There are a number of new bids ... many are very very very strong ..
Four stand out as exceptionally strong... Tassie, South Melbourne, Casey / Dandy, Southern bid,
Others of great strength are the Sunshine coast, backed by a billionaire,
Wollongong backed by the owner of WIN corporation [Australia biggest regional TV broadcaster] and owns 12% of Channel 10.
Brisbane Strikers and Southern Australian bids also very strong.
Geelong also a very strong bid.
Counts vary between 14 & 18 bids..
Craig Foster said it best in the Southern bid when he said we are about to enter the next phase of Footballs development.
Stage one was implementation
Stage two was stabilisation
Stage three is expansion and growth
We have achieved stages one and two and are developing new structures to start to bring in stage three expansion and growth.
Some time ago maybe three years maybe more some on this site started to discuss metrics ... many did not like the discussions...
After months of negotiations the Nix were set metrics to maintain their license, I have no idea what they are however the Nix's owners said at the time they were achievable.
My reading of the tea leafs is nobody deep down wants any team out as such... however the Nix have a twofold problem first is that the AFC don't want you in and to keep you in FFA has to ask FIFA to over rule the AFC ... has been done and will be done but to assume its both easy and comes without some costs in other ways to FFA is wrong ....
Second and more importantly, Football folk in Australia want to take Football to number one and to achieve that means teams to achieve certain things... pressure on teams not meeting growth targets will intensify ... the Mariners insurance has been to build a massive Football facility arguably the best in Australia and are now trying to buy their own stadium... all indications with population growth etc is the Mariners are set for growth but still under pressure... You guys face aside from the growth pressure you are keeping out a team that could bring a lot more to the table . Massive pressure building and lets hope the good folk of Wellie come to the party.
How many times does this have to go around? We aren't keeping anyone out. The FFA has added teams since we joined, and can keep adding teams. Other teams have folded since we have been around and others are in far worse financial states than us now. The idea that there's all these great bids just waiting for their chance being cruelly denied by the Phoenix is just complete bollocks. Maybe that's what a lot of people in Aussie think but they're wrong. Did having the Nix in prevent the league from adding GCU, NQF, MH, or WSW? Did the outcome of those expansions indicate that there's a lot of viable franchises waiting in the wings? Two of them folded, and Heart were a joke until they got their sugar daddies, and WSW got FFA handouts no one else has access to and then got sold to Lowy's mates.
You are right in one sense FFA can add more teams.
However they are limited in how many teams they can add.
People also want a second division a "b" league as you would be aware of.
However the bids coming in are all aware of what caused past failed attempts and many are government backed.
I like the way Fozzie explained it over three phases... implementation done ... stabilisation achieved of which the Nix were a large part of... Now its growth and expansion wanted ... all teams are expected to contribute to this ...
In essence we have at least 9 exceptionally strong bids. Everyone is under pressure everyone will be expected to contribute ...
Tassie backed by loacl, state and federal government will have a purpose built stadium provided to them as well as facilities and the owners started MV and have mega bucks.
South Melbourne.. already have a stadium, and training facilities and a long history and millions in the bank.. will be a derby match as well.
Casey / Dandy ... backing of local councils who have said they will provide land and build a 10 million dollar training facility has a population of 1.2 million in an area of Melbourne were Football is more popular than AFL. will be a derby match.. backing from 6 major local clubs.
Wollongong... massive history 20 K stadium ready, backing by Bruce Gordon own 12% of channel 10 and owns WIN corporation Australia's biggest regional TV broadcaster.
Southern ... look at the above vid ..will be a derby match
Sunshine Coast ... backed by local council and a guy reported to be worth 3 billion who has a history in Football will build his own stadium. will be a derby match as well
Brisbane Strikers .. have backers and also want to build their our stadium at Perry Park ... will be a derby match as well
South Australia bids... some government backing share a stadium with AU.. lots of history and backing of associations.
Geelong... will provide a stadium and backing by local and state gov..