A-Leagues Announce Locations Of Future Men’s Sides

Canberra and New Zealand are set to home the newest A-League Men’s side in 2024/25, while a south-east Queensland side will be one of two to join the season after.

The expansion will see the A-League Men competition increase to 16 teams by 2025/26 while the women’s league is also set to have more teams introduced.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The National Briefing - keeping you in the loop with news as it hits:

While there has been no official word, it’s understood other candidates for the second team to enter the competition in 2025/26 includes Adelaide, Perth, Tasmania, and Wollongong.

The last two sides to join the A-League Men’s competition were Western United and Macarthur FC in 2019 and 2020 respectively; their locations chosen on the basis the sides would grow alongside the developing populations.

This theory though has proven unsuccessful, with both sides failing to cement their position in its respective locations.

Australian Professional League (APL) CEO Danny Townsend said a different approach was taken in determining the location of the new sides, selecting areas with existing populations that did not have a A-Leagues club (men and women) representing the area.

"[Western and Macarthur] were given licences on the back of being two healthy growth corridors in Australia … and Football Australia wanted to build a club in the community as the community grew around it," he said.

"In the long term, they're going to be great clubs because they're going to grow with that community. I think what we're trying to do with these next two is drive into an [existing] passion for football and hunger for elite football, and Canberra and Auckland have got those attributes.

"We want to make sure that, from day one, they are really strong additions to our league."

The expansion plans come as Football Australia received 32 expressions of interests for a nation second division proposed to start next year.

Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia's fastest-growing news podcast on Listnr today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.