Please those two and newcastle fucking hardly travel at all

If done right like how they formed the team for wanderers I think a Tasmanian team would work.

I'd have to agree here.

While some are seeking to put dots on the football map & others making reasonable debates for strong regional football following areas where they are crying out for a A-League team. The FFA with their major media provider Foxtel will want to go where the money is (as Gallop says fish where the fishes are), where they can maximise their big 4 criteria, Sponsorships, Audience, Attendances & Memberships.

Edited by robbos: 4/10/2014 01:56:00 PM

New Zealand Sky Tv has exclusive live coverage of the All BLacks and super rugby, thus they get high subscription rates.
In Australia rugby league areas have higher Foxtel subscription rates because you get 3 games sort of at random out of 8 on free to air. The AFL deal whats damaging to Foxtel is while free to air only get 4 out of the 9 but they get all their states team games in most states and plenty of them in Victoria. Even though they broadcast all 9 AFL matches they get little exclusivity.

Gallop says fish where the fish are (I.e. Big cities). De Bohun says he wants derbies in every city. AFC says no Wellington.

My conclusion:
Wellington out
Adelaide City in
Springfield (2nd Brisbane) in
2nd Perth in

12 team league with every team having a derby rival. Possible of having a derby every week.

Forget a second Adelaide team any time soon, unless a major economic upturn happens in this state their won't be any money for one unless it's owned by a mega sugar daddy happy to blow millions every year.
Adelaide City as one old city fan said recently have "50 fans and 2 bob in the bank", they aint gonna be a viable option for the aleague.

Adelaide's population is poor, stagnant and unlikely to change anytime soon.

Watching the 2013-14 A-league grand final this morning and the talk of attendances, ratings, corporate sponsorship sounds to me they will be two teams from major capital cities.

Just remember the lowest attended A-league grand final was between two regional teams.

I would say it could be a 3rd Sydney team and a 2nd Brisbane team.

With the endless issues surrounding the central coast and Newcastle this might be a factor in hindering Canberra and wollongongs entry as they would deem it high risk.

They will pick the 2 that have the balance between low risk high reward right.

This is an endless argument and a thread that I change my opinion on daily.

Just hope the two they pick ultimately are the best bid regardless where they come from .

The big question is are we ready for a 33 game regular season and would they scrap finals if this is the length of the season.

Wellington out is a real possibility. Their license is until 2016 - everyone else is 2034.

I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach it will be a 2.5 round, 28 game season plus finals. Each side plays each other twice and then the top six sides play the bottom six sides once, for 28 games. Would make for 171 games in total, compared to 138 currently. :-&

Any longer and it starts to cut into NRL/AFL season end/start.

I thought they found a big shale oil reserve in SA.

What I found interesting is Gallops 4 year cycles.
This must mean 4 year tv deal. Which means next expansion 21/22.

14 teams gives 26 rounds.

12 teams 33?

That's 198 round games with 12 teams
And
182 with 14 teams

[youtube]l1dnqKGuezo[/youtube]

I meant next next expansion.

We might be looking at 25/26. The likes of Wollongong and Canberra can wait. Other markets need to be established sooner rather than later. Even if it means sfc and Brisbabe lose fans in the short term.

Sorry, yea i got ya. That clip was more for laughs, it has to happen eventually, has to be 2 Brisbane teams imo, whoops sorry, got mixed up. A 2nd Brisbane team will not work at all, plain and simple at the moment, QLD got fucked over, the trial state! It will be a while for a 2nd Brisbane team, Sydney will be fine. I blame beer :D



Edited by MrBrisbane: 4/10/2014 07:52:26 PM

Should ignore most my comments from Sat to Sun, when ive hit the turps ;)

4 year tv deal expires in 2018... So why assume that the next expansion can't be until 2022?

They've already proved that a new team can be up and running within a few months, the ideal would be for them to have a year - even with that long lead in we've still got another 3 years before we need to make a decision.

I'm a little bit optimistic. I think popularity will not only increase in Brisbane (and the rest of the country) it will accelerate. I feel 11 years is too long to wait. Perhaps even 7.

I meant next next expansion , as I wrote

I think we will go 12 teams with - then 16 teams

2017 -

HAL 12 teams - 33 rounds - 198 games plus finals

Wollongong
SW Sydney (need new stadium Liverpool) - but can start at Campbelltown - that whole area around Badgery's Creek, Liverpool and Campbelltown will be a major growth area.
Adelaide 2 possibly replacing replacing Wellington

NPL Australia
Alongside starting from 2017 introduce a NPL Australia level above the NPL state leagues. This would be the de-facto A2 League. Travel costs could be paid for by the FFA and this could be a way for places like Tassie, Darwin, Sunshine Coast, Coffs Coast, Geelong, Gold Coast. North Queensland, Brisbane 2, Canberra, Melbourne 3 and Perth 2 to get started.

2021 - go to 16 teams true home and away. 30 round - 240 games plus finals

Brisbane 2 - new stadium around Springfield
Canberra - City based stadium proposed at the moment
Perth 2
Melbourne 3

2025

Another 2 teams to take it to 18 teams. 34 round - 306 games games plus finals
Proper A2 League launched with (smaller) salary cap support from the broadcast deal.

2034

Current licenses run out. New licenses written to allow proper promotion and relegation.

Edited by patjennings: 4/10/2014 08:29:34 PM

Enough with the finals!!!!!

With 16 teams just have an end of season A-League Cup. Four rounds, straight knockout, 1 v 16, 2 v 15 etc. Top remaining teams keep getting seeded against the remaining lower teams

Call it the "finals" to confuse and confound the unwash masses, whilst true football fanatics will understand what's going on.

My bad, I thought when you said 'next' you meant the step to 12 teams, rather than the step to 14.

Heads up - not to spoil the fun, but Frank Lowy has mentioned a few times how the ideal number for the A-League is '12-14 teams, max'. IIRC This may also be a recommendation from the Crawford Report, at the least.

And that's not just some random number Lowy and the Report have just plucked out of the sky - it's based on the number of potentially appropriate markets and with Australia's quite centralised population and few large centres outside the capitals, it makes alot of logical sense and naturally works out that way with some of our discussions surrounding the 'remaining options'. Get this straight - in some ways the best or bonanza has already happened, or is happening, with West Sydney and the re-booted Melbourne x2. The boom that A-League expansion brings has arguably peaked and we won't see any better from any potential expansion markets, than what we're seeing at those clubs, especially Wanderers. Heck, there are few better than Wanderers as is, just Victory - they're the new boys, but they're setting many trends in the league already - helping to take it to a new level.

We have to adjust our sights down and recognise that if whoever we bring it, be it Canberra, South Coast (Wollongong), Nth Qld Fury mk II, Tassie, Ipswich, Geelong... they will be clubs more the scale of the Mariners and their numbers would realistically track similarly, if a little larger, at the best (Jets level? That would be fantastic, though achievable, for such markets, IMHO). Though with the likes of Canberra and South Coast, at the least - and too perhaps Tassie, Ipswich and Fury - they would bring that element of 'national coverage' and representation. Nationally recognised centres, with the geography and scope/diversity in the league broadened - as it certainly was when Fury and GCU were briefly in the league - The humidity of tropical Townsville certainly an interesting away trip, for the teams, travelling fans and even those watching on TV. And especially regarding the nation's capital, they could draw alot more backing that the holiday/retirement locale of Central Coast?

But they're all 'relatively small fry' and the big, long awaited, hump were Sydney and Melbourne x2 and they've happened. It was a great shame that GCU and especially Fury, folded. Fury could've still kept on with slightly different context/fortune. But we're back to that kind of square one again - not unlike where we were when the league initially expanded with the QLD teams. Hopefully a QLD team comprises one of two new teams and either Ipswich or Nth QLD Fury - New and Improved - would be good IMHO - accompanied by Canberra or perhaps South Coast. Max the league at 14, if we must, with South Coast and whichever most workable/best backing, between bids from Tassie, Geelong and a re-booted Gold Coast.

Edited by GloryPerth: 5/10/2014 12:05:23 AM

The thing with a 14 team comp is that 26 rounds isn't good enough IMO.

No , either 12 (which isn't great) or 16.
As Pat wrote maybe they should try bringing in 4 teams at the same time.
This is very difficult.

The FFA needs to come clean with potential locations. Especially short term. Clubs/ fan clubs can be made etc.
If we knew eg today there will be a team here & here. Then in 7 years there will be teams here & here the process can be started. Especially community engagement. The clubs could play NPL and compete in the FFA Cup.

My biggest concern ATM is - if they don't know confidently where they will put 2 new teams, what happens if Wellington gets kicked out?

Ok it's business smart. But is a new market going to emerge in 2 years?

No one is expecting a new wsw (overnight), however I hope they do the right thing and place teams in potential growth markets. Wolves I feel will stagnate.
We need teams in areas of large populations. These teams are long term projects. Not quick (we won the nsl we deserve a team) fixes

Ideally I would like us to skip a 14 team comp, possibly by 10>12>13>15 (with byes obviously) or something like that but probably wont happen.

It would be a step backwards to revert to sub 30 game seasons after we've (hopefully) reached it. That's just how I feel.

with 14 teams you could do something similar to beligium
play each other home and away once then split into 2 groups of 7 where points count for double and play each other once

To put it simpler, don't see the comp being beyond 14 teams. Lowy said 12-14 and 'I think' that's because Crawford did. The markets, the array of 'appropriate markets' left, re-inforces this number. It's good there may be 1-2 pretenders who may miss out, as atleast that adds competition to the bidding. It's a shame if a Tassie or the like never make the A-League, but there could be a national second tier down the road, we never know - if again, there are the markets for it (as too funding and subsidisation). So it still doesn't necessarily have to be an either/or - then again, all these regions have gone with-out a top tier Australian team soo long, some have NEVER had one - not even NSL? - so in a way you can't miss what you've never had and if they've never had it, then perhaps, like the difficult N/S Market of Tassie, they sadly never will? Canberra have had the market to warrant a try before, in the short-lived Canberra Cosmos, Wollongong had the Wolves.. Though Townsville never had an NSL team, they had the Fury A-League team a while... NSL never attempted the Gold Coast, but A-League did - perhaps in-hindsight they had a reason? Anyway, that's part of the story, narrative and context of each of these regions, their bids and even their potential capability and success. But FTR Cosmos doesn't reflect the potential Canberra reality, just as, in a way, Parramatta 'Eel' Power didn't reflect West Sydney's. Perhaps GCU's doesn't reflect GC's either? I guess we, including the FFA, can't really know, till we get down to the business of bidding and the due diligence and under-takings involved, to weed out the PR and optimism from the practical realities and true potential.

Edited by GloryPerth: 5/10/2014 01:00:47 AM

I think 2 teams next tv deal is happening. An expansion may happen 4 years after but they may wait 8 years.
They keep talking about stability.
Gallop says time after time after time it will be where millions are not 100ks. Not so difficult to understand who the contenders and pretenders are.
Canberra and Wollongongs best hope are if CCM relocate there or at Wellingtons expense



Edited by scott21: 5/10/2014 01:41:45 AM

There was nothing in the Crawford Report about the number of teams in the national league. The NSL Report recommended starting with 10 teams with the freedom to expand should suitable options appear.

As for Lowy saying the ideal is 12-14 max - Frank has also said (on expanding to 10 teams, that 12 would follow, and after that the sky is the limit... He also said, "Promotion and relegation is the lifeblood of the game, so we can't ignore it and we won't ignore it... By the time the (2018) World Cup comes there will be promotion and relegation, we will probably have a lot more teams and ... I believe we are going to move forward in big steps, as we are now."

He's a businessman and a politician - he'll say whatever he thinks works best for the audience he's addressing.

Edited by Benjamin: 5/10/2014 04:27:07 AM