A-League expanding with teams from western Melbourne, south-west Sydney
Football Federation Australia (FFA) has announced the Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-West Sydney consortiums will join an expanded 12-team A-League during the next two seasons.
Key points:
- Western Melbourne will be added to the A-League in 2019/20, with Macarthur South-West Sydney to join the following season
- FFA says the two new teams are being established in "the biggest growth corridors in Australia"
- The FFA is not ruling out further expansion
The Western Melbourne team is set to join the A-League for the 2019/20 season, with Macarthur South-West Sydney to be added 12 months later.
The two preferred bids were announced by new FFA chair Chris Nikou and chief executive David Gallop.
"One of the key factors in our decision was the long-term growth opportunity for each club in each new geography," Mr Nikou said.
"South-West Sydney and Melbourne represent some of the biggest growth corridors in Australia."
Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-West Sydney were chosen from a shortlist of six bids, with Team 11 from Dandenong, former NSL club South Melbourne, Sydney's Southern Expansion and Canberra United missing out.
The six final bids were whittled down from 15 hopefuls.
Mr Gallop said the decision to add Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-West Sydney was made with the future of the A-League in mind.
"This is going to set the A-League up for long-term sustainability," he said.
"In these new locations we can ensure that the new clubs are in high-quality facilities from day one."
The Western Melbourne team will initially play matches out of Geelong's Kardinia Park.
But it has committed to building the "first football-owned and football-specific stadium" in Australia.
"There were very attractive aspects to each of the bids, but the prospect of a facility owned by football for football will be a significant new milestone for the game in Australia," Mr Gallop said.
"Football-specific stadia have been extremely successful in league expansion in other parts of the world and we are excited by the prospect of such a facility in Melbourne."
Macarthur South-West Sydney will play at the existing Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
"Macarthur South-West is a region with a rich football history that when blended with a fast-growing demography, creates an exciting future for the game," Mr Gallop said.
The FFA said it wanted to expand the A-League beyond the addition of the Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-West Sydney teams.
A team in Canberra, for example, will be considered in the future after missing out to the two winning bids.
"Canberra is definitely one we're interested to talk to," Mr Gallop said.
"But we felt that on the pluses and minuses, the Sydney and Melbourne bids came out ahead of Canberra at this stage."
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ABC .net
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