Morris Iemma’s plan to shake up the stagnating A-League

Former NSW premier Morris Iemma, left, with fellow Southern Expansion A-League bid proponent Craig Foster.
Former NSW premier Morris Iemma, left, with fellow Southern Expansion A-League bid proponent Craig Foster.
Former NSW premier Morris Iemma is the new face of the Southern Expansion franchise bidding to be one of two teams to be included in the A-League.

Iemma gives his first extensive interview to The Weekend Australian about a number of issues ­including the bid, why Sydney FC should be happy to have them in the league and the state of football in Australia.


The Weekend Australian: What made you want to be involved with Southern Expansion and why do you believe you are well-placed to be one of the next two teams brought into the A-League?
Morris Iemma: The late Les ­Murray and Craig Foster asked me initially to provide public support because of my long connection with the region. When Les sadly passed away, I was asked to ­become the chair of the bidding committee.

Quite frankly, the A-League is stagnating and the competition needs refreshing and there can be no argument about that. Attendances and television figures have fallen off. It has been six years since there has been an injection of new blood via the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Southern Expansion ticks much of what the A-League is looking for. The southern Sydney region will have a population of over one million people in 10 years’ time. The potential is enormous. You have three passionate football areas involved — St George, Suth­erland and the Illawarra. We will have two grounds, Kogarah Jubilee and WIN Stadium and we are hoping to have Shark Park. We have everything we need, including a huge grassroots factor and the history of all the regions. ­Remember, St George is where the late and great Johnny Warren came from, and Tim Cahill.

TWA: It’s no secret the Illawarra want their own, stand-alone franchise. What makes you think you can win them over if you are handed the licence ahead of them?
MI: We have got a relationship with Football South Coast but it is understandable that they would be looking at their own bid. If it doesn’t come off and we are ­successful, am I confident they will embrace our bid? Absolutely.

There is a synergy between us and the Illawarra. I know the ­region. When I was a minister I was involved in linking health ­services and transport between St George and there. The people of the ­Illawarra are passionate about football and, whatever happens, I am confident that we would have their support if our bid is chosen.

TWA: The Illawarra might be won over eventually but Sydney FC won’t be so easy. They are vehemently opposed to another ­franchise being so close to areas from which they understandably believe they draw a lot of support.
MI: Let me point out that the last time we had expansion in the A-League, Sydney had the entirety of Sydney’s 4.5 million population so in comes Western Sydney, and, contrary to assertions, the impact on FC was negligible.


https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/football/morris-iemmas-plan-to-shake-up-the-stagnating-aleague/news-story/6d28f128388f8e4bed69d027bc9bd117

Urgh you know the Southern side will get it but theyre a complete mess of a side. Really dont want them.

I was cool on a joint Sutherland Wollongong bid until I realised you can use your medicare card in both and now i'm just so fucking on board it isn't funny

I heard the Chairman of Wollongong Wolves on FNR and there won't be any so-called synergy with them. Iemma is dreaming.

:D

More mid table teams to get excited about before Gallop.

theres gonna be alot of them if sydney fc and melbourne victory continue to dominate. i have high hopes for newcastle jets to keep improving, knowing that the ledman group is looking after the club well

its up to everyone, including my team to catch up.

oh and im pretty confident wollongong wolves will be in the a-league one day. just support the new side for now and when wollongong do come in to the league, stab em in the back.

Impressive bid. But dont think its the right area. If sydney must have a team it should be campbelltown

yep yep yep 

Goodbye woolongong......sad, as they deserve their own team. 

if The Wollongong area is too small to have its own team then something is wrong with the current model. Wollongong and Southern Sydney are big enough for their own teams.

The talk is that the Southern Sydney team have it and the second team will not be from Victoria (to keep CFG happy). That being the case Brisbane is the most likely. However, none of the bids there seem to be compelling at the moment. There is the opportunity for Wolves to be a stand alone club, with a ready made natural rivalry against the Southern Sydney team. It may make the HAL a touch NSW centric for a few years but that can be balanced out with future expansion.

F**k off Iemma...I am a proud Gong lad, former Gold Member and long-term Wolves supporter, was there when we won both NSL GF's and I have absolutely no interest in supporting a Southern Sydney team...for me it the Wolves (or a Wollongong only bid) or nothing.

Wollongong is not a suburb of Sydney and never will be, that would be like saying the Gold Coast is a southern suburb of Brisbane!!!

He is partially right tho, Football South Coast (FSC) have given "conditional" support to both the Southern Expansion and the Wolves bid's. Was disappointing and hence why the Wolves have become independent to FSC...

It would be so cool if we got the Wolves back, but it's obviously not going to happen. It's either Southern Expansion or nothing, so it might as well be nothing. I will not be able to relate to a team from Sutherland that plays a few games at Win Stadium. I simply have no connection to Southern Sydney at all. To me, it's just a place over 50km away that the train passes through on the way to Central. I don't even think I've ever been to Sutherland proper, so expecting me to support a football team based there is a nonsense. 

It's looking unlikely to me as well...the fact the Wolves bid had conditional backing of Bruce Gordon (WIN TV and SC10), the junior nursery and various regional reps has become immaterial it appears. The Southern Expansion team does makes sense, but for me I won't be making an effort to get to a game nor supporting them. The team does not represent my region, and therefore is not for me.

And the only time I've been to Sutherland is to drive or train through it too, so why would I want to spend 2 hrs at a football game for a team that tries to say it represents my region, but is based in an area I have no roots in...

What type of kickback would he be getting from the Chinese investors?
He’d be a key figure to getting their foot in the door with property investment/approvals and the like.

Interesting to here they are looking at playing games in both Koogarah and Shark Park.
I thought they were looking at building there on stadium in the sticks at one point.
Either way St George and Cronulla should be trying to entice a summer tenant if they ever want further upgrades to the ground.

100% 

As a Sutherland shire native I can assure everybody on this forum there is no identity connection between us and the Gong. I and most others here view people from northern Wollongong the same as we view people from Lake Conjola: You're all "south coast" to us. 

The naivety of this bid frustrates the hell out of me and my objections have nothing to do with being a Sydney fan. 

Come on now, there's no need for insults. 

The feeling is more than mutual lol

It would create a tense rivalry tho if both Southern Expansion and the Wolves were admitted, but it would never happen 

I've never known someone from Cronulla. But in the years I lived in Canberra I met a few people from the Gong. They hated the shire with a passion.

Why did they hate the shire? Personally, I'm completely indifferent to it. Cronulla is nice enough for a visit about once every 6 years (though apparently full of surfie Anglo racists). Sutherland is just a train stop on the way to Sydney. I see no reason to hate it. At least it's close to the beach. Western Sydney, on the other hand, is the most miserable collection of places I've ever been to. I hate the West with a passion (but feel affection for the Wanderers and their fans for some reason). 

St George fans usually. Others hated the anglo centric racism. One guy said there was no way of explaining shire boganism because it's relatively affluent, they were just genetica bogans. another couple hated it because it was "taken over by lebs" (their sentiments). Another couple simply "dunno just do."

Maybe it's a one way thing like the Adelaide/Melbourne rivalry?

Whatever it is, I can't see much shared identity when you've got 45 km of forest separating the two areas.

I'm guessing you are from east of Gymea. Most native shire folk from east of Gymea only reluctantly consider Sutherland to be part of the Shire, Loftus southwards may as well be Wollongong. From the southern suburbs of the shire perspective this bid makes a lot of sense. I grew up going to schools that were populated by half shire and half Illawarra kids. Most people around here spend just as much time in Wollongong as in the shire.
In terms of the bid I am more concerned about the Kogarah element than the Wollongong.

I have a hard time understanding your post from a geographical perspective. You make Wollongong sound much closer to the shire than it really is. I know of no schools populated by half Illawarra and half shire kids. Where are they? Also, it's ridiculous to say that Loftus is practically Wollongong, being 54km away...

You will probably find that a lot of kids from Helensburgh / Stanwell Park travel to Heathcote or Engadine to go to High School...its closer than Bulli High from memory.

I'd suggest that's the area where chillbilly is referring to

I'm pretty sure that Stanwell Park is closer to Bulli than it is to either Engadine or Heathcote, though you do have a point about Helensburgh. Still, Helensburgh is the very northernmost suburb and is hardly representative of Wollongong as a whole. It's so far removed from everything else that it's barely in the Illawarra at all.

That is where I am referring to. Its not as clean cut a divide as many make it out to be. I'd expect Loftus down to Coalcliff and a lesser extent down to Bulli to have a number of people willing to go either way.

Derider, I wasn't saying Loftus southwards is part of Wollongong but commenting on the insular attitude of many within the shire towards other parts of the shire. 

The argument that if team x gets in it means team y won’t get in is BS and not a legitimate point to raise in relation to any expansion team.

If FCBC get in then Strikers are out, or if Strikers get in then FCBC are out .... does that mean neither of them should get in??

If southern expansion are the best bid then they should get in over Wolves, and visa-versa.

But the sooner we get to pro/rel and end this geographical debate the better.

Wolves to me look like Brisbane Strikers, feeling a bit sorry for themselves and looking for a sympathy vote to get over the line. Meanwhile the flashy Southern Expansion bid (FCBC in Brisbane) are steamrolling towards the finishing line.

The wolves have the stigma that's attached to any club that has a history, in nsw terms they may as well be wogs.

Brisbane on the other hand is bizzaro land as the only real options are teams that already exist, when it's all said and done we could have a situation where the strikers were overlooked for hollandia and the Brisbane spags.

If/when this all goes down it will be southern Sydney and one of those 2 Brisbane options. You won't see a bidding process as these decisions will be long pre determined if not already. The ffa will make it out like an extensive process is taking place, we will see the usual out of my mob, tassie, Canberra, wolves etc but none of them have a hope in hell.

Wolves were never a monoethnic team nor were they ever considered as one. There is no stigma at all in that regard, which is why they should be considered ahead of most other ex-NSL clubs. Unlike South Melbourne who actually had a Greek name and the Greek flag on their emblem for the majority of their existence. 

So stop projecting. 

Perception is all that matters, the wolves dont fit the model, a club with tradition who use to play around with the wogs thats what they are. They have essentially been gobbled up by this shiny new bid who will tap into there region against the clubs will. The wolves missed the boat in 2004 when the ffa made some regional concessions. Unfortunately the Mariners took that regional spot. Whether you think they do or dont have a right is irrelevant, they will never get a chance as a stand alone established club. The region will get a few breadcrumbs with this new outfit and that will be that.

The wolves will mostly join the rest of us nobodies in the championship if we can get it off the ground.

I get what southmelb is saying in that all the old NSL clubs have essentially been discriminated against by the FFA like the old NSL days and the whole "ethnic colours" tag.

The fact is that the FFA cares so little about the history and origins of the game in this country. They're trying to spin it as a marketable family game, yet the ties in to the old ethnic roots go far beyond anything the FFA could spin.

I agree that the bidding process will have already be run and won...the media releases in the last few weeks have said enough...i.e. upgrades to Ballymore could be fast-tracked with cross-code cooperation, the tweet saying southern expansion have been given a tick of approval...they'll spin it as a "robust" process where they're were "many solid, compliant" bids, but will ultimately be "the best two franchise models presented".

@ southmelb

Exactly. The ffa will give the appearance of there being a process to follow but in reality the deal is done. Probably done already (certainly the guys around the FCBC bid think it’s all done).

And in handeling it in that way the ffa will create a few more bitter n twisted people within the football community to add to the tens of thousands already there. They just don’t get it.

Can any Sydneysiders explain why Kogarah is an oval when there is only rectangular sports being played there?
Seems better than Spotless & Etihad but some viewing points wouldn’t be great at all.

Without knowing the regions too well, I wish southern expansion would focus solely on Sutherland and St George regions.
Playing games mainly at Shark Park would intrude less on Sydney FC but still provide a option with a region that is quiet proud.
Shark Park is the ideal size for a-League expansion and I believe Olympic played games there in the NSL and got ok crowds there. I remember posting their crowds at the venue ranged between 4-6k which was pretty decent in the nsl era

Shark Park alienates too many of their target audience. That is the reason for the stadium at Loftus. It can draw from both the Kogarah line and the Sutherland line. They should concentrate  on the Shire, St George and even Canterbury-Bankstown areas and leave the Gong out of it.

I may be completely wrong here but I was told back when it was redeveloped that it was kept as an oval so that the local schools can continue holding athletic carnivals there.

Doesn't matter - it won't be there long. It is too valuable a piece of real estate. Close to 2 stations - it will be sold for medium or high density housing. Better for the Southern Expansion bid to quickly build their stadium so St George can have a place to play (that football would control).      

It would be even better and much cheaper if they played all their games at Win Stadium in Wollongong. Then I'd get behind them even if they technically represented Southern Sydney. I'd even support giving a couple of games each season to Kogarah!

the Wolves ex-NSL wog thing is nonsense

You think the ffa are gonna go purely regional when this other shiny new thing is on the table? I didnt say they are considered wogs, i said they may as well be because they will get the same treatment in this so called process.

Surely by now everyone knows how the ffa operates. It actually gets irritating talking about it. I would like to see Wolves get in but it aint happening.

I agree that Wolves are unlikely to get in, but not because they are ex-NSL

Expansions I fear would last about 2-4 seasons before people would become bored again.

What about Pro/Rel to spice it up

Yeah this club risks being another’s Melbourne City being devoid of any purpose or meaning and existing purely because the powers at be wanted it it to.

Either have a Shire team or a Wollongong team or better yet, both. But this mush of everything will be a nothing team that no one really wants

When SFC played in Wollongong it was fun. When Southern Expansion will play there it will be not fun.

There was a team that represented GC and played in Brisbane. It was Queensland Roar. But after GCU came in fans were not going back to Brisbane Roar.

Wollongong is not part of the Sydney tv zone. They will not get their own team over a bid like this.

In fact it puts them quite down the list.

Just think tas, canberra, woolongong, fnq, fremantle, geelong and one each from a capital should form their own league. Ffa obviously dont give a f and will always chase the biggest shiniest dollar leaving other regions with crumb and gestures, breeding resentment and mistrust at every step. There is no intent to ever let teams outside major capitals in and so funds should somehow be found to make another league and F FFA and their requirements.

@chill

The way you explain it seems like the Shire would have a better connection with Wollongong than the North East or North Western parts of outer Sydney that also fall under the SFC banner.

Their lifestyle is the most similar but these regions like to keep to themselves, and are so far removed from each other that the only time people from either the Shire or Northern parts of Sydney go to either opposing area is to have a short holiday. 

There use to be an old saying in Wollongong that to get to the shire you needed to have your passport stamped.

The geographical ties bind the areas but they are so far removed from each other culturally that it’s not funny. Wollongong is very multi-cultural whereas The Shire is seen more as Anglo-Saxon...well that’s the way I was bought up to think of it tbh lol

If that's the case then this bid is doomed to fail. Sounds like it'd be the equivalent of a joint-Geelong/Melb Western Suburbs team.

Funny that Iemma's even involved, given he fought for the monoethnic clubs' right to exist in the NSL's final decade.

I've always found Wollongong's ethnic diversity to be very similar to the Shire's, at least the North of Wollongong. Looking up the census data it shows both areas are very similar in ethnic makeup and population size. With the question over of what Australian descent means in either area. Most people are of predominantly English/Irish decent. Wollongong just has a slightly larger Balkan population.

https://profile.id.com.au/sutherland/ancestry?WebID=10
https://profile.id.com.au/wollongong/ancestry

It's not about ethnic diversity, but geographical distance. Sutherland is 56km north of Wollongong city. It's much too far. They're completely and utterly separate regions with no natural connections,  so it seems crazy to expect me to support a team based in Sutherland. They may as well be in North Sydney and claim they represent the Illawarra. It's just stupid. 

What geographical ties? They're not even that close. 

They're both South of the Georges River...hence why they're "geographically tied".

Like I said before, many feel that Wollongong is a southern suburb of Sydney, yet there is such a distance (56kms including the National Park) between the outer suburbs of Sydney, and the Wollongong area, it's hard to really feel close to anything that will be based out of the Shire.

Sooner ICAC expose this the better

And we continue with the same model with little on any known research to work forward with.

We continue with this Franchise Farce.

Populate a 2nd Division now!

Base entry to the 2nd Division on Facilities existing or confirmed.

Allow 2nd Division Clubs to establish, consolidate and develop their football culture and human infrastructure.

Expand A-League by promotion.

How Hard Is It?

bring back the Fury :) but seriously

Phase 1
Canberra & Wollongong teams now..
Phase 2
3rd melbourne team ( sth melb )
Tassie team ( if they build recatngular stadium )
Phase 3
Second div 
Phsae 4
Pro/Rel

Love it when anyone tries to justify a bid by saying that 2 top (Australian) players have come from the area in the last 60 years...  Wow...  TWO of them.  Must be a hotbed.

Who cares if every Socceroo came from there ?

Where does Skoko live these days?

Geelong - he's a junior coach at the North Geelong Warriors these days, as well as running coffee distribution business.

http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/totalfootball/ep-16/8042650

Well that settles it surely geelong gets a gig?

Apart from if you ask him what he thinks of the HAL

We can also lay claim to Steve Horvat, Matt Spiranovic as well as Australia's greatest Socceroo - Adrian Leijer

all for a Southern bid to represent Sutherland region, but only if Wollongong have their own side. 

They don't deserve to be grouped with that.

What's Geelong like as a town? I never hear anything about it. I know they love their AFL team and that's about it. Is it like a less attractive Victorian version of Wollongong? 

The region has a smaller population than the Illawarra and they have less than half the number of registered players but the point that ways strongly in their favour over the Illawarra is that it is part of the Melbourne TV ratings region which is a big plus if we ever get onto a major FTA channel.

But in reality it's 3712 registered players. Considering the HAL only converts less than 1/5th regular participants in to attendees, it doesn't inspire much confidence.

But of course FFA is the sort of organisation that would jump on the bid becaues of some ideological fascination with getting the game on to channel 7 so we can get neutered again

The city has also supported a successful sporting team for 100+ years in the form of the Cats, in addition to providing Socceroos from the local region. Participation numbers don't show the whole story, as shown by Sydney FC who continually fail to draw a crowd befitting of their stature in spite of gargantuan participation numbers in NSW.

If you've got 12 teeth, you're overqualified.

Newcastle'd be a better analogy, IMO.

This bid is most probably the worst of all the applicants across the country. A complete mess. They just say random things like "of course everyone will love us, why wouldn't they?"

They seem to completely ignore the fact that the Gong want nothing to do with them, and all the hardcore football fans in the area are already members of another club. 

No research, no fan forums. Just big names and Chinese money. A completely hollow bid which is the last thing the league needs right now. We needs bids from passionate owners, passionate locals who are going to support their team til the end, win or lose, and give the league a real boost of enthusiasm. Southern expansion are even more plastic than Melbourne City. 

@ kaifusi

So the worst bid in the country has a $300m stadium planned, a dedicated training ground and is backed by Chinese billionaires... what does the best bid look like then lol?

I get all the other stuff you’re talking about (community engagement etc) but that can’t start until the ffa release a formal date and that mythical criteria they keep promising to release.

@Waz
Upset Smurf. 
The premise of the bid that i heard from Craig Foster on interview is that they are taking the untapped population in Sydney's south around St. George/Hurstvile down to Sutherland Shire. 
Just lazy from the Smurfs in not trying to tap this area fully. Just like when the Wanderers started. I live in the far west of Sydney and never wanted to travel to Eastern Sydney to watch football especially when it was all bling and more like Hollywood. Sydney FC let 2 players visit my grassroots club before the Wanderers were formed and these 2 players were NOT allowed to kick a ball with the 30 or so kids there that night. You might guess my reaction.
Back on topic, the Wollongong bit imo has no substance as it is geographically separate. The other issue with Wollongong is that Wolves think they own that region. Wollongong should be separate but probably a new franchise.