Here’s some news items you may have missed during the week:

• Kaz Patafta: Released by Benfica, under-utilised by the Melbourne Victory, young Kaz runs to the wide open arms of Gary Van Egmond.
• Mark Byrnes: The former Victory player has signed a short-term deal with Apia Leichardt in the NSW Premier League. He’s hoping to make his way back into the A-League.
• A-League expansion: There are plenty of people jostling for a piece of the pie, with no less than three Melbourne teams hoping to become the second Melbourne club. Meanwhile, billionaire Clive Palmer has thwarted the Gold Coast Galaxy franchise, wooing the FFA with his own – more lucrative – club, Gold Coast United, which he hopes will become the new Bling FC.
• Carlos Hernández: The injury he picked up against Juventus has forced him to forego a spot in the Costa Rican World Cup qualifying squad.

For all the latest news, you can follow two other feeds I’m updating simultaneously throughout the week. If you’re on Twitter, follow my profile. Otherwise, this page is updating regularly and has an RSS feed.

While the Galaxy’s bid to join looked promising, North Queensland’s efforts at securing a place next season started to crack last week. The Thunder lost the financial backing of Millissa Fischer, without whom their bid just didn’t float. So they were out.

For the Galaxy, who had players and a coach ready to go, the FFA’s decision to scrap expansion for the time being will be disappointing. It will also be disappointing for A-League fans looking forward to a longer season.

But a nine-team A-League would have been awkward, with one team forced to have a bye each week. And as The Football Tragic points out, the introduction of the Youth League next season makes it hard for the FFA to provide extra financial backing for the new teams.

Personally, I’m one of those A-League fans who is disappointed. This 21-round season we have is simply too short. But from a logistical point of view, I’m inclined to agree with The Football Tragic’s argument that the FFA’s decision was the wisest, considering the circumstances.

Unlike Michael Cockerill, I don’t think it’s a now or never situation. Cockerill is right to point out that the A-League’s popularity is at an all-time high. But is there anything to suggest that its momentum will wane if expansion doesn’t happen? The A-League has grown in popularity each year – something’s telling me it will continue to do so next season, even without two more Queensland teams.

What do you think of the FFA’s decision to delay expansion of the A-League?

It’s good to see the FFA acting progressively to spread the A-League throughout Australia. It’s important for the competition itself to expand beyond the bare bones 8-team format of the first three seasons. New teams bring a new dynamic and a sense of excitement. And they prevent the A-League from becoming stale, something which can happen when teams playing the same narrow band of competitors over and over again.

Presumably, the expansion also promises a longer season, with six additional rounds to be played. Whether this means the A-League starts earlier or ends later, I’m sure fans will be pleased to have an extra month and a half of football to enjoy each year.

What do you think of the A-League expansion?

Source: Northern Expansion for A-League, The Age