Wheres pala the white knight of professionalism and public relations decorum to police Clarkson for trashing other bids, when you need him lol.

Difference between leo and this guy is that leo is speaking the truth, that has subsequently been "collaborated" by kardnina park, and that clarkson has the audacity to claim that smfc lack facilities (when they have a boutique stadium with the best deal in the country) all while insulting our intelligence with cricket pitches. 

Its funny how all of these "bidders" gloss over the tiny little insignificant issue of (cough cough) stadiums.

Even South Melbourne is open to anyone right now. 

Great post though. 

And Clarkson is one of our own, hell the last few years he has spent a ton of time in our change rooms as a player agent lol.

Problem is, there never will be 10 green bottles. There are teams struggling financially in all markets. Even in La Liga, Bundeslige and EPL. 

To think we can buck that trend is total insanity. 

But but but .......... it does give the FFA an excuse to do nothing, whilst raking in their (fat) pay cheques.

Yeh it does.

but the game can't go on like this forever and maintain its market position. 10 teams is starting to get cumbersome.

And what if a number of NPL teams make a rebel competition? It's a possibility if this situation continues for a long time. 

Nah, waiting until WP show their hand.



http://www.fourfourtwo.com.au/news/ffa-tv-deal-a-factor-in-expansion-445388

Then the HAL will stay a pile of boring pointless shit

As will paulc

The end of year drop has begun. 

Great post scotty. Sums up how achievable it all is really.

Why rely on FOXTEL? 
Bingo x 10000000

I remember hearing it was Feb but who knows, FFA could easily decide to slide it back as they usually do with these things. 

Yeah i was surprised with that statement. 

Perhaps its the financial backing of Sth Melbourne. Haven't heard many details other than "look here is our Chinese investor that we wont tell you anything about" Maybe there are question marks behind Sth Melb in a financial sense. The facilities etc are all there so it's unlikely Clarkson is talking about that in relation to Sth.

Disappointing comments from Clarkson re SM and Wollongong and even more disappointing they're opting for Bellerive Oval over North Hobart. If prefer they played at North Hobart as it is than went to Bellerive.

Please.

"Mystery" chinese investors too now.

No he didn't mention facilities he said EITHER finance or facilities. Clearly in the case of Sth melb its the finance. I for one am unsure as to who the backer is. Question marks have been raised with this Chinese investor lady. No actual details of the wealth behind her. Can anyone elaborate? If not then I think Clarkson's comment can stick.

It seems Clarkson has Tasmanian Financial interest or some kind of interest to be backing Tasmania so much. 

Is he involved with any Tasmania bid? 

Wasn't there going to be a deal with Leicester? 

Sth Sydney and Geelong wouldn't be entirely bad ideas at all. 

I think Sth Melb will get in, it's just a case of whether they come in the next round or the one after. My guess it will be the one after as City is still trying to entrench itself in the Melb market and Im sure a non disclosure deal was signed at the time City group took over that they'd get a certain number of years without further competition.

I think there is almost too much discussion about financial viability without also taking into account other metrics. Don't get me wrong, whichever clubs come in, must tick the financial viability box. No doubt about it, but that is certainly not enough. Currently we have a team called the Wellington Phoenix, a club that it's owners continue to say is financially viable and is doing fine on that front with no current risk of going bust. So business as usual then. However it's not business as usual, they have become an annoying stain in our league. A club that pulls everyone else down because of their lack of support on an attendance and tv ratings measure.

We must avoid clubs such as Phoenix that may balance the books but still provide very little to the league. Showing up shouldn't be enough, not when there are so many interested parties bidding to play at the highest level in Australia.

The FFA are gonna piss off those that missed out if they don't have a long term pathway...

Yeh I think Geelong and South Sydney would be good as well.

So would squeezing in South Melbourne somewhere, and Wollongong.

Not a fan of Tasmania at all. I think it will flop. 

Ok please send me a link to any article showing the name of the primary investor. Also information regarding her business interests. Thanks. 

She runs a wonton stand made of tinfoil.

No im being serious. PLease tell me who is backing the Sth Melbourne bid. I thought it was a Chinese lady, but obviously i must be wrong. 

Im waiting for the details. I know plenty about Stamoulis and Beltecky. Don't know anything about the Sth Melb backer. 

Problem with these backers is that no one in my recollection divulges this information until they have something solid on the paperwork. 

In other words, its all under negotiation, as investors typically just say they will back it provided there is a solid HAL bid to tender towards. 

Shes australias biggest importer of tinfoil.

Shes actually the managing director of their shirt sponsor i believe.... 

Just love giving davo stick :P

Saw a tweet just before from a local news reporter saying at the Belteky press conference he announced the working title for the bid is 'FC Tasmania' but that's all it said. With more about it on the local news at 6. Can't find any other links or news reports regarding the presser.

Will say I am curious as to why they've pull stumps on the North Hobart Oval plan though to go with Bellerive.

Here's a link:

http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4021/a-league/2017/01/19/31703532/fc-tasmania-planning-new-stadium