Southern Expansion head of football Craig Foster welcomes FFA expansion announcement

Football Federation Australia outlined plans last week to expand the top professional tier with two new franchises to enter the A-League and W-League competitions in 2019.

In March last year it was revealed a new club that would represent the St George, Sutherland Shire and Illawarra was one step closer to reality following the announcement of a consortium to head an official bid.

The franchise, with the working title of Southern Expansion, was being led by St George football icon and football commentator Les Murray and former Socceroo Foster and financially backed by Chinese property giant JiaYuan Group.

Former NSW Premier Morris Iemma became Southern Expansion’s steering group chairman following Murray’s death in July.

The bid has the support of its three member associations, St George FA, Sutherland Shire and Football South Coast, three of the most historic and largest associations in Australia.

Foster, Southern’s head of the football, welcomed the FFA’s announcement and said the inclusion of a team to represent the southern Sydney region was a must.

“I believe the community and the three associations and clubs should all be screaming together to the FFA – ‘you can not fail to deliver us a club in our area’,” he said. 

“Basically there are kids between 12 and 18-years-old, the key years as a game we need to focus on developing properly, and we have four times as many in Sydney alone as in Melbourne or Brisbane. Yet in Melbourne you have the same number of [professional] clubs as in Sydney. The opportunity for kids 12 to 18 to actually be part of an A-League or W-League club is a fraction in Sydney as what it is elsewhere. 

“What it says is our region should be coming together demanding we have a club. Our kids are all immensely talented, they have the right to have a pathway. The Sydney market is massively under-serviced when it comes to pathways and opportunities. 

“We’ve got the most talent in Sydney, in particular in [St George and Sutherland]. But we’re not fishing where the fish are. We’re looking after cities with far less numbers and talent.”

Foster was pleased the FFA had made it clear publicly that expansion was a priority. It has been an anxious 12 months since Southern was first mooted, with a number of other bids treading water in that time waiting for confirmation.

Southern instead went in the opposite direction, accelerating work due to their confidence in the belief that a licence should be theirs. The FFA said the details of the formal process would be announced next month “with the intention to have a decision later this year.”

Southern have continued their planning. While Foster undertook a month-long fact-finding mission in September to some of the biggest football clubs in the world, including Paris Saint Germain, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, Southern also demonstrated their readiness for inclusion with an unsuccessful application to enter a team in the 2017-18 W-League season. They also want their youth teams competing in Football NSW competitions from next season.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” Foster said.

“That was our decision from day one and what we told the ownership group. Whatever the time frame was from FFA we were committed because our region needs and deserves a professional club.

“Clubs that are given licences should be able to take the game here forward. We don’t want to compete just on a local level, we want to compete on the Asian level.

“We’re ready. It’s just a question of adjusting our submission when the requirements are made available. We have some immense, exciting plans. The game has stagnated and needs new impetus. Another six derbies in the greater Sydney market will help rejuvenate the professional game.

“Anecdotally the feedback I’ve had [from the community] has been fantastic. People are extremely excited. It’s time they had their own club.” 

Foster confirmed that community consultation about the club’s name and colours would start shortly.