THREE Melbourne councils representing more than a million people in soccer’s Victorian heartland are moving forward with a bid for an A-League side.

Greater Dandenong City, Casey City and Cardinia Shire councils in Melbourne’s south-east signed an agreement on Wednesday to underpin the effort. They’ve enlisted Socceroo stalwart Vince Grella to assist their campaign as the bid ambassador.

The hard-nosed midfielder spent a decade with Italian clubs Empoli, Parma and Toroni before switching to English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers. Grella is also a proud Dandenong boy and delighted to lend support to the bid.

“I was born around the corner, grew up kicking a ball in the park and have an unbelievable passion for Australian football,” he told AAP.

“I would have loved to have ended my career where I started. To think there could possibly be a club here, it excites me.”

Melbourne Heart TraIning at AAMI Stadium, Vince Grella Source: News Limited

Grella believes the side could become a Melbourne equivalent to the Western Sydney Wanderers, attracting similarly fervent support.

“I think there’s a lot of similarities between the two areas,” he said. “It’s a working class area where people love sport and really get behind sport.” The bid will also include a W-League and National Youth League side. There’s plenty of competition to join the league, with a wave of expansion interest across the country.

In Victoria, that includes former NSL powerhouse South Melbourne and a Geelong bid.

But at this stage, there’s no opening.

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After initially raising expansion prospects, in February FFA kiboshed hopes of growing the league in the short-term by prioritising reform of the league’s operating model.

Grella - who now works as a player agent - says expansion is needed. “Part of my new job is understanding how football is run overseas and in certain countries. With our setup it will be difficult to grow the game without adding teams,” he said.

Vinnie Grella. Source: News Limited

“In the first years you have to consolidate. We’ve done that and now we need to expand.” The south-eastern Melbourne bid hopes they can win support owing to the region’s rich football heritage.

Current Socceroos Bailey Wright and Jackson Irvine are among at least a dozen estimated past and present national team players from the south-eastern corridor of Melbourne.

The Councils believe they host 71 football clubs and more than 11,500 registered players.