The recent demise of the North Queensland Fury and the ongoing problems of Gold Coast United has cooled A-League expansion talk but perhaps it is the means of expansion that should be changed, not the idea...

The start of 2009-2010 Hyundai A-League was set to be a momentous occasion for Australian football with two new teams entering the competition from new and exciting markets; however things have not gone to plan.

Two seasons later with Fury no longer in the competition and Gold Coast continuing to struggle off the pitch many are now questioning the wisdom of expansion.

While it may be easy to write off the ability of the A-League to expand into new markets, a more constructive approach is to analyse how expansion was performed and whether it was done in the right way.

Fury, Gold Coast and Melbourne Heart have followed the path of the eight inaugural clubs and all been built from the top down with clubs establishing the A-League aspect of the organisation first.

Once this has been achieved, or in the case of Gold Coast at the same time, clubs have then looked to develop a National Youth League team.

The reasons behind such an approach are clear - the flagship of the club has to take priority and National Youth League teams are easier to build once the A-League aspect of the club has been established.

But is it the best or rather safest approach when expanding into the relative unknown like North Queensland or Gold Coast?

In many ways, no, it is not.

It does not allow for the communities appetite for the sport to be gauged, or for an organisation to develop from the ground up before it has the responsibility of an A-League franchise.

This is where the National Youth League could act as the first step in A-league expansion.

It would allow new markets access to a national football competition without the considerable risk, both financially and for the welfare of the game, which has been so dramatically highlighted by both Fury and Gold Coast. 

Clubs would be able to establish a team to compete in the nation's elite youth competition and build a strong base for the future to then, if deemed capable, be awarded an A-League licence.

The connection to the community could be developed along with a strong entity that has experience in operating a sporting team in a national competition, ensuring that a future A-League team would be starting from the best possible position in the best possible market.

By establishing a National Youth League side first a platform for local players can be created so that if the club is able to gain entry into the A-League they will have developed a group of young players that could potentially become a core of local talent that the local community feel connected to.

The ability to do this in the current model of expansion is hindered by the gap between local football in regions such as Tasmania, Canberra and North Queensland and the A-League.

If the best young players in these regions were able to gain experience in the National Youth League it would allow this gap to be closed considerably.

A huge obstacle in the way of taking the National Youth League to new markets is cost.

While this is likely to be substantial, it could be reduced by getting the state federation on board to share the costs with the FFA and potential sponsors.

This would also give the state federations and the FFA the chance to show their commitment to the National Charter, which both are signatories of.

The Charter calls for greater cooperation between the governing body and the state federations.

Partnerships to create National Youth League sides in regions currently not represented in the A-League would be an ideal opportunity to develop this cooperation.

Football Queensland have already stated their willingness to entirely fund a National Youth League team based in North Queensland and many other state federations are likely to feel the same way if presented with the opportunity.

If this were to happen the only true national sporting competition in Australia could be established and thousands of potential new football fans would be welcomed to the game.

Getting these newcomers into the football community was always the goal of expansion.

The goal should remain the same; it is just the approach to achieving it that needs some work.