On Saturday night, the reigning champions will take on new franchise Western Sydney - the team that replaced Gold Coast United in the competition - for the very first time.

The much-maligned Gold Coast and their controversial former owner Clive Palmer were punted from the A-League at the end of last season after an embarrassingly public war of words with FFA chairman Frank Lowy and CEO Ben Buckley.

A consortium of Gold Coast businessmen was prepared to step in and keep the team on the tourist strip, but the federation chose instead to introduce the Wanderers at their expense.

The decision has been vindicated so far - the new club's support leaves Gold Coast in the dust, marquee man Shinji Ono is keeping them in the headlines, and the seeds for a brilliant rivalry with Sydney FC have been sewn.

Stefanutto was taken by the colour and the excitement of the first edition of the Sydney derby - but now realises how much he will miss taking on Brisbane's defunct foes.

"It's a shame we don't have the Gold Coast (derby) anymore because it was a special day for our fans and for us, and they were so close as well," he said.

"You never want to see teams come and go, but it's great that Western Sydney is up and running, and being run well.

"It looks like from the derby and everything that fans are supporting them, and that's great. Derbies are special.

"I always thought that the league needed two teams in Sydney, and that's what I'm happy about.

"We all know the AFL's in western Sydney, rugby league's been set up there for donkey's years. It needed to be a place where football was as well."

M1 derbies never had the sort of atmosphere like last week's clash in front of a packed Parramatta Stadium, but it was just as important for Queensland fans.

In conjunction with the launch of the Australian Premier League, the state's governing body for football is preparing for a bid to regain another A-League licence in five years time.

"Should I say Cairns, since I'm born there? I guess it's a bit early yet but another team in Brisbane one day, that would be fantastic as well," Stefanutto said.

"The western suburbs of Brisbane are growing at an unbelievable rate.

"I'd love to have a derby out there as well, I think that would probably be past my time but I'd love to be out there having a look at it because it'd be fantastic."