I also would like to see Wollongong and Canberra in the A-League, but I just don't see it happening.
 Neither town is big enough to meet the fish where the fish are mantra.
The next areas for expansion are fairly obviously going to be a third Sydney team, despite Sydney fc's protestations, and a Geelong team.
The third team in Sydney is self explanatory whilst a Geelong team effectively gives Melbourne a third team
Both additions bring an extra six derbies each under the current format which equates to almost guaranteed viability and attendance and TV viewing growth.

The only possible alternatives are a second Brisbane team, although that appears someway off at this time without a venue and an Auckland team which is politically unlikely at this time.

For me, sadly, Wollongong and Canberra appear to be best served by a 'B-League' comp at this time.

I think there are numerous places where expansion can happen.

Firstly Tasmania, they don't have any sport team so one could hope they have good support.

Canberra might not have the most support but they'll have enough to form a team.

Adelaide may be in need for a second team soon, Melbourne isn't ready for a 3rd team yet and Perth i don't feel is ready for a 2nd team.

But how about another team from New Zealand, from Auckland. Try and capture the NZ market.

And then in a few years, get a Wollongong team, Geelong, bring North Queensland back etc etc to form a 2nd division with relegation. This needs to be timed well though, we don't want to rush into a relegation and promotion system. But it is a step i feel needs to be done to continue the growth.

I'd like to see Tasmania as well but they don't have a venue that's really suitable, and where do you put the team Hobart or Launceston...personally I think Tasmania are more suited to a B-League.

Maybe they could make aurora stadium work? It is smaller than Etihad could provide for a good atmosphere. Or that cricket ground they use, i think the amount of support they would get, might make them actually work well as a club.

People keep thinking we need ti go the Tasmania.

There is a very good reason none of the other leagues will go there. Its not bug enough.

If AFL and League with all its money think its a bad investment, why in earth would football risk millions in going there.

To much investment for very little return.

League is in 2 states and Melbourne, AFL is solely interested in getting territory in league states. Tasmania doesn't need to be a big club, but they would be self sustainable because there are no clubs in any code there. I am sure they would get 10k+ a match without trouble. And another positive is it is a massive bite in the AFL market and would increase the popularity of the game further in this country. Win win from both standpoints imo.

I think the main point here is the fact there are prospects for two new teams in the near future and the attractiveness that a derby brings to the game gives priority to teams in massive cities with guaranteed viewership rather than "regional" centres.  This would point more towards South Sydney, South-West Sydney, 3rd Melbourne or Geelong to come in over any other teams.

I don't disagree with your sentiment though.  The A2 league is looking bright with centres such as Tasmania, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, North Queensland, plus ambitious NPL sides to make their voices heard.  Wollongong and Canberra seem to be the front-runners outside the major cities so could go either in A or A2 league

Wollongong is literally Sydney's Geelong, what am I missing here? They're about the same distance but the Gong has larger population? That's just retarted logic mate. Plus Geelong doesn't have a good stadium, has no football pedigree, no established name club and doesn't have the proven attendances that Wollongong can boast.

places with a suitable stadium that could be part of next expansion phase:
canberra
wollongong
southern sydney (kogarah or cronulla stadiums, however ideally at st george)
south-west sydney (campbelltown stadium)
auckland (mt smart)
canberra

places with an unsuitable stadiium ie. too big or oval shaped:
north sydney (north sydney oval)
geelong 

places with no suitable stadium:
brisbane strikers
2nd adelaide (sharing a 15k stadium would be a farce)
2nd perth (unless sharing)

Wollongong and Canberra i think definitely could fit straight into the first division, i don't feel a 3rd Melbourne team is ready yet, i feel that should very much be an 2nd division team to begin with. Especially Geelong that is a very AFL centred town, not sure they'd make a very popular team to begin with.

This is why i do think Tasmania will work purely because it will have guaranteed support, they could be a 2nd division team though. But i would definitely test the market, because it has potential.

How many teams would we want added to the first division, and how many in the 2nd division as well? Because the FA will want good teams in that 2nd division to make it appealing.

It's all about the TV numbers fellas. That's what essentially runs this league.

The two bigges TV markets are Melb & Sydney.
Unfortunately Wollongong and Canberra both don't fit into this metric.
Geelong on the other hand does.

If we expanded to 12 teams with one Sydney and either 3rd Melb or Geelong that gives us 18 seasonal derbies with high ratings compared to the 6 we have now.

There might not be more derby matches, but the expansion will give 6 more rounds which is good for TV, it will get good crowd numbers for those 2 clubs without life support needed, and all be it not by much will still increase the market.

A 3rd Meblourne or Sydney team is especially the former is too soon, not enough support at this moment for a successful 3rd team.

Im constantly surprised that another NZ team gets constantly overlooked. They have a couple of really quality boutique stadiums in cities all 300k plus. And a team in auckland again would not be the same as the first time around, another NZ team for derbies and the recent football exposure and surging participation numbers in NZ makes it a prime candidate. The biggest issue for Auckland is the general resentment against having another NZ team, which I personally can't understand.

Aukland has already failed. No thanks. im constantly surprised that people keep talking about rekindling a failed experiment. 

The Nix are on borrowed time...would be unfathomable to expand into another country when the one team we already have from said country isnt 100% rock solid. And the fact that nz isnt in our confed it would be madness and bad buisness practice to go further down that path.

Besides, We have more than ample viable options here...in australia...to explore.... naturally.

I get that, and I'd prefer wollongong, canberra, second perth and second brisbane before looking at NZ, but i think the idea gets shut down way too easily, people refuse to even discuss it. Unlike gold coast or north queensland, Auckland has seen a massive shift in participation and viewership in football since the knights, plus there population is over a million and they have more than adequate stadia available. They tick a lot of the boxes for FFA, and there is increasing talks among FIFA reps of restructuring AFC. They have to at least be considered IMO

More than ample options here...oh really? by any reasonable measurement of interpretation of Gallops comments there are perhaps four options for expansion, one of which is Auckland.

12 teams will be interesting to see how it's fixtured, 14 you'd imagine will be more in line with a home and away round robin but I think the general concensus is 16 teams, 30 rounds with space for a league cup if we care enough about it.

Second division has been more flexible, with anywhere between 8 and 16 teams preferred made up of wannabe A-League franchises and NPL clubs.  If only NZ could join the AFC it would make access to their clubs a bit easier as well.

Its pretty easy to understand. Heres a quote from merrick just the other day...

"First and foremost it has always been the club's intention to give young New Zealanders an opportunity to play professional football," Merrick said."I will continue to take that approach but I need to find a balance between New Zealand Football's demands for players in the international window when our Kiwi players are required for the All Whites and the need to field a competitive team."

Some posters have the audacity to muddy and falsely represent wellingtons agenda... insult to injury is what it is. The injury being the funneling of $$$$millions to a foreign country.

alas, the resentment is justified. We arent here to develop nz football and fund nzfa. We jeed more pathways for Australian players... we need more clubs w an australian agenda....naturally.

There are at least 5.. and no. Aukland isnt one of them. For the aforementioned reasons. 

I asssume Anyone who argures for more nz teams should be happy with teams from singapore, malyasia etc? They fit the metrics more than nz does....and theyre actually in our confed to boot. 

Geelong is further from Melbourne than Illawarra is from Sydney so why are they not in the same book

That is down to the club to use NZ players, have it as a mantra of the club, developing NZ talent. Which is why i think they should be in the 2nd div till that talent starts getting better then they'll eventually get promoted. It will be better competition than whatever they have right now in NZ aswell which is only beneficial to the players.

We also need to use the 2nd division when it comes to give game time to the youth of Australia so they get better, they can do it with New Zealanders as well.

Comparing NZ to Singapore or Malaysia is fanciful at best and no their are four Melb 3, Syd 3, Bris 2 or Auckland.

It's about tv zones. Gosford is in Sydney but Wollongong is not. It's actually better to put a team in Sunshine Coast than Wollongong because it's part of Brisbane.

Geelong is part of Melbourne.

Wolves are no chance.

All suburbs and maps listed here http://www.thinktv.com.au/SiteMedia/W3SVC371/Uploads/Documents/Metropolitan_Coverage_Maps_2015.pdf#page=5

Its not like the nix are an NZ only team, they have a bunch of Aussie players that have played for them over the years and helped grow our talent. In fact they seem to be the most interested team in scouting players from the NSW NPL, whilst every other club is funnelling $$$ into foreign scouting, setups, etc. Another NZ team in Auckland would also be a return on investment with increased viewership, an untapped market of 1.35 million people isn't nothing, and I'm sure a deal could be worked out with NZFA as to funding the team.
Also, that "its called the A-LEAGUE for a reason" attitude doesn't help anyone, and it definitely isn't justified. By that logic, we shouldn't be recruiting players from NZ, because we are here to develop our league. Its complete BS, come back with that idea when teams aren't playing australians like marc warren, jamie young, taylor began, etc in their starting XI. 

By the way your protectionist theory has been tested as well, and it failed dramatically. Thats why you now have 5 international players, marquees, guest players, etc. The league realises that expansion cannot happen unless the player base expands with it.

So what tv zone is newcastle in?
And why do the tv zones dictate what happens??

Between NZ knights and the nix, 38 Australian players have had 1st team football opportunities. the fact that aussies still count as home country players kind of proves the shared NZ/AUS agenda.
And a stronger new zealand football community actually does benefit us, as does the development of any countries in our immediate region. Just take a look at the MLS initially funding and advocating for more canadian teams...

Newcastle already exists so they dont need an expansion. 

Sponsors want their products viewed in cities not regional areas like Wollongong. 

FFA have stated they want teams in big markets. These are the tv markets. 

This i did not know actually. And i think if Geelong is part of the melbourne metropolitan tv ratings, and illawarra are not, it is a very compelling argument against WW.

However, how many fans in Geelong already support Victory. They have never had a club in top flight football ever. Where as Wollongong have. And have produced champions.

GEELONG has a stadium unsuitable, Wollongong has a perfect stadium.

ILLAWARRA has a football culture and have produced socceroos for generations. Not sure if Geelong have or not.

If we are thinking just about tv ratings than know. But we have to think about the sport broadly. This area (WW) could be like another WSW. I truely believe that.

Another point about bringing back the wolves. Its a perfect unity club between old soccer and new football. Being that the wolves are actually part of both, if they are allowed to enter the league. 

It can become a greater second team for a lot of old football people. Which is what we need. More second teams.