The Wolves have also backed the Canberra bid. This is just pathetic. Open the system and every area in Australia can have their own team, not have to get in bed with every bid around the corner.
Wolves’ deal with Canberra is a bit weird i.e. one game to be hosted at WIN Stadium when the two cities are 3 hours away, but being a feeder club to Sydney FC and having a direct pathway is definitely a good idea and is a ‘fvck you’ to Southern Expansion who claim they have the support of Illawarra. Besides, Wolves are coached by Luke Wilkshere; a Gong boy who played for Sydney FC just last season, so there is already some kind of relationship between the two teams.
They have the support of South Coast Football, but South Coast football is basically an amateur organisation that in the past has done their best to frustrate the efforts of any club who wanted to play in higher leagues in NSW and also the old NSL. I think that secretly the people who have run it over the years always wanted the same status as the Northern NSW Federation. I doubt that South Coast Football have the best interests of Football fans in the Illawarra as their main priority.
Official announcement to be at 12pm, but The World Game and Fox Sports are now reporting that the two winning bids are Macarthur-SW Sydney and Western Melbourne Group. WMG to start next season, and SWS the following season. Thoughts? EDIT: Confirmed.
Trouble is, the population of S/W Sydney is around 1 million, and forecast to be 1.3 million in the next 20 years. Canberra has a predicted population of 420,000 by 2020. I'm sure they'll get there soon enough. But the thing which a lot of overseas people don't get is that Australia only has either BIG cities or small regional cities. Sydney & Melbourne have about 5 million in each city. That's where the tv & advertising money is, so unfortunately, that's where will be picked first.
Surprised that Sydney and Melbourne will have 3 teams, but i know the lay of the land is different than in the US where I am. Some articles i am reading that even a 4th team would be feasible in both Melbourne and Sydney. Id like to naturally see Canberra and Wollongong both get sides before we see that happening. Team 11 from what i read up on looks like a solid shout.
Team 11 should absolutely be the 4th Melbourne team. The south-east catchment cannot be passed up, especially if you want to “fish where the fish are”. As for Sydney, I’m not so sure.
ya know, i kinda had that feeling too. Team 11 and Canberra should be 13 and 14 IMO, and gotta do everything they can to help Wellington keep their heads above water, thats the next order of business.
Yeah nah we’ve already gave a Nix a chance and they still haven’t improved. It looks like they won’t get their licence renewed. At the live conference yesterday, they mentioned future expansion is still on the agenda, and they are continuing talks with the Canberra bid. I’m thinking Canberra will be the ones to replace Nix once they lose their licence.
I live and work in that supposed Western Melbourne area. Everyone who is interested in the HAL in this area are rusted on Victory supporters. It’s only 40 mins on the train from the furthest Western sprawl to see a Victory game. There is no demand out here as this area is already a Victory strong hold and the area of the stadium is home to bogans or Indians so not really football fans. Playing in Geelong until the stadium is built is also a problem, Geelong folk are either Victory or won’t support a team that will up and move anyway. The crowds will be Gold Coast level disaster when playing non Victorian teams, but the owners won’t care because they are only in it for the money to be made from real estate deals. Both of the other Victorian bids were better, except for the missing stadium for team11.
The west is indeed Victory-centric, but I think they will be tempted once the new stadium is built. The proposed 15,000-capacity stadium renders look amazing and has potential to be the best in the league, aside from WSW's new stadium. The stadium location 1160 Sayers Road (Tarneit) is all empty land, which gives the area opportunity to create surrounding public places like pubs and restaurants. There is already mention of a proposed train station on Sayers Road near their stadium. Plenty of non-football supporting bogans, Kiwis and Indians in the west, sure, but you're definitely forgetting about the African, wog and South American communities. They're currently either eurosnobs or cheering on Victory, but may switch over to the new team. The population growth in the west is the fastest growing region in Melbourne, which makes this bid very attractive for the long-term future. I would have preferred Team 11 and Canberra, but FFA have already said they aren't stopping at 12 teams, and Nix's days are limited.
This is my thoughts as well. All the folks in Point Cook, Caroline Springs, etc. will be interested in the team. And yes there are tons of Viets, Chinese and Indians coming to the area but just because their parents don't follow soccer doesn't mean their kids won't/don't. I mean when the Socceroos are in the World Cup pretty much everyone in my in-laws neighborhood that was under 30 wore a jersey at least once during the cup.
OK, you have said this several times now, but what do you have against Wellington? As low a population as Australia has, any extra people seem like they would be helpful towards building a better A League.
If I had to choose between a team that benefits a different country rather than Oz, doesn't offer any derbies, has poor attendance, plays in an oversized stadium inappropriate for soccer, over a team that will do the opposite (such as Team 11, Canberra, Wollongong, Tassie, Ipswich, Brisbane #2, and even South Melbourne as much as I dislike them) then I will pick the latter every time. Back in 2014 when no other bid could step up, it was imperative to #savethenix and give them one more chance, but since their licence renewal and with several attractive expansion bids, it doesn't look like Nix will get their licence renewed. If that turns out to be the case then Team 11 or Canberra can definitely step in and replace them. If not and Nix are here to stay, then so be it.
It sounds like the answer is to add another Kiwi team, rather than subtracting the Phoenix. After all, how many teams can 22 million people support, especially with all the other sports Australia has?
I wondered about that too. An Aukland team would give the Kiwis a derby and increase the presence of the league and relevance in the greater Pacific. Of course, that's hoping a second go round fares better than the first attempt. I'm disappointed Tasmania hasn't worked out yet.
Another foreign team that mainly benefits another country rather than Australia, just to help a sinking team stay afloat as opposed to an Australian team that will encourage more derbies and benefit Australia more? No thanks. We've already had two Auckland-based teams (Football Kingz and NZ Knights) and yet both have failed. Auckland just has not worked out in the past, and I'd rather not risk a third failure when we still have Canberra, Wollongong, Tasmania, Ipswich and SE Melbourne itching for a team.
But it seems like a fairly straightforward demographics question. How many teams can an Australian league support? If you can have two or three NZ teams, it allows for a bigger league and less of seeing the same teams over and over again. I've watched 10 and 12 team leagues, and it kind of sucks. The A League already plays a super short season due to the lack of teams, why make it worse in the name of keeping another country out? With 16 teams, home and home at least gets you to 30 games, and I don't think there are locations for 16 teams in Australia alone.
No one denies 10-12 team leagues are too small; we've had a 10-team league for 8 years and it feels stagnant now. Why do we need 3 NZ teams to biggen up the league when we can do that with 3 Australian teams? You claim there isn't enough locations for 16 teams in Australia alone, yet you can add 4 of this year's unsuccessful bids to the league: SE Melbourne, Fremantle, Brisbane City, South Melbourne, Gold Coast, Tasmania, Canberra, Wollongong and Ipswich. Boom, you've got a 16-team league. No additional NZ team necessary. In fact, Brisbane City has already re-submitted a proposal for the next round of A-League expansion. Team 11 and Canberra are sure to try again. Let's see who else follows suit. Brisbane City leading the pack for future A-League expansion
Three seems to be too much, but Aukland has almost 1.7 million people, given the right ownership group, it should be able to support a club..