By Nick Creely
With an announcement imminent on the A-League expansion, Team 11 can’t do much more to become one of two new teams scheduled to join the national competition in 2019/20, according to Team 11 project officer Matt Windley.
Windley – who left his job at the Herald Sun in March this year to take up the full-time role with the south-east bid – said they can only sit and wait for the verdict, which is expected in late October to early November.
“I went through a really stressful period, and not just with work but also in my personal life, having my second child, and with the deadline approaching, it was absolutely crazy,” he said.
“In the last few weeks, I’ve just had this sense of calm, in a strange way.
“I feel like I probably should be getting more stressed, and it’s not that I don’t care.
“I wanted to do everything possible to get this bid over the line, and personally, I feel like I’ve done that. I know councils and investors feel the same way.”
Windley said that a potential A-League side in the south-east – with a stadium in the heart of Greater Dandenong, an administration base and community facility at Casey Fields and ties with the Cardinia Shire – would do wonders for the growing region.
“This bid has a real chance to unite a whole region in a footballing sense,” he said.
“It’s just such an exciting opportunity, and because I’m local, you can draw a triangle from my house, Dandenong Stadium and the Casey Fields base.”
