angel by the name of Bruce, who is interested in putting him on the right path.

And then there’s contestant No.3. No-one knows much about him, he’s rarely seen in public or talked about, but some like the look of him. He has no history – at all – but some like his potential as a fresh-faced Wollongong-based club, to mould into something great, without any involvement in the family politics of football in the region.

Now, while you consider your options, we’ll be right back after the break (cuts to commercial).

There’s a belief the premise of the A-League’s ‘Perfect Match’ criteria is to dictate the terms of who the expansion clubs will be. And of course, there has to be a tangible means of measuring the strength of various rival bids for entry in the new competition. But you’re the fan and there’s no point having a giant Sydney super club, involving the Illawarra, if no-one likes it.

This columnist has previously written a column accepting the super club concept, because at the time, it appeared to be the only realistic option for Wollongong to be involved. But the momentum certainly appears to be shifting behind a stand-alone club of our own. And there’s no doubt fans on the South Coast would be more prepared to back it than have anything to do with a team in Sydney.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4459366/current-a-league-format-so-completely-ridiculous-weve-revamped-it/

Would not bang no. 2. No. 1 seems hot.

What does it matter? Can they sustain themselves with 2k? If so, yes. 

This bullshit about mass crowd number is dumb and something for the suits at the club to worry about. Its not important for expansion. 

Number 1 good for a one nighter but number 2 is the one you marry

An A-league team cannot survive with such shit crowd numbers, and you can't wave it away with "it's someone else's problem".

*Cough cough Wellington.

2k was an exaggeration. You know that right? My point is modern football has access to multiple income streams. Not just ticket sales. 

Thats a definite yes.

The reason our crowds are not what they are used to be is due to the 3 types of fomer South fans.

1. The obvious here, the fan that ditched us in 2005 to follow Melbourne Victory.
2. The fan who followed south in the NSL, but also had personal ties to their local Greek VPL clubs, e.g Northcote, Oakleigh etc. Once we dropped to the same level as the clubs they played soccer with from 5 years old, they instead chose to follow week in week out their local club, but still have a soft spot for South.
3. Probably one of our biggest, the fans who dont want anything to do with Victory or City, but also cannot stand state league soccer and want the "big show"

From #1, we will perhaps get 20%-30% of these fans back, but the rest have commited themselves to Victory and are done with South
From #2, ALL of these fans will be back. The will continue to follow Northcote etc in winter, and be there for South in A-League summer.
Same goes for #3, these fans are itching for the chance.

So yes, 8k per week is easily done. For the first season i expect it to be between 10k - 12k, but once the hype dust settles, an average of 8k seems likely.

With talk of an Ipswich bid cooling, interesting news item here tonight that the NRL are looking to relocate the Newcastle Knights to Ipswich. Ipswich mayor Pasquali and the Ipswich Jets chairman both on TV news backing the proposal, albiet reluctantly by the Jets chair.

That's actually stupid by NRL standards

If this is true watch how quick that mayor drops the soccer.

Time for the FFA to promote Ipswich Knights from the 3rd division into the a-league and beat the NRL to it.

Why would they relocate Newcastle Knights?

From a Victorians perspective I always thought it was rugby heartland and fittingly has its place in the NRL with a successful side in the 2000s?