New team ideas and teams that should not be in the A league

[Tigersfan35]

Personally I think that the A league should get rid of the Nix and make a team based in a place in Australia were there is no team. This would bring soccer to places were it was never really a thing. Places in contention would be Canberra, Tasmania or Cairns. Do you agree or disagree?
Post your opinion below.

 

[giggler99]

Fish where the fish are

-David Gallop 2015

 

[Tigersfan35]

Fish where the fish are

-David Gallop 2015

Like where?

 

[craigos]

Best steer clear of where I go fishing then

Northern Queensland has failed once and I reckon would fail again. Gold Coast is the same. Wollongong seems to be making a lot of noise and if you could draw people from the southern suburbs of Sydney, maybe, but I think you'd be taking people away from Sydney FC.

For me, the stadium is a massive part of the equation. If Hobart had a 10K seat rectangular stadium I think that would work, play a couple of home games in Launceston (where they often get decent numbers for Victory matches) and I see that as a good choice. You'd instantly get onside (pun intended) with locals and eventually could see it drawing people away from Aussie Rules. Canberra is probably a similar argument but I don't know a great deal about it.

No more teams in WA, SA, VIC (Geelong wouldn't work) or QLD. The aim should be to grant a license 2 years in advance and bring 1 club in around 2018 and another 2019/20. Hoping that the Socceroos and the World Cup can generate interest again.

 

[nobbyiscool]

Firstly, I don't have a problem with the 'Nix. In fact, I love that they're in the league - while their fan base isn't huge, they're passionate as hell, and they give other small clubs something to aspire to. And people here in Australia like the Nix. The cross-Tasman campaign to keep them in the comp last year was awesome.

I'm approaching this from who I'd like to see, not who I think will eventually get in.

Top pick for me is Canberra. If Gold Coast and Townsville were strategically important areas, I don't know why Canberra wasn't. There are well over 400k people there once you factor in Queanbeyan. If they were allowed to dominate that 5pm Saturday timeslot (weather permitting, cos it gets ******* hot in Canberra in summer!), you could also factor in people from a little further away.

Canberra Stadium is there, there's a huge population of international students in Canberra (with UC a walking distance away) who would yearn for quality football, and there when there was an active Aleague4Canberra campaign, around 200 people stumped up $200 (which was eventually refunded) to show their commitment. The business community in Canberra would support (and pledged their support for the previous bid) it because football has a much wider following than rugby union, and would have further national reach than the Raiders. That Gallop - who has a history in Canberra - is prepared to ignore 400k people as not being "where the fish are" is ridiculous.

After that - the more I speak to football people here in Melbourne, the more I support South Melbourne getting in the league. Forget the ethnic ties, who really cares? It's not like we'd be including a dozen ethnic clubs who will throw flares at each other - we're talking about 1 team who 1) owns their own stadium, 2) has a huge latent supporter base that never moved on to Victory or City, and 3) could be a successful venture with only 9000 people at Bob Jane (given no stadium costs), with derbies played at AAMI park.

They'd be my clear next 2. After that, I wish someone was prepared to put the money into developing a team from Logan/Ipswich/Gold Coast team that could play maybe the Nix in Ipswich, play CCM, Newcastle & Perth at GC, and then play the bigger Sydney & Melbourne team at Suncorp. This project would need a millionaire white knight though, cos the FFA will never do it. So it's very, very unlikely.

I'd love to see Tassie, especially if the Tas Govt pulled their AFL sponsorships in favour of a team called "Tasmania". It'll never happen though, there's just no desire for it down there. Tasmania just has a Stockholm Syndrome love for Aussie Rules, regardless of how abusive the relationship with the AFL is.

Realistically, the next 2 will be
- Southern Sydney - but I don't know enough about Wollongong Wolves to know if they'd be a going concern, or whether this will be another Football Federation Sydney creation.
- Another Victorian team - possibly Geelong, possibly South Melbourne, or possibly another new creation that does what City never did and finds a region in Melbourne to represent and finds a point of difference to the Victory.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Nix must stay. Great fans and a great place to visit. Plus there's the distance derby.

Not this time around but once Kardinia Park is done then maybe a team in Geelong. Canberra hardly get a crowd for their beloved rugby so what crwods will they get in the A-league. Sutherland Shire should be considered even if it is another Sydney team. North Queensland may be worth another crack.

 

[nobbyiscool]

It's not fair to say that Canberra hardly gets a crowd - the Brumbies get around 17-18k when they're winning. In any case, a football team would be marketing itself to a completely different crowd than rugby does. Rugby occurs to the middle-management public service types, whereas football would appeal to Canberra's diverse migrant community and to younger families.

In my previous post, I also failed to mention that the ACT Government is pretty damn good at negotiating sweet deals so teams will play games in Canberra. While it's not as good as owning your own stadium (like South Melbourne does), an ACT team wouldn't have to pay much at all to use Canberra Stadium.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

So Canberra and Sutherland Shire this time around and then in a couple of years time Geelong or Souths and FNQ?

 

[The City Boyz]

I feel like if we got rid of the Nix and combined CCM and the Jets, we would have a better league...

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Yet City only get a couple of thousand more fans than the three of them yet are in a major city but they would survive? Does not compute.

 

[Tigersfan35]

To decide what teams we want and were they will be from we first need to decide how many teams we eventually want in the A league. If we want 14 teams there is no need to get rid of any team unless they go broke. If we only want 12 teams then we may have to get rid of the least supported team to make way for the new teams.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

14 teams then even draw and one less round then what there is currently.

 

[The City Boyz]

14 teams then even draw and one less round then what there is currently.

Yeah, that sounds great. However, if we want to keep the average attendances up in the league, we have to find markets that appreciate football more than what FNQ and GC did.

 

[The City Boyz]

Again, that's why I believe that Canberra would be a better choice. The Asian Cup crowds show that they do appreciate football...

 

[The City Boyz]

To decide what teams we want and were they will be from we first need to decide how many teams we eventually want in the A league. If we want 14 teams there is no need to get rid of any team unless they go broke. If we only want 12 teams then we may have to get rid of the least supported team to make way for the new teams.

Great ideas mate, but they will be tough to execute. Also, it could be interesting to see whether other, more Anglocised markets grow to appreciate football more.

 

[craigos]

There is zero chance that South Melbourne will ever see A League unless it becomes a promotion/relegation league. You need to keep the 2 team capitals I think, it creates that Everton vs Liverpool, City vs United feel.

 

[nobbyiscool]

There's certainly not zero chance - the broadcasters, and thus the FFA, want derbies. It's clearly where the crowds and the ratings are. So derbies are what the FFA will provide.

 

[The City Boyz]

There's certainly not zero chance - the broadcasters, and thus the FFA, want derbies. It's clearly where the crowds and the ratings are. So derbies are what the FFA will provide.

You have raised some valid points, and I agree with them. Would South play at Lakeside, however?

 

[The City Boyz]

Personally I think that the A league should get rid of the Nix and make a team based in a place in Australia were there is no team. This would bring soccer to places were it was never really a thing. Places in contention would be Canberra, Tasmania or Cairns. Do you agree or disagree?
Post your opinion below.

Could we perhaps try a 9 team league, with a bye?

 

[nobbyiscool]

You have raised some valid points, and I agree with them. Would South play at Lakeside, however?

Lakeside, and the fact that they own it, is the biggest argument that South have in favour of one day gaining entry. They've argued for a spot in the A-League since day dot, and they've consistently said that they have a huge latent supporter base who support Heidelberg, Bentleigh Greens, Northcote City etc in the NPL Vic, but who will flock to South Melbourne in the A-League - and even if they don't, every game South would play at Lakeside would be a net profit because they don't pay stadium costs, and because the games where they would need increased security and policing (ie. Victory games) would likely be played at AAMI Park anyway.

I don't really expect a lot of people to support South ever being granted entry to the A-League, because the FFA fobbed off "ethnic clubs" being an evil anachronism in the age of "new football", which they only really came to terms with when they created the FFA Cup. And South's entry is something I've only become convinced of over the last year or so.

But I think we could do a hell of a lot worse. City was an abject failure in creating a point of difference to the Victory. Their biggest selling point was, and still is, that they're not Victory. They don't represent a different location, a different age group or a different heritage to the Victory - South already have that point of difference, and people really shouldn't underestimate the importance of owning their own stadium given how much stadium costs bite other teams. (And the other suggestion that people make for Victoria - Geelong - isn't "fishing where the fish are", nor is it really a derby in the sense that the FFA and broadcasters want it to be.)

 

[nobbyiscool]

Could we perhaps try a 9 team league, with a bye?

Less teams is the last thing we need - the league already battles to maintain momentum when we play the same 9 teams 3 times each year (before finals). The FFA should be doing more to find more sustainable teams purely for this reason.

 

[The City Boyz]

Less teams is the last thing we need - the league already battles to maintain momentum when we play the same 9 teams 3 times each year (before finals). The FFA should be doing more to find more sustainable teams purely for this reason.

Great points mate, really interesting read.

 

[Steven Gerrard]

My wish list for the A-League is that in 50 years we have a thriving, fully professional league with big crowds generating billions from free to air tv money and consisting of the following clubs:

Adelaide United
Second Adelaide club
Perth Glory
Fremantle (or another second club out of Perth)
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City
South Melbourne
Geelong
Sydney FC
WSW
South Sydney
Wollongong
CCM
Newcastle
Canberra
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Strikers
Gold Coast
Tasmania
Northern Territory

A 20 club league, 38 rounds which means not having to wait as long in between seasons, every mainland capital city would have at least 2 derbies a year, the two biggest cities would have 6 a year, every state and mainland territory would be represented making it the only truly national league in Australia and you'd have links to the old NSL with Strikers, Wollongong and South Melbourne.

Don't scrap the cap but increase it significantly so the bigger clubs can take advantage of their off-field success without outright buying the trophy, scrap the finals, top 4 for Asia and no relegation. Even in 50 years I can't see Australia being able to support more than 20 clubs so I don't think relegation is ever going to come in.

About 10% of my wish list will come to fruition by 2066.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Gold Coast will get another team eventually, city's too big to rule out forever. Gold Coast United mostly failed because owner Clive Palmer was a self-obsessed buffoon who publicly talked s**t endlessly. If I lived there I sure as s**t wouldn't have gone to their games.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

My wish list for the A-League is that in 50 years we have a thriving, fully professional league with big crowds generating billions from free to air tv money and consisting of the following clubs:

Adelaide United
Second Adelaide club
Perth Glory
Fremantle (or another second club out of Perth)
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne City
South Melbourne
Geelong
Sydney FC
WSW
South Sydney
Wollongong
CCM
Newcastle
Canberra
Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Strikers
Gold Coast
Tasmania
Northern Territory

A 20 club league, 38 rounds which means not having to wait as long in between seasons, every mainland capital city would have at least 2 derbies a year, the two biggest cities would have 6 a year, every state and mainland territory would be represented making it the only truly national league in Australia and you'd have links to the old NSL with Strikers, Wollongong and South Melbourne.

Don't scrap the cap but increase it significantly so the bigger clubs can take advantage of their off-field success without outright buying the trophy, scrap the finals, top 4 for Asia and no relegation. Even in 50 years I can't see Australia being able to support more than 20 clubs so I don't think relegation is ever going to come in.

About 10% of my wish list will come to fruition by 2066.

Ambitious! Would take a very long time though. Liverpool could even win the league by then.