Obviously you don't care about NZ that much then, ay.

How did Canberra fare in the NSL?

How did everyone fair in the NSL?

Well, lets see: potentially two professional teams playing in the HAL but no AFC action or amateur football. Tough choice.

True but Canberra under performed on and off the field big time. Not saying it's the be all and end all, but should be taken in account.

I think the modern game is significantly different to that of the NSL. Wollongong should definitely join Canberra though.

Oh yeah without a doubt. I think a Canberra team would be great if done right, but I've got to push my own agenda :lol:

How did Central Coast fare in the NSL? We live in a different world and although the Illawarra Region would be a good market to get into it does not bring the benefits that the ACT does.

This is what I think the A-league should look at some point in the future:

CURRENT TEAMS:
1. Sydney FC
2. Western Sydney Wanderers
3. Central Coast Mariners
4. Newcastle Jets
5. Melbourne Victory
6. Melbourne Heart
7. Adelaide United
8. Perth Glory
9. Brisbane Roar
10. Wellington Phoenix

ADDITIONAL TEAMS IN ORDER OF INTRODUCTION:
11. Canberra
12. Ipswich
13. Auckland
14. Townsville
15. Woolongong
16. Geelong
17. South West Sydney
18. Tasmania

Sorry. Not sorry?

Fair enough. Another team anywhere in AUtsralia would be good and with Tim Cahill backing this one it's up there as a favourite. It has a rich history in the NSL and their are plenty of teams that have stadia now that can make the transfer to the top with a full through league. They don't need to make a whole new team. Good option. Canberra has similar prospects though with an established W-League team and possible stadia and government backing.

Tough call tbh.

The principle I've used above is that you introduce 2 new teams at a time, every say 3-4 years. The attraction of broadcast negotiations is that in the first 2-team expansion you introduce the Brisbane Derby then the next 2-team espansion you get the New Zealand Derby.

I'd like to see both be the next to come in but I live closer to Wollongong so my bias stays there.

What are the playing numbers for each area? From what I can find both are around 11,000 and you can probably add 3/4000 Wollongong by adding the Shoalhaven, Eurobedalla to the total which they are also meant to represent as South Coast. I'm not sure what the surrounding associations Canberra would link with are.

How you can have some of those sides in there before Woolongong is astounding...

South Coast start with 10,500 and then when you add, Highlands, Shoalhaven, Eurobedalla, and Far South Coast it gets up to about 17,000. Canberra starts with 11,100 in their juniors and 3,100 in their men's and women's leagues and then when you add the same areas in NSW that the Raiders and the Brumbies draw from you get to about 20,000.

My preference for expansion is Ipswich and Canberra first up then Illawarra + ? in the next round.

Woolongong vs western sydney Wanders in a spelling bee competition

Would that be "Wanderers"? ;)

i think you fail to recognise my point, which is that it is ridiculous the number of times people spell 'wollongong' and 'wanderers' incorrectly on this forum.

Agreed. It's actually very farken hard to pick who to be the next 4 expansion clubs. In my thinking I have chosen places where the higher populations are (eg. Auckland, Brisbane). The 'Gong is certainly a good prospect. Maybe swap Auckland and the 'Gong and have the 'Gong in the next 4 expansion teams.

Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and for a short time Northern Spirit did well in the NSL off field. Wollongong despite winning the league and being broadbased like Perth and Adelaide failed to attract a crowd, so did Canberra who were much shitter.

Ipswich seems like a great choice but I'm unsure if there is any interest there?

What is the participation like there?

Edited by iridium1010: 12/11/2013 03:09:48 PM

The fact is that in a big city such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane you're going to have people who for whatever reason don't connect with the current A-league clubs in their city.

From my experience with the Wanderers, the majority of fans I have met never had anything to do with Sydney FC. From what I gather, the majority of Heart fans never got onboard with Melbourne Victory.

So I'm sure, given the city is so big, Brisbane would have a lot of people who would get onboard with a second A-league club there. The city has enough population to make it happen.

None of the sides based in Sydney ever really took off other than Spirit, yet we now have 2 sides who between them have nearly 30,000 members and will soon be probably averaging 20k+ each, which is massive for Sydney. So I don't really think NSL has any bearing on A-league attendances really. Aside from this, Wolves played out of a community ground with less than a few thousand seats; the new club would have a brilliant very modern home ground right in the heart of town, and would be the only side based in the whole area. Plus as I said, 3 or 4 games that would go quite close to selling out. They could be massive I tell you, nay if they got given a chance I'd put the house on it! They would take off like Wanderers and Newcastle did.

I remember watching Sydney olympic at leichardt oval in the 90's and there would be 10k + there.. and then they moved further south to play in the shire and it was the end !

I would say that is because you had a bunch of ethnic or nrl-soccer clubs.

My comment was more directed at people saying no one did well in the NSL, nonetheless I wouldn't be expecting a Wanderers like club. Wollongong originally played out of WIN stadium before they moved, not sure how much seated capacity that was then



Edited by iridium1010: 12/11/2013 03:35:15 PM

I think a south coast team would have better 'active support' than a canberra team. There are a lot of young males in the area (stretching wollongong to nowra) with probably more time on their hands.. In canberra you might have 'professional' civil servants and uni students who leave for the summer..

Have a look at the pitch rofl

[youtube]RhMFTYStSws[/youtube]

You can't seriously try and tell me the WIN stadium of the 90s was anything like as good as it is now :lol:




Would be one of the best grounds in the comp imo, up there with upgraded nib and Hindmarsh.


Edited by 4wanderer4: 12/11/2013 03:39:57 PM

I think the next four teams should be as follows:

11. Wollongong

WIN Stadium is a brilliant facility and is ideal for football use, a lot of other candidates can only offer substandard rectangular venues or circular stadiums. With the history behind Wollongong Wolves, it's quite clearly a footballing region and I believe it will another WSW (to a lesser degree). An average crowd of 9-11k in their first year would be very achievable with neighbouring NSW teams able to travel in strong numbers. It would also mean that strong Wollongong numbers would travel to Sydney and WSW matches.

12. Canberra

They've been waiting a long time and have arguably displayed more interest and intent on entering the national competition. A team in the nation's capital would be a big step in the right direction I believe and we may see decent numbers in travelling support from Wollongong and the two Sydney teams. Only concern is that I'm not a massive fan of their stadium.

13. Ipswich

In what is regarded as a very fast growing region, we could see the fan base pick up pace in their first decade. With what would provide a local QLD rivalry, it would only add to the excitement around the league and it would be Brisbane's first true local rivalry (just my opinion as an outsider) I'd say.


14. Townsville

By this stage I'd like to believe that Northern Fury are in a position to enter the league. A fine rectangular stadium in waiting, but given the two seasons could be regarded as wet and very wet, perhaps an upgrade of the stadium to have a roof would stop crowds from staying at home during rainy afternoons and nights.

potential wollongong crowd average, using low predictions:

16,000 mark
sydney fc
western sydney

10,000 mark
newcastle jets
ccm
perth glory
melbourne victory

7,500
rest of comp (ie 5 teams)

if they played each team once using these estimates, they would average 10,000. and along with this, would give an extra local derby for wsw, sfc, jets, ccm. so this sort of proposition is much different to something like canberra in terms of mutual benefits for other clubs.

ACL Football did wonders for Adelaide United. Either way, both the Nix ands the All Whites will be dowm the toilet in a few short years, so thanks for your cameo.