The Wanderers take their first step from franchise to proper club

NRL, AFL, Netball all benefit from government financial support for training facilities and all clubs – Wanderers included – should leverage this to the maximum. The author suggested this was done without a cent of government funds as well To be clear, this WSW project - which looks fantastic, still required Local Government support. The facility is built on Crown Land managed by Council. My recollection is this project included investment in adjacent grounds for the local association as well, so while I don't know the arrangement in place - I am guessing it is a 99 year lease with minimal rent given the size of the investment from WSW investors. But that equates to Local Government support and investment. Same as the Western United project. If a Council is gifting them some land, that is millions of dollars being contributed.

I dream about where we will be in ten. I will be 60 then but that doesn't mean I am too old to sing with what will be a much bigger Squadron

That's great but my bucket list includes a visit to the Stretford End. 45 years of being proudly Red!!

Griffo, as a former Lambton High student I used to say 'one day these will be football fields. As a traning base for the Jets Arthur Edden would an outstanding option. I have to ask, have the Jets done the stats? Documented numbers of junior participation in Newy, usage and player numbers out at Speers Point, the number of league fields consumed by football, maybe the Jets could pull off a double whammy, Key players turn up at Merewether, Lambton, Kotara, Adamstown etc during Junior football season and get the Mums and Dads to complete a questionnaire about what they think their club needs. By taking a leadership/nurturing role, the Jets endear themselves with parents, the kids get to meet their idols and thus the "Jets Community" is established and as the community rep the administrative and political bodies will take more notice than they would of Garden Suburbs Junior Football Club. The benefits would be potentially more members, bigger attendance and even a slogan "Be part of the Jets Community". The club as a community is a strategy that has worked quite well for eg Urawa Red Diamonds. Just my 5 cents worth feel free to tell me I am crazy.

This is the COE and as I posted earlier much more is planned but its stalled with Council... the vid shows towards the end whats still going to be done.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu7Qnu5d0TU

Waz There are mega plans in place to further develop the COE ....issue and its been an issue now for just over two years... The expansion is such Council says a second entrance [car / truck / bus etc] is needed and the new entrance needs to be bigger than the first. You could write a book about how difficult it is to get RTA, Council, local green groups and the list goes on to agree.... and also the plans drawn up you could run tanks across it without any damage to the surface... meaning the cost of building it is mega huge .... Its weird we try to buy the stadium rights and then massively invest in the stadium and council says lets us think about it ... hhhmmmm getting close to 3 years now .... and the second entrance like they want a huge round about build with new lanes on the main road for cars entering and leaving the entrance ... But alias we are unimportant as we are not a Sydney or Melbourne team... so can anyone recall and media outlet covering these issues ... neither can I... it still hhhmmmm annoys me [being polite] SBS kept saying Hal clubs should build facilities and we build at the time the biggest in Australia and Fozzie kept saying when will clubs invest in facilities.

To date, the Wanderers have only had boys Academy teams. The announcement specifically stated that there will be girls Wanderers Academy teams. That is exciting as it will help growing the women’s NPL. I have read or heard somewhere that Newcastle Jets are attempting to enter the Football NSW NPL competitions. Is that true? As a comparison in Sydney, the Wanderers Facility with Academy is located at Blacktown Sports Park. Entry is by trial and if there are 2 players of similar quality from different regions, the player from Western Sydney will be selected. The ridiculous fees charges by NPL and most other academies are not charged. Sydney FC have their Academy based at Valentine Sports Park, less than 5 km from the Wanderers HQ, nowhere near their main supporter base in the east and south of Sydney. Valentine Sports Park is the headquarters of Football NSW so I assume that there is a charge for use. I don’t understand why they won’t purchase and redevelop Barton Park in Sydney’s east which is former home of NSL Club St George-Budapest as a headquarters and academy location.

“If AFL wants an entity to move to another city it will tell them to do it. If they don’t comply, AFL HQ can simply terminate the Franchise Agreement and the current entity will no longer be part of the AFL competition.” Ah yes. More alt-facts from “Nemesis”. In 2007, the AFL offered North Melb $100M (not a typo) to relocate to the Gold Coast. Imagine that. $100m. The North members voted against it. The club stayed in Melbourne. This is what a club is. Community-owned with real voting power according to the club constitution.

My understanding is that they have reached full agreement but the full transfer of all contracts and assets will not occur until the end of the current broadcast deal.

Fadida, the CCM CoE is often mentioned on this website, in particular by Midfielder. As is the long list of junior players CCM has produced - their names are often listed in articles or comments on this website. The Roar academy has been mentioned here many times, and along with WSW, has been mentioned in numerous other articles last season when their two teams met in the NYL final and when several of their players featured in A League matches. I recall the Roar facilities were subject to an article, I think by Mike Tuckerman, when they moved in early last year and that would definitely have included their academy. Similarly, the MCY facilities are well documented and frequently mentioned when the club is discussed on this website. Anyone who is in denial about these club facilities are simply pulling our collective pudds, or are not the football gurus they pretend to be. Anyone who writes a related article in ignorance of them simply hasn't done their research, or has chosen a blinkered approach to their football knowledge.

Don't go down that pathway please! I rem,ember only too clearly all the fuss from various clubs when it was clear that SFC and WSW were going to have juniors and they were not going to be charging anything........outrageous idea!

twice I've replied and twice my reply has disappeared into the ether. I fear the mods are playing games here.

My understanding is that the A-league and the club owners still haven't reached a full agreement.

Careful with your arguments, fad. The 29 crash, the 87 crash and the GFC were driven by businessmen making investment decisions. A decision to invest isn’t necessarily a wise decision. Which is not to suggest that this is the case in regards to the A League. My personal view is that the A League will go from strength to strength under private ownership. We just need to get rid of that damned salary cap.

@FIL You've mentioned Man City buying not developing, you need to study their Etihad Campus and the world class training facility there. Yes their probably going to be a buying club in the short term but long term, don't be surprised to see a few internal developed talent breaking through in the next few years

OK, so my earlier reply for some reason unknown, did not get past the mods. It went somewhat along these lines. Nemesis, your detailed knowledge of Roar youth seems to have improved markedly since your first post. As I say, stop pulling our pudd. You're a serious poster on these pages. Be that. Wenzell-Halls was at Roar youth before Olympic FC. He was released and brought back in after a stellar NPL season (golden boot), responding to strong advice on how to improve his game. He was at Knights while at school at IGS, playing both. Remember, Roar academy is only two years old, and DWH spent a full year there, where he also regularly played A League. Roar has played a major role in his development, and still does. Izaak Powel also spent a full year at Roar academy, which most certainly has added to his development (just watching his development last year is evidence of that). He's the second left back in recent times to step up from the academy to A League (the other being Connor O'Toole) and also two Academy centre-backs have regularly featured in the A League squad (with Reardon now on contract, former academy NYL captain). It was obvious that MV expected far too much of Akbari at his stage of development, thinking he was the finished product. I hope he will do better back at Roar. Roar's new coach has made it clear that he's willing to give youth a go. The idea that Roar has an aged squad is akin to the idea that Roar doesn't pay its players wages - not just dated info, but ignorant and telling more about he who writes it than what is written. I must say, MV results in NPL look impressive. Roar does not aim for titles with its Academy teams, which play one or two years above their age group, but rather concentrate on development, although they still nonetheless have done well in both men and women, not least the NYL title in their second year.

interesting Waz. Lots of canal developments around QLD and elsewhere built on reclaimed land.

of course it's a great achievement for the Wanderers Franko, but personally, I get a bit tired of hearing that it's only WSW doing this. Next we'll hear how they're the only ones offering a free academy.

Roar also use QUT facilities for the younger teams at Kelvin Grove, which is an inner-city suburb and very central for the younger kids. I’ve never been there but it’s described as state of the art, LigaTurf fields, indoor/outdoor facilities. It’s a training facility only, all games are played at Roar central at Logan. and they partner with clubs and schools across the State for coaching programs and recruitment.

Your detailed knowledge here is quite the contrast to your original post Nemesis. As I say, stop pulling our pudd. You're a serious contributor to these pages, be that. Wenzell-Halls was a Roar junior prior to Olympic, was released and after a solid season in NPL (including golden boot winner) was brought back to the Roar Academy where he became a regular starter in the A League. I don't know how long Powell was at Roar Academy, but he spent at least one full season which culminated in Roar winning the NYL. He was the second left back out of the Roar Academy to step into A League recently, the other being Connor O'Toole. Two Academy centre-backs from last year have also played A League. There's no doubt all these players improved immensely in their time at Roar academy, just watching them last year was evidence of this. I think Muscast thought he was getting a finished product with Akbari, and always thought he was too early for what MV expected of him. Let's see how he goes back at Roar (albeit, we too have had a lot of coaching changes). All club academies are young, even Roar's, so of course no one club can claim to have brought a player through all phases of their development. But Roar does now cover all phases and, if the very short term results are any indication, we'll be seeing results in coming years. Of course, young players will always join (or leave) academies at all stages of their programs. MV will be satisfied if the academy coaches/director they've picked up do as well for them as they did for Roar.