The A-league Expansion Thread


The A-league Expansion Thread

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jack999
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Plus most people around here wouldn't contemplate going to Cambelltown unless they were forced...
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9 Years Ago by jack999
imonfourfourtwo
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Give it another four years before talking about another Sydney team. I do believe we should have at least 3 or 4 teams in sydney and the same in Victoria.

In the meantime, Wollongong and Canberra next.
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9 Years Ago by imonfourfourtwo
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Wollongong seems like an obvious place.

I agree that Greater Melbourne and Sydney should have 3 teams each (probably 4 in Sydney as its more geographically spread out to Melbourne). In terms of attendance, NRL and AFL teams derive a massive boost from the sheer amount of intra-city matches they have.

But 16 teams like in the NRL or 18 in the AFL is something I wouldn't like to see. I tend to think that 14 is a sweet spot. 26 rounds + an 8 team 3-4 weeks final series and you've got a winner.

Edited by InFosterWeTrust: 28/4/2014 03:11:05 PM
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9 Years Ago by InFosterWeTrust
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Woolongong is just the blatantly obvious one to me as well
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9 Years Ago by Decazz
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imonfourfourtwo wrote:
Give it another four years before talking about another Sydney team. I do believe we should have at least 3 or 4 teams in sydney and the same in Victoria.

In the meantime, Wollongong and Canberra next.

Methinks a 2nd Queensland team is the first off the cab, whether this be Northern Fury or SE Queensland again or both. I agree Wollongong should be a sure thing, except does FFA want another regional side in NSW?
3rd Sydney & 3rd Victorian will also enter a matter of when!!!!!
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9 Years Ago by robbos
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Looking at the success the FFA have had in establishing WSW, would it be better for them to reinvest the dividends from the sale of WSW into setting up another one or two franchises themselves and then selling them on when they get established.
That way they can utilise their experience in setting clubs up rather than relying on haphazard consortiums and/or sugar daddy owners, and the FFA would be able to put the franchises in the best places rather than hoping the best places come up with a franchisee.
It seems to make sense to me.
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9 Years Ago by Angus
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Ipswich City in.

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9 Years Ago by melbourne_terrace
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bring in wollongong wolves and ipswich rovers next

both teams that can add a lot to the league with a brisbane city derby and more nsw clashes which all pull strong crowds.
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9 Years Ago by williamn
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IMO there won't be a third a-league team in Sydney for a long time.

Given how quickly the Wanderers have taken off, I'm pretty sure FFA will want to let the two Sydney clubs consolidate their rivalry and grow huge before they muddy the water with a third team.

A third Sydney team would have to represent a different constituency to either Sydney FC or the Wanderers to carve out it's own market. Right now it's a bit unclear what that is.

The Wanderers have sewn up the working class, multicultural west of the city. Sydney FC still draw fans from all over the place, but they are generally a more middle class, inner city team (even though they don't embrace it in their marketing).

Key question is: fast forwarding a few years, who in Sydney feels unrepresented by both teams? North? South? South-west? And are these regions big enough to support an a-league club on their own?





Edited by Lastbroadcast: 28/4/2014 04:36:03 PM
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9 Years Ago by Lastbroadcast
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InFosterWeTrust wrote:
Wollongong seems like an obvious place.

I agree that Greater Melbourne and Sydney should have 3 teams each (probably 4 in Sydney as its more geographically spread out to Melbourne). In terms of attendance, NRL and AFL teams derive a massive boost from the sheer amount of intra-city matches they have.

But 16 teams like in the NRL or 18 in the AFL is something I wouldn't like to see. I tend to think that 14 is a sweet spot. 26 rounds + an 8 team 3-4 weeks final series and you've got a winner.

Edited by InFosterWeTrust: 28/4/2014 03:11:05 PM


Greater Melbourne Giants!
Edited
9 Years Ago by zutto09
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chillbilly wrote:
Always annoys me when people suggest things without knowing the area. A team in the south has to be either at Campbelltown or the Shire, it can't be both. While it might look ideal on a map, it's easier to get to the SFS and Parramatta from Cronulla than it is to get to Campbelltown.

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[size=6]Time is right for a third Sydney A-League team[/size]

Is there now room for a third team in Sydney? Yes.

To understand, and appreciate, what you've got, you need to know where you've come from. Western Sydney Wanderers are living, breathing proof that we've come a long way.

For those with long enough memories, Parramatta Stadium was once a mausoleum for football's hopes and ambitions in the west. First Sydney United were forced to move there from Edensor Park, then along came Parramatta Power. The common denominators were empty seats and a funereal atmosphere. Believe it or not, as the lights were going out on the Power, the entire eastern grandstand was closed to the public. The only occupants used to be two cameramen and a couple of commentators.
I was one of those callers. We had to shoot into the western grandstand, because that's where the ‘‘crowds’’ were forced to go. A classic case of right place, wrong time. Sums up the NSL era, really. Well, haven't times changed?

Sitting amongst the throng which jam-packed Parramatta for the elimination final, marvelling in the passion, excitement and tribalism of the big occasion, you couldn't help but make the comparison. The football community in this country has had to learn the hard way to take nothing for granted, but it's difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the Wanderers failing from here. The west has finally been won.

So what's next? Standing still in professional sport is not an option. It's even less of an option in Sydney, where there are now 20 professional teams across a broad spectrum of sports. Football has a strategic advantage – its enormous participation base. What Sydney FC (partly through the acquisition of Alessandro del Piero) and the Wanderers have shown is that the A-League is now getting it right at the pointy end.

That both Sunday newspapers led their sections with Saturday night's match at Parramatta suggests a fundamental shift has occurred. The business of football, in Sydney, has never been in better shape. Which makes this the right time to be bold.

Expansion of the A-League is an absolute necessity. It's simply a question of when and where. The push is on from head office to explore the potential of a second Brisbane team based in the Ipswich-Logan corridor. Fair enough. Elsewhere, the usual culprits – North Queensland, Canberra, Auckland and Wollongong – are being canvassed without the FFA imprimatur.
What doesn't get much airplay is a third Sydney team, even though this was always an option if the Australian Premier League model had been used to set up the A-League, rather than John O'Neill's ‘‘one city, one team’’ approach. It's time to reopen the discussion.

Some time before the next broadcast deal is due in 2017, the A-League needs to be a 12-team competition rather than a 10-team one. In principle at the very least. It's a prospect which has already dawned on potential investors in a third Sydney team, some of whom have a history in the game.

Behind the scenes, moves are already being made. The critical question, of course, is where. If you accept that the Wanderers own the west and Sydney FC own the north and east, that leaves the south, and perhaps south-west. For me, the corridor from Sutherland to Macarthur is ripe for the picking. The stadiums already exist at Campbelltown and Woolooware. There are almost 30,000 registered players in the region. Far enough away from both Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, this is where a third Sydney team has the most potential.

In grand final week, all the attention will be on Sydney's dominant team, and rightly so. What Lyall Gorman and his management have achieved in just two years has been phenomenal. What the Wanderers have also done is show the way. Football doesn't need to reinvent itself to succeed, it simply needs to tap in to what is already there.

There is room for a third Sydney team, no doubt. There are people determined to make it happen, no doubt. If the stars align, the Wanderers won't be Sydney's newest team within three or four years. Things are going to get interesting, which is exactly what we need. Stay tuned.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/time-is-right-for-a-third-sydney-aleague-team-20140427-zr0a6.html#ixzz308Ws0iMr


Cockerill pro sydney wank again, what a surprise.

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9 Years Ago by melbourne_terrace
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Bit to soon for a new Sydney team. Come back in 5 years and we'll see how everything's going.

Agree with others, Wollongong should be next. 8-[
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9 Years Ago by A16Man
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I think a team based at Oki Jubilee in Kogarah would be great as a Southern Sydney team. I think that would pretty much be ideal. It's close enough to the Shire, plus would draw fans from the southern part of the city.
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9 Years Ago by Coop624
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Sydney FC are planning to have their training base at Tempe. Which is about 10 minutes from Kogarah Oval. St George/Shire is Sydney FC territory. Maybe people from this area will better associate with Sydney FC once they move in. Sydney FC should be playing practice/lower attendance games at Kogarah and when the Wolves come in, at Shark Park against wollongong.

3rd Sydney team in sydney will either be based in Liverpool or Penrith (depending on where the new stadium is built in 5-10 years)
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9 Years Ago by yoshi2284
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yoshi2284 wrote:
Sydney FC are planning to have their training base at Tempe. Which is about 10 minutes from Kogarah Oval. St George/Shire is Sydney FC territory. Maybe people from this area will better associate with Sydney FC once they move in. Sydney FC should be playing practice/lower attendance games at Kogarah and when the Wolves come in, at Shark Park against wollongong.

3rd Sydney team in sydney will either be based in Liverpool or Penrith (depending on where the new stadium is built in 5-10 years)
When is Tempe happening?
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9 Years Ago by thupercoach
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Is the Gold Coast ready to welcome an A-League franchise again?
After the demise of Clive Palmer's team, backers in Queensland believe they have the players and infrastructure to bring football back to the area

The Gold Coast's population is set to swell in the coming decade, and will provide plenty of opportunity to establish a fanbase.

In retrospect, we should have seen it coming. But when Clive Palmer was awarded an A-League license back in 2008 he wasn't the way he is now. When he said he would move football in Australia forward, we believed he would do it. He was meant to be Australia's answer to Roman Abramovich. He promised to pump his mining billions into Gold Coast United and set new standards for Australian football. He was quirky, yes, but nothing more – there were no dinosaur parks, no replicas of the Titanic. Not yet.

What could have been. Two years on from the death of Gold Coast United and few would look back on Palmer's three-season rollercoaster in the A-League with any wistfulness. A club born with a silver spoon in its mouth, United suffered an undignified end. In their final days, they trained in borrowed Socceroos gear provided by FFA because their banished owner had control of their regular kit. With a squad that became casualties of the war between Palmer and the FFA, the stench of doom – which had lingered, essentially, since day dot – was inescapable.

In hindsight, rushing in the Western Sydney Wanderers – then only known as 'New Sydney Club' – was the right option. Even Geoffrey Schuhkraft, the man who wanted to clean up the mess and save GCU at the 11th hour, can admit to that now. The A-League is no longer exposed to ridicule through embarrassing Skilled Park crowds and for once, there is a sense of stability off the field. Western Sydney has been a runaway success – although, as Football Gold Coast general manager Damien Bresic says, "If the federal government gave us $8m, I'm sure we would have done the same thing."

People are understandably bitter, as they are up in Townsville, and even more so after seeing the Wanderers treated with a degree of love and care that wasn't there in the first wave of A-League expansion. "No, it hasn't recovered fully. But it's on its way to recovery," said Peter Williamson, chairman of the region's only National Premier Leagues side, Palm Beach.

David Gallop and Frank Lowy won't acknowledge it publicly, but expansion is looming as one of the A-League's biggest issues. The 10-team format is growing stale. More clubs are needed to not only maximise FFA's next TV rights deal, but to ensure the competition itself advances. While consolidation is important, so is planning now to avoid a repeat of the blunders that were made in the past.

There aren't exactly a multitude of options. Though FFA has all but turned its back on the Gold Coast, it remains the biggest sporting market from which the A-League is absent. Projections show the area’s population will swell to nearly 750,000 by 2026. And while it has long been regarded as a sporting graveyard and irrelevant in football terms, that could be about to change. Four years from now the Gold Coast will host the Commonwealth Games. For a regional city still grasping its own sense of self, that is a big deal. Schuhkraft and the 'Save GCU' movement he once led are banking on this event galvanising the Gold Coast's sporting culture and providing an environment in which an A-League franchise will be viable.

"Two years on, I'm more enthusiastic about this than ever," said Schuhkraft, founder of talent empire International Quarterback and a veteran of the sporting management scene. In 2006 he joined forces with former client and current Milan coach Clarence Seedorf to create ON International - a company focused on "changing the way the business of football is played". His passion project is to help the Gold Coast finally embrace the round ball. Just returned from a trip to the Middle East with Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate, he's making a good start. Tate was one of the businessmen involved in Schuhkraft's unsuccessful bid to keep United alive. He was elected mayor shortly afterwards and has since employed Schuhkraft as a senior advisor for Middle East relations for the Gold Coast City Council.

Schuhkraft has friends in high places. He introduced Tate to the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who now get along famously, going skydiving together during Tate's recent self-funded trip to the United Arab Emirates. The Gold Coast and Dubai are sister cities and that relationship has helped open a lot of doors. It helped Schuhkraft convince the UAE national team to hold their pre-Asian Cup training camp on the Gold Coast later this year. He says that deal will give the city two weeks of saturation media coverage in the football-mad UAE. Qatar would be coming, too, if they weren't drawn in the same group.

Schuhkraft helped to secure two other deals - the first a "knowledge-sharing" agreement with Qatar 2022's Supreme Committee of Legacy and Delivery, the second with Qatar's Olympic Committee. "There's a lot of areas of collaboration and ways we can utilise the fact we're both regions preparing for global sporting events," Schuhkraft said.

The Gold Coast City Council is not concerning itself with the controversy surrounding Qatar's procurement of the rights to host the 2022 World Cup – and the treatment of migrant workers. "We obviously are aware of a lot of the conversation around the World Cup but we are a city preparing for the Commonwealth Games. They are a country that's been granted the World Cup. We believe it's in the best interests of both parties that we embrace this opportunity and take a positive approach, because that's how we'll make positive change within Qatar and also our community.

"The reason why we've been able to secure such extraordinary outcomes for the city is because of the way they view the Gold Coast. They don't view it like any other market within Australia. To people from the Middle East and China, it is a safe destination, a destination they love. These are substantial agreements that any state or city would be honoured to be able to achieve. Right at the centre of them all is football. We're planting the seeds and I'm really quite excited about that."

Tate and Schuhkraft devised a plan last year to float the idea of an A-League franchise to Chinese investors under the working title of "Gold Coast Dragons", with the hope of building into the top tier through the National Premier Leagues in Queensland. That idea has developed into the motivation for the work that Schuhkraft is doing today. The council is also on board, and is set to engage a consultant specifically to help them develop a strategy for football and how the city can use it as a platform to do more business abroad.

"I honestly do believe there is a great future for football on the Gold Coast and the fact that we've been made to sit back, take stock and consider every aspect has been a very healthy process for everyone," he said. "Since the license was taken off Palmer it definitely hasn't dropped off the radar. All the key movers and shakers around sports strategy in the city, the Commonwealth Games and beyond, have all made sure that football is at the pointy end of the sword."

"Football is the biggest participation sport here. It is the most powerful sporting and entertainment package on the planet. The problem is it's never been organised into any sort of structure where we can build unity and passion around a club. We have to prove that we can deliver a minimum of 10,000 per game and that we have the people with the passion and a stadium that can offer prices and an entertainment package that would justify the reason for those people to attend. It all starts at the grassroots."

Schuhkraft sure talks a big game but is the potential he speaks of even there anymore? The grassroots tell the tale. The local zone still has close to 10,000 registered players while there are an additional 3,000 based in northern NSW. That's an enormous catchment area. Most in the game agree it has never been harnessed correctly.

Football has a long history on the tourist strip but not a particularly strong one. It never had a side in the National Soccer League, nor was it ever really in the national soccer conversation. "When you look at some of these soccer clubs on the Gold Coast, they're exactly the same as they have been for the last 30 years," Williamson said. "They might have tidied up their toilet block and clubhouse and put up a small grandstand even, but that's it. We're one of only two soccer clubs with a licensed club premises, which is where we get our money from. There's been no vision. The Gold Coast has got so much going for it; it's unbelievable. People aren't exploiting what we've got here." With that background an A-League licence was always going to be a quantum leap, and had to be done right for it to work. It wasn't.

"I remember putting together a community engagement proposal and taking it to them and saying, 'you really need to get on board, we've got so many players'… they just weren't interested," said Bresic. Palmer's parting gift was a two-year sponsorship worth $50,000 from his company Minerology for the naming rights of the local competition.

"Unfortunately, the Palmer experience was an abject failure. But it was destined to fail," Williamson said. "Football is a blue-collar sport. To tell everybody you're going to be flying around in private jets, it created a lot of resentment from all the local people in football. Had Clive hung in there longer and didn't and get some people offside, he would have got it right eventually. There is a lot of support for football here but it's got to be done properly and gradually. Fortunately all the groundwork that Clive should have done is being done now in the NPL."

Palm Beach won the coast's only NPL license virtually unopposed. The only other bid came from FGC, which proposed a broader entity that was to pick up where United left off, like the Northern Fury. But an FFA directive that zones were to be excluded from the elite development pathway meant that it was never seriously considered. "That really made it Palm Beach, and Palm Beach alone," said Football Queensland chief operating officer Ben Mannion.

As it stands, the job is too big for one club – especially since nearly a quarter of Palm Beach's players come from northern NSW. FGC and FQ both want a second NPL team in the Gold Coast's north to lighten the load. "When you get past Nerang-Broadbeach Road, you're probably not going to come south to train at NPL level. A lot of kids have actually come up to Brisbane Strikers because of that," said Mannion. "Just based on the numbers, there's something missing." Three local clubs – Coomera, Magic United and Mudgereeba – have already shown interest in filling the void.

"That's when you'll see football on the Gold Coast go from strength to strength. Then your A-League club goes on top," Williamson said. "That's where we deserve to be. The players, the potential, most of the infrastructure is here. We just need a vision. The thing that's let us down is that people didn't have the vision 25 years ago. The ones that did were clocked on the head by people who couldn't manage change."

With Schuhkraft working from the top down and the NPL slowly building from the bottom up, the challenge is making both movements align. As Bresic says, "Let's make sure we build a garage before we go and buy a Ferrari to put in it." Last week, Schuhkraft met with FGC for the first time to discuss the state of play. Palm Beach are ready to help in whatever way possible. It would be a stretch to say there is a consortium in place, but perhaps for the first time in Gold Coast football history, all the game's main stakeholders are on the same page.

"I don't give in, I don't give up, and until we've got an A-League franchise here, I won't be giving up," Schuhkraft said. "We have all the elements. It's now about how well we can execute this over the next five to seven years. That's one of the gifts I'd love to give this city because on the back end of that will be many, many rewards that people might not understand today, but once it's up and running, they'll get it."


http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/apr/17/gold-coast-football-a-league?CMP=soc_568

Quote:
A-League expansion should follow successful 2013/14 season

Season nine of the A-League has seen a coming of age for Australian football. Never before has the competition played so deep into the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby seasons.

By the time the A-League finals have been played, the oval-ball games will be a third or more into their seasons. Previously, the A-League had only played in summer, the fear being the finals – and especially the grand final – would be be ignored by the media in favour of the other codes.

Looking specifically at crowds and ratings in the NRL and AFL, pre-season and regular season crowds have taken a slight dip this year.

The real question though, is when will the A-League and its supporters believe football has become a major player in Australian sport? With player numbers, football is the clear winner and in internet hits, depending on what count you use, football is doing very well. But when will football match or pass AFL and NRL match schedules?

Today both the AFL and NRL produce 210 matches give or take. The A-League only has 140-odd. This is the challenge football has never been able to fight. Playing in winter has always been seen as impossible. In HAL 9, football was not wiped off the floor when played in the other codes’ seasons.

Next year, Australia is hosting the Asian Cup, meaning the A-League will have to play deeper into the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby seasons. If the A-League holds its own, an additional two teams should be introduced. This will make the league a lot more marketable.

Assume that a 12-team A-League, with teams playing each other three times, would have six games a week for 33 rounds – including finals, that’s 205 games. Add the FFA Cup games (32 or more), the Asian Champions League games (24 at least), the Socceroos games (10), the Matildas (10), plus another 12 W-League games and that’s 293 matches.

Football would have close to 300 matches available to broadcast across a number of competitions.

The importance of playing deep into the AFL, NRL and Super Rugby seasons is in the number of matches football will have across a number of competitions. Expanding the league would potentially more than double the current television rights deal.

As an aside, go to google and complete four searches: Super Rugby, rugby league, AFL and A-League. Write down the hit figures, you will get quite a surprise.


http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/04/30/league-expansion-follow-successful-201314-season/

Edited by iridium1010: 1/5/2014 08:01:01 PM
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9 Years Ago by Iridium1010
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Quote:
Socceroo Brett Emerton and council call on FFA and A-League to put expansion team in Campbelltown



TIRED of seeing its first-class football facility under-used by national codes such as the NRL, Campbelltown Council has agreed to court other sports.

The council voted at last Tuesday’s meeting to put its hand up for Campbelltown as the home for Sydney’s third A-League team.

Liberal Cr Paul Hawker believed if the A-League was to expand beyond the current 10 teams, that a third Sydney team would be strongly considered due to the resounding success of the Western Sydney Wanderers.





“There is talk a third team may come to Sydney in the A-League,” he said.

“I don’t think we’re getting a fair go out of the NRL at the moment. Our state-of-the-art stadium is not being fully utilised.”

A bid to become an A-League city would also be boosted with the announcement of a $1.4 million pitch refurbishment of Lynwood Park where a synthetic pitch will be installed.

Lynwood Park could then be used as the training base for the new club, he suggested. Campbelltown’s former Socceroo Brett Emerton backed the idea saying “it would be a great thing for the area”.

“There will be room for another team in Sydney without a doubt and Campbelltown should be considered. I know the popularity of football in the are and it’s only going to increase.



“People have shown they want to support a club when matches have been played here. To have a team in Campbelltown would be really special.”

Campbelltown Mayor Clinton Mead supported the idea. “We only have half a (NRL) team, if that, at the moment,” he said. “We’re (Campbelltown) a great opportunity if anyone wants to call us home.”

Macarthur Football Association general manager Glenn Armstrong felt the upgraded facilities at Lynwood Park would boost any potential bid. “You see the same sort of thing with the Wanderers, they train at Blacktown,” he said.

“It’d be a great thing for Campbelltown. We’re a growing area, we are getting the infrastructure and the numbers of people to support a team. We could also attract international teams, money and tourism.”



A-LEAGUE: Began in 2005-06 season, currently 10 teams with two Sydney teams

DEPARTURES: Auckland Knights, Nth Qld Fury, Gold Coast United

ARRIVALS: Melbourne Heart, Western Sydney and Wellington

CAMPBELLTOWN OPPORTUNITIES: A-League, W-League, National rugby championship, NSWPL


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/socceroo-brett-emerton-and-council-call-on-ffa-and-aleague-to-put-expansion-team-in-campbelltown/story-fngr8h70-1226914692186
Edited
9 Years Ago by Iridium1010
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Quote:
Editor calls for more action at Campbelltown Sports Stadium with a new A-League Team



The  Macarthur region should be making plans now to attract Sydney’s third A-League football club to the area in the future.

Campbelltown Council raised the idea at last week’s meeting, pointing out the region already had the facilities and a booming population needed to support an A-League team.

After the success of Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers, established in season 2012-13 and reaching the grand final in its first two seasons, the Macarthur region is the logical choice for a future A-League base.

Campbelltown Stadium is an ideal competition venue, while Lynwood Park, at St Helens Park, could serve as the training base after its $1.2 million, synthetic-field upgrade.

The stadium is largely available, with the joint-venture club Wests Tigers playing just four NRL games a year at the Leumeah facility.

There is no suggestion that the region will end its relationship with the Tigers, but with a fast-growing population there is plenty of opportunity for another elite sporting code to set up in the region, particularly if it is based locally full-time.

With 600,000 people or more calling the Macarthur region home in 25 years, the region has the population to support both NRL and A-League clubs and, looking further ahead, perhaps a third Sydney AFL club.

If the NRL had any sense, it would set up a club full-time in the region to advance the code in Sydney’s population growth centre.

But, without a commitment for more NRL games, the council is right to signal its support for an A-League team. The idea already received the thumbs up in discussion from Macarthur Chronicle Facebook readers. Rod Rose posted: “We have everything here. Quality players. Huge number of young teams. Grounds. Supporters. Business backing.”

Robert Moreno responded: “Fantastic! When can I buy tickets?”

The Wanderers have enjoyed outstanding success in their first seasons. There is every chance a Macarthur area team would be equally successful.

With more than 5000 junior and senior players participating in the Macarthur Football Association competition, football is one of the area’s most popular participation sports.

These players and those that follow in their footsteps will form a ready-made spectator base of a future, local A-League team.

The idea needs to be in Football Australia’s, the A-League’s and the council’s forward planning.


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/editor-calls-for-more-action-at-campbelltown-sports-stadium-with-a-new-aleague-team/story-fngr8h70-1226914644040
Edited
9 Years Ago by Iridium1010
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Canberra and Wollongong before C-Town.

WOLLONGONG WOLVES FOR A-LEAGUE EXPANSION!

Edited
9 Years Ago by Heineken
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Emo, Culina and Reid all live out there and could become involved when time is right.
Edited
9 Years Ago by thupercoach
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Canberra, Wollongong next. Grew up in Campbelltown and can safely say it will do well if a third team gets introduced. Even back then travelling from C-Town to Parramatta may well have been travelling into the city.

Second airport being built close by as well
Edited
9 Years Ago by RedshirtWilly
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What I would really like to see is the FFA have a system/team in place to deal with these moments of opportunity.

When you get the press stating there is interest in basing a team in places such as Ipswich, Auckland and Campbelltown there needs to be a clear positive response.

Contact needs to be made immediately. A time and place for a presentation on the A League fixed and then followed up by a full workshop where increased interest can be built upon. It's a chance to put your product in front of the people who have the money and influence to bring you a result. You leave them with a positive view and a clear step by step process through which they can achieve their aim of having a League team.

We used to call it "Salesmanship" back in the days when PC was the postnominal for the local bully boys.


Edited
9 Years Ago by SWandP
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Qld should have the next team (of the 2). Roar has coverage over the entire state - that doesn't seem right...
Edited
9 Years Ago by Burztur
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Burztur wrote:
Qld should have the next team (of the 2). Roar has coverage over the entire state - that doesn't seem right...

Go where the people and demand are.

I don't get the argument that some states should get teams over others just to balance it out.
Edited
9 Years Ago by A16Man
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Wollongong.
Edited
9 Years Ago by Eastern Glory
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A16Man wrote:
Burztur wrote:
Qld should have the next team (of the 2). Roar has coverage over the entire state - that doesn't seem right...

Go where the people and demand are.

I don't get the argument that some states should get teams over others just to balance it out.


I go back to my first post which is pretty much what you said.

My thoughts about a QLD team relate to my understanding/expectation that the demand is there given the relatively large player base.
Edited
9 Years Ago by Burztur
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Campbelltown would be the worst stadium in the HAL if they get accepted. The fans are very fickle and seemingly fiscally challenged. They have shown little support for the Tigers and the Magpies before them.

Saying Campbelltown would work because people live there and the Wanderers have worked so far is ludicrous. WSW worked as there was a clear point of difference between the Sydney clubs. They need time to integrate into the most competitive sporting marketplace in the world. Adding another team for the fun of it is just stupid and would hardly improve a tv deal.

New markets bring new interest and new viewers. Campbelltown is not the way to go for another 10-15 years at least. Well behind in the pecking order.

Edited by kaufusi: 13/5/2014 12:08:05 PM
Edited
9 Years Ago by kaufusi
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Burztur wrote:
A16Man wrote:
Burztur wrote:
Qld should have the next team (of the 2). Roar has coverage over the entire state - that doesn't seem right...

Go where the people and demand are.

I don't get the argument that some states should get teams over others just to balance it out.


I go back to my first post which is pretty much what you said.

My thoughts about a QLD team relate to my understanding/expectation that the demand is there given the relatively large player base.
Except the demand wasn't there for NQF or Gold Coast and there are no other places with stadiums atm at our disposal. More QLD clubs will come in time, but until then talented young queenslanders will just have to play for the roars youth team.
Edited
9 Years Ago by tbitm
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Not sure about Canberra. I lived there for four years, and even attended the odd Cosmos game when they still existed. Playing the games in winter really froze the crowds out in Canberra (remember watching a night game ... thermals on, beanies, and the old couple next to us poor uni students gave us a blanket too).

Canberra has a large football league, with most teams based on regions (a few ethnic based teams) but having grown up in Sydney it was no where near the same extent. But I am not sure how good the crowds would be for a Canberra based team. I think Canberra Stadium is a poor location for an A-League team (the majority of the football teams are in the south of the city, not near Bruce/Belconnen). The Vikings (a rugby union team is probably the biggest domestic sporting team ... they entered teams in the NSW rugby and National Rugby comp) and have two large clubs in the south of the city (make lots of money off pokies). Probably if they got behind the A-League bid (e.g. Canberra Vikings FC) it would be viable ... otherwise I think they'll struggle with support and crowds (especially considering the large university population in Canberra would largely be absent over summer).

If we go on demographics second teams in Brisbane and Perth would be the first choice. In Brisbane there are options in the north (Moreton Bay is the third most populous LGA in Qld behind City of Brisbane and Gold Coast) and out Ipswich/Logan way (they'd probably be a better option than Gold Coast, and are south of Brisbane).

In Perth you could have a Southern Perth//Rockingham/Mandurah (a greater population than Canberra or Wollongong, and doesn't include the remaining 1 million plus people in greater Perth) or Northern Perth team (the north traditionally has had stronger football ties).

I think second teams in Brisbane or Perth would garner more support than a Canberra or Wollogong based team, and provide a unique opportunity to create derbies and give some identity to regions that have little to no representation on the national sporting stage.
Edited
9 Years Ago by sokorny
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Eastern Glory wrote:
Wollongong.


Edited
9 Years Ago by A16Man
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