Are we really ready as a footballing nation to have a 12 team, 33 round comp + FFA Cup?

I think the big issue for the FFA will be the structure. The above scenario is quite ambitious however the alternative is to go for 14 teams but at least have a 26 round competition.

Hopefully expansion will be back on the agenda in the off season. Looking forward to it

I think we are. If we take out the Asian Cup this year and replaced that with HAL games, the season would be about that long. We can start the season a little earlier and finish a little earlier if need be, although one thing that stood out this season among others is that we finished 7-8 weeks into the AFL/NRL season and it didn't have a huge impact. In previous years we were finishing while they were starting and you hardly heard about the A-League on TV, radio, papers, etc.

Two more teams will only increase the interest. Hopefully the FFA can announce soon that this will be the case for the start of the 16/17 season.

Just read that 250-300 million people watched the A-league final either live or on delayed broadcast around the world.

According to Initiative Sports Futures, independent analysts with no ties to Fifa, the figure for the 2006 [FIFA World Cup final] was 260 million

How the hell did this reach 160 pages?! :lol::lol:

Football vision 'needs backing'

David Lems (21st May 2015 5:00 AM)

HIGHER PERFORMANCE: Western Pride head coach Karl Dodd wants the region’s leading representative football team, based at the Briggs Road Sporting Complex, to be a state benchmark. David Nielsen
IMAGINE this football players, coaches, officials and fans.

Twelve catchment clubs working together to help the Ipswich region's highest level club produce a future Socceroo.

But it's much more than that.

Ipswich City Council and State Government bodies devote more resources to the sport, major sponsors back the code's exciting future and participating clubs benefit from better coaching and reciprocal support.
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The second tier National Premier Leagues competition, of which Western Pride is a part, fulfils a vital community role.

Ipswich secures a team in the national A-League competition.

Sound like a pipe dream?

Western Pride head coach Karl Dodd and Master of Sports Coaching study partner Krishneel Maharaj think not.
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They are driving forces looking for an honest appraisal of what needs to be done to take all the regional football potential and create a business model and elite pathway that benefits the area.

Ipswich has a proud footballing history that has stalled at the highest level.

When we once produced top-level footballers, the city scarcely rates a mention when it comes to the A-League, Women's A-League and Socceroos.

In his important role at Western Pride, Dodd wants that to change by gathering the best information and improving efficiencies.

He and Maharaj have compiled a "high performance review''.

As Dodd explains, it's important everyone has a say in helping to bolster Western Pride's headquarters at the Briggs Road Sporting Complex.

"We just want to make big changes to this place,'' Dodd said.

"There's no reason why this place can't be the benchmark of football in Queensland.''

The 12 catchment clubs feeding into Western Pride are the Ipswich Knights, Ipswich City Bulls, Western Spirit, Lions, Brisbane Force, Centenary Stormers, Colleges United, the University of Queensland, Moggill, Greenbank and Teviot Downs.

Football Ipswich, made up of five of these catchment clubs, holds the NPL licence for Western Pride.



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Code deserves fairer funding: Dodd

David Lems (21st May 2015 5:00 AM)

ONE of the key points Karl Dodd makes in his vision for regional football growth is how popular the game is in Australia, with more than 1.9 million participants.

That's why he struggles to understand why the sport receives less funding than other footy codes like rugby league.

"Council seriously needs to start shifting its weight in terms of finance and funding from rugby to football,'' Dodd said.

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"At what point do the football people stand up and say 'hey we actually have more numbers or just as many so why is there this bias towards the funding'?
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"We're looking for an A-League licence eventually, same as the Jets are looking for an NRL side.

"So why is there such large discrepancies?''

Dodd said his sport had the numbers deserving wider support, but needed to push harder.

"Football is the number one played sport in Australia, by far,'' he said.
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The Western Pride head coach has been encouraged by the early work of Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop in bolstering the profile of the game.

However, Dodd wants to see football strengthened and better supported at regional level.

"Although Western Pride FC has made significant progress in the two and half years we have been established, we are ambitious and have great belief in what the region has to offer,'' Dodd said.

"The Western Pride FC is the region's representative team and it is in the region's best interests for all footballing people to get behind this entity and help put the western corridor back at the top in Queensland football.

"I'm not really worried what everyone else is doing. We are just going to solely focus on this region.''

[size=9]Lyons pushes for A-League stadium[/size]

Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons is urging the federal and state governments to fund a dedicated soccer stadium for Geelong, as part of his push to have an A-League team based in the city.

The mayor built his succesful paparazzi business during his years in London and is an avid fan of the world game.

He told his Mayor On Air radio program that Geelong deserves a dedicated 15,000 seat soccer stadium.

He also threw his support behind a push to get more public defibrillators around the city, saying they have already saved lives in Geelong.

And after a listener praised his work on a recent film, Cr Lyons hinted he may have a future as a stand-in for Johny Depp - or at kleast as a viollain in the next Mad Max movie!

http://www.bayfm.com.au/bay-fm-features/the-mayor-on-air/56644-lyons-pushes-for-a-league-stadium

Even though I think he is a bit of a wanker he has been very vocal in his support for an A-League side in the city so it's not all that bad. Would think that a Geelong based side would do very well out of a 15k sized football stadium too in the early days.

Can't see the government forking out more money after putting millions into Kardinia Park.

Agreed, but it's nice to hear public figures piping up the need for specific football facilities in the region. Welcome change from the one eyed focus on the Cats for once.

But could it why not make Geelong one big sporting precinct with Kardinia Park for AFL and next door a 15,000 seat rectangular stadium for A-league games. Could even call the team Geelong and be unofficially known as the cats to keep the same blue and white hoops the AFL team does.

Its unfortunate it didn't work in Newcastle but this would how I envisioned Geelong will work. Subject to funding.

SUNSHINE Coast Fire technical director Melvyn Wilkes says the club is in such good shape it could essentially enter the A-League if invited.

"If it happened tomorrow, we would be pretty much ready to go," he said.

"If an A-League expansion happened and they wanted a team from Queensland, you'd give Sunshine Coast FC a really good look because the infrastructure is there, the facilities are there and the financial backing is there.

"It has also been in a stable position since it entered the (former) Queensland State League (in 2008)."

There would be the matter of building a stadium or increasing capacity at the 1100-seat Sunshine Coast Stadium, but Wilkes said "if the A-League was on the horizon then I'm sure with the backing we've got, people would come and help to make that happen".

The club's primary supporters are chairman Noel Woodall and his contacts.

"The owners are working tirelessly behind the scenes... the club is set up in such a way that it is ready if that eventuality (an A-League offer) ever happens," Wilkes said.

The club also has a winning culture. At state league level it boasts four championships and three premierships.

This season the Fire's senior team is third on the National Premier Leagues Queensland ladder and the club has one of the most successful junior bases in the state.

Wilkes, who has had roles with Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion, said the Fire's facilities were already as good as those of any club in the UK's Football League.

"I know the Brisbane Strikers had something in the media about them being ready for an A-League licence, which is great, but I can confidently talk about where we are and where we're heading," he said.

The Fire also has a focus on its women's and girls' teams - an essential factor, Wilkes says, if the chance arises to join the W-League.

In the long term, there is some hope the club will also be financially self-sufficient.

The Fire, which has won four in a row, takes on Brisbane Roar's youth side today.

"I think we were written off (by pundits) at the start of the season, but from day one we (Wilkes and coach Paul Arnison) got the group of players we thought could do the job on the pitch for one another and for the club," Wilkes said.

SUNSHINE Coast Fire technical director Melvyn Wilkes says the club is in such good shape it could essentially enter the A-League if invited.

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/bomber-thompson-syndicate-poised-to-sell-armstrong-creek-site-for-32m-20150520-gh5l8g

A group of investors, including former Geelong and Essendon football coach Mark Thompson and the family owned Casey Group, is poised to sell the 16-hectare Armstrong Creek Town Centre site near Geelong for a price understood to be more than $32 million.

The sale would deliver a bonanza to Mr Thompson and his co-investors who acquired what was then a sheep farm for $3.8 million in 2006. In 2010 it was rezoned by the state government for its current use, dramatically driving up the value of the land.

Title deeds show a caveat was placed over the property by Dandenong-based RMBL Investments in February. RMBL is chaired by Colin Madden, who was part of owner of champion race-horse Black Caviar. The other directors of RMBL are Bruce Fletcher and Surinder Gurdial.

According to a 2010 media report, Mr Thompson and Essendon Football Club's Adrian Dodoro each control 24.5 per cent of the investment, with Casey owning the remaining 51 per cent.

The site is being marketed by Colliers International's Trent Hobart, Tom Noonan, Bryson Cameron and Milton Tsaktsiras who confirmed it was in exclusive due diligence.

The site on Torquay Road is within the fast-growing Armstrong Creek suburb, forecast to reach 23,000 dwellings and 65,000 people by 2030.

As a designated major activity centre, it is expected to house a new town centre with 60,000 square metres of retail space, and a high-density residential development of up to 15 storeys.

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/bomber-thompson-syndicate-poised-to-sell-armstrong-creek-site-for-32m-20150520-gh5l8g

A group of investors, including former Geelong and Essendon football coach Mark Thompson and the family owned Casey Group, is poised to sell the 16-hectare Armstrong Creek Town Centre site near Geelong for a price understood to be more than $32 million.

The sale would deliver a bonanza to Mr Thompson and his co-investors who acquired what was then a sheep farm for $3.8 million in 2006. In 2010 it was rezoned by the state government for its current use, dramatically driving up the value of the land.

Title deeds show a caveat was placed over the property by Dandenong-based RMBL Investments in February. RMBL is chaired by Colin Madden, who was part of owner of champion race-horse Black Caviar. The other directors of RMBL are Bruce Fletcher and Surinder Gurdial.

According to a 2010 media report, Mr Thompson and Essendon Football Club's Adrian Dodoro each control 24.5 per cent of the investment, with Casey owning the remaining 51 per cent.

The site is being marketed by Colliers International's Trent Hobart, Tom Noonan, Bryson Cameron and Milton Tsaktsiras who confirmed it was in exclusive due diligence.

The site on Torquay Road is within the fast-growing Armstrong Creek suburb, forecast to reach 23,000 dwellings and 65,000 people by 2030.

As a designated major activity centre, it is expected to house a new town centre with 60,000 square metres of retail space, and a high-density residential development of up to 15 storeys.

Ha shit eh, Bomber goes to sell and then two days later talk of a new stadium pops up. Talk about timing! Smoke, fire etc.

Wouldnt expect a stadium to be built unless there was some major behind the scenes stuff going on with the FFA & Tv to get an extra Victorian team. Seem like a pipe dream but I guess not totally impossible. It would be in a low population area but provide the league with more big matches (almost derbies). They could play at Kardinia until a stadium was built. Seems unlikely.

FFA really needs to set the groundwork for a second divison so we can see how well these teams adapt to a national model.

Already with the list of clubs interested in an a-league licence it would work.

Geelong FC
South Melbourne
Sunshine Coast
Ipswich pride
Brisbane strikers
Canberra United
Adelaide city
NQ FURY
South west sydney / Sydney Olympic
Wollongong Wolves
South Hobart

That's 10/11 teams ready to go. Althouth I'm a sydney united fan I just don't think they are capable of sustaining the growth of second division

These clubs shouldn't be worried about hiring stadia... Any football stadia between 4-12k capacity would be perfect. And it would bring a nice little atmosphere to the league so teams can naturally grow rather than be forced to pull funding with no clear pathways so the FFA can set up their little franchise models


Edited by RBB Wanderer: 22/5/2015 03:10:52 PM

Edited by RBB Wanderer: 22/5/2015 03:13:20 PM

sydney olympic would be the face of a southern sydney team encompassing st george, bankstown, shire.

they couldnt possibly represent liverpool/macarthur

Can't see em building a rectangular stadium, unless they were gonna put a rugby team there too. And considering that Storm isn't overly popular in Melbourne, I doubt they'd put an NRL team in Geelong.

Kardinia would do for now. It's the wrong shape, but it would be available to use since it's owned by Geelong Council. Biggest problem is getting people to support Geelong over Victory.

I think Geelong is a grey area when it comes to expansion. Long term, I think it can work. It's not as bogany as people would assume. And the G20 region has listed a strategy in place to boost football in the whole region. You can read it on the G20 site. But I wouldn't put a team here yet. Surely Canberra and/or Wollongong would be next in line, except for more city teams.

Ten years ago rebel Manchester United fans sat in a pub in Stretford talking about forming a new club. On Friday, after four promotions and a lot of hard work, they welcome Benfica to open their new £6.3m stadium. It has been quite a journey

Any lessons for A-League and NPLs in the FC United experience?


http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/may/26/fc-united-manchester-benfica-united-fans?CMP=share_btn_tw


fc United of Perth and fc United of Adelaide in
Edited by Oblivious Troll: 27/5/2015 11:36:48 AM