SYDNEY Celtic? It just might work.

Saturday’s front-page article in Melbourne newspaper The Age revealed the AFL is considering giving its new franchise in Western Sydney the ‘Celtic’ brand name, ahead of its likely entry into the competition in 2012.

Faced with establishing an entirely new Australian football club in a region dominated by myriad of sporting pursuits, but mainly rival codes rugby union, league and soccer, the AFL needs to recognise the ‘Celtic’ concept is a godsend.

League boss Andrew Demetriou has deemed it imperative for Australian football to gain a foothold in the nation’s ‘boom’ areas of the Gold Coast and Western Sydney – the second Queensland club is well advanced – but the road to success in Sydney is littered with potential pitfalls.

Like most kids from New South Wales – I grew up with an interest in all the football codes. I supported the Swans as a kid, because an elderly fan gave me an original South Melbourne ‘Bloods’ guernsey at the SCG when I was 12, and I liked watching Brownlow medallist Paul Kelly.

By the time I saw the Super League war tear the heart of out of my club Balmain in the 1990s, I was old enough to realise sporting success was more about accountancy than athleticism.

Balmain merged with Wests to tap into Sydney’s blue-collar heartland – and the AFL believes there’s room for it as well – but are they right?

Sydney’s relationship with Australian football is tenuous at best. Kids in NSW don’t grow up with it as a religion, and sports in western Sydney bicker as bitterly over young participants as seagulls do a hot chip.

The Swans moved to Sydney in 1982, but in Australia’s largest city they can still only garner the support of 19,000 paying members, and the 'churn' rate every year is 22 per cent – the highest in the AFL.

Melbourne-based supporters make up the difference for the Swans, but the new club isn’t going to have that luxury. It needs a catch, an interesting alternative, something with proven appeal, like the ‘Celtic’ brand name.

Gaelic Players Association executive Donal O'Neill first put the 'Sydney Celtics' plan to AFL boss Demetriou 18 months ago.

The international connection gained momentum with player agent Ricky Nixon's recent talent-spotting tour to Ireland. Nixon has promised to identify at least one Irish youngster for each of the five AFL clubs on his books.

On Friday the Adelaide Crows announced two Gaelic players were expected to arrive in coming weeks to trial with he club.

Nine Irish players currently feature on AFL lists – but that will inevitably rise in the near future given the unprecedented interest among clubs – whether the amateur GAA looks to plug the player drain or not.

The prospect of making a living playing Gaelic football is an opportunity that doesn’t presently exist in Ireland, and when faced with the possibility of coming to sunny Australia to play for the Celtics, it’s really a no-brainer for any talented youngster.

But back to the bottom line. The cost of living is skyrocketing – the western suburbs are not affluent, and getting Sydneysiders to part with their hard-earned dosh for the cost of admission, let alone a season-long membership, is not a challenge I’d relish.

Not to mention corporate appeal, an area where the GC17 bid team clearly has the edge, but you can’t do much about geography.

I’ve lived in Ireland and Glasgow, and I know that by naming your team Celtic you will gain thousands of supporters before they even know what the hell Australian football is.

The Boston Celtics and Glasgow Celtic are two of the most popular sporting franchises in the world. Their marketability is undeniable – certainly slightly better than the West Sydney Westfields – or whatever other instantly identifiable name you would choose to associate with the new club.

Of course there’s the connection to Catholicism and the sectarian-related soccer violence, which exists in Scotland and Ireland, but it’s hardly a problem in Boston, and I think the prospect of trouble on those grounds is equally unlikely outside the new boutique stadium in Rooty Hill.

The more you look at it, the more it seems like a fix to the countless difficulties the AFL faces in gaining a foothold in an area of enormous potential, but countless opponents.

It’s a window of opportunity where before here was only a wall of complication. The club is essentially a blank canvas, but it needs a catch early on to arouse interest, and they don’t come much bigger than direct connection with a proven global sporting brand.

Perhaps the AFL should take 30,000 Catholics flocking to Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on Friday night for a commissioning mass as a sign. Not only that, but the Pope arrives on Tuesday. 

Divine intervention aside, the factor that will appeal most of all to the AFL is cost.

The name ‘Celtic’, and all that it brings, won’t cost a cent.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.