It's time for the A-League to flourish

My Apologies - as someone that spent their childhood holidays in Adelaide I should have known better. A few years ago I suggested to a Brisbane Lions exec that they should have had a crack at the new A-League franchise. The word was that the AFL would never have worn it - perhaps they have tried a bit harder. May have fixed their $3m hole and Brisbane Roar may have not had the $2.5m hole.

Gold, North Torrens! I love it. Wait 'til I show that to the Roosters supporters I know. JP, it's North Adelaide, mate. However, your point is a good one. Being an Adelaide fan, it will be interesting to watch how the admin co-operation works between Adelaide United and North Adelaide. Maybe it will provide a blueprint for elsewhere.

They would play games in cairns as well if the FFA/Fox allowed. 5 of the 11 have played for the Socceroos and Sarota has a good chance as well. Michaal Thwaite – 6 caps Clint Bolton – 4 caps Shane Stefanutto – 3 caps Kasey Wehrman – 12 caps Steve Corica – 32 caps

Next time we want to expand, expand to foreign areas where a solid amount of fans have turned up for an a-league match. i can only name one which has proven itself twice and that's christchurch, maybe western sydney should also have more syd fc games at parramatta stadium to test the waters. we should also get rid of the australian marquee, it's pointless and we should be promoting a very even competition. one marquee is only what most clubs can afford anyway. midweek games have been a disaster, shorten the season. as it stands it's not commercially viable

RIP A-League

Thom, I wish I had of kept the list because I’m missing a few but here’s the ones I can remember from Nth Qld Coach - Frank Farina Steve Corrica Adam Sarota Shane Stefenuto Kasey Wherman Mitch langerak Shane Higgins Caravhella Clint Bolton Wayne Shroj Taj Minnecon Michael Thwaite

I said Canberra is marginally bigger than the Townsville region - there are stacks of towns sth and nth of Townsville, an area that has a very rich soccer heritage, going back a long, long way. To say that Hobart and Geelong are bigger and conclude that they have more chance of success than Townsville is a bit simplistic. That's not to say it shouldn't be done, but I'm simply saying that the initial choice of Townsville was not that far-fetched as many are claiming.

Always thought it was a strange move from the FFA and the A League to setup both Gold Coast and North Queensland. I had real fears neither club would succeed at the time and appear to have been proven right. In all honesty the best way to have setup the first season of the A League would have been- Brisbane Newcastle Sydney West Sydney Wollongong Melbourne V Melbourne H Adelaide Perth New Zealand The stipulation that Sydney and Melbourne would be one team towns for the first five years was wrong and misguided, all leagues thrive on local derbies. The Melbourne red Heart v blue Victory would have been huge from the outset and the chance to have Sydney FC and West Sydney playing from season one would have improved the interest and kept the league interesting for fomer NSL fans who supported sides in Sydney's west. The Mariners although a well run club don't have the history of football that a town like Wollongong does either. The league could have then looked to expand to GC, NQ, CC or wherever.

ACT along with the NT would be the only places in Australia that would have soccer as the #4 football code, and with their relatively small populations could not see at team working in either place, although noone is talking of the NT anyway.

Yes, true. Down the track, I can see the possibility of the A-League having five (or even six) teams within a 250km radius of Sydney - and that might ulitmately prove to be a solid platform for the A-League. Just as the NRL and AFL rely very heavily on their heartlands for support - it's beneficial to have an area of core support, where away fans can get to games relatively easily.

With an approx $2.1 mill cap, Stefanutto would have been taking up 1/7th - that's a big, big chunk of the cap. But yes - I had actually forgotten that he was a local.

judging by the crowds the cosmos got, i reckon getting home fans in Canberra is more of a priority than being convenient for Sydney FC fans

JP I am like you and love Nth QLd as it’s a great holiday spot…though admittedly only in winter. I am sure I saw on here an NBL player saying just that and that Sydney loses NSW players to Cairns and Townsville because an 80k contract in Sydney isn’t as good as an 80k contract up north (cost of living). The Cowboys (and Matheson comes from a league background) do have trouble recruiting big names from other clubs in league and their seems to be a little bit of an inferiority complex about it up north and they seem to mistakenly blame downtown Townsville. I don’t think that kind of problem with recruitment would exist in the A league though. Most young soccer players see the A League as a stepping stone so whichever club can offer them first team minutes asap is very alluring and they would sign for Broken Hill FC for that chance. And for overseas imports a place like Cairns is the reason they want to come to Australia. It certainly beats a lot of places that professional footballers set up sticks.

My god Roarchild - that is madness if they paid that amount for Ferguson and then $300K for Stefanutto. Whoever was in charge had no idea. They could have picked up a couple players of decent calibre for that amount and living in the Tropical Queensland despite what has happened of late! I could think of worse places to play football and earn a crust.

Sorry I edited on some extra which made your post a little redundent. I only did so because I had the same reaction you did. Fowler makes some sence (if you can afford it... a bit like Abblett) but ideally the FFA should have paid half his wage (since every team benefitted).

I can understand Fowler - but Stefanutto!!??