A-League aspirants "are putting the final touches to their bid documents over the next few days" as Football Federation Australia's deadline for the submission of applications looms, according to Michael Lynch of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Expression of Interest timeline calls for bidders to "put forward their detailed plans by the end of next week, with a crowded field likely to be jostling for two places" that FFA said will be available for the next phase of A-League expansion at the start of the '19-20 season. There has been "plenty of noise from several candidates," particularly in Sydney, where Southern Expansion and South West Sydney "have hogged the headlines." Team 11, the bid based around southeast Melbourne -- with Dandenong and the City of Casey at its center -- has also attracted "plenty of debate" while the consortium planning to develop its own club and stadia in Melbourne's western suburbs "has played its cards closer to its chest." South Melbourne on Thursday "sought to inject some more grunt into its bid when" it unveiled prominent Victorian politician Martin Foley, the state MP for Albert Park and an Andrews government minister, "as a supporter of its campaign" (SMH, 5/17).
