Wollongong Wolves say nothing will tempt the “tribal” football fans of the Illawarra to break territory for a rival A-League bid that encompasses Sydney.

Southern is hoping to hoover-up Wollongong support in a sprawling bid that covers the Illawarra, St George and Sutherland regions.

That won’t happen says club CEO Chris Papakosmas who is confident Wolves will be the “first team selected” when FFA names the two A-League expansion clubs for 2019/20.

“The Illawarra and south coast region have had a long proud history of football from the 50s and 60s onwards, if not before,” he told FourFourTwo. “We have three of the five or six oldest registered clubs smack bang in our region.

“We don’t look as ourselves as part of Sydney, we don’t look at ourselves as part of any other region except our region. We are very loyal, we are very tribal. We always support our own.”

And Papakosmas has issued a “watch this space” saying the bid has “some nice international surprises that are just around the corner” in terms of backing.

$70m or $165m ? who cares ?

Tasmanian A-League team
pitch centres on new stadium at Hobart's Cornelian Bay

Posted about 5 hours ago

PHOTO: A shortlist of four to six bids for new A-League teams is expected this week. (ABC News: Tony King)

A Tasmanian A-League team could play its home games in a purpose-built stadium at Hobart's Cornelian Bay, a study has found.

The ABC understands the pre-feasibility study explored the viability of a new 15,000-capacity stadium to house "FC Tasmania" in the national league.

Originally, a site on the Hobart Domain was seen as the preferred location, but the report identified Cornelian Bay as the frontrunner.

It is understood the Government-commissioned report examined 12 potential sites, of which at least six were deemed inappropriate.

The consortium behind Tasmania's A-League bid, led by Melbourne property mogul Harry Stamoulis and car park king Robert Belteky, had estimated a stadium would cost about $70 million to build, but the report outlined three options ranging from $140 million to $165 million.

The 10-team A-League is looking to expand by two from the 2019-20 season and the "FC Tasmania" bid is up against 15 others for a place on the shortlist.

Victorian outfit "Team 11" is one of the frontrunners, while strong bids have been received from groups representing south-west Sydney, Canberra and Fremantle.

A shortlist of four to six bids is expected to be announced this week with the successful two due to be unveiled in October.

Federal Member for Denison Andrew Wilkie, who is lobbying for federal money to support the Tasmanian bid, said Premier Will Hodgman should commit to partially funding a new stadium if Tasmania was short-listed.

"If we make the shortlist, the next critical step will be the State Government coming out and committing to co-fund a purpose-built stadium," he said.

"That alone could swing FFA's [Football Federation Australia's] decision.

"He clearly needs to put that on the record — it's not good enough to simply support a team entering the A-League."

PHOTO: "We feel very confident," says Victoria Morton about Tasmania's bid. (ABC News: Tony King)

Which comes first: stadium or A-League entry?

The State Government would probably need an assurance that Hobart would host FIFA Women's World Cup matches in 2023, if Australia won hosting rights, in order to provide significant funding for a new stadium.

The host nation for that tournament will be announced in Switzerland next year.

A chicken-and-egg scenario is formulating, with any stadium build seemingly reliant on FFA granting Tasmania an A-League licence.

However, FFA would need the guarantee of a rectangular stadium being built before accepting a Tasmanian bid.

South Hobart Football Club president Victoria Morton, who is acting as the local spokesperson for the owners, said the team behind the FC Tasmania bid was confident.

"We feel very confident," she said.

"We feel the expression of interest we placed with FFA and Deloittes was very positive, and we ticked all the boxes that need to be ticked.

"Let's hope they look favourably on what Tasmania can offer."

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has invited ten bidders to take part in the next stage of a process to expand the Hyundai A-League.

FFA intends to grant licences for two new clubs to join the Hyundai A-League in the season after next, 2019-20. The ultimate aim of the process is to identify two bids with the strongest potential for establishing clubs with long-term sustainability while also growing the commercial attraction and popular support for the existing Hyundai A-League clubs and the League as a whole.

Fifteen formal submissions were received at the end of the initial Expressions of Interest (EOI) stage.

These have been analysed by FFA and its lead advisers Deloitte against the criteria contained in the EOI documents with additional information sought from all parties.

Following that analysis, the FFA Board resolved to invite the following parties to take part in the next, more detailed bid phase:

• South West Sydney FC
• United for Macarthur (Sydney)
• Southern Expansion (Sydney region)
• Team 11 (Melbourne)
• South Melbourne FC
• Western Melbourne Group
• Brisbane City FC
• Ipswich Pride FC
• Canberra & Capital Region
• Wollongong

All parties have been notified of FFA’s decision. The existing Hyundai A-League clubs and FFA’s Member Federations have also been updated. The bid phase will commence in July and provides invited parties access to a data room containing a range of Hyundai A-League related information and the ability to ask additional questions and engage with FFA and Deloitte.

Final binding bids are due by 31 August and the announcement of the new licences is planned to be made by 31 October 2018.

FFA has advised the unsuccessful parties that it intends to expand the Hyundai A-League further in future years and encourages them to bid for licences at that time.

FFA Chief Executive David Gallop said the process remained highly competitive.

"FFA's job is to get the best outcome for the Hyundai A-League and football as a whole," he said.

"That means granting licences that will complement the existing Hyundai A-League clubs, link back into fans and the football history in their local community, help to develop football pathways for more players, increase interest from sponsors and broadcasters, have solid financial backing and operate sustainably.

"Expansion has created enormous interest and attracted 15 groups to come forward from around the country. Once we get these two new clubs established for the season after next we intend to add more clubs in future years."

1. “Team 11” (South East Victoria)
   
2. South Melbourne (Lakeside)
3. Western Melbourne ( Wyndham )
4. South West Sydney (Liverpool)
5. Macarthur (Campbelltown)
6. Southern Expansion (Sutherland-St George-Illawara)
   
7. Wollongong Wolves
   
8. Canberra
   
9. Brisbane City
   
10. Ipswich Pride
    
11. Gold Coast United 29th June 2018
12. Tasmania 29th June 2018
13. Fremantle 29th June 2018
    
14. West Adelaide  29th June 2018
15. Belgravia Leisure 29th June 2018
16. Brisbane Strikers 20th May 2018
17. Victoria Patriots June 2017

Tasmania's hopes of featuring in an expanded A-League crushed as bid gets struck off shortlist

Updated 8 minutes ago

Football Federation Tasmania (FFT) said it was "extremely disappointed" but the news and that they thought the bid, led by Melbourne property mogul Harry Stamoulis and car park king Robert Belteky, deserved to remain in the hunt.

"The quality of the bid from the consortium was such that we felt it was deserving of further consideration," an FFT statement said.

Had the bid been successful, it would have provided a clear pathway for local players aspiring to reach the top of the game in Australia.

"We have no doubt the support and passion exists for an A-League side to be a success down here."

'A massive own goal of the Premier's making'

Shadow Minister for Sport David O'Byrne said it was "gobsmacking" the Tasmanian bid had not even progressed to the final 10, and laid the blame at the feet of Premier Will Hodgman and Sports Minister Jacquie Petrusma.

"Premier Hodgman's trademark for being asleep at the wheel has cost Tasmania yet again," he said in a statement.

"This is a massive own goal of the Premier's making.

"Tasmania's bid seemed to tick all the boxes — except having driven, hands-on support from the Liberal Government.

"To make things happen we need leaders who will take an active role in ensuring Tasmania at least made the first list of 10 clubs and then worked with the bid proponents and the community to advance our case.

"It's gobsmacking that we have not been able to at least remain in the conversation."

Southern now playing the Les card


Wolves, Southern Expansion's A-League expansion turf war escalates

Wolves chief executive Chris Papakosmas said the announcement was the first step towards “something special” for the Illawarra.“This is an opportunity for the community to band together in support of the Wolves,” he said.

“It’s a chance for the South Coast to do something special and be part of the A-League.
“It’s going to be a boon for boys and girls across the region to move through the pathway from juniors to the elite level.
“We have every faith in our submission.”

The Wolves, who won National Soccer League titles in 1999-00 and 2000-01, would play all A-League games at WIN Stadium if successful, while Southern have committed to a one-third share of home fixtures in Wollongong.

An official announcement of the two successful clubs is to be made on October 31.

The region’s governing body, Football South Coast has signed a memorandum of understanding with Southern Expansion’, joining Kogarah and Sutherland associations in support.But FSC have also signalled their support for the Wolves’ bid.
 
Southern Expansion chairman Morris Iemma, the former NSW premier, said the shortlist was another endorsement of their bid, which was backed by the late Les Murray, the Berkeley High student and legendary SBS broadcaster.
“This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Southern,” he said. 
“On behalf of our region’s football associations and hundreds of thousands of fans, we’re excited that we’ve been shortlisted by FFA and are now one step closer to fulfilling Les’s legacy – giving the people of the southern region their own professional club.”