Football Federation Australia has yet to rubber-stamp United's place in the competition and that of North Queensland FC but that is likely to happen in the next few weeks.

If and when the process is complete, Clive Mensink cannot wait for the battle to be Queensland's top dog.

He told www.goldcoast.com.au: "It's great for the state and fantastic for ourselves and the Queensland Roar to now hopefully have two rather than just one local rivalry to look forward to.

"If we can duplicate some of the passion local rivalries generate in Europe and across the world, then we're going to have something to really get our teeth into.

"The FFA's decision just underlines the growth and strength of football in this state. Having a 10 team competition (in 2009) is a great base to build on with the desire to get to 12 a couple of years after that."