The Australian A-League is set to expand further with a second team based in Melbourne entering the fray in the 2010-11 season.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive Ben Buckley confirmed the consortium is led by Melbourne businessman Peter Sidwell and would see Melbourne Heart become the second Victorian-based team.

The news all but rules out Southern Cross' proposal, while the other original bidder for the license, led by Colin DeLutis, dropped out earlier this year.

"We received two very high quality proposals for the second Melbourne license, and we had very good discussions with both consortia," said Buckley.

"We were very impressed with the professionalism and strength of both bids.

"The level of interest and quality of the proposals reflect the momentum behind the growth and development of the A-League."

Buckley reiterated the FFA's earlier view that the A-League, which currently has eight teams but will expand to 10 next season, has the capacity to be at least a 12 team competition and possibly even 14.

Teams from the Gold Coast and a Townsville-based North Queensland will join the original eight teams for the start of the 2009 season, the fifth in A-League history.

"When and where we expand the competition is measured simply by whether it is right for football, right for the existing A-League clubs, right for the new clubs and right for the local community," added Buckley.

"The attractiveness of the competition is clearly reflected in the level of interest in the additional licenses and the quality of the bids we are receiving."