I seriously don't understand why people are so up in arms about South Melbourne joining the A-league. They have the history, they have the brand, they have heritage, they are a link to old-football, and 'if' there is any potential fans who don't feel linked to the football family then south would appeal to those fans who feel left out and it would promote the HAL. They have a 40 year lease on their stadium which they would only need 1500 supporters to 'break even'.. (every other HAL team needs atkeast 7-10k to break even.) So if worst case scenario south only average say 5k instead of their projected 10k figure they would still be sustainable and make money.. 5000 - 1500 is 3500 gate receipts in profit. 3500 × $20 per ticket is $70k per game profit. X that by however many home games they get and they are just as sustainable and profitable as the wanderers and victory. They seriously do look ready for a shot. 0

The only problem I see with this - apart from the FFA's hang-up with 'ethnic' clubs - is whether or not the FFA has an 'understanding', shall we say, with City Football Group. Sure, CFG bought the licence off the old Heart owners but maybe there was a wink, wink, nudge, nudge in there somewhere - 'we help out the basketcase club in your second biggest market and you don't let a third club into said market any time soon'.

Who's to say Ange wont come out and publically support souths bid in the coming days. Will ffa really go against what the fans, the players and what the majority of the football community want.

Bit harsh, we just had a massive earth quake. :crying:

I am hopeful that because South M is an existing and well known club already ,that City Group will support their inclusion.
I can imagine their first game in the HAL drawing a huge media focus and the fans of whoever the opponent may be ,giving them a warm reception.
I hope FFA can see the goodwill that can be generated by this.

I hear that the FFA officials are inspecting the Albert Park Lake that is next to the ground to count the fish :)

I just want South Melbourne to get it to see paulc's reaction.

South Melbourne have the infrastructure, the youth teams, the money. They have history, something which the majority of A-League clubs lack. People like to beat the effnik drum but South Melbourne are more than just a club for Greeks, these days they're a club for everyone. They have a fan base. They also already have real rivalries, unlike manufactured ones. Wouldn't it surely be the cheapest option too for the FFA? They don't have to go through all the headaches of creating a franchise from the ground up.

It makes sense that they should be given a crack in the A-League. But watch the FFA turn up their noses because logic.

In the end though the FFA / A-League board need to look at what is best for the whole competition. Is a third team in central Melbourne "best" for the league on a whole??

Will it be good or bad for City??

Is it best to have three teams in one city or a second team in another (e.g. Brisbane, Adelaide)?? Or do unrepresented areas deserve a chance first (e.g. Tassie, Canberra, Wollongong)??

In regards to the "ethnic" comments ... I think you'd find that it probably wouldn't be the first "ethnic" team they introduce that will have troubles, it will be if they go to introduce a second "ethnic" team. Souths generally seemed to have made some strides to broaden their appeal, and in the end their sustainability at the A-League level would require them to continue to engage the greater community.

Would their traditional blue and white stripes be different enough from other teams??? Think Perth are the only team with horizontal stripes at the moment. Would be good to have a different colour (navy blue and white, victory - light blue and white, city - royal blue and white, south)??

The last thing to worry about is club colours.We would still survive if all teams had blue and a variant.

I don't think it's really going to affect city, the fact we have our own stadium means that our identity will not dilute the other 2 teams, city fans also don't seem to like coming to the other side of the cbd, bit like Melbourne demons fans lol. Any remote loss of fans will be compensated with derby crowds, in the end city and victory are likely to average more with south than without. City going from 8k to 7k against a team like the Mariners won't mean all that much if the next fortnight they have 20k+ against south, the numbers will definately be in the positive column.

Agree, hence why only my last comment ... and only made because others have raised it.

I think the toss up still really is it better to expand into new pastures or risk over grazing in an existing pasture?

If I was putting in a bid for Souths I'd definitely be addressing these issues too ... i.e. show that the team will not only boost Melbourne games, but also assist other teams in the A-League (thus proving that it isn't saturation of the market in Melbourne alone). In the end if the A-League was run by the clubs this is what you'd expect from any bid.

This is where the bid team need to sell the clubs viability, keep ramming home the fact that we have a sweet stadium deal which means we will never be running at a loss on game day, the fact we can take that further and actually make money off our social club on game day rather than just ticket sales. Make it clear to them that this particular expansion is one that they will never need to worry about bailing out or taking over. Sell it as the safe option. Which in terms of viability it is.

As far as what other clubs would benefit from south, again just stick to the facts, point out that Adelaide United biggest ever crowd at Hindmarsh stadium was against south Melbourne, point out that Perth glorys biggest ever crowd at nib stadium was also against south, records that still remain today, hype the fact we have a clear advantage of renewing rivalries with teams that we are familiar with from the past on top of the rivalries that will be created with the rest.

If we are removing the whole ethnic thing and keeping it purely based on the bid, we should be able to present a case that knocks it out of the ball park, a south bid should not have any holes in it.

I actually agree we should eventually get a second NZ team in - obviously Auckland (if run properly this time around) would be the best idea.
However this would only be once we are looking to add in the 15/16th teams. Definately not this time around.

I think the next 2 expansion clubs will be more about the FFA showing that they do have the ability to grow the league successfully. The HAL started with 8 clubs and over a decade later there are only 10 clubs. So, if your a potential sponsor, investor or broadcaster, that's not a great advertisement for the abilities of the FFA/HAL. South Melbourne are a low risk safe option as a lot of the work is already established (identity, facilities, staff, youth pathways, and most importantly an existing fanbase and history). With the very high population density of Melbourne, there is no doubt 3 HAL clubs can be sustainable. I also doubt the Victory and City will be effected negatively. They may lose some fans, but those fans are probably people that were originally fans of SMFC anyway.

All the info coming out from south to sweeten it is that they will be the market for South-East of Melbourne.
They're having a laugh if they think they will be the team for the South-East. MAYBE inner south east if lucky.
Their growth is based on their Ethnic group. Fact 

What has Softnews uncovered in his special tinfoil hat into the red menace stalking Australian football?

Which multi is he?

They call me Crusader normally...

Would Heidelberg fans support South if they were in the A-League?

They'll pull better crowds than City from day 1 and you know it.

As a Victory fan I'd be very happy to have South Melbourne in the A-League, for all the reasons people have said.

Would South Melbourne fans really want the necessary changes in ownership and the handover of IP that the FFA would require though? It'd be pretty ironic after all those "plastic franchise" barbs many South Melbourne fans throw out for them to become one of them.

The only other workaround is to have some semi-related "Southern Cross" team in, and nobody wants that.

Hopefully Victory and the other clubs with their new group will win back some of these rights for clubs in the meantime.

Support no, but many would still come to games.

Not even. 11-14 would be SM, Brisbane Strikers, South Sydney and then Tasmania. 15-16 will be the likes of Wollongong, Canberra, maybe South East Melbourne or Geelong. That isn't even looking in WA or SA. Auckland would be a 2nd division team if it were to happen.

So we can get 400k from sky, you beauty

To which point are you addressing with this answer?

Heidelberg fans pala