A-League Expansion

[adz]

lol u beat me to it Fish

 

[nero]

Reply to Marconigirl.

Of course Canberra is in the ACT. But the problem with a Canberra team in the A-League is that they are too close to the NSW clubs( If there is SFC,Mariners,JETS,[GONG and WSYD]). To think they will only draw juniors from the ACT and not parts of NSW is very questionable. The ACT is surrounded by NSW and with the Mariners chasing juniors  in that area, it would take a a strong A-League with Canberra doing well to get sponsorship and crowds.

Western Sydney is a great idea, sort of. If they entered the HAL, the crowds at Sydney may dry up and disappear. Last season was the 1st time our crowds actually beat Sydney's and that was because they were playing terribly. If they went like again and for say 3 seasons, with a western Sydney team in the comp, SFC may average less then 10K and fall into serious trouble.

 

[fish]

and we would all smile and have a chuckle

 

[rosko]

If there were to be a Western Sydney team, the crowd at Bling would surely dry up. Just look at the Roosters and Rabbits, they get no one to their games, especially when they are losing. 

 

[FFC Mariner]

Not so sure Rosko, Lowy FC dont draw a vast % of their support from the West and you are assuming that the poor deluded fools who support them are the only people in Sydney who attend HAL games.

 

[rosko]

No assumptions made.. I believe that a Western Sydney team would have more success than an inner city team, that' all. Mind you, that is only going off what you see in the NRL. The teams in the outer areas of Sydney tend to have more support than the City areas. I would love to see two teams in Sydney. It gives us all an extra derby match. The greatest fear I have, is of ethnic problems arriving between two Sydney teams. I would really hate to see that occur.

 

[dibo]

Reply to Marconigirl.

Of course Canberra is in the ACT. But the problem with a Canberra team in the A-League is that they are too close to the NSW clubs( If there is SFC,Mariners,JETS,[GONG and WSYD]). To think they will only draw juniors from the ACT and not parts of NSW is very questionable. The ACT is surrounded by NSW and with the Mariners chasing juniors  in that area, it would take a a strong A-League with Canberra doing well to get sponsorship and crowds.

nsw is a big place with plenty of juniors and plenty of corporate cash. if we can't make it work in canberra (remembering that barring the gold coast it's the biggest urban centre in the country with no a-league club), why would it work anywhere else?

Western Sydney is a great idea, sort of. If they entered the HAL, the crowds at Sydney may dry up and disappear. Last season was the 1st time our crowds actually beat Sydney's and that was because they were playing terribly. If they went like again and for say 3 seasons, with a western Sydney team in the comp, SFC may average less then 10K and fall into serious trouble.

to reiterate:

west sydney is an absolute no-brainer, and i've got to laugh every time someone says that they couldn't work because sydney fc's crowds are rubbish - it's not like we're talking about a situation where everyone who will ever support a club in western sydney is already supporting sydney fc - there are a helluva lot of people out there who aren't yet hooked up to the a-league and west sydney might make it that little bit easier for them.

it's not like there's only so much pie to go around. we can grow the pie!

 

[Jocwa08]

I reckon it would be better to bring two teams in at a time.
Next year i cant go a whole week without watching the
mariners if there is bye's. Make it a 52 week season

 

[thomas477]

i say the a-league has a couple of games at Bruce Stadium each season and depending on the crowds - then make a decision

 

[FFC Mariner]

Fair point but how do you adjust for the "novelty" factor?

Sod em, there are towns in Australia that deserve the chance. None of their teams get very good support so why would our game be any different.

 

[Jesus]

Too cold in canberra. They would not attract good enough players. The raiders struggle to get good players and have to pay more for them cause no one wants to live in canberra, especially over say, the gold coast.

 

[soccersensei]

West Sydney would be terrific, though Rosko's point re potential violence is the biggest concern, but hey you don't wait for the river to run dry before you cross...

GCG is a must and I think Townsvillle Thunder would be a terrific addition and well to the heart of what A league is capable of achieveing as per our own CC. Love to see the world game getting the further credit it deserves for uniting people, communites, nations etc...
Financial concerns aside, I'd love to see a second NZ team to help strengthen Nix's terrific efforts thus far, A good derby should do wonders and twice as many games in NZ would be a big bonus for the fans. Not to mention they'd get atleast 3 game where they didn't have to travel OS.

 

[dibo]

The new teams need to be in places with sufficient population to create a critical mass. Until the a-league actually began and we did well, I really wasn't even sure if the Central Coast was big enough. It is about the 9th biggest urban area in the country, so that's an indication of how few places we can really look to put a team in. Only 13 urban areas have populations of over 150,000:

1. Sydney
2. Melbourne
3. Brisbane
4. Perth
5. Adelaide
6. Newcastle
7. Gold Coast
8. Canberra
9. Central Coast
10. Wollongong
11. Sunshine Coast
12. Hobart
13. Geelong
14. Townsville

Townsville only has 140k people there, but their rugby league club does well, and the FFA and Northern Chunder seem to think they can make it work up there.

Now consider that Blacktown City Council has 270,000 residents (or not far shy of the entire population of the Central Coast) and you begin to see the scale of the problem we have. The Central Coast needs to attract a vastly higher proportion of the population to games than Sydney simply to break even. If we dont break even we die.

Consider then how much harder it is for areas half the size of the Central Coast. If the A-League is going to expand into new centres, there really are very few new places we can take it. Of the list above, there is a very small number of places that look like any sort of prospective base for a team:

7. Gold Coast
8. Canberra
10. Wollongong
11. Sunshine Coast
12. Hobart
13. Geelong
14. Townsville

Any smaller than that and the 15,000 crowd averages that these teams will have to aim at for viability will be a near impossibility. There is also the problem of A-League standard stadiums Wollongong, the Sunshine Coast, Hobart and Geelong simply dont have them.

Extra teams in the State capitals will eventually be the only viable method of expansion. The thing that drives expansion will hopefully (from a commercial point of view) be increased demand from broadcasters and venues for games to show and host theres some indication that this is the case with the two Queensland teams coming in. If the demand is there, the money will be there and there will be some chance of the clubs surviving and eventually thriving.

 

[Jesus]

I am hoping that in that FFA survey everyone ticks off the "21 games is too short, make it 28) and then they throw in 2 new teams so suddenly we have over 30 games a season

A man can dream

 

[FFC Mariner]

You would hope it would default to that answer.

Also, vote to dump the finals series (not that it will ever happen)

 

[Sacko]

Although more games would good - how about playing each team 4 times instead of 3, I fear that the talent level will not spread that thinly. IMHO I think the HAL has done so well is because the higher concentration of better players i.e. the fringe players from the NSL have gone back to state league as they just aren't good enough. If another team or 2 are added too early we may see the level of the league go backwards - which whould ruin all the good work the HAL has done thus far!

So I say no to expansion

 

[Jesus]

You would hope it would default to that answer.

Also, vote to dump the finals series (not that it will ever happen)

I love the finals series. It is the only cup format we have, and the only viable cup we will have for some time

 

[Sacko]

What about the pre-season cup? ;D

 

[FFC Mariner]

Quite right, bring in the State teams at the same time.

 

[Tassiemariner]

My Ambitious planfor the 2015 A-League Season

Melbourne Victory
Sydney FC
Newcastle Jets
Central Coast
Brisbane Roar
Adelaide United
Perth Glory
Wellington

New teams
West Sydney
Gold Coast
Nth Qld
2nd Melbourne team

Play each other Home + away,  28 week season

FFA Cup,  32 team comp,  A-League teams enter in 2nd round.

Finals Series, 8 teams.

So thats 28 weeks for the season, 4 weeks for the FFA Cup, 3 weeks for Finals.
35 week Season is a good length

Start Season in 2nd week July, regular season finish Last weekend in January.

Have 2 weekends set aside for FFA Cup. Play Quarter Finals and Semi Finals on the Christmas/New Year Weeekends.
Play FFA Cup Final On Australia day weekend.

Have Finals Series Feburary (Something cheesy that the FFA Can market effectively).

Done by March