Football Federation Australia met late last week to determine the competition structure for the 2012-13 season, but wasn’t presented with a submission from FSC, reported the Illawarra Mercury on Tuesday. An announcement on the competing teams is expected later this week.

‘‘The start-up costs weren’t so much the issue as the bond,’’ Kostandas told the paper. ‘‘For this year I think it’s dead in the water, but going forward it’s on our radar.

‘‘I think there’s a definite possibility, if not a probability, we’ll have a team down here [in the future].

‘‘It has to be because it’s part of the whole pathway. The game is growing a lot in the female area here and we’re starting to produce some elite players and coaches.’’”

The region has a strong team in Illawara Stingrays and has shown good support for a Matildas international match at WIN Stadium this weekend.

Questions have been raised about the W-League’s viability and Perth Glory owner Tony Sage threatened to withdraw its W-League team.

Illawarra women’s football administrator Rob McKie, part of the steering committee established to drive the bid, was fearful the growth of women’s football would now stall without a W-League side.

‘‘My personal opinion is it would have been an ideal opportunity to get another national team in,’’ McKie said. ‘‘I put my heart and soul into it for six months and we didn’t even put in a proposal.’’

The region also failed in a bid to join the A-League when Sydney Rovers, a “Western Sydney”based franchise that never made it to the field, were handed a licence ahead of the South Coast and Canberra.

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