A DUAL NRL and A-League expansion bid is being planned for Ipswich with FFA chief David Gallop stating the city deserves a 30,000 seat stadium.

The Sunday Mail can reveal there are advanced plans to create a share use training facility and stadium in the Ipswich region to house the proposed western corridor NRL and A-League expansion team.

Ipswich City Council has secured more than eight million dollars in grants to establish a training facility in Springfield that could house both codes in a dual-share agreement.

The Queensland government has also selected a site in nearby Ripley as a potential base for a rectangular stadium.

The training facility will be on the same land the Brisbane Lions abandoned 12 months ago when they baulked at moving west into the fastest growing region in Australia.

The Lions’ loss is the NRL and A-League’s gain.

Former NRL chief and current FFA boss Gallop told The Sunday Mail the Ipswich region was an ideal expansion base for the A-League and merging with an NRL club would help get it over the line.

Gallop said if Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale and the state government could help fund a stadium it would become an automatic site for an A-League club.

“There is no doubt the corridor from Brisbane to Ipswich is fertile ground,” Gallop said.

“Expansion isn’t on our immediate agenda but we are interested in the huge potential and football family that can be tapped into in that area.

“A 30-35,000 seat stadium at Ipswich would make the argument difficult to knock back.

“The mayor is an old acquaintance of mine and a great advocate for Ipswich and the potential of the area to support a team in a national sporting competition.”

A combined NRL and A-League bid will dramatically cut costs on the projects.

Gallop cautioned that he remained unsure when the A-League would expand and had not spoken to NRL head of strategy Shane Richardson.

Richardson is on the record as believing in expansion, stating another team in south east Queensland is a must in his eyes.

Richardson will present a report on the future of the game late this year that will decide if the NRL expands and where to.

The western corridor NRL bid counts Logan, Ipswich and west to Toowoomba as its home region.

Bid chief Steven Johnson, who is also behind the Hawaii NRL exhibition game played later this year, said he would love to work alongside the A-League.

“The A-League isn’t a player competitor for league as the codes have different core skills and body shapes and a cross over fan base would help both new clubs,” he said.

“A mutual training base just makes good sense on every level, costs are restricted, resources and knowledge can be shared.

“We worked hard with the Council and the Springfield Land Corporation to keep this important piece of green space and are happy to share its use”

Johnson said while the 30,000 seat stadium was being built in Ripley, the A-League side could actually play at the Springfield training facility where a boutique stadium can be built.

“Our side would play its actual NRL matches at Suncorp Stadium so the Springfield site could host a 10,000 crowd which would be an ideal home base for Ipswich’s A–League side in the early years with long term both sides playing out of the Ripley Stadium,” he said.

During his time as NRL chief, Gallop toured Ipswich with Mayor Pisasale and considered it a region the NRL had to expand to.

League is the dominant sport throughout the western corridor but football is easily the second most popular sport with union a distant third.

A stadium in Ipswich would need significant government and private funding.

Ipswich Mayor Pisasale said he was aware of A-League interest in the city and would do all he could to make the expansion bid become reality.

“The Lions have made a tactical error. They didn’t realise the growth of this city,” Pisasale said.

“The first team that puts its footprint in Ipswich will be very strong.

“I know A-League are looking closely at us.

“When David Gallop was in the NRL he said you have to go to the western corridor because that’s where the fish are biting.”

Originally published as NRL, A-League prepare dual Ipswich bid