Two bids, two agendas. One is 100 per cent local, from former national champions Wollongong Wolves. The other is effectively 33 per cent local – a bid announced this week under the working title Southern Expansion, which also encompasses the St George and Sutherland associations in southern Sydney.

Is it a third Sydney team? Sort of. Not really. Sydney FC might think so. But who really knows? Either way, respected broadcaster Les Murray, who is chairman of the bid, reckons it's a "super club" in the making. We'll see.

What we do have is a complex, contentious, scenario unfolding. It's been that sort of week for the Football Federation Australia mandarins, who are finding it impossible to put the lid on the expansion debate. Having rival bids emerge from the same city only adds to their growing list of headaches.

First up, let's be frank. FFA doesn't have any great enthusiasm for Wollongong being part of the A-League, although it did at the start. The Wolves were offered the chance to become foundation members of the league in 2004, but at the time their former owners felt the benchmarks were too demanding.

It's history now that Central Coast Mariners took their place, and it's some irony that after 12 years of riding the roller-coaster in the semi-pro NSW NPL, the Wolves are back at the starting blocks hoping to get in. The problem is FFA's vision has moved on, and regional cities seemingly don't meet their infamous "metrics" for expansion.

But that doesn't mean all is lost for Wollongong. Adding teams to major metropolitan markets remains David Gallop's sweet spot. So maybe Southern Expansion – a hybrid metro team – will convince FFA to reach out across the Hacking River. Truth is, you sense this bid already has the FFA imprimatur.

The Southern Expansion vision, backed by Murray and fellow broadcaster Craig Foster, does have plenty going for it, not least the substantial backing of Chinese conglomerate JiaYuan Group, the presence of two sharp minds in Murray and Foster, and claims to a traditional, fertile, breeding ground.

Yet the bid's absolute determination to extend its footprint into Wollongong – rather than confine itself to the metropolitan area – brings a whole new set of complications. They clearly think it's worth the trouble.

For starters, there's the name. Murray maintains the word Sydney won't be in the title. So that likely makes it "Southern Something FC" (insert cringeworthy nickname here). Amorphous, meaningless. FFA does have a policy about club names. I'm hoping this won't meet the criteria. No identifiable geography, no identity. That's my view.

For all that, Southern Expansion are serious about engaging Wollongong. More than likely, they'll build their academy there. Importantly, refreshingly, they will also offer free registration to local juniors.

They'll play one-third of their home games at WIN Stadium, although the travelling roadshow remains a fraught concept. The two clubs that embrace this, Central Coast and Wellington Phoenix, have the lowest crowds in the A-League.

Right now, Southern Expansion have brought enough to the Wollongong table to convince the local association to formally partner with their bid.

But Football South Coast, which represents 14,000 players, has also done the same with the Wolves. FSC boss Eddy de Gabriele makes no apologies for backing both horses. His job is to get the best outcome for the Illawarra. Thereafter, it's the locals who'll end up voting with their feet.

The danger for the Wolves is assuming those locals are automatically in their corner.

For whatever reason, the Wolves' relationship with local semi-pro clubs, and FSC, has long been problematic. There's not a lot of love for the Wolves in their own backyard, so the challenge is clear. To rebuild hope, rebuild trust. Building a viable, inclusive, successful, team in the meantime will help.

Thus the renewed investment in Jacob Timpano's side is well timed. A day after Southern Expansion unveiled their bid in Sydney, the Wolves unveiled Japanese striker Yuzo Tashiro at WIN Stadium. Tashiro is the biggest foreign signing in NSW NPL history – a former international who last year played a pivotal role in helping Cerezo Osaka to promotion to the J-League.

For the first time since they left the NSL, the Wolves will open the new NPL season at South Granville on Saturday night among the title favourites.

So here's the thing. It's not what the Wolves, or Southern Expansion, or FFA, or the FSC say or do that matters in the end.

What matters is whether the people of Wollongong want – truly want – a professional team to call their own. They say they do, but they didn't during the golden age when Scott Chipperfield was flying down the wing for one of the best teams the game has seen. So do they want it now?

smh.com.au