Canberra A-League Bid-Cedar Herald Index

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). 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.

Canberra A-League Bid

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.

Canberra A-League Bid

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.

Canberra A-League Bid

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, 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. The Slavich-led consortium then moved forward with the intention of competing for the 13th licence. 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. 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".