'He's not a Wolves fan, he's a very naughty boy!'

Calm down you crazy Perth ultra from Sydney. ;)

Sat in active for the first time yesterday.
I enjoyed it, but don't tell anyone around here :lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: [-x Nuh-uh!

Unlike people who jump from Sydney to Wanderers or Victory to Heart, when it's a geographical reason it's different. Never lived in Sydney before and not the reason why I supported them. As I said, the initial reason for supporting Sydney was due to the lack of a Wollongong side/waiting for one.

Trust me, if I was a fair weather fan it'd be so easy to stop supporting Sydney and jump on WSW.

Sat in active for the first time yesterday.
I enjoyed it, but don't tell anyone around here :lol: :lol: :lol:

Did you disguise yourself?

:-k

18 ideas for A-League franchise expansion

With all the talk of National Premier Leagues and promotion/relegation as a way forward for Australian football, potential A-League expansion franchises seem to have been shelved for the time period.
Now as the FFA are busy dealing with all of those arrangements, I have saved them the time of costly market analyses and other feasibility studies.

Here is where they could swell the A-League and develop our game the old school way:

1. Melbourne Knights – Because just in case Mark Viduka is reincarnated, we need an A-League platform for the Duke.
2. Second Adelaide Side – So Adelaide fans can hate each other as much as they hate Melbourne Victory.

3. Gold Coast II – Face it, you all miss Clive Palmer and who doesn't like an away trip to a place better than where you live? Palmer loves sinking ships, perhaps a second version will succeed.

4. WSW B – Surely enough passion and atmosphere for two teams. "Who do you sing for, we sing for Wanderers. And Wanderers B also".

5. Dandenong Thunder – If 1500 can cause such a ruckus from week to week, it would be irresponsible to not let 15000 cause FFA Disciplinary proceedings.

6. South Melbourne FC – Time to put up or shut up. Oceania club of the century needs a chance to become World club of the century.

7. Tasmania FC – There's no competition. MARKET MONOPOLY. Who cares if no market exists in the first place.

8. Geelong – Doing ok in other areas of sport. Opening signing: Ruben Zadkovich to star as the new Gary Ablett.
9. Darwin United –Save our players money on flights to the Middle East for their next paycheck.

10. Kalgoorlie – Financially viable because after training the lads can jump down a shaft and make some money for the franchise in the mines.

11. Canberra – Tom Rogic probably has siblings and other family, lets base a whole side around them.

12. More Sydney's – Why not have South Sydney, North Sydney and East Sydney? Let's be fair.

13. Mt Isa – We've tried everywhere else in QLD, give them a crack.

14. Oakleigh Cannons – Because their souvlaki is delicious.

15. Airlie Beach FC or Byron Bay FC – Wherever those backpackers go because there is plenty of "foreign talent'' there. No shortage of blokes putting their hands up to be chief scout of all that foreign talent.

16. Culina FC – Because by the time we expand the A-League Jason and his Dad Branko will have fallen out with every club in the league and will have no-where else to go.

17. Bundaberg FC – Frank Farina needs somewhere to go next and we assume he likes rum, so send him to the source! First player signing: Liam Reddy.

18. Tahitian National Team – We should put them in so there is someone Wellington Phoenix can finish above.

With these sure successes we can soon have exactly what all of us Australian football fans want: six professional leagues and all the relegations one club can handle before they crumble as an entity and die a painful, painful death.

Just lock this thread already and start the official Woolongong thread. It's a joke that this is even up for discussion.

Abandoned Fury plots return to A-League



IT was a moment that broke the heart of a community.

A single fan, clutching a North Queensland Fury jersey, moved forward to hand it to a grim-faced Ben Buckley as the then Football Federation Australia chief executive entered Jupiters Hotel where he had called a Fury staff meeting.

Buckley, at the centre of an intense local media campaign that, at one stage, asked if he was the most hated man in the region, declined the fan's gesture and, minutes later, announced the death of the club just two seasons after it had played its first A-League game.

March 1, 2011, has never been, nor will be, forgotten by the loyal Fury fans. But the Townsville community, it seems, has forgiven.

Now Fury is back and the club is again aiming to bring back A-League football to North Queensland. While a possible return to the A-League is still at least five years away, Fury boss Rabieh Krayem, a man with an unshakeable faith and passion for the area and Fury, is on a mission.

He knows the fans are still bitter at the heartbreaking blow FFA delivered almost three years ago, but he knows too they are again ready to embrace professional soccer.

A meeting with the FFA hierarchy, including chief executive David Gallop, last Thursday, was well received and has given him hope the club will return as a strong player. "The people (of North Queensland) could have said 'You know what, stuff you, go away' to the idea of football being a part of FFA again," Krayem told The Australian. "But once you got over that emotion of being bitter and twisted, they are now saying 'You know what, if you have passion for the game then you have to go away and reinvent yourself and you have to learn from it'.

"We have all learned from the experience. That's why we are doing things differently this time around."

The future of the club had been played out in the media for several months. With the bid to host the 2022 World Cup evaporating three months earlier, the move to axe Fury, which was granted a licence in the first place as part of a masterplan to use Dairy Farmers Stadium as a World Cup venue, accelerated.

FFA, struggling financially itself, had no reason to keep the ailing club afloat. The Fury's demise caused collateral damage.

And the resentment towards the game was seen in the fall in the number of registered players.

"When Fury was around in 2010-11, there were around 4500 juniors in the region," Krayem said. "That dropped to around 3500. But it is steadily going back up and is around 4000 and climbing. "There is huge interest in the game here again, especially at girls' and women's level."

Former Fury and Perth Glory A-League coach Ian Ferguson, who is overseeing the coaching and development in the area, is stunned by the interest.

"If you look at the growing girl numbers, we could field five or six women's teams," Ferguson said. "Our issue at the moment is we don't have enough qualified coaches (B and C licences)."

The renewed interest coincides with the rebirth of the Fury in 2012. With Krayem steering the ship with the help of consultant Bonita Mersiades, former FFA head of corporate affairs, the club, which now plays in the National Premier League, is making giant strides.

"Our model is based around the community," Krayem says. "We believe we can initially attract 15,000 members, then get to 20,000. We know the reasons why we failed the first time.

"What we have learned is that we have to build from the grassroots. We have a process. The club will have teams from under 12s up to the NPL. We are giving them a pathway.

"The next stage will then be to have a women's team in the W-League and a team in the National Youth League."But Krayem is adamant the club needs to crawl before it can walk.

"An A-League team is at least five years away, depending on what FFA is going to do with expansion," he says."If FFA came to us tomorrow and said we can be in the A-League next season or in two years time we would turn them down. We are not ready by any stretch of the imagination.

"But we want to plant the seed now and show that we are doing the right things."

Which city should the A-League expand to next?

The year is 2018. Attendances and memberships have gone up rapidly over the past four years and the FFA has decided it’s time to add an expansion team to the now thriving A-League.

But nobody can seem to agree on which city shall receive the A-League license. Here are the candidates.

Canberra
Population: 374,658 (all populations are from a study conducted in 2012)
Possible stadium: Canberra Stadium

The nation’s capital is home to the most well supported side in the W-League and two dissolved NSL sides.

Unfortunately the city’s small population and overwhelming popularity of rugby league in the ACT would make it nearly impossible for a team in Canberra to get many fans through the gate on match day.

Sunshine Coast
Population: 285,169
Possible stadium: Stockland Park

Queensland State league side Sunshine Coast FC have already shown interest in joining the A-League. The club’s stadium Stockland Park currently has a capacity of 12,000, which is below A-League standard.

Plans in place to expand the stadium involve turning it into a premier boutique stadium, which a capacity of 15,000 or more. But will an A-League side in this region attract enough support from the local community?

Tasmania
Population: 512,000
Possible stadiums: York Park and Bellerive Oval

A team representing the whole state would be more realistic than giving the license to an individual city. Tassie has had exposure to A-League football with the Melbourne Victory staging pre- season matches and a home game, against Gold Coast United in 2012, in Tasmania.

The current Tasmanian bid is Tasmania United, who propose to play home matches at both York Park and Bellerive Oval while using Devenport Oval and North Hobart oval for friendlies.

An A-League side in Tasmania receiving enough support is questionable.

Auckland
Population: 1,529,300 metropolitan population (June 2013 estimate)
Possible stadium: North Harbour Stadium

Despite the failure of the now defunct New Zealand Knights (based in Auckland), the relative success of the Wellington Phoenix has raised the possibility of a second New Zealand side in the future.

Phoenix games in Auckland have produced crowds of 15-20,000, which is much higher than the miserable 3,989 which was the New Zealand Knights average attendance for the 2006/07 season.

A successful expansion to Auckland is unlikely unless lessons are learnt from the Knights’ miserable and unsuccessful time in the A-League.

Geelong
Population: 179,042
Possible stadium: Kardinia Park

A team in Geelong seems unlikely as it is too close to Melbourne. Melbourne Victory have hosted A-League pre-season matches at Kardinia Park, and are due to play an Asian Champions League qualifier at the venue.

Greater Geelong Galaxy FC has announced its intention to bid for a National Premier League license, which raised the possibility of the region gaining an A-League licence.

The prospect of Geelong having a A-League side is very hard to imagine, as it would probably suffer low attendances due to lack of support.

Townsville
Population: 171,971
Possible stadium: Willows Sports Complex

Since its unfortunate exit from the A-League in 2011, the North Queensland Fury (now re branded as the Northern Fury) has been getting crowds of up to 2,500 to their NPL Queensland games at Townsville Sport Reserve.

The club is expected field a Youth League side and a W-League side in 2015/16, and from there the clubs looks to gain admittance to the A-League.

The question remains, though – can Townsville sustain an A-League team the second time around?

Shit article. Let's stop linking from the roar again. [-(

Out with amateurs at NZF, says Gareth Morgan

SIMON PLUMB
Last updated 05:03 26/01/2014

GARETH MORGAN: "I can't stand amateur committees and I would describe NZF as amateur in the extreme. You've just got to look at the shambles over the last year trying to organise the All Whites."

Wellington Phoenix co-owner Gareth Morgan wants a level of involvement in New Zealand Football, offering a blueprint to develop New Zealand into a world top 50 nation.

For the first time in years NZF is set for fundamental governance change - awaiting a new chairman, new chief executive and new national men's coach, with the board's long-standing boss, Frank van Hattum, becoming the latest to exit. Morgan, a successful businessman and key member of the Welnix group which took over the Phoenix in 2011, says the relationship between New Zealand's only professional club and the taxpayer-funded national body is cold - lacking basic communication and strategic alignment.

Urging whoever takes the reins of the organisation to wake it from years of "amateur" governance, Morgan is frustrated by repeated attempts to engage NZF over developing the game.

Three months after offering $5million as part of a plan to help trigger change, Morgan remains committed to helping the national body - even prepared to consider investment in a second Kiwi A-League team.

But first, he says, NZF must change.

"If New Zealand Football remain dead from the neck up, then there's no hope," Morgan told the Sunday Star-Times.

"There's obviously no one in there with balls to say ‘this is common sense, this is what we should be doing'. Either Frank ran it as his fiefdom and put all his own people in, which is one theory, or basically they're all to blame. I don't know the answer, but it's one of them.

"I feel NZF, at elite level, has achieved nothing like what it is capable of. I've wondered, why is that?

"Since I've been involved with the Phoenix the ability to get any engagement from NZF, to even sit down to discuss and execute stuff, has been absolutely zero.

"You can't criticise the women's side of the game, that's been absolutely fantastic, but if we're talking about the men's side it's absolutely abysmal and if anything, I think it's gone backwards over the last few years.

"I can't stand amateur committees and I would describe NZF as amateur in the extreme. You've just got to look at the shambles over the last year trying to organise the All Whites.

"We [Welnix] need to and are prepared to be involved in NZF in some capacity.

"They [NZF] nod their heads, agree verbally and look past you with glazed eyes. The impression I get is they're more interested in the baubles of office than actually doing the job.

"I don't want a job with them but I know what's got to be done, I've written a plan for what needs to be done and I'm more than happy to share that with them. We'll give them all the support we possibly can because it's a win-win.

"Rob [Morrison, Welnix co-owner] has been very active in this area too, we've done all the thinking on what we need to go to the next level. We're keen to get New Zealand into the top 50 in the world. Australia made that decision years ago and it's awesome what is happening."

Morgan says a new culture at NZF is crucial.

"NZF and the Phoenix should almost be joined at the hip. I think the Phoenix is a very important weapon for NZF," he said.

"I'm reasonably keen even on the idea of a second New Zealand team in the A-League, obviously you would want an Auckland-based team and I'd even go as far to say that I'd be interested in investing in that.

"They [NZF] need a new culture. New people will be coming in and I'm a fair guy, I'll give them all a fair go."

After a week that saw English Premier League giants Manchester City invest in A-League team Melbourne Heart, Morgan says having the Phoenix in a similar situation would yield huge growth.

"The Phoenix could be an interesting prospect because it offers a whole country. Of course we're keen to make it as attractive as possible," he said.

"I think this type of thing could become more prevalent, we're trying to make the Phoenix the best we can, not just to try and get some of the millions back that we've put into it, but trying to give New Zealand the best opportunity in football it's ever had.

"It would offer young players a conduit. The link between Manchester City and Melbourne Heart is going to lead to player and coach exchanges, academy's - everything a footballer dreams of and currently has to go to the UK to get would be available here."

- © Fairfax NZ News

Adam Peacock said on Matchday Saturday that Simon Hill has told him that behind the scenes, people are working on getting an Auckland A-league team.

Adam Peacock said on Matchday Saturday that Simon Hill has told him that behind the scenes, people are working on getting an Auckland A-league team.

Edited by iridium1010: 1/2/2014 05:48:56 PM

That would make sense. Gallop wants areas with populations in the millions, and Auckland is the only remaining territory that doesn't yet have a team.

Probably because the Knights failed so miserably.

Every time talk of another expansion comes up all I can think is that the FFA should be more concerned with getting the clubs we already have all standing on their own two feet and operating in the black before they add more competition to the league and dilute the talent.

That is probably why Gallop has said that they are not planning expansion and there definitely won't be any during the current broadcast deal.

They've said that in the past and then less than 12 months later announced a new team. Honestly, Heart, Fury and GCU should never have existed (Sorry Heart, Fury and GCU fans) but maybe this time the FFA will have learned from their mistakes for a change.

:lol: I'm not a turncoat, but I've always said when Wollongong gets a team I'll support them. The reason I started supporting Sydney FC around season 3 was because there was no Wollongong team. If you want to get technical I'm originally a Wollongong Wolves fan ;)

If it happens, I'll still support Sydney FC (as a close 2nd), but not to the same extent you can by actually living where the team plays.

Wollongong.