I see a trend that everyone seems to agree that Canberra should be the next team I agree to this as well for many reasons

High population growth. If the A-League does expand to Canberra in 2016 it will have a population of 440,000 and 590,000 by 2031 (by todays estimates) which is currently larger than Newcastle's population today (540,000) and they are doing quite well when it comes to attendances.

The A-Leagues popularity will be at its highest in Canberra (and in Australia especially if Australia do well) around this time as they have an Asian cup venue so it seems like it would be the best time to capitalise os the situation.

And finally Canberra is expecting to be getting a brand new "Forsyth Barr" esqe stadium with a full clear roof near the CBD by 2020 but are wanting to get it up and running by 2018/19.

And heres some reading on that if any of you are interested.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/city-promised-new-stadium-with-roof-by-2020-20120302-1u8si.html

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/next-act/2012/10/18/new-stadium-canberra/

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/no-new-city-stadium-under-canberra-liberals-20121010-27cha.html

Also Canberra did have the most advanced bid by the time gcu folded. As someone said earlier in the thread, the most likely expansion teams with maybe the exception of Townsville will be close to already established clubs, which will be good for attendances in that region and atmospheres.

Edited by aussie4ever4: 31/12/2012 03:07:07 AM

Edited by aussie4ever4: 31/12/2012 03:10:45 AM

There are only two clear front runners.

Canberra due to its larger population base, and therefore ripe for providing the best ratings and more TV money.

The second is Townsville mainly due to its geographical location essential for talented youth to have a club up north covering the top third of Australia on the eastern seaboard.

Clubs with any association with a mono ethnic regime like South Melbourne Hellas should not even be considered.

Any expansion needs to be unwritten by the TV deal to follow the one just signed. We can't afford to have any expansion teams folding again - owners of any new clubs need to have as much financial support as possible. A key component of the criteria for any new licences handed out should be the quality of the stadium deal. Apparently the Gold Coast mayor is supportive of a new A-League team on the Gold Coast, so let him and his friends in the government put their money where their mouths are.

You guys need 2nd division, if you don't have one.
2nd division makes 1st division serious place and it gives opportunities for young players to gain game time.
Former Man United Park spend whole year in J2, so is Kagawa.
Honda also spend a year in Netherland 2nd division.

Setting up team in NZ would be interesting giving geographical proximity and size of NZ economy
(Only if NZ football assosiation wants it)

It's more about whether the AFC allows it.

Firstly to the moderators might be a good idea to put this thread as sticky because its always going to come up.

The issue with further expansion is ownership and its not like owners are scrambling to look at investing in any of the current franchises then starting new ones.

I probably see Canberra and the South Coast NSW as the next two teams. At least south of Sydney will be covered. they will have the stadiums. Win Stadium once completed the redevelopment will look good for Football and the new canberra stadium will be good to. Canberra benefits from having a women's team already plus we can scrap the AIS youth program as Canberra can take their spot anyway. It will be good for the current NSW based sides to be in reasonable distance for away games and build that neighbouring rivalry which has seen a revival this year with the addition of the wanderers.

Tasmania is still a while off, they lack a football specific stadium which will be a pain later down the track. Plus I don't know if Melbourne Victory long term presence there will hinder the apple isle having their own team.

Queensland will get more teams eventually in time and the way in particular Northern Fury and Sunshine Coast Fire are going about their business its only a matter of when rather then never again.

for Me Canberra United and South Coast Steel will be the next two teams.

Are we still that xenophobic in 2012 that an AUTRALIAN football team started by migrants is frowned upon?? man get over it already - this has happened in countries all over the world - Clubs created by British people who were in a forign country far from home and wanted to start a club so they can play a game from home that they missed against *gasp* other teams started by other immigrants who may have been from Italy etc..

WTF is mono ethnic regime mean anyway ?? Did the club only play players from one background ?? You are an idiot...

Canberra and Tasmania/Northern Fury should next (although southern cross should've gotten the 2nd Melbourne licence.

Professional football teams need to be based in large population centres.

The Gold Coast is the largest population centre not represented by an A-League club, and Queensland is the next biggest state without more than one team.

So logically, A-League expansion needs to look at Queensland, the Gold Coast in particular.

The FFA should base its next expansion program around Queensland - that's the key.

A bit to early for Gold Coast yet, the A-league is a damaged brand on the GC thanks to Palmer it will be a little while yet before people will give it another shot. But it certainly is the most logical place.

For a comparison to the pre season figures for the potential candidates in the OP, the Gold Coast drew about 10K to a pre season game in the rain before they were given a team.

I like the idea suggested earlier of Auckland united being a combination of Auckland city and waitekere united

I actually think the model of A-League ownership is broken and doesn't work in the long run.

Rich owners who know nothing about football have unrealistic expectations (like making a profit..) and make moronic decisions.

I would argue that as far as MANAGING football clubs, the evidence points to the FFA being better at it: eg the FFA got Roar back on track after the previous owner's mis-managment, and they did a good job of managing Adelaide (who's owners immediately then gave a 5 year contract and are in a legal dispute with the ex-coach). ook how they've built Western Sydney up from nothing.

On the other hand, we had Palmer, the previous Wellington owner, Tinkler's a double-edged sword, speculation against Sage's business interests continue, and we at Heart have a clueless Board and CEO who's primary aim is to "break even", so we hire injured has-beens, and coaches with no senior coaching experiences.

Before talking expansion, we need to get the model of club ownership right, and that means choosing owners who have money and football knowledge, not a common combination.

Was ready to say "not this again..." but good work for actually making a proper thread of it (Y)

For the people saying about Dunedin, the massive preseason crowd was largely due to it being the opening of the new stadium, and all the football clubs of the region did what they could to encourage the kids to get along to it. Probably not viable to host a team as the city is largely based around the university down there, and you'd lose most of the potential fan base over summer (like AJohn said).

i have said this before that we need to introduce two teams in the next expansion. those being canberra and woolongong. once they are introduced (in 2014 due to the news of the world cup) that will be the NSW area taken care of. thats 12 teams.
next tasmania (13 teams). and NQF (14 teams).
next another NZ team, and somewhere else (16 teams). if we manage to do this by 2025 that would be great.

Those saying consolidation... Trust me, the league will get stale in under 5 seasons if there is no expansion. A 10-team football comp is not enough to sustain long-term interest, needs AT VERY LEAST 12 but 14 is far better.

Those advocating Canberra, keep in mind it has a small population, very little in the way of corporate activity, and above all, it's skip city, they are predominantly rugby fans.

Geelong would be very interesting, They would have to have a rectangular stadium, As symonds will be awful to watch soccer in, (Thou i think they are redeveloping the ground due to the W.C Bid). Fan's wise they are footy mad with the AFL. So i could see them getting on board an A League club. Also wouldnt mind seeing G.C back up and running.

I call bullshit. That is a baseless claim, care providing evidence for that? The W-league side regularly draw 1-2.5k with absolutely no advertising or media help, mens' side could easily draw good numbers if done properly. What can be said without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Canberra has a decent footballing support and pedigree. Why wouldn't Raiders, Brumbies and Canberra Athletic be able to work together? 400k is hardly a small population, and if done right the club could be marketed down to Jindabyne, over to the Southern Blue Mountains, down the South Coast to Victoria. True regional club based in the city. Shite stadium really though, that's my worry. Crap atmosphere for football.

It's skip city mate.

Rack city, bitch.
[youtube]AE3yia1AJeQ[/youtube]

Marketing analysis by Sweeney marketing services refutes this. Football is the most popular foody code in Canberra, by some margin.
I was surprised by the research.

can't expand till bar for entry is lowered....down, down, down etc...to do this the expectation that all clubs should be "competitive" with each other as a given needs to lapse....sorry it is not realistic especially in our sport and also given the best opportunities are in regional areas. So enjoy the 10 team league until equalisation assumptions in oz football are discarded...

My memory of that anlaysis was that the Raiders were the most popular football club in Canberra.

There's where you lost any remaining credibility.

Edited by 4wanderer4: 31/12/2012 11:27:25 AM

The Cowboys do that in the NRL, and they also have military matches as curtain raisers and liaise with military RL teams. The flipside of that is that a lot of military members would travel to Townsville when their team played there, and visit mates there as well.

Another bonus for the Fury is that no other football team in the country has the local media support that the Fury had. Every day the Townsville Bulletin had Fury stories, a fair number of front page, back page, regular columns etc.

Your memory is understandable because as an AFL fan you struggle to grasp the concept of a world based sport (as many AFL fans do) and that people can follow a local club in a sport, but follow another sport more broadly.
The most popular club in a particular city, does not make the SPORT most popular. Furthermore there is no Football or AFL club in Canberra.
My recollection of the Sweeney survey was Football had over 60% popularity, while Union and League were around 30% to 40% and AFL was under 30%. The survey wasn't about participation, but popularity which is more important for sponsors and media buyers.

Quote this if you scroll right past all of Mister Football's posts.

What is so attractive about Canberra exaclty ?? have any of you people actually been there for more than a day ?? it is a such a dour place to live - I dont expect many footballers enjoying living there at all - they may like the "anonymity" but Canberra will churn players constantly because they wont want to live there more than 2 seasons i expect. Also if they are to get crowds and compete with the Raiders as the town team - they will need to be competative.

i agree that we need a 12 team league though I'm not up to scratch on Victoria but i owuld have thought it could support a regional team outside melbourne.