Two A-League expansion sides to be decided by end 2018

Not Sydney. They have two clubs there and never sell out, the people there don’t show up. South east Melb perhaps. South Melb, No way Jose. It would be another Chivas USA mistake. Just think about it, a third club In Melbourne about 5kms from the city centre.

They Have a good chance because they merged with Jewish club Melbourne Hakoah

You are right, The FFA said previously foxtel will have a heavy hand in the decision making process which is dissapointing. As a Wanderers fan i would like to see a Tasmanian and Victorian team in the A League, NSW is to heavily represented in the A league.

The Jets met the milestone by having a Chinese sponsor rather than Arabian (Middle East). Not much to study there. HAL is a smaller scale of the EPL where the top teams are backed by billionaires/rich oil or Chinese companies that is followed by the mid-table teams backed by individuals worth one or two hundred million and then the relegation teams owned by mere multi=millionaires. It's that simple the players world wide are greedy, coaches are greedy, payTV and their associated hangers on are greedy. There is no secret to it any more it all 100% about the money. Bad luck for the mug fan that has to support the greed.

Why are Greek flags a problem? We are the world game.

We already know south Sydney is the second team it's been decided done deal .

In Football you breed fish - by giving every village club in the country the chance to move up the divisions. When a club moves up, the people in the area get excited and join. That's how you breed fish. Nothing worse than a closed competition. That's a killer.

Well, you haven't exactly been close on any of your previous predictions, so yes, I'd say they are pretty big assumptions on your part. You, of course, are welcome to your predictions like everyone else, I'm just questioning your logic along with your track record. However, I do think a Casey Danenong team would do well, but this wouldn't be a club owning their own stadium either. How long a community like this could subsidise a venture of this magnitiude, should it fail, would be testing and an electoral nightmare for any mayor. If the community can't support their A-League team, the FFA once again must pick up the pieces. Not a high-risk venture, but a South Melbourne/ Geelong team (in whatever capacity) is probably a lower risk option at this stage.

Big assumptions? What were the assumptions - no salary cap & small club owning its own stadium? These are not big assumptions. Regardless, if the Salary Cap stays, the Distribution from Central Revenue will cover the Cap. And, clubs owning own boutique stadium has already been mentioned by PFA & FFA for future expansion. Casey Dandenong have council approval & land and are ready to go, as soon as FFA gives the nod. http://youtu.be/G2xwEgicXi8

Fletch - when will you start to realise that it costs $5,000,000 just to enter the HAL,not to mention the expenditure of writing out the initial contracts to around 35 players and staff, (another $4 or 5 millions). All of the former NSL identities you mention have been around a long time and I don't doubt for a minute they will have what we could term ,"well-heeled individuals" in their midst,,but whether those same individuals would part with $10,millions to sponsor a team which in the past has been totally dependent on their hard working social clubs for the necessary funds to operate,.is pushing the boundaries just a bit far. If I were to be cynical, I don't doubt for a minute that sometime in those last 11 years, those same social club management committees have been asked the important question , and ,not surprisingly, to a reasoning observer, have put a lid on that type of expenditure. Cheers jb.

That's some pretty big assumptions. Leaving those aside, I'm not sure the larger clubs would tolerate subsidising the weak (which is essentially what happens with centralised revenue) for very long, especially with a fragile administration keeping the peace. I've seen strong administrations struggle with this very concept, but an attendance of 5000? Hmmm, that would be very very very hard to sell. Agree partially with point two, but again a lot of assumptions there. Tv revenue would still pose a problem here, along with justifying an even distribution to such clubs.

South Melb are u likely for 3 major reasons: - the base is too small for an ALeague club - the stadium is a lovely boutique size, but only accessible by 1 tram - effnicity I agree with others that South Syd and Dandenong would be front runners.

What about Stars Wars fans? Aren’t they specifically part of the ALeague too?

“People who don’t understand AUS football try to give their insights on football & their ignorance is quite amusing.” This, from the very person who: - predicted a $100m broadcast deal - predicted YouTube or Google would be the main providers - suggested the coupon system - suggested an ‘aged-based’ system for squads Agreed. Quite amusing.

In the ALeague the Salary Cap if fully paid from the Distribution each club receives from central revenue (broadcast, sponsorship, finals tickets, etc.) Having said that 1) an independent ALeague will like have no Salary Cap, or Salary Floor 2) Team B is likely to be a current NPL club who owns & operates its own home stadium, so it's highly likely they'll higher Net Profit from home matches than Team A.

"So if there was a Tassie A League team, it certainly would be unique. If anything, that in itself would generate interest across mainstream." I think Tasmania has "Cult Club" written all over it. The place has so much character - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLrfiU9I9A

Not a fan of the overuse of corporate language being used by FFA with regards to A-League expansion. Business has a big part to play, but community is more important. Would much rather see real, cultured football clubs like South Melbourne, Melbourne Knights, Sydney United or Olympic given a crack than some soulless, empty vessel corporate entity.

I'm not suggesting the A-league doesn't have systemic issues, far from it. The art of politics though is: compromise. Lowy & Co need to compromise if they're to move forward with their vision. How far they're willing to compromise... well I guess we'll find out this year.

David Gallop - the person actually informed and empowered to run the game in australia - disagrees with you. He says metrics - crowds, ratings, memberships - are the most important considerations for a new franchise licenece. But hey, maybe you’ll be right for once, and new licences will be given to Tassie, Townsville and Canberra. And Dandenong-Casey of course.

Who subsidises Team B in the likely event they can't pay the Salary Floor of the Salary Cap?