CEO of Southern Expansion Chris Gardiner said a key element of the plan was to create a professional football club with modern facilities.

"When we obtain A-League and W-League licenses for this Region, we want to do two things: built modern football training facilities for our men's and women's teams and for our youth programs, and develop our own home stadia,” he said.

“The future of professional football will involve clubs owning their own stadia, like in the MLS (US). Southern Expansion is considering where to build home facilities in the region. This investment will involve hundreds of millions of dollars of economic benefit of the region."

Mr Gardiner said Southern Expansion had explored options for facility development in both the Sutherland and Illawarra areas.

"We want to explore with local Councils what's possible and where. A boutique Stadium in the centre of the region, in the Sutherland Shire, makes sense,’ he said.

“The case made strongly by Football South Coast is that we should include the redevelopment of the whole WIN Stadium precinct, and we want now to explore that option with Wollongong Council,” he explained.

"Our financial backers, JiaYuan Group, has the capital and community vision to make these investments. The model of stadia we are looking at involves facilities with convention, retail, commercial and entertainment functions to maximize their sustainability and their contribution to the local economies.

"Southern is the future of professional football, and will play a key role in bringing major infrastructure to our communities. We look forward to starting this process with Government to explore what future we can create together for the Region."