Former National Soccer League (NSL) powerhouse South Melbourne wants to start a new bid for an A-Leagues licence, fresh off the demise of Western United.
On Monday, United was stripped of its A-Leagues participation agreement, having already had Football Australia knock back its bid for a licence.
Then, on Tuesday morning, WMG Football Club Ltd was officially wound up in insolvency by the Federal Court, with a liquidator appointed - and the club was kicked out of its Tarneit facility.
Despite United's defiant statements on Monday evening, the club's A-League journey is realistically over.
South Melbourne, who missed out to Melbourne Heart (now Melbourne City), then United and Macarthur in two different rounds of expansion, have seized on Western's failure and are gearing up for another crack.
"South Melbourne FC wishes to signal its intention to open formal dialogue with the Australian Professional Leagues and relevant stakeholders regarding the prospect of securing future A-League Men's and A-League Women's licences," the club said in a statement.
"The club believes the time is right to explore a return to the highest level of domestic football, building on the significant progress South Melbourne has made both on and off the pitch."
South Melbourne FC wishes to signal its intention to open formal dialogue with the Australian Professional Leagues and relevant stakeholders regarding the prospect of securing future A-Leagues Men's and A-League Women's licences.
— South Melbourne FC (@smfc) August 11, 2026
The club believes the time is right to explore a… pic.twitter.com/4bkciJ7IlM
Co-president Bill Papastergiadis said South wanted to add A-League Men's and Women's teams to its Oceania Professional League, Australian Championship and NPL Victoria outfit.
South Melbourne, the Oceania Confederation Club of the Century, were NSL champions four times, premiers three times and more recently claimed the inaugural Australian Championship title in 2025.
Co-president Andrew Mesourouni pointed to South's long-term lease at Lakeside Stadium and established supporter and commercial base as proof it was ready to join the A-Leagues.
"We believe there is a genuine opportunity to bring that history, identity, supporter base and growing community to the A-Leagues," Mesourouni said in a statement.
"Through our history and location, there is an opportunity for ready-made derby matches, and we also believe there will be strong commercial interest in our participation, including via broadcast."
AAP has contacted the APL regarding South Melbourne's comments.
South's ambitions came as United were formally dumped by Wyndham City Council, with whom they had an agreement to develop the council-owned precinct that includes their home ground, Ironbark Fields.
"In June, Wyndham City issued a default notice to the Western Melbourne Group for its failure to deliver the Wyndham Stadium Precinct in line with the existing development agreement, as well as ongoing insolvency events," Wyndham City director Mark Rossiter said.
"The Western Melbourne Group was subsequently given ample opportunity to rectify these issues, but has unfortunately failed to do so.
"This constitutes a serious breach of the development agreement and as a result, Wyndham City has today terminated the agreement with the Western Melbourne Group to develop the Wyndham Stadium Precinct."
