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There has been much talk about future expansion of the A-League. After the 12th license was favourably given to an un-organised western Sydney consortium, Frank Lowy and Football Federation Australia have promised Canberra to be the first choice for the A-League’s 13th license.
But where is all this coming from? What idea or long term plan does the FFA have for vital club based expansion?
The FFA seems satisfied to randomly announce the 12th license to a consortium destined to failure. Many other bids had their time wasted by the FFA, who were apparently always going to give western Sydney a club over the far more developed Canberra bid, and other alternatives.
There was never any process or sticking to a plan, just what seemed to me to be a few people saying I want a team here before the AFL GWS club, and I don’t care if I alienate other markets. The reality is that the A-League cannot go to a 13 or 14 team competition unless the normal season format gets turned upside down.
As can be seen in Europe, there are some twelve team leagues, such as the Scottish Premier League and Danish Super League, and then virtually no fourteen team leagues. A jump from 12 to 16 clubs is a common sight across the continent, due to the scheduling requirements of each team playing either two or three times and getting a good, even number of matches in the regular season.
At the moment the A-League has eleven teams, each one playing every other team three times in the season calendar, so 30 games per team in the regular season. The Scottish Premier League has 33 matches in the regular season, with an extended period of the top six (and bottom six) clubs following.
If there was a 14 team league, there would be quite an irregular number of matches in normal season time. With either, teams playing each other twice to make 26 matches or teams playing three times to make 39 matches. This amount of games would be either too short or too long for the regular season, particularly for the A-League at this current time.
It is also unsustainable to keep adding teams onto the top tier of a football league. Wouldn’t it be better to create a B-League with all the clubs that cannot be included in a 10 or 12 team A-League? Give teams the chance to build their club from the ground up, instead of having the expectations of huge crowds and quality football from day one.
Expansion is necessary to keep football’s momentum rolling in Australia. Markets that aren’t swamped by rival code support which are waiting for professional football are obvious choices for a second tier B-League. A new B-League alongside a sustainable A-League would offer a long term future to football in this country, instead of a mashed up 14 team, stand-alone league trying to cover all the levels and standards of various clubs in one level of competition.
If the FFA keeps up this trend of one-level expansion and don’t see the need for a lower league soon, to cater for smaller clubs like North Queensland and Gold Coast United, as well as the many other potential bidders, we will see more hopeless expansion and failing clubs that can’t keep up with the top flight of professional football.
One day when the A-League and lower league(s) are established with a full body of clubs, the FFA should then look at expanding to a 16 club competition, but that should be a long-term goal as much needs to happen before then.
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