This time next week we will know which two A-League expansion bids have been successful. Don’t be surprised if a third one is kept in storage in case Wellington lose their licence.
Word is that one of the bids will definitely be from Melbourne. Of the Melbourne batch, South East Melbourne are favoured even though the major stumbling block of funding for their stadium – around $150 million of taxpayers funds – is yet to be resolved.
Western Melbourne insist they have the capital ready to go to build their stadium, a major strength of their bid, but the region’s population is dwarfed by the South East Melbourne bid, who have 1.2 million residents to tap into. Western Melbourne also isn’t too far removed from the CBD, meaning the team would be hard-pressed to capture a market that Victory and City haven’t already investigated. Dandenong and Casey are distinct geographically and in terms of infrastructure from central Melbourne, and having a point of difference that is important to FFA.
South Melbourne have plenty of history, but nostalgia will neither pay the bills nor bring in huge revenue going forward. The Lakesiders have their own stadium ready to go on a long-term lease that is reasonable and affordable. However, the new expansion is more than just about a club breaking even on their own; it is about enhancing the league as a whole.
South have a relatively small market to tap into, and once the novelty wears off, it is unlikely they will really capture too many fans who are disillusioned with the A-League. By the way, their stadium isn’t a great place to watch football; it is an old AFL ground with an athletic track around it.
The second A-League spot is where things get interesting. Canberra claim to be ready and raring to go. Their bid has impressed many, mainly because people wrote them off. The sticking point with Canberra is whether they will have a big enough market to attract huge crowds or TV audiences. Will Canberra have a genuine rivalry with anyone?
The link with Wollongong actually hinders their bid in that Wollongong and Canberra linking makes as much sense as Sydney FC and Central Coast merging. It signifies a touch of desperation to lay claim to a bigger market. In any event, a link with Wollongong will merely be a stop-gap measure for the South Coast, who have every intention of joining the A-League at some point in the future.
The Southern Expansion and Macarthur South West battle for Sydney’s A-League spot has been fascinating. Southern have well and truly lost the PR battle, with the bid getting more criticism than praise from the general public. However, there is little doubt this bid has the most amount of money to throw around, with rich Chinese group JiaYuan backing them.
What matters is the financial position of each bid going forward. Once licences are handed out no-one will care about what happened in the media in the lead-up. They have access to the biggest local association in the country, with Sutherland on its own having more footballers – around 20,000 – than any other association in Australia. Chuck in the huge St George Association and this bid is strong. Southern Expansion don’t really need Wollongong, but some from the South Coast are getting on board.
Macarthur South West are in one of the fastest-growing areas of Australia in terms of population. However, the Western Sydney Wanderers brand is strong in all of the areas captured by Macarthur South West. Many Wanderers fans come from Campbelltown, Liverpool and Fairfield, which are the core areas for Macarthur South West.
A crowd of only 6,000 turned up when Usain Bolt went to Campbelltown Stadium, which was poor considering it was a dress rehearsal for having an A-League team. A big selling point for this bid though is the fact that a Western Sydney derby would be sensational for the league and could be one of the marquee fixtures in the calendar.
So next Wednesday has been marked as the big day. It’s been far too long to wait for two new teams. Exciting times are ahead.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/winning-expansion-bids-decided-report Macarthur-South West Sydney and Western Melbourne Group will be announced today as the two new clubs to join the A-League, but only one will be joining next season, while the other will have to wait until the 2020-21 season.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Dominic Bossi is reporting the same thing, WMG set to enter "as early as next season after being granted an immediate A-League license to become the 11th club"
Mister Football
Roar Guru
David Davutovic reporting that it will be a 1+1 model, one team next season, one team the season after. It's emerging that West Melbourne is now the favoured bid, with South West Sydney getting the second license. If true, it means West Melbourne will play out of Kardinia Park for three or four seasons before moving to the sheep paddock.
con tripodis
Guest
correction was a migrant club that generation is gone they are in the ground RIP, we are all born here, we are Australian and nothing wrong with history look at english clubs they still carry their varied history on the emblems, they have never changed and that's what makes them interesting
Mister Football
Roar Guru
https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/ffa-board-set-to-delay-a-league-expansion The FFA board is likely to turn its back on an expansion big bang when it meets to discuss growing the A-League on Wednesday night, opting instead for a go gently approach. Rather than giving the green light to join the league next year, it's likely both new sides will be waylaid until 2020/21. The mooted delay is an acquiescence to existing A-League clubs, wanting focus on a new operation model and seeking to protect their own turf.
Nephilim
Roar Rookie
Yep, 15-20 minute drive. Although I would say that if team11 do get in I would become a paying member, just saying.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
In the first ever game the Nix played, which I remember quite well, they hosted the reigning champions, the Victory, and got 14,421. It was a good game too. Victory got out to an early 2-nil lead and the nix pegged them back late in the game with goals to Daniel and Smeltz. Nix attendances were ok in their first couple of seasons. Over the long haul, Canberra should do better, but if they become just another middling club, there's no reason to believe that they be would much better off. I'd agree that should be able to sustain memberships over 5,200.
Chris
Roar Rookie
I think it would be more than marginally. If you look at nix members (5200 nowand have stayed there for years) surely Canberra would be getting 8-10k members over their first few seasons. As for ratings it may be marginal but improvements are improvements. But as for crowds there is now doubt they would get a much larger average attendance then the nix.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
A Canberra club's metrics might be marginally higher than that of the Nix.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Yes they would, and who can blame them, they're right.
Chris
Roar Rookie
I think the most logical scenario for FFA would be to satisfy Foxtel (since they pay the bills) however i would be telling Canberra they will be getting a licence to replace wellington. As much as Wellington has been generally a well run club and hardly ever had financial issues ect, they have not offered anything to the league for a number of years. They get less then 5k memberships, consistently one of the lowest crowds and tv rating games each week. Bringing in Canberra to replace them gives more Aussies a shot and hopefully will improve the league average crowds, ratings and memberships which all lead to more interest in the game and therefore more $$$$ at the next rights negotiations
josh
Guest
Ever heard of Auckland ?
Mister Football
Roar Guru
If what the DT is reporting turns out to be accurate, then it would certainly signal the first case of the professional game flexing its muscle at hitherto unprecedented levels.
josh
Guest
Maybe they don't want old migrant attitudes. If SMFC get in the fans will spend their days calling the rest of the A League franchises and plastic whilst banging on about how they're a real club.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
All of that gels, the only quibble would be the Nix. Don't they only have a year left on their license?
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Finally the A-League clubs have influence with the FFA Board and can stand up for themselves instead of being railroaded! About time.
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
I have relatives who live in Melbourne. A few of them live in Packenham, would you call that South-East Melbourne.
Paul
Guest
The latest mail is expansion on hold for another year. Two preferred bidders are Western Melbourne Group and Southwest Sydney. Gallop and O'Rourke have p***ed off the Chinese backers of Southern Expansion after promising them a franchise last year. Canberra to replace Phoenix after 2020.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Given the five biggest A-League clubs are lobbying the FFA Executive, I'd expect this to carry some weight with the Chair and Board. The other interesting point made in this article, and one that is rarely discussed is that three of the six directors have links to some of the bidders. The FFA Constitution states that at least four directors are required for a quorum. Extra directors are likely to be appointed in February of next year. All in all, conclusion: I would not be betting on expansion in 2019-20.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-clubs-ask-football-federation-australia-to-put-expansion-decision-back-a-year/news-story/e6f416f95c970f4c3f31718ddd935d14 A-League clubs ask Football Federation Australia to put expansion decision back a year FOOTBALL Federation Australia is coming under growing pressure from the A-League clubs to delay expansion, 48 hours before the new FFA board is due to decide whether to add two teams for next season.