A League Expansion

As the A League is riding on an all time high it's an excellent opportunity to expand the league by adding more teams.

I'd like to see 2 more added as soon as possible!

You guys know anything about a possible expansion?

How many teams would you like to see in the A League?

Any more NZ teams?

Yeah. We should resurrect the Kingz. Strong local support for it.

Yes would be nice to have an Auckland team again!

Needs a new name and branding though. Kingz sounds gay sorry...

Wonder though if people would get behind it?

Now that the Nix have spread around the country

An Oceania team would be nice, especially if all OFC players bar kiwis were considered non import.

Townsville and Gold Coast both failed, so there will probably be some wariness about it.

The FFA are probably keen to see how their nationwide cup goes first.

Personally I would love to have another team in Auckland, Just so I can get out and watch some football every week. But I couldn't see it being viable. Auckland has had its chances to support a team and we just don't get behind it.

It would be great to have a 2nd NZ team. Maybe it'd be a case of 3rd time lucky in Auckland too. By the time a new club would kickoff it would've been a decade or so since the last debacle. Auckland City Council and Auckland rugby and hypothetical new football club could develop a small stadium somewhere more central than Mt Smart or North Harbour - possibly on the Eden Park no 2 ground site. Rectangular, 15,000 seats or so and it could be used for football in summer and provincial rugby in winter. I wonder if a central stadium with good atmosphere would increase Aucklanders' interest in football. Especially with the large immigrant population in Auckland, many of who wouldn't care about rugby but might care about football maybe it could work.

I also think that Christchurch could be a potential host for a new NZ team. They'll have a new stadium soon and Cantabrians are usually pretty partisan about their sports teams, plus a large population of ex-pat Brits and Irish live there too.

All daydreams at the moment though....

There would be more to gain from canterbury than auckland in my opinion. Auckland already have the breakers and warriors, so more competition to compete with on that front, and theres a lot of money and effort going into ACFC and waitak football as it is. Part of the reason why an A-League club has been better in wellington is because we dont have these other aussie franchises to compete with, and the neutrals dont have to choose who they want to go and watch. Would be the same in Chch imo. I say forget auckland all together.

If there are so many immigrants living in Auckland, why didn't they support the Knights/Kingz?

I live in Christchurch and I must say a team here wouldn't work I don't think.

Rugby support is very strong here, and even their beloved Crusaders don't sell out for the finals games...

And the question I'd have to ask myself is: Could or would I want to support a Chch team now that I'm a Nix Fan?

Rumours flying in Chch about Mainland Football's new potential revenue source - a private sugar daddy, would you believe?

So if more football infrastructure is about to be built (so the rumours go), and Chch has a population of approx. 350,000 (and growing in next 10 years) and we have a football-loving, non-gaming trust revenue source, who knows...maybe an A league club is not out of the question.

In terms of NZ rivalries (grrrrrr), although it would be nice to have any other NZ team in the A-League, I'd much like to have Dorkland.

ChCh/Canty is good too, but so much more satisfying to beat those Northerners.

Will not happen in the foreseeable future... ie ten years. And then if and only if the nix win the league three times and have average crowds if 25000 +.

This

I don't think the FFA would want another NZ team if our current one struggles to be successful and draw reasonable crowds. 

I would like to see how the other A-League teams were to react if Wellington won the grand final or topped the league but can't play in the AFC Champions League. It would be like giving the finger to Australian footballing fans and you'd think an argument would be made to the AFC to include Wellington and future NZ teams.

Slightly off topic but as someone living in Australia many A-League fans want Wellington gone because they think they add nothing to the league so before another NZ team is added the Nix are going to have to step their game up with regards to performances and off the field work.

Would like Auckland and poss Canberra side

Heart will eventually move south i reckon

Plus without us HAL would have to fabricate a rivalry between Perth and some other team.

#thenotsodistancederby

Just read the article on our struggling domestic league, the ASB Premiership.

Not on TV, hardly any crowds and so on.

What if the ASB Premiership was shut down and instead 2 more A-League teams would be formed?

Auckland City would go pro and so the Dragons in Christchurch?

Of course the FFA would have to support/accommodate this idea., and turn the A-League into something like the Super 15 Rugby competition with teams from both Australia and NZ, and both FFA and NZFootball working together.

Because let's face it the ASBP is just about dead, so why not pump money into Auckland city and a ChCh team?

That way we expand the A-League, NZ gets 3 pro football clubs and finally for once in this damn country

we'd get some sort of football culture going.

Bwahahahaha

Who pays for it?

Speechless. 

Tis the season to be trolly

Troll lol lol lol lol, lol lol lol lol

Yes my personal opinion is that a Chch team wouldn't work, but that's only my impression based on what I get to see and hear around here.

@Jeff Vader, I only made a suggestion as to what could be done, not my job to come up with a financial plan as well...

Simples:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/soccer-football/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=11178575&ref=rss

A little embarrassing.

Sam Malcolmson: Phoenix will rise, but we need an Auckland team

5:30 AM Saturday Dec 28

Despite their struggles I'm convinced the Phoenix will soon be a force in the A-league again. More importantly, though, I believe the time is right for the A-league administration and New Zealand Football to consider establishing a new franchise in Auckland.

Yes, I can hear the cry that the Kingz and the Knights were dismal failures. But the A-league has progressed as a professional organisation since those embarrassing days. A new franchise will also learn from those mistakes and the success of the Phoenix in their infancy. There are enough well-heeled business people in Auckland to relish this challenge.

Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick is on the right track with the attractive style of soccer they are playing, and even a 25 per cent success rate from the strikers would have them in the top four. Once Merrick can offload a few players and sign his own, they will be title challengers.

The standard of the A-league has dropped this season but such is its closeness and unpredictability that I agree with Merrick's prediction that the Phoenix will make the playoffs.

My major concern is the poor crowds - the last two home games have attracted only around 6000 spectators. That is a big problem when you consider that last Sunday's game was played on a beautiful evening, with a late kickoff making it attractive for families during the school holidays.

That match against Sydney City highlighted that the Phoenix are really a Wellington team. Only four New Zealanders started the game and one of those, Andrew Durante, is a recently naturalised Australian.

This is not a criticism, but an observation that the pathway to professional soccer for New Zealand youngsters is restricted.

Added to that, the national league is a dismal competition and interest sparks only for the O-league, where Auckland and Waitakere have represented New Zealand well.

An Auckland A-league team, based at North Harbour Stadium, would offer more opportunities for our youngsters as well as reinvigorating the world's number one game in the country's biggest city.

Auckland's population of 1.5 million must surely be able to maintain a successful and popular A-league team. It would also be easier to attract high quality overseas foundation players and coaches to a multi-cultural city like Auckland.

How about Ryan Nelsen as the coach and a player such as one of the Manchester United legends Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as the marquee signing who would double as assistant coach. Happy New Year, and be safe in 2014.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/soccer-football/news/article.cfm?c_id=86&objectid=11178575&ref=rss

Jesus wept what a fucking terrible piece of writing

writing thoughts while holidaying and drinking too much beer is bad

I have no idea why this piece of nonsense went to print without the sports editor wiping his ass with it. Our young Sam clearly hasn't done his research prior to typing it up on his trusty smartphone while lying by the poolside with a glass of Christmas bubbles.

"Sydney City", everyone knows we're Sydney Hakoah!