Another Money-Starved A-League Club Bites The Dust

The Newcastle Jets would join the New Zealand Knights, North Queensland Fury, and Gold Coast United amongst the A-League clubs that have bitten the dust.

Australia's Soccer Federation Take Control Of Another A-League Club

This development has also happened recently with the Brisbane (formerly Queensland) Roar.

Adelaide United, last year's Asian Champions League finalists, handing over ownership of the club to the national body on Friday because of financial problems.

The FFA agreed to take over the running of Adelaide after the owner Nick Bianco announced in February he was withdrawing his investment due to external business reasons.

FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said the governing body had agreed to the bailout to ensure the survival of Adelaide but eventually hoped to find a new owner.

"We will ensure the club continues to have a strong presence in the competition now and into the future," Buckley said in a statement on Friday.

"We are confident that a suitable new owner for the club will be found, but we are also prepared to wait for the right new owner or owners."

Adelaide joined the Queensland-based Brisbane Roar as the second of the eight foundation A-League teams to hand over their running to the FFA in the past month.

You must keep in mind that Soccer in Australia has been historically in a tough fight against cricket, the two rugby codes, and Australian Rules Football.

News From Down Under

I looks as if the A-League has plans for a system of promotion and relegation:

With the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA putting pressure on the league to introduce a multi-tier system, Buckley confirmed FFA had informed the AFC it would have plans in place within the next five months.
"We said to the AFC we would get back to them by October this year as to what our plan is via promotion-relegation," Buckley said.
"They understand our situation and they've accepted that we will have a plan in place by October this year and that will be for an implementation for a promotion-relegation system, not at this point in time but for some years to come.

They are also considering expansion of the league, to possibly add a club representing the Pacific islands:

Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy publicly encouraged the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) to investigate an A-League franchise, saying they would be welcomed into the competition.
Lowy met with OFC representatives on Saturday to discuss the prospect.
"I think it would be very good for the A-League," Lowy said.
"There are 11 million people in Oceania and if we can attract a team from the islands to play in the A-League we can attract another 10 or 11 million viewers.
"I invited the Oceania Confederation to create a team of all the islands and if they do that, we will be able to accommodate them in the A-League and they certainly seemed very interested in that."

These developments are taking place as Australia is putting on a bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.