By Nick Creely
It’s now a year since the Team 11 pitch materialised at a 1 June launch event in the heart of Greater Dandenong.
The south-east of Victoria has united as one behind the bid to push for an A-League and W-League admission into the national competition, with 12 local councils now pledging support for the bid.
On Friday 1 June, the three councils driving the bid – the City of Greater Dandenong, the City of Casey and the Shire of Cardinia – have re-committed to the cause by re-signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that kick-started the process 12 months ago.
However, those MoUs have been bolstered by Letters of Supports from surrounding councils including: Frankston City, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Knox City, City of Monash, Baw Baw Shire, Bass Coast Shire, South Gippsland Shire, Latrobe City and Wellington Shire.
These letters were included in Team 11’s Expression of Interest document submitted to Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Deloitte last week. The Letters of Support are indicative of the widespread interest in Team 11’s bid in the south-east of Victoria.
City of Greater Dandenong Mayor Youhorn Chea said the re-signing of the MoU was important in the commitment to bringing the Team 11 bid to life.
“The A-League, W-League and Youth Team bid is progressing very well,” he said.
“The three councils are working very hard together. We committed to this 12 months ago but have re-signed this MoU to make sure that we are all working together to bring a club to the south-east.”
This sentiment was echoed by City of Casey Mayor Geoff Ablett, who believes it is a significant moment for the region and the strength of the bid.
“The re-signing of the MOU is a real line in the sand moment for Team 11’s bid,” Ablett said.
“Enormous amounts of work have been done over recent months to position this bid as the strongest of its type seeking an A-League licence.”
And more importantly, the residents of the south-east bid are right behind the push for A-League entry, as Cardinia Shire Mayor Collin Ross explained.
“When the consortium goes out looking for funding to develop the project further, people need to know that the local government authorities are right behind the bid and the residents in those areas are right behind it,” he said.
“Councils being the most direct link to the community know what the residents are after and this sporting project will undoubtedly bring activity to the south-east like nothing else.”
