It’s flown by so quickly. We’re already up to round eight of the new A-League season. This means we have only two more weeks of fresh fixtures until we see repeats of games we’ve already seen this year.
It seems like only yesterday Alessandro Del Piero made his Sydney debut in the opener over in Wellington. Yet in the first week of next month, these two teams will be doing battle once again at Westpac Stadium.
The Wanderers’ stunning 1-0 win over Brisbane is still fresh in the memory – but straight after the Sky Blues/Phoenix rematch, they’ll be at it for the second time this season.
That’s the trouble with a 10-team competition. Not that it’s all about to turn boring two weeks – if any edition of the A-League looks like it has the legs to keep interest for the full length, this is it.
But wouldn’t it be nice to see a different team or two, with different players, a different coach, in different colours and in a different stadium?
Well, for the next wave of expansion – unless there is a “big present” landing in Frank Lowy’s lap at some stage over the next four years, as he quipped during yesterday’s TV deal announcement – we will have to wait at least until 2017.
Fair enough too – it’s important to get the current 10 clubs in order first, given the instability of seasons gone and the failed forays into North Queensland and the Gold Coast.
But for all those potential franchises across Australia, now is the time to get your houses in order.
Putting off expansion until a set date in the future is probably the best way the A-League can protect itself from another new club’s stillbirth.
The likes of the Northern Fury, the Canberra bid, the Sunshine Coast Fire, the South Coast of NSW and anyone else aspiring to reach the top tier now have a goal they can work towards.
If you need another reason why expansion is so important at this stage in Australian football’s renaissance, here’s a compelling one – more opportunities are needed for the young players coming through the ranks.
At a time when up-and-comers like Tom Rogic, Trent Sainsbury, Aaron Mooy and Josh Risdon are making names for themselves while cutting their teeth on a consistent basis in the A-League, there are surely others waiting in the wings for their opportunities that are being blocked by established stars.
FFA technical director Han Berger wanted to cut the visa quota of clubs from five to four this season. Thank god he didn’t get his way – we might not be seeing Del Piero, Emile Heskey, Shinji Ono, Jeronimo Neumann and Josip Tadic if there were less slots for foreigners.
But what was driving Berger is an understanding of youth development – the more chances there are for young players to play A-League, the better Australian football will be ultimately as a whole.
Add another two teams and you also get 56 full-time roster spots, two National Youth League set-ups, possibly two academies and a pair of footballing outposts that local fans can get around.
Given the way Gold Coast United’s carcass was picked apart, clubs are starting to understand just how crucial youth development is not only to maintain a strong team, but for the possibility of transfer fees as Melbourne Heart is showing.
The wonderful thing about the decision to delay A-League expansion is that, come 2017 – and barring any unforeseen disasters – Australian state-level football will look completely different.
By that stage every member federation of the FFA will have its own Australian Premier League conference and join a restructuring of the second tier that has two things in mind – making young players better, and encouraging successful talent farms to grow and clubs to potentially become an A-League franchise.
As the urban sprawl in south-east Queensland continues to seep further north and south of Brisbane, it will be exciting to see what can become of a team on the Sunshine Coast in a competition with heightened professionalism and all-round pressure.
At the same time, if the team behind the speculative sale of the Gold Coast Dragons concept to the Chinese business community can secure an APL license, we could see the team on the tourist strip that Clive Palmer held back.
A more likely prospect than both of these is the Fury. They were meant to be gone but the groundswell of support behind that wholesome and sadly departed A-League franchise has seen their distinctive double green colours revived.
Townsville may yet rise again.
The opportunity is there for every bid team – the Illawarra, Geelong, Gippsland, Tasmania, Canberra, even South Melbourne – to use the next four years to build from the ground up and create a club.
Because it’s not about forming a club with an A-League license – it’s about giving an A-League license to an established club. That has to be the dream.
If it can happen by 2017, and the competition is strong enough to attract even more broadcast money at the end of the new contract, two teams will be ready to step up and give Australian football an unmistakeable injection of freshness and rejuvenation.
andaroo
Guest
I agree with Brendo. The FFA must establish another 2 teams before the next broadcast rights come up for renewal in 2016. This will strengthen the FFAs hand by offering a greater volume of games as well as potentially larger demographic viewership to the broadcasters. If handled well the next deal should be a juicy one. With free to air Friday night broadcasting now established it will provide a big carrot for rival TV channels to bid on. SBS will need to fight hard to retain it. As for ideal expansion locations...Western Sydney emphatically demonstrated that demography is the primary consideration. There is only one area in Australia that can rival Western Sydney and that is Western Melbourne. It's surprising that nobody has mentioned it. Now the fastest growing region in the country, Western Melbourne would offer a club at the opposite end of the city from the other 2 established clubs. Creating a genuine demographic rivalry and potentially huge derby games with Heart and Victory. Melbourne can definitely handle 3 teams, unlike fickle Sydney where 2 seems the ideal number for now. The next best demographic location left is obviously the Gold Coast, Australia's 2nd fastest growing region. Only this time a strong grass roots club model needs to be established, with genuine football people running it (Palmer was a complete waste of time, despite his deep pockets). 3rd place goes to Wollongong, a solid football nursery with the advantage of close proximity to Sydney rivals.
Kylesy Sky Blues Fan
Guest
Could you explain the problems of a Canberra team, if they were playing out of a brand new stadium such as has been suggested by the ACT government? http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/city-promised-new-stadium-with-roof-by-2020-20120302-1u8si.html
David Heidelberg
Guest
It was a huge fight with the AFC to allowthe Kings/ Nux in the HAL, adding Singapore or Noumea does nothing for Australian football and just causes more problems with the AFC.
Realfootball
Guest
Lots of problems with any Canberra team that plays in summer. Doubt that it's a viable proposition. Demographics and maximising markets strongly indicate Auckland. The failure of the previous Auckland teams was due to a number of of factors, all of which can be avoided with better planning this time around. Last year they attracted 20,000 to see uninspiring Wellington play near foot of the table Adelaide. Does anything more have to be said? Could any of the Australian teams suggested hope to pull anywhere near this kind of attendance for two out of town, uninspiring teams? For a similar fixture, Canberra and Townsville, for example would be struggling to pull 5,000 (and that's optimistic). Any of the NSL clubs can be rejected out of hand. The A-League reflects contemporary and future Australia; the old NSL clubs reflect the past. I say this as a migrant kid myself. For all of this talk about "support bases", there is scant evidence of this in current attendances for any of these clubs. The Gong, yes. Demographics, geography and history are on their side. Really, if you are going to be hard headed about this, the next two clubs should be Auckland and the Gong. By a country mile.
Football United
Guest
They don't have to all be dropped straight in the A-League, new teams with the ambition to go to top should be brought into the APL and work their way up. The regional teams like sunny coast, Gold Coast and Geelong may never make it to the A-League but they could still give the community a quality team in its state league. Auckland was a failure because it was based in north harbour which is not a strong football area at all, Auckland City has real community connections and has brand power due to its recent involvement in Club World Cups. As for the ex NSL clubs, their fans are not going to be A-League team fans, nor should they have to be. As long as their are alternatives such as Victory or Heart for fans possibly not interested in their heritage, why does it matter if SM are heavily involved in the Greek community? That's 5-12k potentially new fans that could be involved in top tier football to add to Melbournes football scene.
damo
Guest
FURY!!!!! WE WILL RISE AGAIN!!!
Dizza
Guest
The best option would be to go one step further by removing Heart from the A-League altogether and replacing them with South Melbourne. Whilst I'm still not convinced that Melbourne needs two teams, surely it's better for that second club to be in a position where it adds to the total amount of support for the A-League in Victoria, rather than merely splitting the existing amount (unevenly) between two teams.
Daryl Adair
Guest
No chance. Fox has it locked up. People are getting carried away with what SBS can offer. It is welcome, but minimal as Fox holds the cards. SBS will be once-a-week wonders, offer some highlights, and provide delayed coverage of finals. All good, but limited exposure on free to air. Better than nothing, of course.
Black&Gold
Guest
It's a no brainer the next two teams : Canberra & Wollongong. The FFA cup (whenever it happens) could be a useful logistic test for prospective teams - stadia, crowd turnouts/behavior & player depth IF it finally happens within the new TV deal time span. Hope so. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
MV Dave
Guest
No chance Sth Melb in the foreseeable future...even though the club are doing all the right things re stadium, youth set up etc just opens a can of worms which FFA will not do... The next 2 teams have 4 years to get their houses in order and demonstrate why they should be the next inclusions to HAL. Personally think Wollongong or Canberra and perhaps either Auckland or North Queensland. New teams should only be included if catered for in the next TV deal. However an FFA Cup should be held within the life of the new deal (next 4 years).
SFC - Mad
Guest
I think we need 12 by 2017-18 for sure, would love Canberra and either North Queensland or Wollongong. I think Canberrans have turned out in decent enough numbers to warrant a slot, and I know there is a push down there to get a new rectangular stadium built by the Raiders and Brumbies, so if the FFA join in the push by promising a club if the new stadium is built then that would just be unbelievable. But yes, I don't think any more than 14 is realisticly viable in Australia if we want a 2nd division as well. Melbourne Heart Melbourne Victory Wollongong Canberra Athletic Sydney FC West Sydney Wanderers Central Coast Newcastle Jerks Brisbane North Queensland Adelaide Perth Wellington And then one of Tasmania, Geelong/Morwell, South-West Sydney (though Wollongong could try and look after this area) or a proper attempt at Gold Coast.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Andyroo, I've argued the same thing for the NRL as well - keep the cap where it is, grow the player payment pool by increasing the number of teams. But a major key is keeping teams from pissing money up against a wall on overpaid feelgood marquee signings and celebrity players.
nordster
Guest
More members? Assuming they all would want to join a union haha maybe they prefer an agent? Both is duplication when they are signing Individual Contracts... Either way the PFA assumes they have a role to cover all players in the football industry, whether they are union members or not. These things really should be voluntary ...reminds me of my student union days before Voluntary Student Unionism :)
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
But relying on the same person for extra money. This is probably relevant. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/government-chasing-nathan-tinkler-for-12m-in-stadium-rent/story-e6frfgbo-1226501018815 If I was Football Australia, I'd be implementing then 'So, Nathan Tinkler's Broke' plan *before* players cheques start bouncing.
Stevo
Guest
No thanks. If I wanted to join SMFC I would have done that during the halcyon days of the NSL. If this happened I would resign and join some other HAL club - maybe even the Roar?
Andyroo
Guest
One thing that could put expansion back on the agenda is the players asking for more money. Rather than pay the same players more a compromise might be getting the PFA more members as well as providing more opportunities for existing ones i.e. adding a couple of teams.
Kasey
Guest
sadly you're probably correct brisvegas, although IIRC weren't SMFC the driving force behind the Southern Cross FC bid that ultimately went to MHT? Never say never in the odd world that is football in this country!
brisvegas
Guest
I'm sure there're vested interests that would stop that particular merger from happening, but I think the sentiment is a good one.
Kasey
Guest
That's an interesting idea Red White and blue is a very successful colour scheme in the history of world sport:) I don't imagine the hellas fans would enjoy what they would see as a takeover - see St.George dragons fans vice Illawarra Steelers fans.
Kasey
Guest
What would make waves would be any findings of impropriety in the FIFAExCo...until then, I plan on watching Qatar 2022 from the comfort of my couch.