“52 Socceroos, a former national head coach in Ange Postecoglou. A number of A-League coaches. Hundreds of professional footballers. We developed the Australia-China football federation, headed by senior members of the largest ethnic group in Victoria.

“We’ve trained 80 teams in China, we’re linked with Real Madrid and we won virtually every junior competition in Victoria last season…”

He continues, but the point is clear. There’s a reason why South fans are so ardent that their team deserves a shot in the A-League; it’s impossible to argue in a perfect competition that such a prepared, passionate and important part of Australian football should be left out.

The problem FFA faces as it seeks “sustainable” expansion, is who needs it more. Who can provide the feel good story Australian football so desperately requires?

Unlike South Melbourne, which Papastergiadis says is the “most accessible club in Melbourne”, it takes almost two hours on a train and a bus to get from AAMI Park to central Dandenong on a Friday night.

While you stare out the window as you slump along the Pakenham line, you almost feel as if you’re travelling through the 160 nations the region represented in its last census. The diehards who make this pilgrimage after watching one of two Victorian A-League clubs herald from the most multicultural community, in one of the most ethnically diverse countries on earth.

As project officer for the Team 11 A-League bid, Matt Windley, remarks hopefully, “90% of people in this area come from countries where football’s the number one sport.”

But now the region that describes itself as 'The City of Opportunity' – a city that offers a home to more refugees than any other in Victoria – is asking for a chance itself.  

“I’ve got a young family and building a better community for them is something that’s really important to me, and that rings true for many families,” Windley says from his Berwick home. He’s taken the morning off for “dad-duties”.

“The social benefits to an A-League club are numerous here. It’s hard for people to integrate into a new society, but giving them an outlet to rally behind can make a massive social impact and give better role models to our boys and girls.”

Football Federation Australia’s expansion criteria for two new A-League teams didn’t prioritise the community impact of hosting a football club, but with a new era of governance beginning, Team 11 are keen on highlighting the positive effect they could have in an area where almost 65% of residents are born overseas.

The Greater Dandenong region has one of the highest-crime rates in Victoria, its median income is just over half the national average and its unemployment rate is over double.

These issues have a significant effect on the region’s families, with seven incidents of domestic violence reported in Greater Dandenong each day, and one in six single-parent households reporting in 2009 that they had ran out of food and been unable to afford more in the past year.

Branded the ‘home of the Apex gang’, in 2016 news.com.au called Greater Dandenong “the worst part of Melbourne”. Former Mayor and local councillor Jim Memeti says he is “well aware” the region has copped a lot of bad publicity.

But the Team 11 backer believes the A-League has the opportunity to not only attract a hotbed of football fans in Dandenong, but through hopes for a 20,000 seater stadium, turn the region’s fortunes around.

“Everyone knows we’re a low socio-economic area,” Memeti says. “But a new stadium will generate more hotels, more cafes and more restaurants.

“Dandenong is the heart of Victoria’s industry and we have massive local companies that are interested in sponsoring the club.

“The economic benefits to choosing Team 11 are huge and I’ve already been approached by many people looking to build hotels if the stadium gets built.”