Ben Buckley insists soccer is'nt locked in expansion race with AFL
Football Federation Australia boss Ben Buckley insists football is not locked in a race with the expansion of the AFL despite these two codes to plunge headlong into the same new markets.
Last week, the A-League has published its ninth license in the region coveted by the AFL - the Gold Coast - with Australia's fourth richest man Clive Palmer fracture and it plans to launch in the 2009-10 season.
And the AFL has upped the stakes in the other hotspot in the west of Sydney, with plans to accelerate an under-18 side for the region as early as next year to feed the region later AFL planned for 2012 .
But despite these two codes chasing the same heart, mind and athletes on at least two battlefields, Buckley insists west of Sydney has become more important for the A-League since the AFL scored his plans to set up shop.
"The western part of Sydney is important for the construction of the game and football across the country," said Buckley, the former No. 2 of the AFL to current CEO Andrew Demetriou.
"This is not a race. We have never said that it was a race.
"The west of Sydney has a very strong base for football, it has many remarkable talent for the game and there is a strong demand for the match.
"We believe that this is a natural result of having a team based there over time."
The FFA has received two expressions of interest in the west of Sydney, a team of eight being considered to increase the A-League to a possible 12-club competition.
Melbourne, Townsville and Wollongong are also considered as possible bases for a new A-League franchise.
The FFA has put in place an expansion subcommittee to examine the proposals, and it will also report on a timetable to award new licenses.
But if the schedules go to plan, top-flight football will be a two-year jump on the AFL on the Gold Coast, and probably in place before the west of Sydney 2012 AFL Side A-League bosses decide a team must be established.
The AFL has plans to expand to 18 teams, with one side Gold Coast to come on board in 2011 and west of Sydney the following year.
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