Australia's A-League to expand to 12 clubs by 2020-21 season

Published Dec. 12, 2018 9:45 p.m. ET

SYDNEY (AP) — The A-League will expand to 12 clubs over the next two seasons after Football Federation Australia decided to award licenses to new teams based in western Melbourne and southwest Sydney.

FFA on Thursday said the Western Melbourne Group will enter the league in October — in time for the 2019-2020 season — with the Macarthur South West Sydney bid, based in Campbelltown, entering the national top-flight competition for the 2020-21 season.

FFA chief executive David Gallop said one of the key strengths of the Western Melbourne Group was the proposal to build Australia's first major soccer-owned and soccer-specific stadium. It will be ready in 2022, with the team playing out of Geelong's Kardinia Park in the interim.