Be great to see a 13th team come in, Canberra have been earmarked for that. With regard to a 14th team, if the major criteria is a suitable rectangular stadium to play out of, which team would get in if its from SE Qld? ( A good one for the expansion thread). I would like to see a team from Qld, along with Canberra or Capital Region fc.

The other clubs no doubt see the multiple benefits of a more interesting competition with more clubs and more interest outside Sydney and Melbourne.

I’ve heard that the decision to admit/reject canberra now sits squarely with the FFA. I’m not sure if that means that the clubs have already approved it, or if they don’t have any say in the decision. But either way, the clubs are supportive of Canberra and a 2nd brisbane team. 

An interesting thing to find out is whether the FFA or the clubs now have the decision making authority on new teams in the A-League.

One would think getting licence fees would help boost the position of the competition, but there would likely be worries over increased costs and allocation of limited resources across more clubs too. 

I don’t know. 

Is that commitment less than the ACT Government gives GWS, Raiders and the Brunbies?  If so why?

The bid team has announced today that the ACT Government has confirmed ongoing annual funding of one million dollars per year. In today’s fiscal environment that is an impressive public commitment. Now for a similar public commitment from FFA to allow some serious preparations to get underway. 

Good article today on The World Game page about Craig Moore joining Ron Smith in Canberra’s football department. Can’t link it for some reason but worth reading.  Some strong football foundations being put in place. 

Fancy kicking that level of business people in the backside and have the audacity to lift their heads up to continue to function as FFA leaders, until they were diposed recently. They should be embarrassed to go to Coles to buy groceries, the lot of them!

That interview with Lucy was awesome and is the most revealing Caggiano has been about the FFA shenanigans and duplicity last time around. Very smart of him to hold his tongue at the time and let the story out at a more appropriate time. A very cagey and clever young businessman and also very well connected. However, until I am sitting at Canberra stadium with my season ticket and about to watch the first home game start, warm and overpriced meat pie in hand, I won’t allow myself to get my hopes up again but .... something does feel right this time around. Who knows!

Pandering and cowering to fox is what Lowlife and his board did. Now, fox has washed its hands on Australian soccer and treated it like a bitch and when Soccer turns it around they can throw shit back at them, on a better platform. Thanks to Lowy the game went backward in the last few years.

I think James Johnson gets it that there is a real need to diversify our revenue streams away from broadcasting. Understandably it’s still a massive driver, but for a place like Australia, being a development pathway, a selling league and a place to get your brand into Asia through the ACL imo is hugely attractive for sports groups. Capitalise on this investment, and a few dollars here or there from fox sports suddenly doesn’t mean life or death for the competition 

Oh Canberra... 

having witnessed the FFA saying to the investors to invest in another area would be a very painful experience. 

good riddance that the Lowys are out. all they think about is money.

Boggles the mind that the FFA could knock back that type of investment just for Fox Sports. Look where that has taken us. A broadcaster who can't wait to get the fk out of the league.

Even if FFA had an agreement in place with Fox Sports that we must expand into Sydney and Melbourne surely an agreement/compromise could have been arranged which saw Canberra as the 13th team or at least provided a provisional licence.

Have no idea what could have stopped it from happening?

The FFA’s agenda was clearly driven by the Fox decision makers, so the fact that they were looking at persuading those investors to channel their money into a Sydney or Melbourne bid would certainly have been a strong consideration. 

Yep, no point fishing for carp if all there is elsewhere are goldfish.

Plus: Asking the investors to invest elsewhere? That's really insulting to us.

Great interview with Michael Caggiano the bid leader up on TWG facebook page. Really recommend a watch just from the perspective of the embarrassing behaviour of the previous FFA leadership around the bid process, particularly with regards to the investors. 

He mentions that they had Qatari sports group ready to go, and another unnamed sports investment group that was even richer, and there was a meeting between the a-league bid team, the ffa and the investors in which the FFA asked the investors if they’d consider investing in a different location....how insulting.

Also sounds like the broadcast deal was the biggest thing holding us back, not necessarily the license fee as previously thought, but now that the foxsports deal is coming to an end, it’s a different ball game.

He again talks about the 51/49 community owned model from a decision making perspective to ensure that the everything is decided by the members, and about how out of the 8,000 foundation members, the engagement rates with his emails are around 75%, ie 6,000 people are actively engaged with this club just at the bid stage.

I’ve long been of the belief that “fish where the fish are” is bollocks for football in Australia and it’s time to fish where the fish are edible...

Like some have mentioned, lets not get our hopes up but all for it one day soon.
Nope nope nope with Mariners license.
I like Canberra United, Canberra Rams would have been alright but taken, (they have NRL Raiders) Canberra Greens lol......j/k.

Don't forget Canberra FC Canberra Olympic are on the AAFC list.

Canberra Croatia has a fantastic home base in the inner South of Canberra.
Ideally, they should get the nod ahead of anyone else.

Correct. They are now Canberra Croatia FC. However, many things still list them as Canberra FC, so not sure if they still have rights / will make it hard for an A-League franchise to use it.

Yeah, my money is on Canberra United. The W-League side of things is already (at least moderately) successful, so would be a good idea to piggyback off that.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/we-have-everyone-behind-us-canberra-tables-fresh-bid-to-join-a-league-20200825-p55p2u.html

Clive Palmer's former club joins Canberra in race for A-League licence

I didn’t know that but it doesn’t surprise me, as Ron Smith has a great eye for talent as we all know. 

Would fans get behind a Red Bull Canberra club if investment was to come from them?

Not quite correct. He had been identified by Lawrie McKinna well before the Nike challenge and was being monitored by Ron Smith on the Mariners behalf. He was going to be signed by the Mainers that season with or without the Nike program. All that did was complicate the matter with Reading's involvement.

Canberra United, as it already exists as a football brand and can build from that base. 

Pretty sure they've reverted back to Canberra or Deakin Croatia FC now that NCIP is dead. Canberra FC should be fair game.

So damn true. Canberra winter nights in particular are an experience. Day time matches only there please or get that indoor stadium built fast :)

I agree that the FFA/iAL should get them in, even if it’s a couple of years away, they can still plan and have a roadmap to entry. 

Good suggestions, Athletic and Rovers. And I agree, I would like to get entry but not instead of the Mariners, rather in addition to them. 

I don't mind Canberra Athletic (some team should take the "Athletic" moniker at some point), but my money is on Canberra Rovers. The consortium is called CRFC (Canberra Region Football Collective), so I imagine they will stay with the same initials, and Canberra Rovers has a nice ring to it.

Always liked the name Canberra Athletic and makes some sense with its AIS links.

I’m happy for Canberra to join if they can prove self sufficient and don’t take the Mariners license.