The A-League is the top level of football in Australia. It was established in 2004 with eight teams. Since then it has expanded into new markets across Australia and New Zealand. The A-League has announced a further expansion to 12 teams by the year 2012.
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The A-League was first established in 2004. It was formed when the federal government in 2003 initiated reforms of the sport via the Crawford Report. The NSL was financially unviable and was folded after the conclusion of the 2003–04 National Soccer League season.
With the Crawford report findings Soccer Australia disbanded and formed the Australian Soccer Association. The ASA formed the Hyundai A-League with eight clubs from eight regions from around Australia and New Zealand. After the initial establishment of the A-League, the ASA disbanded and reformed as the Football Federation of Australia (FFA). The first season of the A-League was in 2005–06 with the Hyundai Motor Company unveiled as the official naming rights sponsor for the league.
The Football Federation of Australia was very cautious in selecting who was to be part of the new league. The FFA decided upon a 'one city - one team' principle in order to protect the initial development of the foundation clubs. Towards the end of the NSL (National Soccer League), reigning Victorian club Melbourne Knights made a bid to change their name to Melbourne United. The club was required to drop their Croatian ethnic identity as the FFA did not want a repeat of the old NSL where clubs supporters had racial or ethnic disputes that turned to violence. The club would play a portion of games at Olympic Park and and possibly at South Melbourne's home ground, as their then home stadium was located in Sunshine with a low capacity of only 15,000 that would hardly be enough. The bid failed and the Knights kept there name and now play in the VPL (Victorian Premier League) in which they finished ninth in the 2010 seson.
The initial eight teams selected were: Adelaide United, Queensland Roar, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory, Sydney FC and New Zealand Knights.
The first season of the Hyundai A-League was launched in August 2005.
Despite having a squad boasting several players with extensive experience in English football, the Knights were not considered serious contenders for the A-League title, and they were considered favourites for the wooden spoon. These predictions turned out to be true, with the New Zealand Knights proving to be terribly out of their depth in their debut A-League season.
In April 2006, after the poor season, manager John Adshead resigned from the club.[1] Paul Nevin was confirmed as manager a month later,[2] having worked as caretaker manager since the position was vacated by Adshead.
In late October 2006, as a result of low crowd attendance at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland and continual poor on-field performances, rumours began to circulate that the FFA was considering the possibility of revoking the Knights' A-League licence and granting it to a new team that would be set to enter the competition in the 2007–08 season.
On 15 November 2006, nearing the end of the November transfer window, New Zealand Knights board and management decided to relieve Paul Nevin of his coaching duties due to a string of poor performances.[3]
On 13 December 2006, strong rumours resurfaced that the FFA was considering the revocation of the Knights' licence to compete in the A-League. It quickly became clear that, with five weeks remaining in the current season, the FFA fully intended to reclaim the licence from the Knights.[4] The FFA had continued to express angst at low attendance numbers, poor on-field performance and the lack of domestically developed players. On 14 December, the FFA announced that it had revoked the competition licence held by the Knights' owners. An arrangement with New Zealand Soccer would see the national body step in to manage the club for the remaining five weeks of the regular season, with former All Whites player Ricki Herbert to fill the role of head coach.[5]
Effectively, the Knights dissolved on 21 January 2007, when the final match of the season was played against the Perth Glory.
On 19 March 2007 after several delays,[6] the Wellington Phoenix was selected as the successor to the New Zealand Knights.[7]
In 2009, the league expanded for the first time, rising from eight teams to ten. The two expansion teams are based in Gold Coast and Townsville, both in the state of Queensland. The new teams were Gold Coast United and the North Queensland Fury. This arrival of other Queensland based teams saw Queensland Roar renamed the Brisbane Roar.
In 2011 the FFA advised that North Quensland would not be admitted into the 2011-2012 season of the A-League due to low attendance figures, poor on-field results, no owner and financial instability.[8]
On 14 February 2007, South Melbourne announced their interest in becoming the second Victorian club in the A-League. After the Melbourne Victory announced they would not be playing at the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium unless it had a capacity of at least 30,000, the government suggested a second Melbourne team would play there. A consortium of investors were willing to put at least 5 to 6 million dollars per annum into the venture, and a letter of interest from the football club had been sent to the FFA. The agreement that will see the new stadium built with a 31,500 capacity meant that it would be unlikely such a bid will succeed based on the above conditions.[9][10] In June, it was announced the existence of three separate consortiums bidding for second Melbourne franchise.[11] On 23 March 2009, Led by Victorian businessman Peter Sidwell and operating under the working title Melbourne Heart Syndicate, the bid received exclusive negotiating rights for the A-League’s 11th licence in September 2008. Sidwell's group was awarded the license to join the 2010-11 season on 12 June 2009.[12]
Western Sydney had also been suggested as a viable location for an A-League team. Consortium's from both Parramatta and Penrith had submitted bids to the FFA.[9][11][13] On 29 September 2009, Ian Rowden's bid for a Western Sydney franchise was given the green light as the Sydney Rovers became the 12th A-League license to participate from the 2011-12 season. On 10 December 2010 it was announced that the Sydney Rovers will not be entering the A-League next season due to the consortium lacking the funds.[14][15]
In 2009 it was announced by the FFA that they would be introducing a new competition, similar to the FA Cup in England, that would cover all current teams, plus the best teams of each state's highest leagues. The FFA Cup was to commence in the 2010-2011 season. Planning for the FFA Cup fell well behind schedule, and at the end of the 2010-2011 A-league season, it was announced that the FFA Cup would commence in 2011, and that the final would be held on Australia Day.
A Canberra based bid was announced in July 2008. It is being led by TransACT CEO Ivan Slavich, and has gained support from many local business leaders including the manager of Canberra Stadium, where the team would expect to be based. The FFA agreed to Slavich's request to extend the deadline for bids until mid-August. Socceroo Carl Valeri and former Socceroo Ned Zelic have become foundation members.[16]
After the scrapping of the Sydney Rovers, the FFA approached the Greater Western Sydney Football Group, who were one of the losing groups in the bid for the second expansion. This was done to see if they could come into the competition for the 2011/12 season. The team was to be based at ANZ Stadium at the Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush and named "The Wanderers". After consultation the idea was dropped, and as yet no other consortium have come forward or been approached for the Western Sydney team.
Many people felt the twice Australian Champions the Wollongong Wolves should be the team from the Illawarra, but according to media reports the Wolves are planning on staying in the NSW Premier League, and are fully supporting a new club for the region. A group known as "Great South Football" are behind the Illawarra bid. Former Wollongong star Scott Chipperfield has thrown his support behind them and Tim Cahill has joined the group, promising to establish a football academy in the region.[17] It has been rumoured the club will be backed by Bruce Gordon, Australia's 14th wealthest person.[18]
In October 2007, Football Federation Tasmania CEO Martin Shaw suggested that Tasmania would be a viable location for an A-League club, mentioning the fact that it would need support from state and local government. It has been suggested that such a team would play games in both Hobart and Launceston.[19][20] In 2008, a Tasmanian Football Taskforce was formed to investigate an A-League bid.[21][22] The Taskforce has registered the name "Tasmania United FC" and is submitting a bid for the 2011-12 season.[23] The Taskforce chose 25 November to launch the consortium to the press and named 'Motors' as a major sponsor.[24] A franchise in Tasmania will give the A-League a wider national representation than the AFL and NRL.[25] A sheikh from Dubai is being linked with Tasmania’s bid for an A-League team.[26]
Geelong has been considered the next logical place for expansion in Victoria.
In spite of the unsuccessful New Zealand Knights, NZ's current club, Wellington Phoenix has been relatively successful and the possibility of a second New Zealand team in the future has been raised, possibly playing home matches in Auckland or Christchurch.
In 2008 there were suggestions that a team representing Oceania could be involved in the A-League. The FFA has previously invited the OFC to look into creating a team for the Pacific Islands. This team could play matches in Port Moresby in New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu. However, it has since become clear that such a bid would not be comercially viable.