With renegade billionaire Clive Palmer's ownership of Gold Coast United now over following the removal of his A-League licence, Australian football is staring down the barrel of a nine-team competition.

While that scenario would not danger the A-League's current television rights deal with Fox Sports, which runs out in June 2013, it could seriously bring down the value of the next broadcast agreement.

A-League chief executive Gorman said that while it is still early days, keeping the competition at 10 teams is the target.

"The chairman (Frank Lowy) said today at lunchtime that there is an absolute determination to have a 10-team competition (next year)," he said.

"In what form that looks like we'll have to work through."

When asked if that could mean FFA bankrolling another team, he said: "I don't want to rule anything in or out.

"Clearly the dynamics of a national domestic league look far stronger in a 10-team competition and I suggest that all steps will be made to see what possible recipe could be put together to achieve that outcome."

Gorman said a team based in western Sydney, which for so long has been considered a potential powerhouse club in waiting, was a possibility.

However, both timing and FFA's perilous financial situation could both prove to be stumbling blocks.

"You've heard the chairman talk about western Sydney today and clearly there's an opportunity that's been beckoning there for some time. That's an option we'd want to look at," he said.

"But you have to sit down and make a very, very careful decision. There's a danger in going to any market where you don't have the right ingredients from the word go.

"If the decision for the long-term sustainability of our game is that there's a nine-team competition, so be it. But the chairman has said the target is 10 teams."

Another option could be keeping a team on the Gold Coast, despite Palmer's United garnering embarrassingly low levels of support in its three seasons to date.

Gorman said he had spoken to Gold Coast Soccer, the governing body of football in the region, and said there was an "absolute determination" to provide young players with a developmental pathway.

"With regard to a Hyundai A-League team we've got to bunker down and ascertain and assess that and where it sits today," he said.

"The part that's relevant today is that the licence is no longer sitting in the hands of its former owner.

"We've given (the club) every single possible opportunity to prevail on the Gold Coast. I believe a very fair opportunity so far has been given to football here, and who knows where it will go in the future?"

If Gold Coast United fold, they will become the second A-League expansion team to fail in as many years, following the death of North Queensland Fury.

FFA and in particular, CEO Ben Buckley, have been heavily criticized for the league's failure in entering new markets, especially when contrasted with the efforts of other codes.

Gorman said that the federation would have approached expansion differently if they had their time again.

"There's a message in there somewhere that in hindsight, maybe you would have considered doing things differently," he said.

"We all know that. It's a great gift to us that sometimes doesn't come when you want it to come."