With the A-League currently on ice, talk has turned to where the next A-League clubs should be based.
A multitude of different cities and teams have been spoken about, from former National Soccer League giants such as South Melbourne and West Adelaide to second teams in Brisbane or Perth, as well as regional centres such as Bathurst and Wollongong and even a second side in New Zealand and a South-East Asian team.
These are my opinions on four centres the A-League should consider expanding to.
Canberra
It just doesn’t make sense that Australia’s capital has only one team representing it in any major Australian sporting code. This, however, could work in the favour of a Canberra team. The capital city only has a population of 455,000 people, making it a good place to establish a sporting team. The Canberra Raiders, the only competition for a would-be team, receive average attendances of just under 15,000 people, so who’s to say the sport with the highest participation rate in the country wouldn’t be able to garner similar or even higher attendances?
Wollongong
Generally, the team who wins the NPL is a good guide as to which pre-existing side from outside the A-League should join the competition. The same applies to the Wollongong Wolves, who won the 2019 National Premier Leagues title. The Wolves previously played in the NSL, where they scooped up back-to-back NSL championships, as well as the OFC Champions League in 2001. Many pundits and fans have argued for their return to professional football, where they have been missing from since 2004. When talking about ex-NSL sides that should join the A-League, it is hard to look past Wollongong.
(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
South Melbourne
More successful than the Wolves is South Melbourne. The club with Greek origins is still the joint record-holder with A-League powerhouses Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory for most national championships, with four. With a loyal and passionate fan-base, South would also bring a new dynamic to an A-League active support scene, which is quickly growing stale. However, a negative of bringing back the side is that it would mean there are four teams situated in Melbourne, which could make the league disproportionate and unbalanced towards the Victorian sides.
Brisbane
The final ideal option for A-League expansion is the addition of a second team in Brisbane. Back in the NSL days, the Brisbane Strikers once saw 40,000 fans cheer them on in a grand final. In recent times, Brisbane Roar enjoyed a very fruitful spell at the start of the 2010s and consistently made finals until 2018. Robbie Fowler seems to have rekindled dying interest in the team, with active support numbers rising. These factors could make a Brisbane derby one of the most interesting and captivating rivalries in Australian sport.
All four of these centres put up very good reasons as to why they should join the A-League in the future. However, if only two of these teams had to be picked for expansion, I would go with Canberra and a second Brisbane side, as they could make football the number one sport in their respective cities, with Wollongong and South Melbourne returning to the top echelon of Australian football later.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
If you think the AFL does partnerships, you should talk to the SANFL or the WAFL.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
The competition does not need more teams it needs to have greater access to free to air tv through giltzy professional media programs. It needs the eyes and oxygen that other provincial sports have had for generations.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Spot on Chris. They call it pumping up the tyres. The AFL and NRL media departments are full of it.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Roberto, I agree with on you comment on population, But as I said in my previous post the NRL’s media partners support it to the hilt, even to the point of denigrating it’s completion, this is why the game is popular NSW and Queensland. Deny it that oxygen and the game would implode. Compare this to football it has no free to coverage, it is not in the public eyes, despite the fact that it has a large grass roots following and lots of clubs spread right through this great country not only just in NSW and Queensland. Something the NRL will never have. Football also has to fund our international teams teams for world cups for both female and males. Something NRLand AFL will never need to do. So the FFA has to spread a smaller budget much more widely. Considering this and the fatwa put on football by channels nine and seven it is surprising the game still exists in this country.
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
i think Canberra and NZ2 should be next if the league decides to Expand Again, I would Preferer Auckland but there is a Russian Millionaire who brought local Amateur Side Christchurch United with the Long Term Goal of getting the team into the A-League
roy
Guest
Really needs a 2nd team from NZ to save the league. Forget Canberra and Wollongong another team in Auckland makes more sense crowd and money wise.
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
that's the thing with conversations like expansion, 2nd div, pro/rel, boutique stadiums etc, there fun to have but nobody asks where is the money coming from, Wollongong Wolves are a perfect example of this as nearly every football fans want's the Wolves in the A-league cause it's a historic club in a unrepresented region, has a stadium, no ethnic ties etc but they never ask if Wolves could actually afford afford to play in the top flight and based on the Mariners being picked over then in 05 and not making the final 6 in the last expansion phase the answer is likely no
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
They said major Australian sporting code...
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
It just doesn’t make sense that Australia’s capital has only one team representing it in any major Australian sporting code. Subtle dig at Rugby Union, I love it.
Beni Iniesta
Guest
Lol. Expansion? Who's paying for this? I suppose when Central Coast, Perth Glory, Western Melbourne United and perhaps Adelaide United go to the wall they will need some new teams to prop up the league.
HR
Roar Rookie
We got beaten by Canberra? Goddammit.
At work
Roar Rookie
It's not made up when fans of those clubs actually say that their level of interest isn't as high because we face off so often. This is also reflected in declining attendances.
Waz
Roar Rookie
It doesn’t matter how many times you face the same opponent. In some (European) countries you can face the same team 4 times in the league, once in the league cup, and twice in the National (FA) Cup competition .... its a made up excuse we play each other too much.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
IMO makes little difference on who we pick until we get our act together so we can generate income. My two cents is the biggest money will be in streaming... and people having the ability to come and go as they and for that we need low entry costs and lots of subscribers . The issue is essentially about money, where it comes from and why it will be paid. The assumption by many is those that control the purse strings i.e. major Australian broadcasters [including streaming] pay big dollars for a full FIFA model and on this point we should be able to sell the A-League overseas. The next assumption is those that control the purse strings in Australia [including streaming].. only want tried and working models to work with. Neither assumption is correct just on overseas selling consider the competition ... yes maybe some but I doubt mega dollars.... What did the existing broadcasters buy into in the first place.... essentially a united competition with everyone kinda pushing in the same direction and singing from the same hymn book. What we have now & its JJ's job to change is chaos, disunity, every man and his dog has an opinion... Consider you run a major network or streaming service, look at us as a collective we are a rabble. no cohesion, self interest, echo's etc. Why would anyone give us a huge contract on where we are. I think its critical going forward that we finally declare the war over but more importantly is for FFA & iAL to provide the road map moving forward.... the reluctance to do this speaks volumes to the chaos we find ourselves in... Stephen Lowy left a pile of doggie poo a mile high, a totally fractured, spilt, divided Football community .... for the common good and for broadcasters to take us seriously again we need to unite and be of one purpose, if we can't we deserve to be where we are.... The challenge is to find the common purpose that we can unite behind... and beyond that, a person or group, who can deliver the message... To some extent and I emphasise the word SOME .... the Football media we have...survives on negative articles ... we click these on in far greater numbers than positive articles... people have to eat ... if you go back to when the AL was expanding the media was mostly positive... meaning somehow those in charge not only have to get unity of purpose but drive us as a collective to click on the positive articles... This is far more complex than many think ... over simplification and unattainable expectations don't help neither...
At work
Roar Rookie
My point about declining interest in derbies relates to each individual one. So the big ones of SFC v WSW and MV v MC being played 3 times a season is too much. Obviously there will be more derbies if new teams came in from those cities, but at least they contain different teams and possibly different narratives. Maintaining existing players could be improved by teams signing players on longer contracts. But they're only going to do that if transfers are introduced and the loan system is either improved or utilised more. Unfortunately the current system really only warrants 1-2 year contracts for most players.
Max Hatzoglou
Roar Pro
Good point but if you add another Victorian or NSW team there will be more derbies so it would have to be a team from another state. Say it was Gold Coast, that clearly didn't work when they were in the league. If you go to SA, Adelaide United only had 7,138 members last year and an average of 8,326 attendance at games. Perth had an attendance average of 8382 and 10,278. There's a chance you could go there but it's costly. To add a team anywhere right now is costly especially with Covid-19 and having just brought in Western United. At this stage, I wouldn't add another team for the next 5 years at least. It also risky. Spend the money on what the league already has and try and strengthen that. One area the league should focus on is maintaining lists so they don't change as frequently each season.
At work
Roar Rookie
Part of the lack of interest in the league is due to the same teams playing each other over and over again. This is partly why the interest levels (in crowds and TV) in derbies has been reducing each year because they've milked them too much. In a single campaign you can play the same team 5 times in a season - 1 x FFA Cup - 3 x season - 1 in the finals
chris
Guest
Grem I've been saying this for ages. We inflate our sporting heroes as being way better than what they actually are. The way they get paraded around and talked about when as you state, they are merely the best in a pool of a few hundred thousand. Even smaller for the AFL. Hardly worth the minutes and real estate they get in our slavish media.
At work
Roar Rookie
The problem with maintaining state NPL's is that once they get promoted to the A League they'd failure consistently. The thinking here is the player quality in the 2nd div would be spread to thin around each state, thinking +60 clubs, instead of a 14-16 team national 2nd division which would contain much stronger teams.
At work
Roar Rookie
Kewell I think it comes down to a couple of things which turn people off, or bore some football supporters, they are: 1. Slow tempo and build up play (as you mentioned), and 2. Lack of technical skills of many players who either don't have, or are too afraid to try and beat a man 1 on 1 in an attacking zone. I think no.1 is somewhat impacted by us playing during the hottest months of the year and players conserving their energy. But I still think there's room for a more attacking approach.