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Expanding the A-League: The time is ripe

17th August, 2014
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The Roar need a win against Melbourne City to keep their slim finals hopes alive. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
17th August, 2014
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With the A-League entering its 10th season, there are three years remaining on the current television deal that Football Federation Australia negotiated in November 2012.

With a new deal to be put in place for the beginning of the 2017-18 season, the FFA need to have a look at expansion possibilities to increase their bargaining power.

It was a minor miracle that Western Sydney Wanderers managed to put together a competitive outfit within just six months, and a similar coup is unlikely to occur again.

Two new sides would make the A-League a much more attractive commodity. Given it would be ideal for them to have played a year of football before the TV deal is due, the time is ripe to kick-start plans.

Expansion should never be rushed, but it also needs to be pushed for the continuing growth of football in Australia. Taking 12 teams to the negotiating table could bring an unprecedented financial windfall.

First the FFA must work on consolidating the current 10 teams in the league, namely the Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners, and then they should begin evaluating which regions are ready for an A-League franchise.

The upcoming Asian Cup in 2015, and the introduction of the FFA Cup this season, are perfect opportunities to cash in on the interest that is dripping down from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The current four-year $160 million broadcast rights deal will end on June 30, 2017.

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Negotiations will begin well before that, and most likely finalised during the start of the 2016-17 season. FFA chief executive David Gallop needs more ammunition than a successful Western Sydney side and a lucrative Melbourne City team to maximise the value of the new TV deal.

Therefore it would be ideal to have two new clubs established and competing in the season where negotiations will be coming to an end.

Successful franchises should be given about a year in order to recruit players, backroom staff and develop a solid membership base with the promise of regular football.

That means an ideal time to announce the new clubs would be around August 2015. That gives the FFA little more than a year to put the feelers out and decided where the next two teams should come from.

It seems like a very short timeframe, but it’s not impossible and would be in the best interests of the game. And there are already clubs out there willing and ready to take the next step to becoming part of the A-League. The FFA could also use the money they made from the Wanderers sale to help the two clubs get started.

If they can be announced at the start of the 2015-16 season, then that gives them enough time to ready themselves for competitive football in 2016-17.

So which clubs should be considered for the next two spots on the A-League roster? There are three areas that are particularly strong contenders, while the rest are either too fanciful, not necessary or not ready.

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Re-born franchises
For supporters of North Queensland and the Gold Coast, this expansion project will come too soon. There’s no doubt both should be revisited in the future, especially North Queensland, but the dust hasn’t settled sufficiently for either to make a successful comeback yet.

Overseas
A Singapore side has been mentioned in various circles, but again it’s too soon to look at expanding the competition outside Australia. While such a venture would promise a massive market, great publicity and plentiful opportunities for owners and sponsors, it doesn’t make sense.

Given the FFA Cup has finally been given a green light, expanding to Singapore would put question marks over NPL sides with ambitions for gaining national recognition.

The A-League, ideally, should eventually move to a relegation and promotion system. It’s a long way off, and may be fanciful, but introducing a Singapore side would kill such dreams.

A third Sydney or Melbourne side
Barring a relocation of the Central Coast Mariners to north shore Sydney, which I’ll reiterate is not my suggestion or wish, the A-League should not be looking to expand in the country’s two most populous cities.

There have been suggestions that Sydney’s south is David Gallop’s next target, with certain areas feeling left out of other footy codes. But there are brighter prospects elsewhere for the next expansion plan.

While the populations alone make the cities appealing, Sydney FC has its own on-field problems to sort out without dealing with more competition, and Melbourne City needs a chance to establish a solid fan-base. Once those clubs have sorted everything out, then Sydney and Melbourne can flirt with ideas of a third club.

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A rival for Brisbane
A second Brisbane team is a must, or a side that represents the southern part of the city and the encompassing areas such as Ipswich, Logan and even Toowoomba.

The western corridor was labeled as the “next big thing” by Gallop during his tenure as NRL chief executive. It would result in another derby, giving the Brisbane Roar a new rival without taking away its supporters.

The area from Logan to Toowoomba has strong roots in the game, and Logan in particular is a traditional football city. Could the South Brisbane Strikers be a viable candidate, perhaps playing out of the old ANZ Stadium? It’s definitely not ideal to stage games in a multi-purpose, but it’s the next best solution behind constructing a purpose-built stadium.

How the second Brisbane team would be established, including its catchment area, stadium and home base, would be a tough call. But it’s an area the FFA should strongly consider.

Entering football heartland
Wollongong can feel aggrieved to have been left out of the FFA’s expansion plans so far. They have a strong history in football, had a successful side playing in the old National Soccer League, and were never in financial strife until the breakup of the competition.

They have been constantly overlooked, and now is the time to get them on board. The support base would be there, the passion would be there and the infrastructure would also satisfy A-League requirements.

A big crowd at the South Coast Wolves’ FFA Cup round of 32 clash against the Central Coast Mariners on August 20 is a perfect chance for the Wollongong population to show their intent in getting A-League football to the region.

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Bring football to the capital
Canberra is another potential candidate to fill one of the two expansion spots. While they already have rugby league, cricket, union and basketball in a region that has a population of 400,000, the A-League has one massive advantage over the other football codes.

They have the Australian summer all to themselves.

There is no reason why a population the size of Canberra cannot support a trio of football codes. They also have an established W-League side, the only one not affiliated with an A-League representative. Moving into Canberra would help grow the game at a grassroots level and assist the women’s game.

Out of the three most viable options – Canberra, Wollongong and South/West Brisbane – it’s hard to pick two winners. Each candidate has its own reasons to be one of the next teams to join the A-League, and it’s not an easy decision.

But it is almost irrelevant which teams do eventually get earmarked by the FFA, as long as they are set up to succeed in the same way as Western Sydney, and as long as they are chosen with enough time to get them on the field for the 2016/17 season.

Expansion is necessary for the A-League to grow, especially at a time when football is gaining momentum after the 2014 World Cup and the upcoming 2015 Asian Cup. The time is right, FFA must put the gears in motion.

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