Geelong, Australia can become football's regional capital but Mayor Darren Lyons "warned that urgent help was required to cater for rapid expansion," according to David Davutovic of the HERALD SUN. Lyons also revealed "bold plans for a David Beckham-endorsed" football academy in Geelong in a bid to continue the region's "proud production line" of Socceroos. The mayor renewed calls for a 15,000-seat football stadium to be built in south Geelong (Armstrong Creek) that could become the region's football "hub and an A-League base for an expansion club." Lyons said, "We want to be the regional capital of soccer for Australia and we have the potential to. It's a boom sport in a multicultural community, three-to-one boys and girls playing soccer over AFL and as a city we're having trouble dealing with the growth and demand." Lyons, "who was dubbed the paparazzi king for over 20 years in London, planned to tap into his overseas contact base and approach Beckham about starting an elite academy." Lyons: "My idea for a huge push is for a David Beckham-style elite training venue in Geelong. I'll be following this through in 2016" (HERALD SUN, 1/6).
