A-League side Melbourne City’s crowds "continue to plummet alarmingly," yet there is a chance Melbourne could receive a third team when the A-League expands in the coming years, opined Matt Windley of the HERALD SUN. Well, Football Federation Australia is on record as saying it "wants to fish where the fish are" when it comes to expansion, so Australia’s three biggest metropolises -- Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane -- are again in the spotlight. The south of Sydney "appears the frontrunner for one of two new franchises" likely to be established around the start of the '17-18 season, when the new broadcast deal is set to commence, while another side in Brisbane would also be a "logical choice." But if Melbourne "leaps ahead of the Queenslanders in the pecking order," where would you base a team in this "already too-cluttered marketspace?" FFA "made a mistake when it embedded Melbourne Heart for season 2010-11." There "was nothing to seriously differentiate itself from Melbourne Victory except that it was new and wore red as opposed to blue." Any new team in this state "would have to have some serious geographical strings attached to it." So "how about this for an idea?" Victoria United. Logically, "this team would be based at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium." But rather than isolating itself as "Geelong’s team," why not become "Victoria’s team" and play a game a year at Ballarat’s Morshead Park -- which hosted City’s FFA Cup clash with Sydney FC last year -- in Albury-Wodonga, Morwell and Bendigo. One "could argue you are becoming a nomadic team with no rusted on fans if you take games all over the state." But in the formula devised above, Geelong -- with its thriving football community -- would still host at least 10 games per 33-game season, "more than enough to attract a core group of fans, members and corporate dollars" (HERALD SUN, 3/17).
