MELBOURNE City’s crowds continue to plummet alarmingly, yet the jungle drums still persist that we are a chance to receive a third team when the A-League expands in the coming years.

Why put another team in Melbourne, you ask, when City recorded a paltry crowd of just 5867 last Saturday night and has averaged just 6815 for its four 2015 games?

Surely it’s best to let the Manchester City-owned club consolidate first?

Well, Football Federation Australia is on record as saying it “wants to fish where the fish are” when it comes to expansion, so Australia’s three biggest metropolises — Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane — are again in the spotlight.

media_camera A packed crowd for the A-League match between Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory, at Simonds Stadium, Geelong earlier this year, suggests a new team could be based there. Picture: Colleen Petch.

media_camera The 22,000 crowd saw fans queuing to get in. Picture: Colleen Petch.

The south of Sydney appears the frontrunner for one of two new franchises likely to be established around the start of the 2017-18 season, when the new broadcast deal is set to commence, while another side in Brisbane would also be a logical choice.

But if Melbourne leaps ahead of the Queenslanders in the pecking order, just where — and with what justification — would you base a team in this already too-cluttered marketspace?

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For mine, whether it admits it or not, FFA made a mistake when it embedded Melbourne Heart for season 2010-11.

There was nothing to seriously differentiate itself from Melbourne Victory except that it was new and wore red as opposed to blue.

Any new team in this state would have to have some serious geographical strings attached to it.

So how about this for an idea? Victoria United.

media_camera The sparse attendance at Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park at the weekend may mean City are better consolidating. Picture: George Salpigtids

Logically this team would be based at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium, which attracted nearly 22,000 for the Victory-Perth A-League clash on January 2 and is crying out for summer content.

But rather than isolating itself as “Geelong’s team”, why not become “Victoria’s team” and play a game a year at Ballarat’s Morshead Park — which hosted City’s FFA Cup clash with Sydney FC last year — in Albury-Wodonga — where Heart played the Glory in early 2014 — in Morwell — where the Gippsland Falcons used to play — and Bendigo.

Hell, you could even play a game in the heart of the summer holidays at Torquay’s picturesque oval and then really make a splash by playing a derby game against Victory at the MCG.

With Victory and City there is no tribal warfare. It’s just big brother versus little brother.

Victory — as it’s name suggests — was set up to represent not just Melbourne but the state, so instantly Victoria United — essentially a Victorian Country side — creates a point of difference and an ember from which a genuine rivalry spotfire could develop.

One could argue you are becoming a nomadic team with no rusted on fans if you take games all over the state.

But in the formula devised above, Geelong — with its thriving soccer community — would still host at least 10 games per 33-game season, more than enough to attract a core group of fans, members and corporate dollars.

Originally published as Is it time for Victoria United?