The race to become Melbourne's next professional football club will "intensify this week" when A-League execs "mull over formal expansion submissions," according to David Davutovic of the HERALD SUN. National Soccer League club South Melbourne "ignited" much of the expansion talk while Team 11, the bid representing Victoria's southeast region, has "made recent statements headlined by a boutique stadium next to Dandenough train station." Western Melbourne is "on the verge" of releasing its plans, which are also expected to include a proposed new stadium. Meanwhile, former A-League side Melbourne Victory Chair Geoff Lord was "submitting a bid under his company Belgravia Leisure" among 15 nationwide bids as part of Football Federation Australia’s formal expansion process. Australian Professional Football Clubs Association Chair Greg Griffin said that Melbourne and Sydney were the favored expansion options among the existing 10 clubs, with the players' union also "calling for a second division to be placed in the agenda." Professional Footballers Australia CEO John Didulica called for the game to "be bold with the unprecedented interest" potentially injecting over A$1B ($766M) into the game -- FFA's current revenues are around A$115M ($87M) per year. South Melbourne Bid Chair Bill Papastergiadis said that the club's "rich NSL history" and existing infrastructure were "keys." He said, "South Melbourne is arguably Australia's most successful football club. We are ready now." Team 11 project officer Matt Windley said that the southeast bid was "more than a football bid." Windley: "There's 1.5 million people in the southeast that don't have a professional club training and playing here. A stadium in Dandenong would be a community hub with greater usage than just football and the Casey Fields academy will provide a pathway to professionalism that has never existed here" (HERALD SUN, 5/21).
