With a government-backed stadium next to Dandenong train station at its heart, Team 11 had appeared odds-on favourite for one of the two expansion A-League licences handed out by the FFA in December 2018.

Instead though, Western Melbourne Group – which birthed Western United – and Macarthur South West Sydney – which gave rise to Macarthur FC – won the day.

But with FFA Chairman Chris Nikou indicating the A-League will grow beyond 12 teams, those behind the bid have remained active. The Team 11 website defiantly insists: “We are not giving up.”

And with new reports that a long-anticipated National Second Division (NSD) is edging closer to reality, a possible new direction for Team 11 - who have maintained their branding in spite of missing out on the 11th A-League license - has emerged.

The news of progress towards a NSD has already been welcomed by the Association of Australian Football Clubs and NPL clubs around the country, who have long agitated for opportunities beyond the hard ceiling that currently exists for state-based clubs.

But with the make-up and other details of a new second tier still unclear, the league could yet be made up of a combination of existing NPL clubs, A-League academy sides and new entities placed into targeted markets such as Canberra, Tasmania or south-east Melbourne.

“It’s pretty much as you would expect, we want a professional men and women’s football club in the south-east of Melbourne,” Team 11 Project Officer Matt Windley told FTBL.

“Because we know that it would go gangbusters with the massive populations that’s there, the massive football community that’s there, with the massive multicultural population that’s there.

“And we want to be a part of any conversation that may further that cause.

“Now, whether that’s a fresh A-League expansion bid or a possible second division bid or anything else, we just, fundamentally, want a club in the south-east because we know that it will work. If this is something to explore then clearly, we’ll explore it.