Which expansion clubs do you think deserve to be in the A-League?

I think the two strongest bids are Wollongong Wolves and South Melbourne. They already have the support, the stadiums, the brand, the teams etc in place. Plus they have the history and network of ex-players that brand new teams can’t replicate. Most other bids are nascent in comparison. Sure, there are other clubs that could potentially become much bigger. However, actual support is more important than potential support. Actual support can be measured in terms of social media following, NPL and FFA Cup crowds, membership numbers etc. South Melbourne have 60,000 plus social media following on the most popular platform. Team Eleven and Victoria Patriots struggled to get 1,000 between them. Geographically, they would represent all of Melbourne south of the Yarra. Wollongong Wolves have attracted some of the biggest FFA Cup crowds and their NPL crowds are amongst the biggest in the country. Their social media following is growing nicely and they have perhaps the most media coverage of any non A-league side in the country.

I think the only reason the "2 club expansion " issue was brought up at all because the FFA - i.e. Lowy and Gallop were getting a never-ending barrage of justified criticism from every quarter . And it has actually worked , taking the heat off the calls for the toppling of the duopoly of power - I bet when October comes around ,the whole shebang will either be postponed or cancelled and FIFA will replace the whoe board and we'll be back at square one

current 9 A-league clubs 11 FC Brisbane city, 12 Fremantle city, 13 West Adelaide, 14 w'gong wolves, Canberra United as the Wellington replacement. 26 rounds + 1 added derby round (yes an entire round dedicated to derbys derbys derbys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11! )

It took you 10 minutes to come up with that?????

So our sport can be the train wreck that is super rugby no thanks .we want Australian teams with Australian derbys. Teams like Wollongong wolves who have thirty thousand registered players and thirteen thousand registered juniors who have a football stadium in place one of the best stadiums in the country Wollongong is nSW third largest city and a rich soccer history teams like Dandenong and canberra where a fan candrive to local derbys its local derbys that gets fans to the games.

Very mature Waz. I've simply raised points you have made. I've also done it respectfully. You are being childish, and it appears the mods agree as they've left the comment there.

But what if there is no second division, just a closed group of franchises?

You haven't got a clue to say that only WSW can be considered a success is utter rubbish .the proof is in the pudding with fifteen bids in the league is super strong other wise there would not be fifteen bidders thats fifteen bids where people are investing millions upon millions into football and happily willing to do so in football in this country .NRL doesn't even have fifteen consortiums wanting to be part of the nrl .the only main problem with the league is that ten teams is getting stale it's too repetitive too small a comp. ,so we need a new injection of teams ten teams is too small even twelve teams is not enough ideally fourteen teams to sixteen teams is good for a really strong competitive entertaining interesting competition it has to be new markets ,I don't want another Sydney team or another Melbourne team .they are not new markets .regional teams with strong football communities behind them like Wollongong wolves the Illawarra has thirty thousand registered players and. Dandenong huge football area thats why fourteen teams is a must now if FFA are serious about expansion two more teams won't make enough difference .i dont think FFA heart is in this they just playing with the fans trying to stay afloat and half heartedly doing this .Gallop wants to keep his job .the game is healthy the Adminsitration is not .

people on these forums often miss this very important point, we know what football should look like, it's been the same all over the world for over a century, the blueprint is there, we just have to have the courage to implement it

Everyone in the AFL industry is arguing at the moment that the game is in such a poor state, a complete re-think of the rules is needed but as we all know, melburnians hve been brainwashed into thinking its the greatest game in the world

Utter nonsense

The ones who finish at the top in the second division DESERVE to move up into the first division - and no one else - of course! Any 10 year old European knows that, for Christ's sake... Anyone who thinks that clubs should be selected by the FFA (or anyone else) has absolutely NO CLUE about Football WHATSOEVER and should immediately go back to Aussie caveball. And more importantly: Repeat primary school!

Some good points Redondo. And yet you have a lot of people in this country who say that A-League is rubbish but AFL is of a fantastic standard. World class. But we're all Australians growing up in the same environment but something magical happens when they start playing AFL. They are all superstars and the ones who chose sokkah are rubbish. It would make a fantastic science experiment as to why this phenomenon occurs.

I meant to say as well that the quality of the players in the A-League is good enough to ensure that most games are good contests and entertaining to watch. You don't often see anything as turgid as the recent FA Cup Final. In terms of the A-League market - it's hard to estimate how many new fans will turn up if they are offered a team they can connect with i.e. in their region, some local players, short walk or drive to a game, already a fan (Wolves, South Melbourne). They only way we can find out is by trying. If it doesn't work out then so be it.

Just imagine how much better AFL, NRL, Super Rugby and Big Bash would be if 100 times as many people played the sport. The stuff you are watching is only acceptable in relative terms - there's nothing much else to compare it with. In absolute terms, it looks awful and probably is. But we'll never know. If you're not watching as a fan of a team, it's hard to believe anyone would watch. If you are a fan then the contest hides the quality, to a large extent. I always wonder how bad our AFL teams would look if the US played AFL and its AFL college system was drawing from a 300 million talent pool. The truth is, the A-League is probably roughly the same quality as the AFL, the NRL and Super Rugby. Big Bash is just rubbish cricket. The A-League might actually be better quality because it can draw players from around the world. But I guess that's counter-balanced by the fact that good Aussies can also go anywhere in the world.

As a lifelong football fan, it pains me to say the expression, "polishing a 'toad' ", springs to mind. If we take The Socceroos current FIFA ranking (40th) as in indicator of where the A League sits relative to competing international football leagues, consider that competing domestic competitions such as AFL, NRL, Super rugby and The Big Bash would all be ranked 1 or 2 in global terms within their respective sports and then consider the ubiquitous nature of top class football on television; well, the A League, in its current form, does not measure up as an attractive sporting product. I say this as a former season ticket holder for seven seasons whose son now supports Spurs. Also, it is only 'expansion' if it opens up new markets such as Canberra or Tasmania. Otherwise, it is simply diluting and cannibalising an existing, and already saturated, market. Maybe it is time to go back to the drawing board.

"maybe combine newcastle and the central coast and for the new team…. bring in either a second nz team…. a canberra team or a second qld. team." So, you want to merge Newcastle and Central Coast and bring in a second New Zealand team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37OWL7AzvHo

Maybe buy and merge several closely-located clubs in e.g. Vic NPL clubs Bentleigh, Oakleigh and Kingston. A bit of negotiation with the fanbase might be required but the promise of a spot in the A-League will help. Reserves play in the Vic NPL as BOK United.

Not Worried

How does Singapore fit as part of Australia. You realise the "A" in A-League stands for Australia don't you!