Football Federation Australia has announced two new clubs to join the A-League on Thursday, with Macarthur-South West Sydney and Western Melbourne Group granted licences.

Western Melbourne Group will enter the competition next season after being granted an immediate A-League licence to become the 11th club, while the Macarthur-South West Sydney bid will enter a season later to make it a 12-team competition.

The Herald understands it took more than nine hours for the FFA board to deliberate over A-League expansion, the timeline and number of teams to enter the competition, eventually settling on two teams in a tiered schedule just after midnight on Thursday morning.

The decision was made with the future in mind, with the two bids hailing from the largest two population growth corridors in Australia.