Australian soccer's governing body has confirmed it wants to increase the number of teams in the competition by 20 per cent – from 10 to 12 – in time for the start of the 2018-19 season.

By then the new broadcast deal will have kicked in, and FFA chiefs believe that demand and interest in the game from both fans and broadcasters will support increasing the number of teams.

The fact that the television and media companies bidding for the new rights will be consulted about their preference as to where the new clubs should be sited, should also play in favour of bids from Melbourne and Sydney, the two largest broadcast, consumer and advertising markets.

"It might be to our advantage as we are not starting from scratch or coming from such a long way back, " said lawyer Bill Papastergiadis, who is conducting South's negotiations with the FFA.

"The rival bids will have to start up clubs, find stadia and investors and marketing support.

"We already have a youth development system, employ a number of youth coaches, we have a women's team and we also have a social club," he said.

"We are ready to go as soon as we are given the go-ahead, so if the FFA want to put another team in Melbourne we feel we would be really well prepared to come in at short notice."

The FFA's immediate priority is to increase the league to a dozen clubs, but many football supporters argue that it should eventually have 16 or even as many as 18 teams.

Still more are campaigning for the FFA to introduce a second division, with promotion and relegation from the second tier to the top flight.

South met with FFA chief David Gallop before the FFA Cup final last week to press their argument.

Other consortia from Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, South Sydney, Geelong, and the Dandenong/Cranbourne area of eastern Melbourne have also signalled interest in bidding for an A League franchise.