A-League expansion in the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

and

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

regions of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

has been proposed since the establishment of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

in 2005. Before the introduction of the league,

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

(FFA) chairman

Frank Lowy Sir Frank P. Lowy ( ; born 22 October 1930) is an Australian people, Australian-Israeli people, Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre comp ...

speculated that he hoped to expand the competition into cities such as

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, among others. Supporting a South Coast bid for admission into the A-League is its strong junior participation rates in football, with the area widely regarded as a regional heartland of football. A bid known as 'South Coast Football' was entered to join the 2009–10 A-League season but lost out to

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

and

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from t ...

. A second attempt was made by the group to join for the 2010–11 season, however lost out to

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

and the unsuccessful- Sydney Rovers. In 2011, FFA announced that future expansion would not be considered for the foreseeable future in preference to consolidating and strengthening the existing clubs. Since that time, expansion into the South Coast region has gained momentum with FFA expressing interest to increase the size of the league from 2017.

South Coast Football bid

In 2008, a community-based group known as 'South Coast Football' put in a bid to join the A-League. The bid had its genesis in a decision by

Wollongong City Council The City of Wollongong is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is situated adjacent to the Tasman Sea, the Princes Motorway and the Illawarra railway line. Located south of Sydney central busi ...

to pursue an A-League place in 2006. South Coast Football was led by local businessman Eddy De Gabriele and aimed to represent a population of 500,000 in the South Coast region, taking in the

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellhar ...

Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area adjacent to the south-western fringe of Sydney, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollon ...

Wingecarribee Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Cou ...

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

and

Eurobodalla Eurobodalla Shire is a local government area located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located in a largely mountainous coastal region and situated adjacent to the ''Tasman Sea'', the Princes Highway and t ...

local government areas. Former

Wollongong City Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

player

Scott Chipperfield Scott Kenneth Chipperfield (born 30 December 1975) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a midfielder for Wollongong Wolves, FC Basel, FC Aesch and Australia. His 2010 FIFA World Cup profile describes him "as a talented attacker wi ...

threw his support behind the bid and

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ag ...

also declared his support for the bid after launch his first coaching academy in

. As part of the bid Bruce Gordon, Australia's 14th wealthiest person, was approached to potentially help bankroll the club. In late 2008, South Coast Football launched a membership drive to demonstrate the level of commitment to A-League football in the community. More than 6,000 fans turned up to the club's touted home ground of

WIN Stadium Wollongong Showground, known as WIN Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Wollongong, Australia. The stadium was officially opened in 1911. From 1982 until 1998 it played host to every home match for the Illawa ...

, Wollongong to watch a 2008 A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup match between

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

and

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

. The South Coast Football bid to enter the league in 2009 ultimately lost out to Gold Coast United and North Queensland Fury. The A-League was expected to expand further into a 12 or 14 team competition in 2010 and the South Coast Football bid was considered a front runner to join the expansion, but lost out to Melbourne Heart and the unsuccessful-Sydney Rovers. In 2011, FFA announced that it is going to consolidate and strengthen the current clubs and cease expansion for the foreseeable future.

Wollongong Wolves bid

The twice

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

champions South Coast Wolves has been proposed as possible entry to the A-League. However, during the initial expansion efforts the club announced no plans of reaching the national stage and were in full support of a new club for the region. In July 2015, as part of South Coast Wolves's 35th anniversary celebrations, it was announced that along with a brand new club logo, the name of the club would also change from South Coast Wolves back to their former name of Wollongong Wolves. The changes were to be brought in for the 2016 season onwards. Along with its re-branding, the club also announced its ambitions to join the A-League in next expansion period. In April 2016, chairman of

Wollongong Wolves Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

, Andrew Byron, declared the club's intentions to enter the

and W-League. Byron believed the only piece missing was infrastructure and facilities that were to an A-League standard. The club's plan involved setting up six satellite youth academies with one already open and two due to be open before the end of the year. The intention would be to field a W-League team for the 2016–17 season, FFA permitting. The club would then enter an A-League team in the next league's expansion opportunity, due sometime before 2019. Matilda's

Michelle Heyman Michelle Pearl Heyman (born 4 July 1988) is an Australian soccer player and commentator who currently plays for Canberra United in the W-League in Australia. She became the all-time record goalscorer in the W-League in March 2021, after scoring ...

Caitlin Cooper Caitlin Cooper (born 12 February 1988) is an Australian soccer player, who plays for the Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League. She has previously played for Central Coast Mariners, Canberra United and Sydney FC. Club career Ce ...

Caitlin Foord Caitlin Jade Foord (born 11 November 1994) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for FA Women's Super League club Arsenal W.F.C., Arsenal and the Australian women ...

have been discussed as potential players for the Wollongong Wolves W-League side, given the fact they played their junior football in the area. The club's catchment population is roughly 500,000. The FFA has previously stated they want to establish A-League team's in areas with a million people in its catchment area. The club would play at

, already used by the club's

National Premier League The National Premier League, also known for sponsorship purposes as the Red Stripe Premier League, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the top division for men's association football in Jamaica. Contested between 12 clubs, it op ...

team. Former

Socceroo The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated wi ...

, has been playing an active part in the bid, having played at the club for the first five years of his professional career. Wollongong's bid for an official A-League expansion license for the 2019-20 season was formally rejected by

in October 2018.

References

External links

South Coast Football Website

Facebook Group
{{A-League Soccer in New South Wales Expansion of the A-League Men South Coast (New South Wales)

South Coast Football bid

Wollongong Wolves bid

See also

References

External links