Would Sydney FC like to have their own stadium? You bet. Will it ever happen? It's a long shot. Therein lies the Catch-22 for the Sky Blues, whose aspirations to become a sporting juggernaut remain constrained by their circumstance. Only money - seriously big money - can change the future, but right now no one seems willing to spend it.

In the meantime, Allianz Stadium once again welcomes Sydney FC into the new season on Saturday afternoon, for the visit of Central Coast Mariners. In the afterglow of last week's epic derby win, unbridled optimism about a genuine title challenge, and the rare treat of a good weather forecast, the expectation for the crowd is around 17,000-18,000.

That's pretty well bang on average for a first home game of the season - not great, but not bad either. It's slightly better than the long-term average over 11 seasons (15,307), but in general terms it may be said the Sky Blues have hit a glass ceiling. Not even Alessandro del Piero or Dwight Yorke have been able nudge the average above the 20,000-mark. And for a club which believes it can challenge Melbourne Victory as the most popular in the A-League in the medium-term, even that benchmark isn't good enough.

So how much is playing at Moore Park restricting Sydney FC's ambitions? More than you'd think. Only when demand meets supply, or even exceeds it, can the Sky Blues make the leap to a new level. Western Sydney Wanderers have proved that. Having stretched the capacity of Parramatta Stadium, the Wanderers became the impetus for a $300million redevelopment which will ultimately deliver the perfect NextGen venue. Just over 30,000 seats, paid for by the taxpayer. Ideal.