It has just been announced that Melbourne City are moving to a new base in southeast Melbourne where they hope to develop a clear geographic identity for themselves similar to the Western Sydney Wanderers, Western United and Macarthur FC.
This move has been in the works for 18 months in partnership with the Team 11 consortium, who failed to gain a licence in the last round of expansion.
Founded in 2009 as Melbourne Heart, before being taken over and rebranded by City Football Group in 2014, this move to the southeast adds another layer of history to the club’s identity. It also raises the question of whether they will once again change their name, in order to connect with local fans.
In all likelihood, they probably will, especially if they move to a new stadium in Dandenong full time. If they want to “own the geography” then they need to really commit to being part of the area permanently, not just training there. A new stadium then looks like a logical endgame for them to head towards, possibly with a name change as well.
City could potentially move from current home AAMI Park (Photo by: Andrew Woodley/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The new order this move will create will neatly divide Melbourne into three zones, with Melbourne Victory in the north and the CBD, Western United on the west side of Port Phillip Bay down the Bellarine Peninsula, and City on the east side of Port Phillip Bay down the Mornington Peninsula.
As Chris Nikou said at the time, “One of the key factors in our decision was the long-term growth opportunity for each club in each new geography. South-west Sydney and Melbourne represent some of the biggest growth corridors in Australia.”
But with the Team 11 bid no more, that’s a very big gap that they have left in the field of expansion contenders as they were a very strong bid. So, where this this now leave the others?
South Melbourne were one of the four finalists in the last round of expansion, but they were also claiming that they could represent southeast Melbourne, which Melbourne City have now claimed as their territory. Letting in South Melbourne in the east would be like admitting Melbourne Knights in the west. It gets a bit congested.
In Sydney, the Southern Expansion group have packed up and left and the only known bid in the works seems to be a bid in Liverpool being driven by Craig Johnston, linked to its namesake in England.
There was a Liverpool bid seven years ago along similar lines, but it never really gained much traction among the public at the time. In any case, there are now two teams in western Sydney and adding a third might be a bit too much. Although they would be sure to have strong financial backing.
In Brisbane, there’s plenty of talk about a second team, but it always comes back to the matters of where they would play, who they would represent and how many people would support them. It’s tricky.
Proponents say that Brisbane is big enough to support two teams, but any second team playing at Lang Park will risk being another Melbourne City, who by the way have just relocated. Ballymore is getting a permanent downgrade, Queensland Performing Arts Centre is too big and while Dolphin is a good size, there’s no actual bid for a team here and nobody knows how many fans would support them, anyway.
Dolphin Stadium during an FFA Cup clash. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
The Strikers want to redevelop Perry Park, but they could also split the fan base with Roar and just end up creating two small teams. Then finally, the Western Corridor bid was just a way to help support the case for the NRL bid, on the recommendation of David Gallop.
The Fremantle bid seem to have gone silent, which counts out Perth and a second team in Adelaide would be eclipsed by Adelaide United. Both are unlikely.
Like Brisbane, a second team in New Zealand based in Auckland often gets thrown up too; but with more Australian teams still being added and much talk of implementing rules to increase playing time for young Australians, more of them are likely to remain in Australia. This would then leave the two New Zealand sides to compete for them and the advantage that Wellington had last season might vanish. The two teams could just end up cannibalising the New Zealand market.
With the major cities all looking a bit iffy, that leads us to look at regional locations instead.
Canberra would seem the clear frontrunner and have the backing of Qatar Sports Investments who also own Paris Saint Germain. No doubt Canberra would be financially stable.
The bid group from Tasmania are still interested and are now pushing for York Park to be made convertible to a rectangular format with temporary seats on the pitch. Along with a proposed rectangular stadium in Hobart, this will give them two rectangular grounds.
Wollongong have the backing of 91-year-old billionaire Bruce Gordon, but they would need to have a long-term plan that lasts beyond him. Other than that, they have a very strong bid.
As for Queensland, Cairns FC and North Queensland United both withdrew from the NPL Queensland due to being unable to afford to remain in the competition, so they’d be outsiders.
In the southeast, however, you have Gold Coast United and the Sunshine Coast.
The bid group from the Sunshine Coast seem to have gone, but plans to expand the seating capacity at the stadium to over 11,500 and overall capacity to more than 16,500 would make it a good venue. However, the Gold Coast is the only one between them to actually now have backing.
Robina Stadium is too big, but they have proposed building a smaller stadium on the Gold Coast for the team, although they would still have to compete for fans with the AFL and NRL, unlike the Sunshine Coast.
Overall, the end of the firm favourite Team 11 bid has left an additional slot for another bid to move into. But trying to find new places to expand to hasn’t got much easier. Especially with the need for a new TV deal fast approaching.
What can be said, however, is that some of the regional bids might not be as bad as they once seemed. As long as they can demonstrate that they have good financial backing, the bids from Canberra, Wollongong, Tasmania and the Gold Coast could all be good additions to the league.
Or maybe the next two places will just go to South Melbourne and Liverpool.
Punter
Roar Rookie
You rarely do.
criag
Roar Rookie
I worry about a third team in Sydney and Melbourne. Crowds are not fantastic and there's no guarantee they will turn up just because the population is growing. And if they do play in winter the league will be up against AFL and league, which won't help one little bit! And putting new teams in areas where in the past they have failed miserably seems to make even less sense, unless something dramatic has changed in Nth Qld and the Gold Coast. The AFL won't touch Tasmania and they are CRAZY about it down there, so it would be a very brave move to set up a team there. I have always favoured a return of former NSL greats Wollongong Wolves and also believe a team from Canberra could be successful.
Tom
Guest
Roberto Bettega - you're correct that Victory won't be content being the team for just the CBD and Northern suburbs. It's the same with Sydney FC, who still claim to represent all of Sydney, including the western suburbs. That's something that will continue long into the future, though over time it will gradually start to erode as City/WU/Wanderers/Macarthur invest in their local communities.
Tom
Guest
Good summary of the options Nick. However, I don't think you've highlighted the serious flaws of any Sydney Olympic bid. Drawing in fans from St George and Leichhardt? That's very core of Sydney FC support, as shown by the club choosing to play their games out of Kogarah and Leichhardt during the SFS rebuild. In contrast, Sutherland, while Sydney FC would make an argument that it's their territory (and they did during the Southern Expansion bid) it's at least far enough from current home stadiums to make a (weak) case. There's no case at all for another team from Kogarah and Leichhardt. Sydney Olympic would be a worthy B-League contender, but there's no way at all they're getting an A-League expansion spot. Frankly none of the other Sydney or Melbourne options are attractive at the moment - it's important to let Macarthur FC and Western United settle in to the league and see how the A-League dynamics in Sydney and Melbourne develop. The next expansion process should exclude Sydney and Melbourne bids.
Micko
Roar Rookie
They lost something from the beginning of the A League era.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Would there be enough support for an A League franchise though?
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
A 2nd team in QLD and WA would be ideal. But it aint going to happen.No interest. Perff Glory can only attract 8,000 at home and that with no AFL games to compete with.
Micko
Roar Rookie
The last Gold Coast side was a flop, so can't imagine much has changed.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Expansion? Your kidding me. Many clubs are half broke. One that comes to mind is Phonix. Salary cap infrungments from Perth Glory. Forget a secod team in Perth. Battling to get more than 8,000. And that was when they were a top side. FFA has no long term broadcast deals. Cant decied wheather to have a summer or winter competition, and over the past 10 years attendences have trended downwards. So untill all clubs are making money,there is a decent TV deal and the FFA sets itself straight on when to play games and only then should talk about extra clubs and 2nd division be mentioned let alone put ino action.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Do some research before posting.
Bob
Guest
"As Chris Nikou said at the time, “One of the key factors in our decision was the long-term growth opportunity for each club in each new geography. South-west Sydney and Melbourne represent some of the biggest growth corridors in Australia.” Since the A-leagues inaugural season until now, places like Sydney, Western Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Central Coast and Newcastle, to name a few, have been growing in population. Sydney and Melbourne have each had two teams for a number of years now-these teams have not seen increased attendances in parallel to population increases. Nor has Central Coast or Newcastle. Targeting geographical areas with population growth is not a bad idea, how can a club capitalise on this? Relying on more people living in your corridor isn't going to bring more crowds without a lot of work and effort.
RedOrDead
Roar Guru
Next four teams/regions to expand in must be: 13_ACT, 14_Tasmania. 15_Illawarra, 16_SE Queensland. Mariners will eventually go bankrupt and become Manly Mariners. Wellington will eventually get over it, move to Joondalup and become West Coast Phoenix.
Nick Symonds
Guest
How will this change the narrative around the derbies? The derby between Victory and Heart was a derby about nothing, while Victory vs City had a vague sense of being about the most popular club vs the richest, although it was a bit of an abstract concept to get passions going. But now that City want to develop a clear geographic identity based in the southeast it could be billed as the industrial heartland of the southeast against the financial centre of the CBD, feeling more like the Sydney Derby. The derby between Western United and Victory immediately became the Westgate Derby, but the derby between WU and City didn't have a name. It was just random, like Victory vs Heart. But now that City are the south-eastern team it pits the eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay against the western shore on the other side, creating a "Battle of The Bay". Wherever they play, people will now see City through a geographic lens and that's going to change the narrative around the derbies, as well as the identity of the club itself. It'll be interesting to see how this comes through in the commentary.
Frank
Guest
Love the speculation Anyone that is from Melbourne would not want to be anywhere near Dandenong Station day or night.
Nick Symonds
Guest
There's plenty of speculation about it in the news though: "Speculation is rife that the move will also spark the development of a 15,000-seat rectangular stadium next to Dandenong Train Station that the Greater Dandenong Council has been advocating for since 2018." - https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-southeast-melbourne-to-become-the-new-home-of-melbourne-city/news-story/a2797f235610c79d22d1d0a391246806
Frank
Guest
Agree with you Lionheart. This is not even the time to be thinking about an expansion when there is no major sponsor and no long term TV deal. Once those are in place and there is a better idea of the funding available for clubs then, and only then, can any expansion be looked at.
Frank
Guest
Correct you are, well both of you (RB and LL) The population in the outer SE has grown significantly. People do want a good, safe environment though when it comes to watching sport and that is why the city is preferred. I live on the fringe of the inner SE and can tell you that people here would be very reluctant to travel to a game in Dandenong. While great for locals, anyone needing to travel to the game by train would be very reluctant to head home from Dandy Station following the game at 10am. Knowing the area and the groups (rival gangs) that inhabit it, I wouldn't be surprised if these kids were loitering outside the ground after games making attendees feel even more reluctant to attend in the future. One thing we shouldn't do though is get caught up in the pie in the sky ideas about a stadium in Dandenong. It has at least the better part of a decade off if it does happen. All that has happened is that city has decided to move its base from the outer northern suburbs to the outer south east. There was no reason why they couldn't grow their brand while in Bundoora. If they couldn't do it there then how can we expect a move to Casey to be any different.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
It's an old chestnut but a good one Stuart. We all want more teams. Personally, I hope the FA are focused on growing the popularity of the A League first, before expanding. Our crowds and TV ratings are not up to scratch, anywhere. We have to do better. I can't see any sense in admitting new teams unless they can bring 15 or 20 K fans with them, and that's not happening. When we do get there, Canberra is a pretty obvious choice but then, like their league and union teams, and W League, they'll be importing a lot of their players as they don't have a large local talent pool. I guess that's ok. I'd like to see a second QLD team, and there has to be potential given the population of SE Qld is about the same as Melbourne. There's plenty of local talent and some very good school based academies. There's too many of them for Roar and too many are leaving for other States - CCM have seven or thereabouts at their academy and Newcastle also a few, plus a number play in the Victorian NPL which pays better money than QNPL. The little I know about the game in SE Qld, it needs an uplift and a regional team, maybe Ipswich rather than Gold Coast, or west of Brisbane anyway, would be the go. I'm not aware of any bidders out there btw.
Nick Symonds
Guest
I'm not sure how it'll affect CCM, but Central Coast Council are $565 million in debt. Maybe they'll have to sell off the stadium to pay some of it back. - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-02/central-coast-council-runs-up-565-million-in-debt/12944496
Nick Symonds
Guest
"10% of the population support Liverpool? Rubbish." - That's what I thought, but whatever the real number is they still have a lot.