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Canberran football supporters are once again let down by the FFA, with no outlook or vision to give us some practical idea about when the national capital will be getting an A-League license.
Just recently the FFA have apparently expressed doubts that Canberra can sustain an A-League club due to the ACT’s support for the new AFL team, GWS.
The ACT government has lured the new western Sydney AFL club to play a whopping three games per regular season – in the winter.
I really doubt this would present major competition to a new Canberra A-League side. Possibly the Raiders and Brumbies should be concerned, but summer sport in Canberra is empty with no first-class cricket team and no NBL either.
While the FFA say three games a year in Canberra would only add to an already crowded market, their logic seems to turn around when talking about a new A-League team in western Sydney.
With four NRL clubs, an incoming AFL team that demands large-scale support, and rugby union firmly in the market, western Sydney is competing in a crowded market, at best. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get an A-League team, but I think the FFA need to revisit their philosophy on expansion.
The FFA have treated expansion in a reckless manner; trying to get to all the markets with newly established competing clubs. Their vision is to get to the places before the AFL, as in Gold Coast and western Sydney, instead of getting to markets with little or no competing support, like Tasmania, Wollongong, Canberra and Geelong.
We can see how terrible Gold Coast have been, getting just over 2000 to games when Canberra hosted two away teams in the 2009/10 A-League season, and got over 5000 to both matches, and was criticised by the FFA for such a poor showing.
While I’m not saying the idea of an A-League team in western Sydney is a bad idea, it’s the management of the process that has been a sham.
An unprepared WS bid team getting favoured over a much more organised alternative Western Sydney bidding team, and the so called ‘best bid’, the Canberra bidding team with government support, and two thousand foundation members paying $200 each.
The FFA have done nothing but talk down Canberra’s future as an A-League city and have consistently mislead and disappointed its strong football community. This community has seen two former NSL clubs and a wealth of football talent come through the ranks. Football is the biggest participation sport in the city, yet it is neglected.
I think the best bid should get the 12th A-League license, not the favoured bid. The western Sydney consortium still haven’t got guaranteed investors, let alone players or a manager. The FFA needs to make the logical choice and reward the 12th A-League club with a future of success and sustainability, not favouritism and mismanagement.
Canberra is one of the biggest football cities in Australia. We proved we have the interest for the game, getting over 20,000 crowd to a Socceroos match at Canberra Stadium with only fringe A-League players. Yet the Sydney Football stadium recently hosted Paraguay with the full squad and only managed 25,000.
The FFA is planning on building a new stadium in Canberra with the ACT government’s support for the 2022 World Cup. Do they want it empty each season when summer comes around and the A-League kicks off?
It obviously means football is important to Canberra if we have hosted Socceroos games before Adelaide and Perth and we are going to be playing a central role in hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Why can’t this importance be extended to the A-League?
The FFA have decided to halt their beloved western Sydney group from entering the A-League next season, so why not start negotiating with Ivan Slavich and give our football community a reason to be positive.
Isn’t it time for the nation’s capital to be included in our premier national football league?
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