Southern’s dreams of joining the A-League were dealt a knockout blow on Thursday as the FFA gave the green light for Western Melbourne Group and Macarthur-South West Sydney to be granted licences.

FFA chairman Chris Nikou left the door open for future expansion at the announcement, however Gardiner said Southern would be ‘lost to the game’. 

The news was music to the ears of bitter rivals Wollongong Wolves, who continue to harbour standalone aspirations. 

Southern, which planned to represent St George, Sutherland and Illawarra regions, battled throughout the expansion process to gather the necessary support on the South Coast. Southern had hoped to develop a strong relationship with the National Premier League club after the latter were eliminated from the expansion race. 

The Wolves instead opted to turn their back on their rivals. In a show of contempt, they signed memorandum of understandings with both Sydney FC and the Canberra bid instead. 

Their agreement with Sky Blues just weeks before the final decision on expansion proved to be a knockout blow, according to Gardiner. 

"Our key problem was the opposition of Sydney FC and the Wolves. [Sydney] claimed the area and said it belonged to them,” he said. 

The writing was on the wall for Southern’s expansion hopes when news emerged the Chinese-backed entity had engaged in talks with Macarthur-South West Sydney for a possible merger.

Gardiner said they were approached by the FFA to do so, but opted to continue on their own path. ​

He remains adamant they put forward the best case to join the competition. 

"We were first in the key metrics,” Gardiner said.

"We have a strong base through the associations, councils and chambers of commerce. We could have matched any cash offer any other bid put forward and had good stadium all ready available.

“It's disappointing but we thank everybody involved who supported our bid."

Southern’s failure is a bitter blow to Football South Coast (FSC), who had controversially thrown their support behind the bid.

FSC also had an agreement in place with the Wolves. FSC chairman Eddy de Gabriele stood by two-pronged approach on Thursday, but admitted the region needs a more unified front in future. 

“The first test we failed was that we couldn’t get a united approach for this region,” he said. 

“We took the double line because we didn’t feel that we could make a decision for the whole community one way or the other. I think that was the responsibility to the community and then people had a choice.”

Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire felt FSC made a mistake by supporting Southern throughout the expansion process but agreed the two parties need to work together if the region is to return to the national stage. 

Thursday’s decision will likely leave Wollongong in the A-League wilderness for at least the next five years. 

"Now it is about building for the future," Wilkshire said. "It’s something we’ve been working tirelessly since being cut.”