South Melbourne Football Club Advisory Board Chairman Bill Papastergiadis says the club is ready to join the A-League after a meeting with FFA chief David Gallop and Head of the national competition Greg O'Rourke in Melbourne.
"We are the stand-out bid because we can offer what no one else can - we can offer a team that's ready to start immediately, a team that has an immense following and a team that has had a enormous history in this country."
South Melbourne says they have all the infrastructure in place to be a successful team in the competition.
The club has a 40-year lease at Lakeside Stadium, a ground which Papastergiadis says has a capacity for 15,000 spectators. "It's a stadium purpose-built for football, we believe it's the best stadium in Australia."
Perth Glory is the only club from the old National Soccer League that is currently playing in the A-League.
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Papastergiadis isn't concerned its connection to the Greek community will affect South Melbourne's chances of being admitted to the competition.
"It's a family friendly environment at South, it's a diverse broad church of people."
Former Socceroo and South Melbourne star Francis Awaritefe says it's always been a club for people from all backgrounds.
"South Melbourne was always an inclusive club. This is the thing, I think sometimes this whole thing around the ethnic thing was overblown."
The bidding process for clubs looking to join the A-League begins early next year.
