Following is a list of all Canberra-based bids to secure a franchise licence from Football Australia (FA), formally Football Federation Australia (FFA), to enter a team into the top division of men's association football in Australia, the A-League Men (ALM).
History The ALM was established in 2005 as the A-League under the leadership of chairman Frank Lowy and CEO John O'Neill. Lowy, at the time, identified Canberra as a future destination for A-League expansion, having not had representation in the top level since the Canberra Cosmos folded in 2001 in the old NSL. As of 2022, there have been five bids from the Canberra region to obtain an ALM licence. Three bids have been unsuccessful with two bids are currently active and ongoing.
The first bid, A-League4Canberra, was established in 2008 but was wound up in 2012 after failing to win an A-League licence from FFA to join the league in three attempts.
The second bid, Canberra & Capital Region A-League Bid, was founded in late 2016 and formally submitted its bid to join the A-League in May 2018. The second bid was ultimately unsuccessful with the FFA selecting two other bids in December 2018.
The third bid, Capital Region Football Collective (CRFC), was founded in 2020 by the same bid team from the second bid. The third bid formally made an offer to the FFA for a licence on 25 August 2020 but was unsuccessful. Once the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) took over administration of the ALM, the team put two bids up to them to obtain a licence in early-mid 2022, but was again unsuccessful.
The fourth bid, announced in December 2021 and involving Andy Bernal and Richard Peil, is still technically active despite no further news on its progress since announcement.
The fifth bid is a December 2022 re-launch of the Capital Region Football Collective bid. After the APL identified Canberra as a preferred destination for ALM expansion in 2024–25, the bid is working on putting forward a proposal to the APL in June 2023.
First bid (A-League4Canberra) A-League4Canberra Bid Bid name A-League4Canberra Competition A-League Nation Australia Federation Football Federation Australia Confederation Asian Football Confederation Bid location Canberra, ACT Bid leader Ivan Slavich (TransACT) Bid model Private consortium ownership Bid duration July 2008 - 10 May 2012 Bid outcome Unsuccessful - disbanded after losing A-League expansion bids to: 2008 - North Queensland Fury, Gold Coast United 2009 - Sydney Rovers 2010 - Western Sydney Wanderers
A-League4Canberra, a Canberra-based consortium led by TransACT CEO Ivan Slavich, was determined to apply for and receive a licence to compete in the A-League, commencing in the 2010–11 season. FFA agreed to Slavich's request to extend the deadline for bids until August 2008, and Australian international players Carl Valeri and Ned Zelic became foundation members. However, A-League4Canberra failed to secure the 12th licence they had applied for as Sydney Rovers was later given the licence instead.http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/113959,sydney-rovers--official.aspx. The Slavich-led consortium then moved forward with the intention of competing for the 13th licence.http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/113876,canberra-chiefs-vow-to-fight-on.aspx. The first formal step in that process was to present an application to the A-League Licence Review Committee in August 2008. At the time, Canberra was one of ten bids expected by FFA for up to four available licences, but was considered to be strongly positioned to succeed and had support from the highest levels within FFA.
On 5 March 2009, Canberra Stadium hosted an Asian Cup qualification match between the Socceroos and Kuwait. FFA officials said that, if Canberra attract over 20,000 to this game then they will be the likely destination for the twelfth A-League licence.http://www.a-league4canberra.com.au/site/news.php?id=74 . The trial in Canberra saw 20,032 fans attending the match. However, in September 2009, a poor crowd to an A-League game at Canberra Stadium was recorded and doubts surfaced about the viability of the bid.
On 10 May 2012, A-League4Canberra announced that it was suspending its efforts to secure an A-League licence for the Australian capital city. The decision came in the wake of FFA's announcement that expansion beyond ten teams was on hold for the foreseeable future in preference to consolidating and strengthening the existing clubs. Capital Football CEO Heather Reid told FourFourTwo, "The ALeague4Canberra bid group is being wound up and foundation memberships will be offered back to those who signed up".
Notable supporters Kate Lundy – Former Australian Senator Jon Stanhope – Former Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Ned Zelic – Australian men's international Carl Valeri – Australian men's international Amy Taylor – Australian women's international Amy Chapman – Australian women's international Lydia Williams – Australian women's international Sally Shipard – Australian women's international Caitlin Munoz – Australian women's international
Second bid (Canberra & Capital Region A-League Bid) Canberra & Capital Region A-League Bid Bid name Canberra & Capital Region A-League Bid Competition A-League Nation Australia Federation Football Federation Australia Confederation Asian Football Confederation Bid location Canberra, ACT Southern New South Wales(Monaro, Cootamundra, Southern Tablelands, South Coast, Snowy Mountains, Riverina, Border) Bid leaders Jeff Williamson Michael Caggiano Bede Gahan Bid model Community ownership (50+1) Bid duration October 2016 - 13 December 2018 Bid outcome Unsuccessful - bid not selected by FFA in December 2018 Selected bids were Western Melbourne Group and South West Sydney. Website Official website
After the announcement of bids to join the A-League were announced in 2016 by Tasmania and South Melbourne, there were discussions about whether Canberra should bid again. Jeff Williamson formed the current Canberra A-League bid team and began investigating the business case for Canberra to enter the A-League. Confirmation of the new Canberra A-League bid came from Capital Football when Football Federation Australia (FFA) gave indications that they intended to expand the A-League by at least two teams. In the middle of negotiations surrounding a new broadcast deal with a mix of pay and free to air operators, the FFA approached its broadcast partners in an effort to gain an understanding of where they would want A-League expansion to occur. Football Federation Australia announced on 28 February 2017 that they would not be expanding due to the current A-League model not being able to cope with an expanded 12 team league. Speculation of an expansion of the A-League continued with bids from other cities being announced.
16 February 2018, Football Federation Australia announced the A-league would expand from 10 teams to 12 with two new licences to be tendered to interested parties with an expression of interest (EOI) round due May 2018, a shortlist to be announced in June 2018 and the final decision made on 31 October 2018.
In April 2018, Jeff Williamson and Michael Caggiano from the Canberra A-league bid team met with Capital Football to discuss the bid and cement the working relationship with the ACT football and the 30,000 registered players in the city.
15 May 2018, the Canberra A-League bid puts its support behind the proposal for a new $350 million Civic Stadium in the heart of Canberra. ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, had stated that the only chance for a new stadium to be built is for the venue to be utilised year round by at least 3 tenants. An A-League team is key to Canberra building a new fully roofed stadium in the City that would house the Canberra Raiders, Brumbies and the proposed yet to be named A-League team.
16 May 2018, the Canberra & Capital Region A-League bid announced further detail of its 'community ownership model' mirroring the 50+1 rule imposed on German clubs by the DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund). This model provides the community the guarantee to be majority shareholder and have direct influence in how the organisation is run and what it stands for. The bid team revealed the community would decide on a club name, colours, crest, ticketing and match-day experiences. The bid wanted to establish a sustainable model that had longevity so steered clear of 'billionaire backers'. Out of the $10–12 million yearly operating budget to run a team the bulk of costs would be covered from the ACT Government, the A-League broadcast deal and match day revenue. The $3–5 million shortfall would be made up through sponsorships.
25 May 2018, Canberra officially submitted its EOI to FFA along with fourteen other interested parties across Australia, including four from New South Wales, three from Queensland, four from Victoria and one each from South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.
Following the announcement that Canberra had submitted an EOI application and kicked off its bid, fellow bidder, the Wollongong Wolves, confirmed they welcomed the friendly competition from the Canberra bid and re-stated their commitment to the region no matter what the outcome on October. The Wolves have a player pathway partnership established with Belconnen United FC. Rugby union Super League team Brumbies CEO Michael Thomson also fronted the media to state his support for the Canberra A-League bid stating there is enough fans to go around for the Brumbies, Raiders and an A-League team. Mr Thomson went on to say he felt another top level sporting code could enrich the Canberra community.
11 June 2018, FFA delayed the announcement of the shortlist of the fifteen bidding parties for the two A-League licences by at least one week. The FFA said the delay was due to clarifications sought in relation to some bids intended funding models.
29 June 2018, the governing body announced its shortlist of bids for the two A-League licences. Ten bids progressed to the next phase with five bids cut from the process. Canberra's bid was selected as one of the ten successful bids to progress. The FFA then revealed final applications from the ten bids would be due in two months (September 2018). On the same day as Canberra's shortlisting announcement, Canberra bid leader, Michael Caggiano, advised the Canberra bid would swiftly move to establish the first stage of its community model as well as enter into talks with both the ACT and Federal governments.
10 July 2018, Canberra's A-League bid team announced the first Canberra A-League membership would be named after Steve Doszpot OAM. Doszpot was a former president of Capital Football between 1995 and 2002 and was involved with the Canberra Cosmos. He was responsible for bringing football to Canberra at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, assisted in the establishment of Canberra City FC in the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL) in 1977 as well as lure former Australian international Johnny Warren to coach the new club. Deszpot's widow Maureen Doszpot was named the number one membership holder in honor of Doszpot's name.
11 July 2018, The Canberra bid opened up foundation membership applications with the goal of reaching 5,000 members as well as partnering with the re-formed Capital Punishment active supporter group.
18-19 July 2018, Canberra's A-league bid put out expressions of interest to grow its volunteer team base, announced foundation membership had reached over 2,500 and confirmed discussions had taken place to establish the AIS Bruce campus as an initial training base. In addition the bid team revealed they were exploring commercial space options to headquarter the club.