The A-League head is currently in New Zealand visiting key personnel at Wellinton Phoenix for the first time since taking up the role three months ago.

Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop put expansion on the table earlier this month, with the A-League to grow to 12 clubs before the end of the next broadcast rights deal.

O’Rourke said he believed the league could grow to 15-16 clubs in five to six years, with another New Zealand club potentially a key market in that.

“If you’re thinking about the 15th and 16th team, it could be even a potential for a second New Zealand based team,” O’Rourke said.

“Realistically I think we’re five to six years away from getting to 15-16.

“I think we should think about getting to 11-12 teams over the next three years.”

O’Rourke opted not to pinpoint specific markets in New Zealand, but Auckland has the largest population base but was home to the failed New Zealand Knights.

Wellington Phoenix has previously played games in Christchurch and will play in Hamilton, New Plymouth and Auckland this A-League campaign, having played in Nelson in pre-season.

“It’s not for me to be surgical necessarily as to where it belongs,” O’Rourke said.

“You need to work with the Phoenix and look at the proposals that you’re given and the commercial benefits that would do to grow the whole game in New Zealand and the football plan that would underpin that.”

The A-League boss also revealed that since Gallop raised expansion again, they had received a number of proposals, including from Western Australia, Northern Queensland and Tasmania.

O’Rourke said the competition wasn’t solely focused on expanding in Sydney and Melbourne in the short term.

“There definitely is markets outside the core Melbourne and Sydney markets that we’d look at,” he said.

“Since a lot of this discussion has started we’ve received a lot of unsolicited proposals from many towns and regional cities outside Melbourne and Sydney.”