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Why Canberra needs an A-League team
Wayne
Roar Guru
3rd December, 2015
9
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David Gallop (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)
Wayne
Roar Guru
3rd December, 2015
9

Canberra should be considered as one of the next expansion sides in the A-League, and should get the licence. The benefits outweigh the risks, and the addition of another team to complement the likely expansion in already established markets keeps the game growing.

David Gallop, the CEO of the FFA, has come out and said that there will not be an A-League team based in Canberra.

He is also the man that is in charge of the governing body that has angered every active supporters group, watched the Newcastle Jets falter financially, showed no interest in the Wellington Phoenix, was behind the Socceroos pay dispute and the Matildas going on strike and forgetting to book the Docklands Stadium for a grand final.

You can take what he says, which is a grain of salt sometimes, and find that this article assumes that the next CEO might be more receptive.

Let’s start with the attendances at the Asian Cup, which before the tournament had organising head stating that costs where kept down to encourage Canberrans to attend, and that not attending is a sign that they are too lazy (ABC, Jan 6 2015).

Gallop then changed his tune to one of eating humble pie (ABC, Jan 24 2015), when Canberra turned in crowds of more than 82,000 for the tournament, including a sold out quarter-final of 19,000. In November 2015, more than 19,000 fans went to the stadium to watch the Socceroos game, showing there is an appetite for football in the Australian capital.

The marque piece of why Canberra needs an A-League team isn’t actually directly related to football, but the stadium itself.

Namely, Canberra Stadium is poorly located and isn’t that great. However, the government has toyed with the idea of building a brand new, shiny, covered stadium in the CBD to host the ACT Brumbies (rugby union) and Canberra Raiders (rugby league) teams.

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What better selling point to a government to build the new stadium then giving them another tenant in the summer months. The new Canberra football side would have the latest, modern rectangular stadium in Australia to host their matches.

With media reports showing more kids are playing the round ball game then ever before, surely an untapped market like Canberra can be put on the road map. A W-League side has already been established, and the structure and identity is already there. They have a playing strip that would work well for the mens, and sponsors that are already open to supporting local football.

A three to four hour drive to and from Sydney means travelling fans can go to Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC home games, and the Red and Black Bloc and The Cove would make the trek down the Hume to Canberra without breaking the budget.

Even the eight hour Melbourne run wouldn’t be too much of an obstacle for the diehard Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City fans.

If a renewed Canberra bid could leverage the crowd attendances from international games, and be backed by government support through the completion of a new stadium, then surely the FFA can take the punt on making the Green Machine a reality in the A-League.

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