Is 8 teams enough?

[Chops18]

Not sure if anyone has started a thread like this but if they havnt then this is a new beginning.
What are your thoughts on the new A-league comp is 8 teams going to be enough? Personally i would like to see more. In years to come i would like to see it evolve into something similar to the EPL with different divisions but first things first we gotta get the crowds involved more. We could probably have only one or two more divs with the state league sides from each state make them up.
What are your thoughts

 

[Ray Nolan]

I think 8 Teams & 1 Division is right for the moment, ideally I'd have 10 teams but the A-League needs to be a long term success so starting off small and getting the 8 teams right in the major markets to start off with has to be the first priority. If after 5 years the A-League is strong enough to take on a couple of expansion teams then I'd support an increase to 10, but certainly not before then IMO.

 

[DB10]

And where would these expansion teams play? Canberra is the obvious one but from there it's not as easy.

 

[thrylos7]

melbourne and sydney

 

[Sexiano Ronaldo]

As has been proven, there is insufficient support to sustain more than one melbourne team.

 

[raboyle]

For now 8 teams will have to do.

As for expansion... Canberra would be good & a South or North QLD team would be good.

Maybe for a bit of fun and exposure, Melbourne should perhaps think about staging matches in Tassie... the Knights did it once at Aurora Stadium, didn't they?

 

[thrylos7]

As has been proven, there is insufficient support to sustain more than one melbourne team.

what a load of crap.

knights and south maintained crowds for over 25 years

 

[thrylos7]

For now 8 teams will have to do.

As for expansion... Canberra would be good & a South or North QLD team would be good.

Maybe for a bit of fun and exposure, Melbourne should perhaps think about staging matches in Tassie... the Knights did it once at Aurora Stadium, didn't they?

that was forced though due to the despotovski situation

 

[Ray Nolan]

what a load of crap.

knights and south maintained crowds for over 25 years

Crowds of below 5,000 for the most part. If South were having a good year then maybe around 7,500 mark.

They did nothing to suggest warranting a part of the new A-League.

Melbourne Victory have played one pre-season game and drawn the average crowd that Knights & South generally got. The potential for more is there at that club, but beyond that I can't see how Melbourne could sustain another A-League club.

 

[thrylos7]

never said anything about us, but to say another club cannot survive is rubbish, especially if it is a group of existing clubs.

also you'd find most years the crowd was above the 6k mark.

 

[Sexiano Ronaldo]

never said anything about us, but to say another club cannot survive is rubbish, especially if it is a group of existing clubs.

also you'd find most years the crowd was above the 6k mark.

We all know this is some lame attempt on your behalf to justify the inclusion of South Melbourne Hellas into the A-legaue. Furthermore, there is no way a group of clubs would merge together to form a new entity. You know this, yet you foolishly bring it up as a bastion of hope for an additional team with some loose connection to Hellas or the Greek community.

It has been proven that it is not viable to have more than one Melbourne based team. Accept this and move on.

SR26

 

[mustang]

I can't belive there isn't a team from Tassie in the A-League as there is no real AFL,Rugby team. There only Hawthorn playing 2 games there a season and cricket it could have been a easy market to get into with no rivals from differnt codes like the other teams. There could still have been 8 teams eg.

Melbourne Victory FC
Newcastle Jets FC
Sydney FC
Queensland Roar FC
New Zealand Knights FC
Perth Glory FC
Adelaide Utd FC
Tasmainan Devils FC

I don't think there needed to be another team from N.S.W
with Central Coast Mariners FC

 

[Dasher39]

MV Management have said they will look into playing games in Tasmania!

When the A-League decides to expand I think the obvious choices for teams are Canberra and Townsville! After that it becomes a little more difficult, maybe Woolongong!

 

[thrylos7]

is there a tasmanian premier league of sorts and how does the game shape up in that state?

 

[mustang]

Yeah there is a Southern and a Northern Premier League. In tassie how strong there are not to sure.

 

[finders]

what a load of crap.

knights and south maintained crowds for over 25 years

The A League is total crap when it comes to Melbourne a city of 3.7 million with a great soccer tradition having only one made up team.
How come NSW has THREE teams out of eight? oh I forgot the managenent are all from Sydney and the HQ is there also.
Melbourne sports fans wont support a competition that they think is Sydneycentric and this "new" league sure is that in spades.
.

 

[Ray Nolan]

The reason NSW has got 3 teams is because its the only place in the country that has the regional centres big enough to support teams. Victoria doesn't have those regional towns big enough. At the end of the day it is a truly nationwide league with the big population centres represented. In 5 years time if the A-League expands then two of the most likely candidates are Canberra & Wollongong - simply because the population is there. The only place in Victoria that could theoretically play host to an expansion team outside of Melbourne is Geelong and that is unlikely given the facilities & the money are not there to back a team. Either way, I think the FFA only want 1 team in Melbourne because it is so important to make sure that Victory works.

 

[Dasher39]

I still think Canberra and Townsville will be the 2 new teams added when there is an expansion. Wollongong is a big chance, but I dont know if 5 NSW/ACT teams in what you want, that is half the competition on one State (well ACT is within NSW).

North Queesnland has shown how much they support their teams, and they have a ready made stadium perfect for the A-League in Dairy Farmers!

 

[David Votoupal]

I've been an advocate for a second Sydney side, based out here in the west, for quite some time. However, as for the other possible expansion markets:

Canberra- although previous attempts at an NSL side have failed, Canberra's strength is its grassroots soccer base as the region is unique in supporting all the major football codes well.

Wollongong- they must be included in any future expansion plans, because the potential support is there as is the junior base.

Townsville- their parochial support of the Cowboys and Crocodiles would suggest an ideal candidate for expansion.

Geelong- unlikely at this stage because it's essentially "AFL heartland" so to say. But is a tie-in with the Cats possible?

Tasmania- while some have mooted Tassie as a candidate, factors such as money, North-South divide, etc will likely count against it at this stage.

Darwin- highly likely due to climate and population factors.

 

[MadRyan]

I was always in favor of a ten team league to start with. I wanted the two additional teams in Canberra and an AIS team based in Victoria.

 

[mattyc2422]

8 is plenty. Too many teams will dilute the potential crowds too much. We want 10-15 at each game, not 2-4.

 

[Sexiano Ronaldo]

Can't wait for the debut of the Christmas Islands FC.

 

[sainter]

Geelong- unlikely at this stage because it's essentially "AFL heartland" so to say. But is a tie-in with the Cats possible?

I thought that's the kind of thing we were trying to get away from with the new league.

Eight teams is more than enough for the time being.

 

[Kurt Angle ©]

Isn't it the mandate of the new A-League to have one team in each city only ?

I know it is also in the plans to extend the A-League to 10 teams as soon a feasible.

Wollongong would have to be hard done by, as they have an extremely strong soccer history.

Central Coast got the last spot when it was the bidding between them, Townsville, Canberra and Wollongong.

Central Coast pretty much got the gig because John Singleton was throwing millions of dollars at any team in any football code willing to play in his stadium in Gosford.

Likewise, soccer has a poor history in Qld, and the thought was 2 teams would dilute too much support. That's why the Brisbane based team is called Queensland and not Brisbane.

 

[Kurt Angle ©]

I thought that's the kind of thing we were trying to get away from with the new league.

Eight teams is more than enough for the time being.

I agree.

And if Melbourne doesn't have a rectangular stadium of sufficient quality, Geelong sure isn't.