Which city should the A-League expand to next?

Ive read majority off the comments and it seems that people want a team from the eastern states Western Australia and Perth haven't had proper football teams of sport teams in national leagues (except the afl) until the late 80s and early nineties. the notion that a second club in the city will cannibalize attendance is absurd. these ideas are thought up from the perspective of mainly eastern states. WA, especially Perth, has a hunger for sport. and we have a hunger for proving the eastern sates wrong and crushing them. a second team will only feed that hunger and maybe create some healthy rivalry as well as grow professional soccer and sport in the region. iangou's comment " there is no way to separate the town geographically (such as Western Sydney) and there isn’t some big untapped market" is very wrong, and its obvious he is not within 2500ks of the city. Perth has a population of 2mil and is spit into 2 regions north and south of swan river. when every there is a sports comp between the 2 there is a fierce rivalry. it is that rivalry that should be allowed to grow. what i propose is maybe a second team that is either in fremantle or in the northen suburbs. there are plenty of stadia all over to accomadate the side and there is a large untapped market of youngsters and occasional footie and rugby fans who have nothing to do in the summer.

The Dockers play at Subi,with no problems! I agree,though about a second WA team. The main vibe for sports where WA has one team in a National competition is :- WA against the @##$$%%%##%!! Eastern States. :) WCE & Fremantle seem to still benefit from this in the AFL,but they are coming from a large supporter base. If the Glory can increase its supporter base,they may be able to handle sharing the market,but from where they are,I don't see it!

For me Canberra is clearly the 11 th fransise. After that lots of bids are in similar places. I like the right up on Auckland another derby would easily pull 20 thousand fans I reckon. Also I would not completely put a line in Gold Coast. Lon term it's an important strategic area. But anyway Canberra clearly team number 11 no idea about number 12. I read te other day fury might come back I believe they don't have the demographic or population to be successful. I think we would forever be pushing 4-5 thousand crowds

The old saying on the Gold Coast...you're not a true Gold Coaster unless you're from Victoria.

Considering the WSW are still FFA owned I would imagine there shouldn't be any expansion until they are sold and running efficiently. In addition I would say the Heart/City project will need 2-3 seasons to build momentum and really develop as a 'new' club. Targeting the 2018-19 season I would strongly consider a geographically located Melbourne team representing the western suburbs. With a current population (that is expanding rapidly especially in Wyndham and Brimbank) of about 650,000 west of the Maribyrnong River plus around 200,000 in Hume City and just over 200,000 in Greater Geelong it ticks the population box. One of the most multicultural areas of Australia and a real football heartland, it has a stadium to play out of in Docklands as a permanent resident. This expansion would succeed as it serves to really differentiate itself from Victory and Heart/City. Another added bonus is the opportunity for a three-way Melbourne derby scenario which will inflate attendances due to the relative ease of away fans coming to the game. My next suggestion would be the contentious Canberra bid. Aiming for the 2019-20 season, the population of Canberra-Queanbeyan is projected to exceed 500,000. Also, while the rugby codes are strong and represented on a national stage plus a significant Australian Rules community, there is no national summer sport in the capital. A long term and integrated bid building on the W-League team by adding a NYL team and then an NPL team will allow for better community engagement. Part of the issue is the economic reality, Ivan Slavich is a known supporter of a Canberra bid but after seeing the two QLD start-ups fail, the model for expansion should be instigated by an FFA owned team which then hands over the reigns to a blended community/owner model similar to the Bundesliga's 49% rule for ownership. A quick word on the other proposals, Townsville is far too small to be able to compete realistically with the existing clubs without running at a massive loss all of which will need to come out of a wealthy sugar daddy's wallet. Gold Coast have no interest in ball sports, the place is a sporting graveyard. Wollongong would be nice but I fear that we look back with rose tinted glasses, being competitive in the old NSL means nothing now, look at Perth Glory. Tasmania is just too small and lacks infrastructure and economic ability, plus the North-South divide is too great to overcome. Auckland could be a success but the fact remains that it has been complete failures in the past, and it is also located in a different FIFA confederation. Sunshine Coast might be a little bit more viable than Gold Coast but with half the population and a very low population density, plus the outdoor sports are a major drawcard in summer. That's just my 2c on the issue.

Even if Fury can get 8000 average to a match (probably not in the first season either) the exorbitant cost of hiring a giant stadium half or two-thirds empty (with 8000 there) does not make great businss sense. But who knows -- let's hope we all get very pleasantly surprised.

Admittedly there are professional teams in the Conference, but from what I remember they're usually ones with a bit of financial clout, looking to get into the Football League, or ones that were relatively recently relegated. The conference on the whole is semi-professional IIRC, a mate of mine lived next door to a conference player a few years back, and he had to have a second job as the pay he got from his club wasn't much. I actually wasn't aware that two teams go down from League Two, that's a change that must have been introduced since I left the UK. I see that four teams get promoted to League One too. When I wrote about crowds numbering a few hundred in the ninth tier I was actually thinking of my home town club South Shields FC, who used to attract that kind of number. Although thanks to the club's relocation to Peterlee they don't get those numbers now.

Passionate_Aussie - that stadium has been talked about for a number of years now up there. The Cowboys have received numerous NRL/State Govt handouts over the years to keep the club afloat. The Cowboys also have the cheapest tickets in the NRL (from $10 I have read) so they are certainly not flush with cash but I hope the QLD taxpayer does build the stadium for them though like they did for the GC Suns but not sure it would help the Fury either-way.

jimbo, Queenslanders *can* follow Queensland - in either the Suns or the Lions.

While we're dreaming, one day in the future when they add a second team from the glorious nation of Westralia, I reckon it won't be Freo, it will be a side from the ever expanding northern beachside suburbs, populated by rich Poms. Introducing Northern Beaches FC.

You must expand where the population is . Auckland with a population of circa 2 million must have a side . The 2nd option would be either Canberra or Christchurch .

Pete4, If the NQ Cowboys have it their way with the push for a new stadium, then having North Queensland Fury re-established might turn out to be a good thing. http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/north-queensland-cowboys-ceo-peter-jourdain-calls-for-new-stadium-in-townsville/story-fni3g8pa-1226703085458

Jeez, the time I take to travel to a sporting event doubles, triples, sometimes even quadruples 15 minutes!

The moment the Lions start winning again the fans will flock back.

Wollongong is the clear favourite. It is a working class town with many migrants who came in the 1970s from central/eastern European countries where football is popular. There is too much competition from other sports in Canberra. The sunshine coast has no serious towns and the gold coast and townsville has been tried and failed. Tassie too small and too spread out - also AFL is dominant there, same as in geelong. No new clubs are needed for five to ten years but central coast should move to Wollongong as it has no serious future in the small village of gosford.

There is three teams out of Geelong bidding to get a NPL slot right now. It looks like the North Geelong Croatians will get the nod.

Why?

SportsFanMelb. Christchurch have hosted 2 A-League games to date. In 2010, Round 25, Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United at AMI Stadium. Crowd: 19,258. In 2011, Round 17, again Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United at AMI Stadium, Christchurch. Crowd: 14,108. Average crowd: 16,683. I believe Stu has a valid point.

Rugby League is incredibly popular up here, i played AFL one year in Cairns, and copped it left right and centre, its not really socially accepted.