The A-League - how big can it get?

[Zidane98]

One of the next expansion teams needs to be from QLD. There's only 3 options: Nth Qld, Gold Coast or Logan City. Gold Coast sporting teams traditionally struggle and the last thing the A League needs is a gold coast suns who will always run off life support from the AFL.

Logan City could be a goer if done properly I guess. Nth Qld in the first season got decent crowds and only fell away when Mathieson pulled the pin. I think wuth the right amount of preparation a Nth Qld team can work and pull average crowds of 10k.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Wellington and Auckland are like 500km apart.

Was thinking more total amount of people that follow the sport rather than geography. Fair few in Auckland support the Phoenix.


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[giggler99]

One of the next expansion teams needs to be from QLD. There's only 3 options: Nth Qld, Gold Coast or Logan City. Gold Coast sporting teams traditionally struggle and the last thing the A League needs is a gold coast suns who will always run off life support from the AFL.

Logan City could be a goer if done properly I guess. Nth Qld in the first season got decent crowds and only fell away when Mathieson pulled the pin. I think wuth the right amount of preparation a Nth Qld team can work and pull average crowds of 10k.

No more Queensland teams!!! for the foreseeable future anyway, don't you remember they both went bust last time round? or be it the Fury was hard done by it was a mistake setting up a club there in the first place before the competition was stable enough and I don't remember them averaging 10k at all maybe for one or two games yes but not average.

Gold Coast was just a disaster with Fat Clive in charge and the Queensland government didn't exactly help either with all the stadium costs. The experience has just left a bad taste for the FFA to set up a new club back up there for many many years.

Fury I can understand there is a whole vast area of untapped talent to draw from to eventually come back in to the A-league probably not in the next round of expansion but eventually yes once the league can support it. Gold Coast Forget it!

Gallop isn't stupid he won't expand just for expansion sake like Ben Buckley did which was all to try and enhance our World Cup hosting chances.
if Gallop thinks "And the biggest opportunities are where millions of people live not hundreds of thousands", if that means a 3rd team in Sydney and Melbourne or new teams in Auckland or Singapore then that's where they will go (they've obviously done there research this time!). We already see how CCM are struggling every year being a regional club and it won't be long before they are inevitably moved in closer to north Sydney. FFA can't repeat the mistakes of the past, the next two expansion clubs have to be set up to be around for years and years to come no more can the competition rely on struggling clubs or worry whether they will be around longer then three years! Gallop knows this the safest way to expand is where the population is.

 

[Aussie_boy]

I just can't see Gold Coast ever working, they struggle to draw crowds to any sports team up there with the exception of the Suns. North Queensland would average more it's just there is a limit to how big a team can get up there. Would like the next 2 teams to be Canberra and Wollongong for 2016/17 and then if they want further expansion Auckland and North Queensland.

 

[Zidane98]

Queensland teams will work if done properly. Nth Qld had some success before Mathieson pulled the pin. Gold Coast was never going to work with a maniac like Fat Clive in charge.

Another possibility could also be the Ipswich area west of Brisbane. I do think Logan City could work as it is situated between Brisbane & Gold Coast and has a population in its own area of 250,000. Could easily pick up some fans from the Gold Coast and from southern areas of Brisbane.

Ideally in 10 years time I'd like to see:

Brisbane Roar
Logan City United
Newcastle United Jets
CCM
Sydney FC
WSW
Capital City FC
South Coast Wolves
Auckland City
Wellington Phoenix
MVFC
MCFC
Perth
Adelaide

 

[Flapjacks]

No Tasmania Utd ?

 

[Zidane98]

No Tasmania Utd ?

Too small of a market. Better off having the occasional MVFC & MCFC game down there ala Hawthorn/Launceston.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Interesting article from the Guardian regarding all of this.

Australian football still revolves around a Melbourne-Sydney axis
The A-League is bigger than ever in its 10th season but football is business – and business likes a cartel

http://www.theguardian.com/football...still-revolves-around-a-melbourne-sydney-axis

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Interesting article from the Guardian regarding all of this.

Australian football still revolves around a Melbourne-Sydney axis
The A-League is bigger than ever in its 10th season but football is business – and business likes a cartel

http://www.theguardian.com/football...still-revolves-around-a-melbourne-sydney-axis

Decent read and I tend to agree that clubs from Melbourne and Sydney will always have that added glamour tag to them which will give them an advantage over most other teams.

The bit about third teams going into both markets is what I'm worried about. I'd much rather the existing clubs build up their rivalries and 2 new clubs go into markets with no existing A League teams (Wollongong and North Queesnland still my preferences) to help give the code more national presence/exposure. The only way to grow the game on a national level is to spread the influence around every part of the country.

Expansion would be a great opportunity for the game to penetrate into new markets that the AFL and NRL have no clubs/presence in IMO.

Plus, building the rivalries of WSW & Sydney and City v Victory will only ensure they become even bigger blockbusters to showcase the game.

 

[Zidane98]

No more teams from Melbourne & Sydney for at least 50 years.

Only candidates for expansion is Canberra, Wollongong, Auckland, Logan City / Gold Coast & Nth Queensland. Can't see any other possibilities.

 

[Dan Cooper]

"A" League memberships this season have gone past the 100,000 mark. Up an encouraging 11% on last year, and in the past 4 years membership figures have doubled.

I think this is only a small sign of the great things to come.

 

[NYRB]

North Queensland Fury was a fail, Canberra Cosmos in the old NSL was a disaster, Wollongong Wolves in the old NSL were successful but didn't rake in the crowds, Gold Coast United in the old A-League was a fail.

I would personally love to see Tasmania given a go, wouldn't mind seeing a second Adelaide team. I sometimes feel 'more ' isn't necessarily better. Having just moved to Sydney, the talk up to the derby this week has been pretty mind boggling. I don't think you would get that discussion/vibe if there were 3 or 4 Sydney teams in town. The Auckland suggestion is an interesting one and I could see it working.

Also having lived in Perth, I doubt we will see a 2nd team in the A-League in our lifetime but it could work as well.

 

[giggler99]

Sage call on Singapore fixture

Shayne Hope The West Australian October 18, 2014, 11:14 am

Perth Glory could play an A-League fixture in Singapore this season as part of Football Federation Australia's push into Asia.

The fixture would be part of a proposed three-year deal to play A-League matches in Singapore.

Glory had been due to play one of their 14 home matches this season in regional WA but no regional venue was considered up to A-League standard.

Glory owner Tony Sage said his club was considering moving one of its home matches to Singapore in March or April, allowing plenty of time to sort out logistical issues.

He insisted the plans were still in their infancy. "It's not in concrete but it's something they want to be able to do as part of a three-year deal, with one A-League club going up there each year," Sage said.

"Because we're closest, they're just seeing if it will work. It might not."

Sage has sought the advice of WA basketball great Andrew Vlahov, who was the driving force behind the Perth Wildcats' move to play two "home" games in Singapore in 2005.

The Wildcats' experiment paved the way for a Singapore team to play in Australia's National Basketball League, albeit briefly.

Sage does not expect a final decision on the fixture until late next month, with several hurdles still to be overcome.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/soccer/a/25291543/

looks like the FFA are more keen to tap in to the Asian market. A Singapore team isn't that ridiculous, don't think it'll happen next expansion round but its a sign the FFA are looking in to it.

 

[Silent Alarm]

Why? Just why? What benefit does Singapore have on its own and for the A-League? The same question goes for the Phoenix, who shouldn't even be in the competition. Go where the population is and go where people actually patronise soccer. Townsville's too small, no one likes anything on the Gold Coast, people seemingly enjoy doing nothing in Canberra, while a place like Ipswich just seems a little tokenistic. The Mariners work well because they're a good club, but you don't want to have that risk again.

Wollongong and southern Sydney for me. And the Mariners playing two or three games at North Sydney Oval, because it looks nice and I want to go.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

no one likes anything on the Gold Coast

How's life back in the 1980s?

 

[craigos]

Wellington shouldn't even be in the competition? Because they're from NZ or another reason? Not sure why you wouldn't want them.
Would love to see a Tassie team but not sure there's enough sponsorship dollars down there to make it happen.

 

[AJ_2000]

Some ok crowds for FNQ and some community support. But terrible conditions to play football in the tropical heat and humidity.

GC should be stamped "never to return".

The WSW model is what any future expansion opportunities will need to offer. The FFA will be wanting to sell to recoup their outlay with a year or 2.

What market can offer real $$$? Can't really see any of the regional options offering the big opportunities the league would be seeking.

 

[Scotland]

The only markets that really work in Australia are the cap cities.

The NBL has Cairns, Townsville & Newcastle but not Brisbane, but I would not be following their model.

I'm of the belief that the A-League doesn't need any more teams, at least not for a few years. If you live in Sydney (and 5m people do) you can go for SFC or WSW. Are there really 10-20,000 people sitting around each weekend going 'I'd love to follow an A-League team, just not the two we have'? No, didn't think so. I remember back in the late 90s people wanted a second Perth team in the NSL because the Glory were talk of the town and sold out a 43k seater for the GF. Doesn't look like such a good idea now, does it? Let the clubs grow, let the league grow.

As far as population centres GC is the logical place for the next new team, but like the Suns I don't see a need for it. The Suns are funded by the juggernaut AFL and would fold tomorrow if that was pulled, FFA don't have that sort of money to throw around.

 

[Vdubs]

No more teams from Melbourne & Sydney for at least 50 years.

Only candidates for expansion is Canberra, Wollongong, Auckland, Logan City / Gold Coast & Nth Queensland. Can't see any other possibilities.

Geelong.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Geelong that's cute

 

[Dan Cooper]

It just got bigger >

Club crowd records were broken at Adelaide United, Sydney FC and Melbourne City/Heart.

The total number of spectators for the round was 106,082 bettering the old round record mark of 100,998.

 

[Scotland]

We couldn't even crack 9,000.

 

[AJ_2000]

Geelong.

Was one of the few cities that would have the infrastructure (and potentially a reasonable stadium deal).

Thought they should have put a Big Bash franchise down there so G-Town to me could be viable. But will it add to the long term stability of the league? Not so sure.

 

[Vdubs]

Geelong that's cute

Potential manager/coach still lives there (Josip Skoko).
Excellent facility.
Football is big in Geelong.
Cute, NO. Pragmatic, YES.

 

[Redalert]

Potential manager/coach still lives there (Josip Skoko).
Excellent facility.
Football is big in Geelong.
Cute, NO. Pragmatic, YES.

What sort of crowds could they realistically pull in Geelong? My biggest concern would be the long-term viability of a club down there, it'd have the smallest population base of any club in the A-league. Also my understanding was that most diehard fans already support one of Victory or City, is there really scope for another Victorian team (at least in the short term)?