As the scramble for the next two A-League places and talk of a second division heats up Sydney will be in the thick of it.
The current front runner for expansion in Sydney is Sutherland but they aren’t the only potential location.
Transport problems and geography have made Sydney a tribal city which is a good thing for football and there are plenty of places in the city that could support new teams. But the big question is where Sydney’s next A-League team should actually be based.
So to figure things out let’s have quick a look at each of the the candidates with a focus on stadiums.
Sutherland – Shark Park
The Southern Expansion bid takes in Sutherland, St George and Wollongong but each of them could also support their own teams independently.
Shark Park would need an upgrade for an A-League team but would be perfectly adequate for a team in a second division.
St George – Kogorah Oval
The St George area is home to Jubilee Oval which would also be adequate for a team in a second division and the rivalry with Sutherland will be good for generating local interest.
Fairfield – Fairfield Showgrounds
The council of Fairfield are willing to fund a new stadium at Fairfield Showgrounds which would host a team both representing and owned by 52 clubs in South West Sydney.
Sydney United, Marconi Stallions and Bonnyrigg White Eagles are all on board in support of the bid.
Campbelltown – Campbelltown Stadium
The Macarthur region is a rapidly growing area of Sydney and is a long distance from Fairfield.
Campbelltown Stadium would make a good home for a team here.
Northern Beaches – Brookvale Oval
There are a large number of players on the Northern Beaches which a team could draw support from.
Brookevale Oval will soon be upgraded to have 8,000 seats, which is fine for a team in a second division.
Penrith – Penrith Stadium
In Sydney’s far west Penrith could be a location for a second division team and Penrith Stadium has 8,000 seats which is just fine.
Canterbury – Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic were a popular side in the NSL and Belmore Sports Ground has 12,000 seats which matches the average attendance of A-League matches.
But they do have baggage from the old NSL. They’d have to turn themselves into a mainstream club representing Canterbury rather than the Greek community.
North Sydney – North Sydney Oval
The Northern Spirit were once popular and had average crowds of 15,000 in 1998 but North Sydney Oval isn’t ideal. Maybe they could use temporary seating as has been proposed for North Hobart Oval to improve things.
Only a small fraction of Sydney FC’s members come from the North Shore compared to 20 per cent for the Mariners so maybe people on the North Shore don’t connect with the city.
The Bears aren’t likely to come back in the NRL and there’s not much chance of an AFL team so the only option left is an A-League bid if they want a local team to support.
So where should Sydney’s next A-League team be based?
It’s hard to say where Sydney’s next A-League team should be based when you could make a good case for a number of different places.
You could easily make a case for Sutherland or Fairfield but you would also be speculating and hoping for the best.
A case could also be made for Canterbury, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, Campbelltown, Penrith or St. George but they might be better suited to a second division to start with.
But ultimately I think the best place for where Sydney’s next A-League team should come from is from a national second division via promotion.
Could Sydney be a hub for an A-League second division?
With the number of potential locations for new teams in Sydney you could easily put a number of these in to a second division.
The make-up of a second division is yet to be decided but including a number of teams from Sydney would create a strong hub of interest for the league.
From Sydney you could include Sutherland, Campbelltown, Canterbury, Fairfield, North Sydney, Northern Beaches, St. George and Penrith.
Then you could add Canberra, Tasmania, Wollongong, Geelong, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Northern Fury and South Melbourne to make it 16 teams.
Sunshine Coast in particular could be a better prospect now after their Super Netball grand final win and with their upgraded 10,000 capacity stadium, which hosted an NRL trial match between the Melbourne Storm and the NZ Warriors.
As for the next two A-League teams I think that Dandenong and Brisbane City are the most likely candidates.
South East Melbourne because it has a population the size of Adelaide, and Brisbane City because it’s unlikely the Queensland government will fund a new stadium built from scratch.
This takes the total number of teams across both divisions to 28 which leaves 4 more places to bring the total to 32 with 16 teams in each.
Maybe there could even be an Ocean 11 FC based in New Caledonia or PNG. There’s plenty of talent in the Pacific Islands if it can be developed.
There was a full house for the PNG national women’s team during the Pacific Games in Port Moresby. That kind of crowd would be good in the A-League.
Could this model by the way forward?
While 12 teams in NSW/ACT might sound a bit NSW-centric for some people I think it still makes sense when NSW is the heartland of the sport in Australia and Sydney in particular because of its geographically tribal nature.
Having teams in close proximity also allows for fans to easily travel to away matches which is important for creating atmosphere and also cuts down on travel costs for the teams themselves.
The other important factor to keep in mind is the existing stadium infrastructure in Sydney with a number of stadiums already in place unlike the other major cities.
Being so Sydney centric might be controversial but it does offer practicalities which are advantageous. With FFA being Sydney based and Sydney centric themselves, it could possibly happen.
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