A-League season launch includes talk of competition expansion

Football Federation Australia Chief Executive David Gallop has used the launch of the A-League’s 12th season to promise that the league will expand beyond the current 10 clubs in the near future.

Speaking at the launch of the 2016/17 season in Sydney on Tuesday, Gallop stated “10 teams is not enough to have in our competition, expansion will come sooner rather than later.”

Gallop added that the FFA were working towards promotion and relegation, a development called for by many in the game.

With the new season set to be the last in the current television deal, Gallop added “we've got some important commercial deals to do and driving sustainability into the 10 clubs and backing the investment of the owners is important, but I think it's not far away that we'll see ourselves move to more than 10 teams."

Gallop also said that expansion of the current top tier would come before the creation of a second division, explaininf “the ultimate prize of promotion and relegation will happen in Australian football, but there's a lot more that needs to happen before we could sensibly move to promotion and relegation "I think (that) with the introduction of the NPL (National Premier Leagues) system, the FFA Cup, you can see that deliberate steps are being made to close the gap between the A-League and the rest of the game."

The A-League launch was attended by the captains of the 10 clubs, and also saw the launch of a campaign to get many of its young participants to identify with a club.

FFA research shows that while more than two million Australians participate in football, over half of players aged 15 years don’t have a solid commitment to support a Hyundai A-League team.

With slogan ‘You've Gotta Have a Team’, the FFA’s new marketing campaign follow 10-year-old Yoshi (pictured below), a young footballer on the hunt for a Hyundai A-League team to call his own.

Over the past few months, all 10 Hyundai A-League clubs have stepped up their on-field rivalry and gone head-to-head to vie for Yoshi’s support.

Gallop commented "we know there's two million people playing the game. We want to connect those people with the A-League.

“Our challenge is to unite (these) people who have expressed their passion and love for football as a player, coach, referee, parent, son, daughter, supporter, administrator or fan and engrain them into the Hyundai A-League so they can enjoy the unique atmosphere that can only be felt inside the stadium on matchday.

“With this in mind, we wanted to showcase the clubs’ attributes to help build a strong, loyal community following. Our goal with this initiative is to give people who’ve yet to select their team the chance to get a better understanding of what each team represents and their culture so they can make an informed decision.”

Gallop’s comments on expansion follow those made by newly appointed Head of A-League Greg O’Rourke on his appointment in July when he stated “I think expansion is inevitable, and it’s the right thing to do. But we need to make sure the 10 teams we have are sustainable.”

Yoshi’s journey can be followed at www.a-league.com.au/youve-gotta-have-a-team

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