The A-League Expansion Thread

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Originally Posted by belchardo

ABC radio reporting an impending announcement about an announcement in February about expansion to a 12 team comp in 2018. can't find anything in print yet.

...so at least we'll be able to battle for a couple of new positions :)

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They are still reeling from their Hillary coverage.
Grasping at straws now.
Until Alex Jones confirms a 12 team comp don't believe nufin'.

I think we need another newy team. Least we can jump ship and still be loyal

Newcastle City FC for the A-League

we can play in light blue

So we'll be getting one new team in sydney and one in brisbane or melbourne (only because they couldn't have 4 sydney teams)

https://www.theguardian.com/football...sion-locations

Sport is dead, long live business!

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Originally Posted by belchardo

so we'll be getting one new team in sydney and one in brisbane or melbourne (only because they couldn't have 4 sydney teams)

https://www.theguardian.com/football...sion-locations

sport is dead, long live business!

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ffa asks broadcasters to identify their preferred expansion locations

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??? Wtf?

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Originally Posted by turbojetfireV8

??? Wtf?

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Fox pays the bills, of course they should have a major say.

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Originally Posted by plague

Fox pays the bills, of course they should have a major say.

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It may not be up to Fox.

Y'all sound so surprised..

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Originally Posted by plague

Fox pays the bills, of course they should have a major say.

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I believe "partly dictate" were the words used.
To me it sounds like FFA want a concensus of opinion that they and the broadcaster/s are all on the same page in regards to expansion. which from a football purist angle might not sound so great but that is the reality of modern sport.

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Originally Posted by plague

Fox pays the bills, of course they should have a major say.

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If sponsors and or broadcasters get a say then Hello Redbull Sugar Cubes, you are in

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Originally Posted by stopper2

I believe "partly dictate" were the words used.
To me it sounds like FFA want a concensus of opinion that they and the broadcaster/s are all on the same page in regards to expansion. which from a football purist angle might not sound so great but that is the reality of modern sport.

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You forgot to log in as Captain Obvious.

what we need to know is the important questions - will the finals series be expanded to 8 teams? actually, I'm pretty confident I know that it will be.

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Originally Posted by belchardo

what we need to know is the important questions - will the finals series be expanded to 8 teams? actually, I'm pretty confident I know that it will be.

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We'll manage to finish 9th.

Screw away with the finals and get the Cup properly organised....

If those at the Wollongong Wolves can get Bruce Gordon's financial support over the line then the return of the Wolves should be a given.

Gordon has more than a passing interest in Football and sport in general with sponsorship of WIN stadium Wollongong

For those of you who do not know who Gordon is he is the man behind WIN TV and various other media. Always had a soft spot i believe for a Wolves return. Having a bloke like Gordon and his Free To Air interests could not do any harm either if he inclined to negotiate with the governing body and Fox to acquire some games to televise on his networks. At a guess not to dissimilar to the SBS/FFA/Fox arrangements for Fri night football.

If and when there could be a Gordon " in " so to speak the FFA should give a stand alone Wollongong team a green light in the first instant. None of this hybrid inbred Shire, St George and Wollongong mixed rubbish the FFA or more to the point past his "use by date Gallop" keeps banging on about.

IMO it would be good day for the HAL if past successful teams from the old NSL can be rewarded with a A League license. Of course it needs to happen on the back of a solid proposal and not sentiment but it is a great way to start the expansion process.

I reckon the Wolves would conservatively pull min 7500 to games at WIN stadium . The Mariners could only dream of hitting that figure on a regular basis yet somehow and god only knows the Mariners year after year of piss ant crowd numbers seem to be good enough for the FFA.

Yes i am on old Wolves supporter but with Gordon on board it would make for a very very strong bid indeed.

All IMO of course

I like the gordon angle, but I think your mariners argument is wrong. mariners came in as a foundation team and have proven to be the second worst performing foundation club (support wise) behind the nz knights. add to that the failure of both the fury and gold coast (for a number of reasons but principle among them being low supporter numbers), the statements of gallop about fishing where the fish are and the relatively low population of the illawarra region, and I just don't see a stand alone wollongong team.

Sentiment in football is dead. I don't think the best business case in the world could sell a 7500 crowd to FFA (or more importantly Fox).

we can already guess who will get the new jerseys. Wont be any surprises

Wollongong and South Melbourne get my vote.

Established clubs with a history, money, support, stadiums, players and their locations would make the broadcasters happy.

At the same time, I would be giving Canberra and Tasmania a NYL team or at minimum a NPL team. Allow them to build a support base, get a group of 18/19 year olds to build for 2 years and then come into the A-League.

Similar to the method used by the AFL with the GC Suns and the Giants playing in the lower leagues for a year or 2 before stepping up.

Just form a Second Division already and use that as a platform to expand the A-League.

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-league-reform

Aaaaaaaand it's off again.