Gold Coast United will be announced tomorrow as a new addition to an expanded 2009/10 A-League - but the inclusion of North Queensland has again been put on hold.

The Football Federation Australia (FFA) board met today with expansion of the national competition top of the agenda, having long been a major priority for the governing body.

Two announcements were understood to be scheduled for tomorrow - in Townsville and the Gold Coast - but today only one was announced with FFA CEO Ben Buckley to unveil United as the newest entry to the A-League at their home venue of Skilled Park.

The North Queensland Football Club says it will hold off announcing details of a Townsville-based team, even if FFA confirmed its place in an expanded 10-team league in the meantime.

The main backer of the North Queensland bid Don Matheson, whose consortium was awarded exclusive negotiating status in July, told AAP today the club would not be saying anything “for a couple of weeks”.

“There’s no great dramas,” Matheson said.

“My bid was 12 weeks behind the Gold Coast so we have been running to fill the criteria and a business plan.

“Given the fact they approve us tonight we would still need two to three weeks to put the legal agreement together … and do a bit of branding.

“We are in this for the long term.

“There’s no drop-out issues at all.”

The inclusion of Gold Coast and a Townsville-based club for next season has already been delayed once with the bidders originally hoping for inclusion in March for this season.

It is understood that despite interest from the likes of Canberra, Wollongong and Melbourne it was only the bids of North Queensland FC and Gold Coast United that were heavily scrutinised by the FFA board today.

Backed by billionaire iron-ore businessman Clive Palmer, Gold Coast are expected to have no trouble raising the necessary capital to fund the team and have already been linked to former Socceroo goalkeeping great Mark Bosnich and several European-based stars.

Both clubs are set to push for the inclusion of locally-produced talent to fill part of their roster with Gold Coast to look at the likes of Queensland Roar young guns Mitch Nichols and Griffin McMaster, and Wellington Phoenix defender Karl Dodd.

North Queensland has a raft of potential players from the region to which they will turn their attention including Socceroo trio Michael Thwaite, Kasey Wehrman and Shane Steffanuto, plus former youth international Wayne Srhoj, currently training with Perth Glory.

Queensland Roar boss Lawrence Oudendyk said his club didn’t feel threatened by the likely inclusion of two extra teams from the state.

“(The inclusion of) Gold Coast will mean local derbies and much like Sydney against Mariners and Mariners against Newcastle, I would expect big crowds for our local derbies which will spark further interest in south-east Queensland so I think it is a great thing.”

The Roar will be looking for their first win of the season on Sunday against the visiting Central Coast Mariners with a large crowd expected to see Bosnich’s first national league match on home soil for some 17 years.

The Mariners will welcome back key players in midfielder Mile Jedinak and powerful striker Dylan MacAllister who is yet to take the field in the A-League since joining from Norwegian club FC Lyn.

Jedinak, capped three times by the Socceroos, missed the pre-season cup with a groin strain but his return will be welcomed by coach Lawrie McKinna who rates the 24-year-old “one of the best midfielders in the country.”

Sydney FC coach John Kosmina is hoping to have experienced defender Tony Popovic available for Sunday’s clash with Perth Glory after several weeks’ absence due to a hamstring injury.

Socceroo striker John Aloisi is also inching closer to a start having been training for a week since returning from his foot injury.

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