Would have been even better if we had a club based at Jubilee and Northern Spirit and Wanderers and be getting ready for a fourth club in south west Sydney.  There are enough Sydney developed players around the league to have 4 clubs and they could come home.  There are plenty more coming through the ranks in a city of just under 200k registered players.

Would have been pretty nice to have SFC, WSW and Northern Spirit.

Don't forget that the FFA had to buy in at Melbourne Victory just to get one team up and running in Melbourne.

You idiot. What have you done.

aaaand wrong thread

A lot of irrelevant games you guys want then so be it. Bring on Southern Expansion.

Was that the Crawford Report or the NSL Taskforce Report that Lowy's board commissioned when they first came in?  I thought Crawford only dealt with governance issues.

The NSL Taskforce Report definitely suggested 3 Sydney clubs and 2 in Melbourne as did the PFA's report that preceded it.  

To answer your question, it's more to do with misgivings by many stakeholders with the current rulers of the Football Federation Australia; they don't trust them, and the feeling is mutual from the Lowy family.

The Crawford Report had three teams in Syndey, not two. Southern Expansion fits into that model.

It doesn’t really matter how fair and transparent the process the FFA have a natural and indeed mandated bias in their selection process.

The FFA need to be mindful of which new clubs most benefit the interests of the league, sponsors, broadcasters, various governments, FIFA/ AFC, local leagues/player registrations and the overall health/growth of the game and indeed they are actually mandated to do so....

Paulc of course the FFA have to make it an open invitation but thinking the whole process will be transparent and fair to all bids is very naive

If two regions / entities have been labelled as certainties then they must be way in front of the others already. That's the only conclusion one can come to.

However, you don't know, not even FFA. Hence the open invitation to all. And even if these so called front runners did end up as preferred imagine the information and knowledge gathered from the process.

If the FFA hadn't issued such an invitation I'd imagine the bitching here would have gone ballistic. They're damned if they do and damned if the don't.

Sydney dominated with its “bling” FC approach in season 1.
With Dwight Yorke and co in season 1 I’m sure they still would’ve had great crowds in that season which would’ve also been boosted by hosting derbies.

It probably would have worked well in Melbourne - but Sydney FC would have been stillborn if a team from Western Sydney which was/is the heartland of football in Sydney was there from the beginning.

not really sure how you figure that. Surely the only thing that would be "entrenched" after all these years (everything else being equal) would be the staleness of the derby

Joffa just imagine if the FFA followed the Crawford report from the start.

2 sides from Melbourne and Sydney from the start.
Imagine the rivalry South Melbourne and Melbourne Victory would’ve had. Would’ve been a REAL showcase of event rather than the meek one we have with no fans City.
South also wouldn’t have lost the rectangular venue of Lakeside and it would’ve been that ‘boutique’ rectangular venue we all talk about that looks full and is great for tv.

Imagine WSW v Sydney rivalry from the get go. The derbies would’ve well and truly been intrenched into the Sydney public by now but it’s sadly starting to wane.

Yet there will be Southern Expansion. If there were a dirtier pool we'd be jumping in mud.

South Melbourne have had plenty of chances to be involved and are more than most aware of the rules, you can’t blame South Melbourne for not wanting to accede to those rules... likewise you can’t claim dirty pool for not being admitted to the league.

Best South can hope for is that the rules change....

Plus South Melbourne would already be aware that they are unwanted by the current FFA administration

The term "flawed model" gives it away doesn't it?

One bid, based in a state capital city and which has significant financial backing from Australia and abroad, will not consider lodging an application to join the A-League club before the FFA has established a new operating model for the competition, granting clubs full ownership over their trademarks and independence from the FFA. A source involved with that bid labelled the current A-League set-up as "a flawed model", suggesting they would not be prepared to lose money while the current FFA administrators remain.

Anyone else come to the conclusion that the bid in question would be South Melbourne?
They are in a capital city. Their proposal has funding from Australia and overseas and (understandably) they would want to retain ownership of their trademarks and IP.

I don't get it, is it means NPL clubs have no chances to enter A-League or there is a trend in Australia like Korea where anti-professionalism exsists among NPL clubs ?

Because FFA already already know what FIFA are coming back with and are pressing on?

Announcement of two new teams in October... sounds like next seasons marketing done.

How can you have expressions of interest in something that may have a completely new entity running it after  FIFA steps in (assuming we ever hear from them again..supposed to be before Easter ...sure I saw a Bunny heading my way this morning ) ?

@ bundorahbrah

Why does it need to be independent of the club owners. Part of Football culture IS clubs getting together and forming their own competition - that’s how the very first League in England came in to become ng and it’s how it’s run 140 years later. Are we so incompetent or corrupt in Australia that we can’t do what most of the world is able to do?

Part of the problem today is the clubs don’t have a direct say in how their competitions are run, independent means some dickhead (Gallop and State Feds) with no skin in the game making all the big decisions - look how that’s worked out.

The league needs to be governed and controlled by the stakeholders (the clubs + 1 share for the FFA) and administered by an independent commission/group

It’s not hard. Just do what the rest of the world does. We are not unique.

it needs to be independent of the clubs owners as well

If what Waz says is true, then a missed opportunity to get some ‘geographic’ rivalry happening. Suncorp and Ballymore less than 3km apart. You might get a couple of thousand new fans in the area, but does nothing for the big growth areas of Brisbane.

Even Rugby League with all its milllions couldn’t make such a ‘forced’ rivalry work. SEQ Crushers lasted 2 seasons for 2 wooden spoons.