Soccer: Kingz included in new Australian competition

4.00pm

Sydney - Australia's new national soccer competition will include the Auckland Kingz and will be known as the Hyundai A-League.

It will kick-off in August next year.

The eight participating clubs will be Adelaide United, the Kingz, Queensland Lions, Central Coast Mariners from Gosford in NSW, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle United, Perth Glory and Sydney FC.

At a launch in Sydney today, it was announced all clubs would have 20-player rosters and a salary cap of A$1.5 million ($1.65 million).

The Australian Soccer Association was forecasting aggregate crowds in the first season of 1 million - an average of 10,000 per game - leading to a financial turnover of A$50 million in the first year.


The A-League will replace the now-defunct National Soccer League, which was wound up at the end of last season.

"Today is a red-letter day for Australian soccer," ASA chairman Frank Lowy told the launch at Darling Harbour.

"But please remember, it is only the start.

"We have greater ambitions for it, but we realise we need to take things one step at a time.

"We are only running on to the pitch today. We haven't even blown the whistle to start the game."



ASA chief executive John O'Neill said two matches a week from the new league would be broadcast live on pay-television channel Fox Sports.

But he said the A-League would start modestly with eight teams, with the prospects of others to be added around Australia and possibly Asia as the league grew.

"Our aim is to go mainstream. The million or so boys, girls, mums and dads who take to the park each weekend for fun or competition will be a prime audience for the Hyundai A-League," O'Neill said.

"People will come if the football is good, the venues are family-friendly and if they get more than just a sporting event.

"We have modest expectations of match attendance -- we are not the English Premier League.

"In year one, we are hoping that our total spectator turnover will be around one million people.

"That's based on an average match crowd of 10,000 people plus spectators at the finals series."

Teams will play each other three times a season -- a total of 21 regular season matches starting in August 2005.

Finals will be played from February 2006.

The eight franchises will be expected to invest around A$5 million each year, with one player to be exempt from the A$1.5 million salary cap.

O'Neill said he expected the new league to attract some players currently based overseas and give elite players an option to stay at home to further their careers rather than go overseas.

"As interest and revenues grow so too will the ability of clubs to keep top class players in Australia," he said.

"Some will still travel overseas but at least in the future they will have an option. Today they don't.

"We expect some players to return and we expect some players to stay longer in Australia than they would have otherwise."

The highest-profile name to be associated with a franchise so far is former England and Socceroos coach Terry Venables.

Newcastle United owner Con Constantine confirmed today Venables would be the club's coach and would arrive in Australia within a month to take up his position.

- AAP