UNITED A-LEAGUE HOPES GET BOOST
OFFICIALS OPEN TO SOCCER EXPANSION
A-LEAGUE boss Greg O’Rourke believes a second team in Brisbane would help, not hinder, the city’s struggling Roar as expansion talk continues for the 2019-20 season.
In welcome news to the hopes of ambitious teams such as Gold Coast United, O’Rourke still sees the region as a viable market for another team despite the Roar’s falling crowds and below-par performances this season.
And he believes the addition of two new teams is still a realistic goal within that time frame despite FFA’s ongoing congress saga throwing a spanner in the works.
“I don’t think we’ve lost enough ground because we’ve done all the work,” O’Rourke said at yesterday’s W-League finals launch.
“The question is, when do we go into the public domain and ask for bidders?” FFA has repeatedly delayed the release of expansion criteria as talks with clubs stalled over a “new operating model” for the A-League.
Brisbane City and Brisbane Strikers will both present strong bids whenever the
time comes, while broadcaster Fox Sports also sees merit in adding another team in southeast Queensland.
Three-time A-League champions Brisbane sit seventh with just five wins from 19 starts this season.
The Roar hit rock bottom last month in an embarrassing 3-2 AFC Champions League playoff loss to Filipino club Ceres-Negos, when the numbers from players’ shirts began peeling from their backs in front of just 1279 fans.
Despite their recent failings, O’Rourke says expansion in the city still had merit based on the rivalries created in Melbourne and Sydney. “When you have two teams in the one city you get this one plus one equals three effect,” he said. “If you think of the Wanderers v Sydney FC it created a rivalry that didn’t exist prior to that.”
Reborn NPL franchise Gold Coast United last week flagged their intention to return to the A-League within “the next three to five years” in a bold vision largely supported by the region’s football community.
United are also eyeing a W-League berth in the coming seasons.