Why the FFA has split A-League expansion over two years

The A-League will expand to 12 teams in the next two seasons after FFA decided to award licences to new teams based in Western Melbourne and South West Sydney.

Western Melbourne Group will enter the league in October – in time for next season – with the Macarthur South West Sydney bid, based in Campbelltown, entering for the 2020-21 campaign.

The decision comes after a protracted and heated fight to join the league, with long-term favourites Team 11, based out of Dandenong, one of four shortlisted bids to miss out.

Western Melbourne’s self-funded 15,000-seat stadium in Tarneit will not be ready until 2022-23.

But the bid team convinced the FFA of its strength based on their ability to play out of Geelong’s Kardinia Park AFL stadium until that point.

Team 11 were to play at the smaller Casey Fields ground, currently used for AFLW and AFL pre-season matches, with temporary stands set up while a government-funded football stadium got off the ground.

Macarthur South West Sydney – who will call Campbelltown Stadium home – will not enter the league until 2020-21 in part because of lobbying by Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC.

The two existing teams have been displaced by the city’s stadium redevelopment issues, with Gallop conceding the Wanderers’ attendance issues drove the FFA to accept the plan to delay Macarthur’s entrance.

Gallop said it was “not appropriate for us to disclose the licence fees” paid by the winning bids amid concerns money won out in the process.

However, he did concede fees were discussed right up to Wednesday’s decision at the FFA board meeting.

“It’s not appropriate to go into the negotiations that we had,” Gallop said.

“I’ve already said some of those negotiations happened in the closing days and hours where we ended up.

“It was important we achieved the affordability bar we put in place. A-League licences are valuable.”

with AAP