Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-west Sydney win the A-League expansion race
The A-League is set for massive changes over the next couple of years, with Melbourne at the forefront. DAVID DAVUTOVIC has the latest on the winners and losers from the A-League expansion.
Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-west Sydney have won the A-League expansion race, with an 11-team competition set to be formed next season.
The winning Victorian bid will join the A-League in 2019-20, before the South-west Sydney bid enters in 2020-21.
Western Melbourne will play out of Kardinia Park for the first two season before moving into a boutique rectangular 15-000-seat stadium in Tarneit, which they’ve vowed to build with their own funds.
The 20,000-capacity Campbelltown Stadium – which is 50 kilometres from Parramatta Stadium via road – will house the South-west Sydney team, with a lease agreement already in place.
Tense 11th hour negotiations went late into last night after the FFA board meeting, with both bids understood to have been asked to up their final bids.
Both clubs signed their A-League participation agreements in the early hours of the morning, with the four losing bids – South-east Victoria (Team 11), South Melbourne, Southern Expansion and Canberra United believed to have been informed this morning.
“The FFA has been involved in a very comprehensive process to identify teams for the expansion of the A-League,” FFA chairman Chris Nikou said.
“We have made a decision. There will be two new teams joining the A-League going forward.
“I can confirm that the two successful bidders are the Western Sydney MacArthur bid and in Melbourne the Western Melbourne bid.
“Each gives us a wonderful footprint into growth corridors in the Australian market place and position us for the long-term gain of expanding football in this country.
“All the bids had redeeming features but ultimately, we have settled on the two that I’ve just mentioned. We’ve worked with those successful bidders to make sure they have the best chances of success.
“I would like to point out at this point that that’s not the full stop for the expansion process. “Expansion is an on-going dialogue for us. We would like to keep the expansion issue on the agenda. Coupled with that…is the establishment of a second division working group.”
The South-west Sydney bid was always favoured ahead of Southern Expansion, but the Melbourne license was hotly debated.
South-east Victorian bid (Team 11) was pitched as a strong option before the board went with Western Melbourne, who are understood to have paid a significantly higher license fee.
The Team 11 bid was proposing to play out of a newly built 15,000-seat stadium in Dandenong’s CBD, required around $120 million in government funding, with Casey Fields used as the temporary home.
It’s understood South-west Sydney’s preference was to start next season (2019-20), however Western Sydney Wanderers were keen to have a season of clear air at the refurbished Parramatta Stadium.
The staggered expansion approach was decided during a five-hour-long board meeting, having kicked off at 3pm Wednesday at FFA HQ in Sydney.
If South-west Sydney get up, they are expected to commence talks with ex Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak, now with Championship club Aston Villa, about joining them in their inaugural season.
Property mogul and BRW Rich Lister Lang Walker is the main backer of the Macarthur bid, after two local consortiums merged last August, with local businessman and fellow investor Gino Marra fronting the bid.
Canberra United’s bid has been well received, although there was a belief that they fell short in several areas including financials.
However Canberra could still be considered for the 2020-21 season, with Wellington Phoenix’s future up in the air.
Phoenix have one more year to run on their contract and must meet a series of performance metrics – including crowds – which they are now falling well short of.
South-west Sydney tried to join the A-League this season (2018-19), making an offer to merge with Wellington Phoenix at the end of last A-League season. FFA blocked the deal.
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Originally published as Western Melbourne and Macarthur South-west Sydney win the A-League expansion race
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