South Melbourne has to be favourite. You aren't 50 metres away from the pitch, they bring a lot to the table in terms of history and fans and Foxtel would love them for the Magikkkk.

Definitely if its a choice between South Melbourne and Geelong. I think South vs Victory would be marked into the calendar of every football fan far and wide. It would be a proper derby with a pure rivalry from the day it was announced. I just can't see it with Geelong though.

What's your logic though. How many Geelong fans do you think they would attract? How many Geelong fans are already Victory/city fans? Why would Geelong be a big game for Victory? They alr have City, Adelaide and Sydney with some actual rivalry. What would create this rivalry between Geelong and Melbourne? It's not even there with the AFL. No team's fans hate geelong, unless they are winning the GF which has only happened recently. 

I can see a City vs Geelong match at their AFL ground having about as big a crowd as some smaller CCM matches. That would be an embarrassment for the league. Tasmania, well they might only get smallish crowds, but they have very little competition for sponsorship there and AFL throws them scraps so you have the chance of the whole place uniting behind a team. 

Tassie idea has merrit, sure. One would rather watch Geelong vs Melb Vic/MelbCity. Also, Southern Sydney vs Western Sydney/Sydney fc. Tassie vs Wellington and others may be a struggle to get tv viewership and bums on seats too.

Interesting are; Southern Sydney, Geelong, Brisbane 2, Adelaide 2 and Perth 2.
Not so interesting are; Tassie, Canberra, Wollongong and Townsville. 

Aukland are 50-50 as they would derbie with Wellington.

Have you not spoken to a Hawthorn fan in the last 30 years?

End of the day, anything that everyone is saying is all conjecture - I have lived in Geelong for the last 20 years, and I know this city has an appetite for football. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, our footballing heritage and pedigree is far stronger than a lot of other potential bids, and I think that says a lot for how favourably football is viewed in the city. I don't doubt there are other, better options (I can see South Melbourne being an absolute cracker) right now but a Geelong bid should not be ignored, even if it's the 15th or 16th expansion side.

Townsville and Goldcoast ----> daylight ----> Gellong 

What makes you all think all of a sudden FFA are going to allow South straight in? Most of us want to see it, I'd love to see them back in the top flight, however I can't see FFA just changing their stance from the last 12 years overnight.

Brisbane 2
South Sydney

All the metrics point this way...

Hawthorn and Geelong Rivalry is big now because of the 2008 GF and it's a good one though i really doubt that each team would care much in 10 years if both are near the bottom. I'd say that Canberra and Wollongong would both have as good a heritage and pedigree than Geelong in terms of football. You could argue for a proper attempt at FNQ though i doubt they will. FFA are looking very keen on another Sydney team, which might work and a Brisbane team, which in my view will be a disaster. 

I don't see how the result of this meeting could possibly be considered bad for the Tassie bid. They had a meeting with the FFA BEFORE they had even announced criteria or had talks with any other parties. 

Did people really think they'd just have one meeting, and a meeting without knowing what the FFA's looking for, and just expect to walk right into next season's comp? Not a chance in hell that could have happened! No matter what they already had lined up.

Start initial buildup phase of developing a club, seek commitments from shareholders about future plans, express your interest, learn what criteria you need to address, tailor bid to address said criteria and put your best case foward.

Most of the new clubs won't have massive ratings appeal for fans of other clubs, unless it's a genuine derby. I wouldn't think Tassie would rate any different to the Mariners or Jets and better than the nix. Potential 'derbies' against Melbourne could generate significant interest in a major city. But then so could Geelong or South. 

I can see why the FFA would knock this back. I mean every single expansion team in a regional area has failed, and every regional team in the league has for the most part struggled financially. The backers don't mean much for an expansion team (see palmer, matheson for reference). Maybe they could offer up a 4 million bond to ensure if things go south they wont pack up and leave the club pennyless.

I will say though, in terms of TV dollars, its not so much as where the team is from, as to who is in their squad. If they have a quality squad and one or two big name marquees, they will more than pull their weight in terms of TV dollars. 

I personally think Brisbane is a must, and then Wollongong as they would get a lot of good away support, come from a region screaming for a team (ala WSW), and have a potential derby with the Glory

the greek KKK?  the new golden dawners.

 Hawthorn/Geelong rivalry has been built on the field though which is different than plonking Geelong in the HAL and saying "your only an hour down the road from Melbourne so they are your rivals."
I have absolutely no issue with Geelong in the HAL so please don't take this as an attack and if they happen to be successful based on a strong,all-round bid then well done to them. They should definitely be included at some stage because we want every region covered. But for some people to be saying they will bring more to the table or they deserve it more than Tassie(or Wollongong/Canberra or any other regional area for that matter) because they're close to Melbourne and in Melbournes tv zone then thats crap. There has been some posts in threads on here dismissing Tassie for stadia reasons then pushing for Geelong in the next paragraph and it makes no sense to me.
As a neutral Geelong are no different or provide any more interest than any of the other regional bids.If they werent in the Melbourne tv zone they wouldn't be any different to those other regional bids. If people want another proper derby in Melbourne then South Melbourne shouldn't be looked past.
To try and put another example of my opinion into this as best I can, South Sydney/Sutherland will no doubt provide a derby/rivalry with Sydney FC because they will be on each others doorstep but I have my doubts they'll be strong rivals with Wanderers just because they're both in Sydney. Sutherland is only 10mins closer to Blacktown than Gosford is. The only hint of a rivalry between Wanderers and Mariners is because of past Grand Final history not proximity to each other.

x2

This is 10 times worse than the Jon Bon Jovi/Melbourne Heart alliance.

Gene Simmons has Greek-blood in him, right?

Every single regional team has failed,because they are not critical to FFA media rights deals.Every team excluding MV has struggled.Brisbane and Adelaide were saved by FFA.SFC was kept afloat by the deep deep pockets of a Russian Billionaire,despite losing probably more than anyone else.

So excluding regional teams based on prior failures is meaningless,other than to show what owners did wrong and what FFA did wrong.
Successful teams are popular.That's the major factor.
Dubbo United with big name marquees and a good team around them would be successful.
South Sydney with no names and losing all the time will be a failure.


Northern Sydney.
Northern Spirit was a popular team that was constructed from nothing.
South Sydney is problematic with SFC having a strong fanbase there.Why is noone talking Northern Sydney?Lots and lots of fish swimming there and noone catching them.North Sydney is still one of the biggest business districts in Australia.Chatswood,Manly and all thats around the area.Are ther no football fans living or playing football there?
It just seems so obvious to me.It worked before .

When it come to rivalry.North Syd vs SFC gets me more excited than SFC vs Cronulla .

The Mariners talked Northern Sydney lol. But really it's all very much a SFC region. About a quarter of SFC's members come from between Manly and North Sydney (a third come from south of Kogarah). North Sydney is desolate on a weekend. Absolutely nothing and no-one there. I wouldn't be unhappy if SFC bought North Sydney Oval and turned it into a rectangular stadium, with the old grandstand along one side. Better than being a home for tumbleweeds like it currently is!

South West Sydney is the logical area in Sydney....

I 100% agree with South West Sydney and that would be my preference over Southern Sydney. Put a team there now and let it grow as the area grows. Accept 6k crowds to start with but let it grow as the area grows and the club becomes engrained in the area. I'd also prefer Wollongong over Southern Sydney aswell. With Sydney FC having many members/supporters already in the Sutherland/Kogarah area there is already that estabilished rivalry between Wollongong and the southern sydney supporters of SFC.

First off, WSW has never struggled. SFC being kept afloat by a russian billionaire is not them struggling because their owner is footing the bill. Its how the EPL works. And even counting the big city teams that have struggled vs the regional teams, there are more sustainable big city teams than regional ones.

And if successful teams are popular, why the hell are the CCM struggling? Its not as black and white as being successful. 

I am not opposed to regional teams, i can see why the FFA are missing it this time around. 

To use your dubbo united analogy. A southern sydney team (which i think is a stupid idea when you have the under reached macarthur region) with a good squad and big name marquees is going to have more reach and appeal in their home city and away than a team from dubbo/tassie, mainly due to their smaller potential at home. Which is why the FFA see the big cities as less of a risk. For one, its easier to sell to sponsors, Fox and marquees to go and play there.I do agree that the new teams, wherever they are from will need a good team, and marquees to be successful from the beginning.

A good in between would be Wollongong to be honest.provided it has a good enough squad

Of all the places in Sydney, southern sydney is the least deserving as it is already serviced quite well. South West ticks all the boxes imo, it is only lacking a consortium to actually get a bid together. Id go as far to say that if its not going to be south west, then dont bother expanding in sydney at all this time around