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The Greater Ipswich Expansion Bid Vision Identify opportunities to grow awareness and engagement with the Hyundai A-League, Caltex Socceroos and Matilda’s within our Territory. Promote sport and exercise as part of a healthy life and community within our Territory. Identify opportunities to grow football participation at all levels within our Territory. Provide a pathway to professional football for players in our Territory and wider Queensland. Provide the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League with a competitive and sustainable club, which adds value for our community, fans, stakeholders and national teams. Ultimately, be champions of the Hyundai A-League and compete on a global stage at the AFC Championships League. WHERE ARE WE NOW Summary In March 2018, Western Pride FC formed a bidding team. The purpose of this team was to create an Expression of interest (EOI) to submit into Football Federation of Australia (FFA) for consideration into the expanded Hyundai A-League 2019/2020 season. The bidding team name for the purpose of this exercise was called Ipswich Pride FC. After months of information gathering an EOI was submitted on 30th May 2018 to Deliottes and FFA. After 15 strong bids were submitted for the expanded league, Ipswich Pride FC EOI was short-listed to being in the top eight applications. FFA advised all bids of the criteria to write their final submission against. After hard work from the bidding team as well ICC, Ipswich Pride FC’s bid was submitted on 30 Aug 2018. Unfortunately, Ipswich Pride FC and Wollongong bid were removed from the final six teams. It should be noted, Gold Coast United’s bid was rejected on the first round of bids. Brisbane Strikers after rumours of a joint venture with Wellington Phoenix withdrew their bid before the second round of submissions. Brisbane City FC withdrew on the last day of submission. Which only left the Ipswich Pride FC bid, waving the flag as the only Queensland bid left in the running for a potential Hyundai A-League licence. Two members of the bidding team, Pat Boyle and Pye Augustine received feedback from FFA and Deliottes regarding Ipswich Pride’s final bid. 1 | P a g e FAA and Deliottes advised of the three main areas to address for future bids: Stadium – need the commitment in place from all forms of governments prior to license being granted Size of market – Fan base & territory (why we need it to be Greater Ipswich bid, instead to Ipswich Pride) Commercials – Profitability, Blue Chip sponsor, key marquee player Positive 2nd Qld –Brisbane or Ipswich bid are the front-runners along with Canberra for expansion to 13th and 14th teams Melbourne and Sydney teams should not bid again. Misc. Licencing fee went for the going rate of Salary Cap ($2.9mX 4 = $11.6 breakeven) Ipswich Pride FC offered $10M - $1.6M less of breakeven price point 2nd and 4th highest bid were selected. WHERE WE WANT TO BE: Club Strategy Economic logic or objectives Promote and enhance the game of football Provide pathways for football players and coaches to be the best they can be Build a stable, robust and financially sustainable organisation, while being proactive and innovative in operations Engage with the community and fans to provide a positive experience Provide the best possible standard of playing facilities and amenities for members, visiting teams and governing body in accordance with requirements of HAL competition and WWNL competition. I—Inclusive: Welcome and support people of diverse backgrounds in our community P—Professional: Undertake all tasks in a professional manner in line with best practice for the game S-Shine: Adapt to our constantly changing environment W-Wisdom: Act collectively to make good sound decisions I-Inspirational Adapt to our constantly changing environment C-Commitment: Show respect to every person and organisation (internally and externally) that we interact with and, in turn, earn respect from others H- Honesty: Be transparent in all that we do, for the betterment of our sport 2 | P a g e The Greater Ipswich expansion bid aims to achieve the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League’s objectives for expansion, which include: 1. Increasing the number of junior participants supporting an A-League club 2. Increasing the number of playing opportunities for Australian players 3. Growing the commercial appeal of the Hyundai A-League 4. Improving the standard and fan appeal of the Hyundai A-League 5. Improving the sustainability of the club through effective management. 6. Defined outcomes and timelines Here are the key issues, constraints, opportunities and potential future directions for The Greater Ipswich expansion bid in relation to the five aims listed above. 1. Increase the number of junior participants supporting an A-League Club The Greater Ipswich expansion bid is the direct result of a powerful collaboration between five affiliated clubs to develop young players in the Greater Ipswich footballing system. The six clubs—Ipswich Knights, Ipswich City Bulls, Western Spirit, Colleges United, Springfield United and Western Pride FC—formed Football Ipswich in 2013 to reverse the trend of players leaving for other teams or leaving the game altogether and to provide a sustainable pathway for the players of Ipswich. The determined and highly effective strategy of Football Ipswich was to create a development club to increase the skills and knowledge of football players. Western Pride Football Club was born and tasked with the development of players in the region within the National Premier League. Western Pride has made footballing history by becoming a National Premier League success story after only five years in operation. Ipswich Knights Football Club have always been a strong force in Ipswich region, recently in 2018 entering the FQPL, a league that under pins the National Premier League and governed by member federation, Football Queensland. 2. Increase the number of playing opportunities for Australian players The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will be the next club in the Hyundai A-League competition and will service the wider Ipswich area. Although the likelihood of capturing nearby Brisbane residents in our fan base is inevitable, our focus is mainly on Ipswich, pushing towards the direction of the Toowoomba Range. The South West Queensland market has virtually been untouched by the A-League branding and the community will be extremely receptive to the opportunities this opens up for young sports people in the region. South West Queensland have supported the original bid with a letter of support. The Greater Ipswich bid can call the Toowoomba region a friendly neighbour and would welcome a Hyundai A-League game. The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will set up football programs in schools and community clubs, and High Performance Centres in Ipswich, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast. Increasing the number of High Performance Centres in Queensland will open avenues for players to further their footballing careers and potentially play at the highest level. The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will seek to secure a Westfield W-League licence to ensure females have the same opportunity as males for a sustainable pathway into the sport. With the increased popularity of women’s field sports, The Greater Ipswich expansion bid believe its imperative that Queensland be granted an additional W-League licence to secure market share of women’s sport. When stadium ready, the Greater Ipswich expansion bid will look to engage FFA to host a Female World Cup 2023 game, if FFA are success in securing the bid. 3. Improve the standard and fan appeal of the A-League Public support and a loyal fan base for a professional sports team is the cornerstone of community engagement. Social media is the core technology leading the way with the next wave of fans. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been the standard platforms for engagement but the world of social media is evolving. The Greater Ipswich 3 | P a g e expansion bid will capitalise on the new trends occurring in social media and take full advantage of the new portals FFA have released. 4. Grow the commercial appeal of the A-League The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will engage independent agents to access foreign players, providing recommendations to head coaches, who have final responsibility for the player base. The use of expert agents will source players that fit the club culture of The Greater Ipswich. The Asian market tends to be a lower-cost source and this is where the majority of our foreign players will be sourced. This strategy will see savings to financial viability. The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will continue to foster the development of our young local players. In a recent survey, the call for locally developed players was evident. Fans recommend fostering local talent in lieu of overpriced marquee players. One example of homegrown player, is emergence of Dylan Wenzel-halls a former Grand final winning player of Western Pride FC. Player agents will need to be trusted source for the right recommendations. The Greater Ipswich expansion bid will look to sign a memorandum of understanding with four of our current NPL Senior Men’s Players for the next expansion of the Hyundai A-League... These signings will aim to reassure our fan base that we will not lose the strong local identity, which the community has grown. Community engagement will be centred on these four players, in the first 100 days. Marketing these players in the community will drive membership sales and help achieve our target attendance numbers. Survey conducted during the 2018 Hyundai A-League expansion results showed fans wanted to see local players; they also supported the idea of recruiting of a talented player from a foreign league close to retirement age.

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