Quizzed on whether the A-League can reach the 20,000 average in the home and away season, Buckley said it was a target he wanted to hit.

“That's a goal. But it's a longer term goal but that's where the vision is,” he said. “But putting a timeframe on that is dangerous. I'm sure once we get to an expanded competition that will be more achievable.

“We'd like to continue to grow at a similar rate that we have over the last three years. But there are other factors that come into play that drives the outcomes on crowds,” he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“But if we can achieve another 10% growth on last season we'd be very pleased.”

Since season one, the A-League's live fan base has grown at around 20% per season to average around 14,000 by the end of last season.

At this morning's announcement that Hyundai will be extending its naming rights agreement with the A-League, Buckley reiterated that A-League expansion will be accelerated with at least two new clubs in the competition for the start of season five.

On that, he added that the Gold Coast bid was on track.

“We've given them some clear feedback on areas they need to address as part of their bid," he said.

"We are in regular contact with them and we hope they'll be able to respond to some of those issues around June, with a view to having a decision in late June, July."

And on Townsville, Buckley confirmed there is a third bid group, believed to be backed by local businessman Don Matheson and his team.

The original two bids from north Queensland came out of the James Gage and Melissa Fisher Massa camps.