The history of expansion in the A-League has been rocky to say the least.
A number of teams have folded while Melbourne Heart were taken over and rebranded as Melbourne City.
The original teams in the first season were Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory, Queensland Roar, Perth Glory, Adelaide United, Newcastle Jets, Central Coast Mariners and the New Zealand Knights.
But how could it have gone instead if we were starting again?
For starters, the A-League was conceived of as a professional league for Australian players to get a start in their careers, as an alternative to having to head to Europe. So the New Zealand Knights should have been excluded. All the teams should have been Australian.
Sydney FC would be the first team to include, as the largest city in Australia and biggest football heartland should have a team. But at the same time, Western Sydney should have been there from the start as well to establish the rivalry and to tap into the vast number of football supporters in the west of the city.
(Photo by Nigel Owen/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Melbourne Victory for similar reasons would also have to be there, representing the second largest city in Australia. But like Sydney, there also should have been a local rival to create a derby.
The best choice would have been Dandenong, even if they had to play in the city initially. Having a clear geographic identity would have avoided some of the problems that held back Melbourne Heart from gaining fans and they would have become a source of strong local media interest in the southeast.
In Brisbane it was Queensland Roar who won the bid, but in hindsight it might have been better to have a team that would only represent Brisbane rather than the whole state in addition to having Dutch overtones. Perhaps the Brisbane Strikers would have been a more popular option after their success in the NSL, which gave them an existing brand and a clearer identity.
Over on the west coast Perth Glory were pretty much a shoo-in. After their history in the NSL and the popular support they had, they were really the only ones to look at, not to mention the lack of a rival bid.
In South Australia it was a similar story, where Adelaide United were the clear standout, although they could have had a bit more competition for the license from Adelaide City due to their profile and NSL success. But at the end of the day the Reds won out and that was the right choice.
Moving on to the regions, the first team I’d pick would be Canberra. As the nation’s capital and as a football heartland it didn’t make sense to leave them out of the original teams that made up the league.
Back on the coast again I’d also pick Newcastle. As a heartland of the sport and with a passionate fan-base they were a clear choice for inclusion and as another rival for Sydney it makes sense to have them in the league.
Further down the coast to the south, the Wollongong Wolves should have been another foundation club. After having won two NSL championships, one NSL premiership and the OFC Champions League, they had the record to show that they were a deserving club.
(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Taken together, these teams would have made a strong top ten to get the league going in its first season, rather than just eight teams. This would give you a league made up of teams from Sydney, Western Sydney, Melbourne, Dandenong, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong.
Beyond these, the next teams I’d choose would be Tasmania, which had a bid to join the first season of the A-League but just missed out, and the Gold Coast as the sixth largest city in Australia.
After that, Townsville and Central Coast could come in to give North Queensland a team to support and to take advantage of an open market with the lack of an NRL team in Gosford.
Then finally to make up the 16, I’d give Geelong and the Sunshine Coast a chance as they could both develop into keen football areas in the future as well as both having growing populations.
You have to wonder how much stronger the A-League would be right now if the expansion process had been handled better from the beginning by the FFA.
As for the future, things are up in the air because of the pandemic and all the fallout we can expect from that. But Macarthur FC are slated to enter next season and the Mariners may be relocating to Manly if Mike Charlesworth gets his way. So at least we can look forward to some more derbies.
Oh, goody.
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
because and as sad as it is to admit a small but very vocal minority of football fans in Australia are delusional racists who think having all Aussie teams will mean better players for the Socceroos as they care more about the national team, if full independence still goes ahead in 2023 then the argument of development of the Socceroos thankfully goes out the window, interestingly NRL fans a league and game consider more "Australian" have been more then welcoming of a NZ team compared to Football fans
Micko
Roar Rookie
The hypothetical list here forgets reality: the NZ side in the A League wasn't optional, but was there due to OFC blackmailing FFA by refusing to allow Australia to move to AFC unless they allowed a pro franchise to be established in NZ to compete in the A League.
lesterlike
Roar Rookie
Doesn't matter and who cares what the NBL and ARL does. They are a drain on the game's TV money and they don't contribute enough to make them worth keeping. Cut them and make them play in their own damn league.
NoMates
Guest
How could you not have a side from New Zealand>? It works for the NBL and ARL? so i don't think there is any difference here. They have lifted the standards of the HAL and produced some of the best players in the A-League history they have ever had. Being the smallest club in HAL they have done well, just look at the mess that is CCM?.
Catfield
Roar Rookie
That is factually and historically incorrect. The Strikers did not withdraw their bid, they lost out to Lions on the basis of having Suncorp Stadium as a venue. Nevermind the fully funded boutique stadium at Perry Park after two or three years at Ballymore that the Strikers offered. (Clem Jones, in a final act of philanthropy, was putting $100m of his own money into the venture). Must have impressed the FFA because they tried to sell the Roar to him when Lions lost their dough.
Catfield
Guest
The Strikers didn't withdraw their bid.
Blood Dragon
Roar Rookie
Wellington are one of the most Financially Stable Clubs in the League and have never needed to be bailed out by the FFA, only Club that makes any Profit is Victory
RbbAnonymous
Roar Rookie
There is no need to start again. I would however like to see a National Second Division (NSD) and then eventual promotion/relegation. The easiest solution is to start building a NSD which shouldn't take too long. You bring in new teams in the A-league from the NSD for a few years through promotion only. Once you get the desire number of teams you want in the A-league you start to have pro/relegation. As you may or may not have noticed I haven't mentioned one team to bring into the A-league. That's because the only criteria that matters is what you have done on the pitch through merit and whether or not your club meets a certain minimum standard. The most important thing is getting the mechanism correct ie how will it work, how many teams, how do you get relegated/promoted, home and away draw etc etc. Everything else over time will take care of itself. I will guarantee you one thing though, over 50 years of pro/rel you will see a totally tranformed landscape and if done properly with integrity and following the rules to the letter our football will be much stronger for it.
lesterlike
Roar Rookie
Not only would a draft be wildly unpopular amongst football fans, it would be immediately challenged by the PFA as an illegal restraint of trade and likely struck down. It only continues to exist in the AFL because of a gentleman's agreement between them and the players to not challenge it. As for Pro/Rel, if in such a scenario we had a club like Perth being so useless that they would struggle to stay in the top tier as the single team in their state with no competitor within 2000km whilst NSW would have 5/6+, then the second division is exactly where they deserve to be.
Johan
Guest
Those that claim that the a league should have had more teams from the start make me laugh. Almost half the current teams are in financial difficulty including the mariners, jets, Wellington and the third generic Melbourne team ‘western United’. In addition there only Needed to be one Sydney team and that is still the case now -and it should be out west. Hardly anyone in Sydney with the money to live near Moore park follows association football. It is mainly the working class and those of low socio-economic status in the western suburbs who follow the code.
lesterlike
Roar Rookie
NZ should never have been allowed in, they never offered anything of note in the NSL era and they continue to offer nothing now. NZ Football has been little better than parasites to Australian Football by letting FFA take on all the risk of setting up a pro league and having their entire professional pathway lie within a single team in another countries league but not actually doing anything to support that league. Ratings for Wellington are atrocious and the SKYNZ TV deal is so pathetically small it doesn't even come close to matching the money sent back to NZ. Wellington should still be thrown out and their TV money given to a team that is actually located in Australia. There is far more benefits for Australian Football having its teams, and by extension their facilities and fanbase in Australia than wasting its resources on another country that can't be bothered to make any effort.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
Agreed with everything you said, except I’d leave Wellington be and add Gold Coast to make 16 teams. Promotion and relegation wont work not just because it will be dominated by Sydney and Melbourne, but most teams wont be financially viable anyway.
Kevin
Roar Rookie
How the A-League should’ve started: Adelaide Brisbane Canberra Dandenong Melbourne Newcastle New Zealand Perth Sydney Western Sydney
Waz
Roar Rookie
It did. A Grand Final win. But less than 10 years later when the new A-League was being set up, Strikers did not try and enter the comp .... only Lions had the financial clout in QLD to make a bid and they did.
surfside66
Roar Rookie
Lots of excellent points in this article BUT number one must be stop the madness of the hot summer season. All the endless drivel about "more media exposure" without competing against NRL and AFL, limited "access" to grounds, blah blah blah. A winter season is absolutely imperative. It aligns perfectly for the Asian Champions League and all other state and junior football competitions - and will produce a much better playing standard without the crippling heatwave conditions. Prostituting your sport to a pay tv service which simply wants something to show in summer has really worked out well hasn't it? It's been an utter catastrophe. We have wasted all the money and research spent on the Crawford Report, handed over endless dollars to various NZ club teams who should never have been allowed into the competition, and failed miserably to actually develop and raise the standard of the Socceroos - which was the whole idea in the first place of actually having an A-League! The FFA was totally bluffed into allowing the clubs to take control of the competition by the false claim that FIFA had a legal right to enforce promotion and relegation. That spurious legal claim has been now totally destroyed by recent action in the United States justice system. The FFA has been utterly brain dead with its administration over the last 15 years and James Johnson has to really get it right, in the future. Take back complete control of the A-League, get rid of Wellington, get in Canberra, Wollongong, and Tasmania, cut back on foreign players, introduce a draft system for young Australian players so they have real opportunities to either succeed or fail - and forget stupid ideas of promotion and relegation - you will only end up with a competition comprising 99% clubs from Sydney and Melbourne and without a team in Perth, Brisbane or Adelaide.
Nick Symonds
Guest
"Strikers were only 10 years old at the formation of the A-League so they had no real heritage or history" - They had the 1997 grand final which sold out Lang Park and was the first time that a team from Queensland had won a national title. That should count for something.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Looking back to 2004, when Lowy considered the make up of a new professional football league, it's important to understand the terms of reference at that point in time: - no ethnic clubs - the initial one city one club model was there to encourage private investment, so each prospective owner got exclusive access to any city/town for a minimum of five years - sufficient start up capital to operated for 3 or 4 seasons. Tenders were sought, and decisions were made on the basis of the tenders received. So to then start re-imagining what clubs should have been there from the start is a bit of a nonsense. An attendance average was achieved in its very first season of 10,900 (which remains the long term average to the present day). From which ever perspective you wish to take, that first season was an outstanding success. Lowy was able to negotiate a decent broadcast deal in only its second season, from a zero base. Once again, that was a massive achievement, and there is no evidence to suggest that a different mix of clubs would have achieved a better outcome (in fact, I can say unequivocally that having Tassie and Canberra in the league would have done nothing to attract a broadcast deal). What is missing today, and has been missing for the best part of a decade, is direct P&R between the A-League and next tier of football in this country. Forget creative musings about what clubs should be in, merely allow the best 2nd tier clubs to win advancement to the top tier (and demote the worst performed clubs). That is what is needed. That's what has been needed for a while now.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Nick, Strickers has the chance to bid but couldn’t afford to so Queensland Lions withdrew their men’s team from the State League and entered them into the A-League. Strikers were only 10 years old at the formation of the A-League so they had no real heritage or history - other clubs like Lions, City and Olympic had that and - like all clubs in Brisbane - did come with some kind of ethnic influence. Nothing wrong with that. To this day Roars crowds are excellent. Only Victory out-do Roar for support with the two Sydney sides gaining a minor advantage because of the derbies but otherwise similar in attendance. Lions were (and still are I think) the biggest club in QLD so they were the logical choice. (jb is probably best to comment on this topic to be honest).
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
that's a bit simplistic Nick, Lions taken by an AFL team, although I guess you're right, but not quite in one step like that from my memory, as Lions had been around much longer than AFL and agreed an out of court settlement didn't they? But that aside, I'm sure I read that the reason the Strikers withdrew from the latest expansion bid was funding, they couldn't afford it. Same as Brisbane City.
At work
Roar Rookie
And considering the small amount of major population centres that Australia has, and with not wanting to go all NRL/AFL with an overbalance in one city, it makes it difficult to have a decent amount of team using geographical spread.