Sydney FC could go back to the future in their long-held ambition to build a centre of excellence after renewing a push to house their A-League, W-League, youth and NPL teams at Tempe Reserve.

Five years ago, the club was involved in a tender process to build their headquarters at the fields on the banks of the Cooks River, adjacent to Sydney airport, but withdrew their application due to a forecast cost blowout.

Sydney FC's current training base is at Macquarie University, but that could soon change. Getty Images

But the proposal appears to be back on the table after an "informal, unsolicited approach" was made by Sydney FC to the Inner West Council, according to their minutes from Tuesday night's meeting.

The existing playing fields at Tempe Reserve suffer from poor drainage, leading to mass cancellations of local football matches when there is wet weather.

The council moved to continue discussions with potential partners who could assist with funding upgrades for the fields and thus allow greater community access, as well as use for Sydney FC's elite-level teams.

The Sky Blues currently train at Macquarie University but have made no secret about their ambitions of a permanent home.

Club sources indicate Leichhardt Oval and its surrounds had been explored as a possible base for a centre of excellence, but that idea has been shelved because Sydney FC discovered their field usage demands would have displaced local teams.

"The site at Tempe is one of a number of options in discussion for our Centre of Excellence," the club said in a statement. "Our plans at each location will enhance and upgrade any existing sporting fields and provide elite facilities to the benefit of the local community."

NSW NPL team Sydney Olympic had been granted a period of exclusivity to develop the fields at Tempe Reserve after Sydney FC withdrew their application with the then-Marrickville Council in October 2014. However, that period has now lapsed, and the amalgamated Inner West Council is now seeking a new partnership.

Any plans for a centre of excellence would have to demonstrate a "clear community benefit" and enhance opportunities for "community access" to the reserve, the council's minutes said, as well as dovetailing with existing plans for synthetic pitches which will be built late next year.

It comes as Sydney's biggest rivals, Melbourne Victory, had their proposal to build a women's and youth football academy at Footscray Park rejected after a furious community backlash.

Unlike Footscray Park - an open, undeveloped green space in Melbourne's inner west - Tempe Reserve is already home to several sporting fields and is also used regularly by Newington College.

But there already appears to be opposition to the plans - Inner West Councillor Colin Hesse said he was "deeply concerned" that Mayor Darcy Byrne had not yet consulted the community about the proposal.

"The Inner West council has the second-lowest amount of open space in Sydney," he said. "I think we have to be really careful as a local government area when we are engaging with corporate sport, our focus should be on our local clubs, our casual users who throw a ball, walk a dog, or throw a boomerang that should be our focus."

Mr Hesse said the community would be "losing out significantly" if the deal were to go through and that "locking off public land for private uses" required a thorough consultation process.

"We’ve got to be really careful that we don’t put the cart before the horse," he said. "I’m concerned that the mayor, in particular, is focused on a big corporate sport ... we the council need to focus on the community first and what our community needs are, it’s presumptuous really."