Tassie’s A-League bid ready to seize chance

THE consortium behind Tasmania’s push for an A-League team has welcomed Football Federation Australia’s call for formal expressions of interest from licence bidders.

The bid team was ready to go and confident it could meet all the criteria, spokeswoman Victoria Morton said.

FFA released its expansion plans on Thursday, asking bid- ders to provide information about their strategy for a new club and to prove their financial bona fides.

Each response would be evaluated by the governing body on its vision, history and culture, financial capacity, capability and experience, and “other” factors.

Expressions of interest had to be submitted by May 24, with short-listed bidders to be announced in June.

The bidders would then submit their fully-fledged proposals by the end of August, and FFA aimed to announce which two clubs would be granted entry to the league for the 2019-20 season on October 31.

“We welcome the release by Football Federation Australia of initial criteria to become the 11th and 12th teams in the A-League,” Morton said. “We are prepared, and feel we can meet all the indicated criteria. Tasmania is ready for a team of its own and we continue to work hard to achieve it.”

A consortium, fronted by former Melbourne Victory board members Harry Stamoulis and Robert Belteky, had been pushing for Tasmania’s inclusion in the national competition since 2016.

Morton said she believed the state’s bid would be strongly supported by the public.

“The appetite for live, homegrown, top-level sport in Tasmania is immense,” she said.

In February FFA unexpectedly announced that it was targeting the 2019-20 season as the start date for two new clubs.

Other contenders for an A-League spot included Brisbane, Wollongong, South Melbourne, the southern suburbs of Sydney, and Canberra.