If the focus is what teams will bring in the most revenue through TV rights, attendances and corporate support. I think people should have another look at Gyfos's chart. Money tells us that we need to start getting a bigger strangle hold on particularly the biggest 4 cities, which are also the ones with the biggest growth in both the economy and population.



That said, in my "Ultimate" A-League expansion which i think add the most value to the league in term of $ would be

SW Sydney
NW Sydney
Canberra
Wollongong
Ipswich
Fremantle/2nd Perth
Townsville/NQ
SE Melbourne/Dandenong
Geelong
Auckland.

If completed by say 2040, it would include important regional areas as well as have about 1.5-2 mil per team in the major cities.

And if we don't add Auckland then we probably should pull out of NZ al together. Go all in and add a second team in NZ or fold altogether.

I don't think alone is the issue. Comes to those who would be more inclined to participate actively in the club etc.

When did the NSL do it?

Oh golly.

Tasmania ahead of Townsville? :-k

I don't like the idea of a united Tasmania. Put the two cities against one another. Easily done.

For the sake of fun, I would LOVE for a team from the South Coast to be called the Illawarra Flames, with their emblem and colors from this tree... Would be epic!



Seriously though I think Wollongong would be like our version of Portland Timbers - out of nowhere just takes off and becomes a massive club with instead club and fan culture and support.


Edited by 4wanderer4: 13/11/2013 12:37:14 AM

From all accounts the Tasmanian proposals have been the most attractive submitted to date, with both Government and business support.

I want a truly national footprint - with Football at least the number 2 football code in each market. This is not just a symbolic reason (i.e. a code that all Australia follows) but also an important marketing reason. Why advertise during AFL shows in Qld or NSW. No one watches. Similarly why advertise during NRL shows in Vic, SA, WA or Tas.

I think the next two will be Canberra and South Coast. They will add value because of their proximity to a number of other clubs and the potential of easy travel. Canberra also starts towards my aim of a truly national footprint.

I see Tasmania as continuing towards that aim and having the only football code with a state team won't hurt its potential. However I would bring in Auckland with them because of the larger population base. It also means there can be a game in NZ each week which will help in TV scheduling. Another NZ qualification for the World Cup also wouldn't hurt to promote more interest in NZ. [-o<

I'd be inclined to include all 4 at the next TV deal. A 26 round true home and away season followed by finals, allowing for FIFA dates and FFA cup could see the season run from October through to late May.

The final 2 may be a few more years after that.

And if NZ don't qualify? You can't rely on that. They won't qualify this WC. Expect crowd numbers to dwindle.

Just putting this out there, Canberra and Wollongong in for 2017, then 2019 or 2020 Wellington kicked out replaced by whoever is best of Fury, Tasmania, Geelong and Ipswich. Would likely be Fury, then when the next TV deal came around if its all going well get another two of the above in and we're at 14 and none of this dicking around over water to another country. Then we can start talking about third Melbourne and Sydney teams and second Perth teams at that point, and possibly even a return to Gold Coast but all of those are much tougher nuts to crack than all the other options to get to 14. That is the bare minimum before we can actually take ourselves seriously though, this twice home - once away crap is ridiculous but acceptable for another decade or so.

Sorry to keep banging the Wolves drum but here's a fact for you -

In more than 33 years of history since 1980, the Wolves have never been relegated even though basically every season they have played in it has been a possibility. How many clubs in the country or indeed anywhere can pull a stat like that out?

Heaps.:-k

Yeah, a few can pull that card.

Fair, carry on then. Considering how hard it seems to be for them though, just seems like more of an achievement to me.

For the sake of respecting history I must correct you in that they were relegated from NSW Premier League in 2009.

Those were some lean years for Wolves. They're near the top of my list for expansion regardless. Who knows, if they were straight into the A-League as expected like Newy and CCM they would have been up there all along.

Another big-name European club will head to Australia for an exhibition match against the A-League All Stars next year, FFA chief executive David Gallop has confirmed.

A year to the day since Gallop began his tenure at the governing body, he recalls the debut of the All Star concept last July as one of the highlights of his first 12 months on the job.

A capacity ANZ Stadium crowd of more than 83,000 turned up to watch the A-League's finest take on Manchester United in July.

Four days later, an even bigger crowd poured into the MCG to witness fellow English Premier League giants Liverpool play Melbourne Victory.
Advertisement

On the back of such success, Gallop confirmed the All-Star event would return next year with an opponent of a similar calibre.

Gallop would not confirm which club the FFA was already negotiating with but Alessandro Del Piero's former Italian club Juventus is reported to be the frontrunner.

"One of the highlights of this last year was the visits of those two big clubs and the creation of the All Stars - that's something that we see as an important new initiative," he told AAP on Tuesday.

"We're currently looking at locking down a good opponent that will excite fans for next year.

"We're looking at a big European club and it would happen after the World Cup."

Gallop said he was delighted with the growth he had witnessed in the A-League during the past 12 months and said the FFA Cup, due to kick off next year, would give the league another boost.

He cited record crowds and TV ratings as a clear indication the competition was on track, but ruled out any plans for expansion any time soon.

"We don't see expansion on the agenda in the short to medium term," he said.

"Huge investments have been made by individuals into A-League clubs and we need to protect those investments and make sure that the competition is in the best shape possible before we consider expanding it.

"The good news is that off the back of a number of commercial deals, the financial picture of the A-League is much, much healthier than it ever has been but we need to continue to protect the investment that our current owners have made."

Twice, a second team in Queensland has failed with North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast folding.

And while Canberra has been thrown up as an option, Gallop all but ruled out the nation's capital, based on it's relatively small population.

"We haven't identified what our target zones would be," he said.

"Certainly the experience in Australian sport generally is that you need to be looking at areas with millions of people not hundreds of thousands if you're going to really have a viable crack at it.

"It is something we need to do at some point but not necessarily right now."

AAP

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/big-euro-club-to-play-aleague-all-stars-in-2014-20131112-2xcy4.html#ixzz2kSwQNJV7

Looks like Gallop is not looking at regional areas for next expansion.


Edited by robbos: 13/11/2013 07:39:28 AM

Boring.

Based on this logic, the FFA can really only be looking at Auckland for a new team, as it has millions of people. Either that or go a second team in Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide.


Why don't the FFA commission a detailed investigation of A-league expansion and set out a blue print for the future. Didn't the AFL do such an exercise back long ago which set out the path for expansion of the competition? I believe Crawford did this study.

Looking at David Gallop's history with the NRL, he was mostly a man who wanted to consolidate what the NRL had and was very hesitant on expanding the competition.

And this will be his downfall if he continues in that fashion with the A-League. We can't keep looking at the millions. We need to see potential to grow. If Palmer didnt fuck up the GCU we'd have a strong front in Queensland and more local derbies but WSW should have been put before them. I reckon we need to revisit the option and solidify football againt the NRL territories.

[-x The Wolves came last, but weren't relegated that season.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_NSW_Premier_League_season

Nix might be out as soon as 2016 anyways.

-PB

Mike Cockerill LIED TO ME? :twisted:

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/cockerill-opinion-display/wolves-must-dare-to-dream/72633

For the sake of this thread, i reckon we should look at the ACT, Wollongong/Campbelltown and NQ (in a proper manner) as areas to grow the game.

Following the next TV deal being finalised; Wollongong and Ipswich should be first choices for expansion as they both lie in population catchments of over 1M people and their presence will add another 9 derbies to the season.

After this, Auckland and Canberra should be considered in the following TV rights renewal (or perhaps the one after).

Wollongong won't add any derbies and its population is well under half a million. Its not part of Sydney and never has been.

It would be a lot easier for people from the sydney region to get to wollongong rather than canberra and guarantee some sell outs..

This probably cancels out any expansion at the end of this tv deal. More likely at the end of the next one which i assume would be 2021.

This is probably for the best imo, Canberra will have a new stadium in the CBD by then, Ipswich is given time to rapidly grow its population, more time to get a stadium deal done in SW sydney etc....

Edited by tbitm: 13/11/2013 01:46:52 PM

Wollongong + Canberra/Geelong/Hobart after the Asian Cup.

league will become stale without expansion, we need wollongong wolves in 2016.

the FFA need to

1. Get the govt to provide funds to build this base in west dapto first:
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1612429/south-coast-football-seeking-a-fair-go-on-funds/
2. Sell of the Wanderers so they have some funds
3. Bring in a marquee man (a local) like Luke Wilkshit or Cahill is local enough (Livepool..)

Edited by yoshi2284: 13/11/2013 02:46:51 PM