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Assessing the A-League expansion bids – part 3: Who makes the cut?

Roar Guru
29th May, 2018
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Oriol Riera of the Wanderers. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
29th May, 2018
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1226 Reads

The A-Leauge has the task of whittling 15 expansion bids down to just six – no easy task when there are more than six good contenders – and it’s made even harder when just two of those will end up entering the competiton.

» Click here for NSW and Victorian bids
» Click here for the rest of the country’s bids

The two I like the most are Wollongong and Tasmania. The Wolves should have been a foundation club who were there from the start. They have history and a whole raft of ready-made, genuine vitriolic derbies with Sydney FC, Wanderers, Newcastle, Central Coast and an old rivalry with Perth.

As Wolves CEO Chris Papakosmas puts it, “No other sport can put that on the table, no other team can offer the level of romance and marketability that the Wolves can.”

But there is one other possibility who could, and that’s Tasmania.

After two previous attempts at joining the national top flight and after being neglected by the AFL, who put the Gold Coast and Western Sydney before them, Tasmania have plenty of goodwill from many fans.

With a solid bid backed by Harry Stamoulis and Robert Belteky, there’s a genuine chance that Tasmania could finally make it. That’ll be a great story for the A-League.

Tasmania will have traditional rivalries with Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, as well as Western Sydney, who beat them in the last round of expansion.

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But their biggest rivalry might be with Wollongong, who will be most people’s second team.

Romance might not sound like a sound basis for a business case, but if romance is what people want to see like when Leicester City won the Premier League or when Wollongong were crowned NSL champions, then romance is a big factor.

It’s hard to find that kind of romance in a closed league made up of ‘plastic franchise teams’ and it’s something the A-League needs more of. You’ll find it if you add Wollongong and Tasmania.

It might be hard to chart on a spreadsheet but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

The next four
In addition to picking an eventual two there are four other places in the shortlist of six. So, who can we eliminate?

Starting with Queensland, Ipswich are the weakest link. First proposed by David Gallop when he was head of the NRL, it was all about supporting the business case for a 30,000-seat stadium in Ipswich for an NRL team and had nothing to do with football.

Brisbane City are also a poor choice due to the risk of creating two small teams, which both end up struggling, with the biggest winner being rugby union who own Ballymore.

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Gold Coast are a safer option in Queensland but they are still the Gold Coast.

West Adelaide? Forget it.

Looking to Victoria now, South Melbourne and Belgravia Leisure both get the chop. In the face of such strong bids from both Western and South East Melbourne they simply can’t compete.

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In Sydney there are three bids, two of which have major weaknesses.

Southern Expansion and South West Sydney are too wide-ranging and have problems with identity. In the case of Southern Expansion, the way they treat Wollongong for the sake of making their own ‘metrics’ look better is a disgrace.

Who’s left?
The final shortlist of six starts with Wollongong and Tasmania, who were my final two, followed by Western Melbourne, South East Melbourne, Canberra, Macarthur and Fremantle.

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I know that’s actually seven, but why keep Wellington when there are more compelling choices?

Wollongong and Tasmania are needed to add romance and will bring genuine derbies and rivalries all over the place.

South East Melbourne and West Melbourne each have catchments of over a million and will change the sporting landscape of Melbourne with the ‘Battle of the Bay’ as its centrepiece. Dandenong’s stadium plans are already getting more press than the A-League finals series.

Canberra as the nation’s capital and base of 31,000 players is an important nursery for developing future Socceroos.

Macarthur could fill the gap left by the Western Suburbs Magpies in the NRL and has the backing of Lang Walker. As well as a new Western Sydney Derby, it’ll also set up a ‘Surf ‘n’ Turf Derby’ with Sydney FC.

Fremantle is a bit iffy but has the potential of creating a massive derby with Perth Glory. When Wellington get the boot, then Fremantle can take their place.

But why stop at two?
The TV deal only allows money to be increased for two new expansion teams but if four other bids are willing to pay their own way until the next TV deal, then who am I to judge.

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Alternatively, if Fox Sports or Telstra can see the potential of the new clubs, then they might be willing to increase their level of support to make the league stronger. You never know.

Adding six new teams in one ‘big bang’ might be just what the A-League needs to get going.

Or promotion-relegation…

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