Despite Canberra being announced as the next expansion side in the A-League, there has always been an issue that we're seen as the uninvited cousin. Apparently there were some quality backers for last time round (when Western Utd and Macarthur were added), but the APL/FA (I can't remember who was in charge of that expansion round) wanted to shop the owners out to buy existing clubs that needed an owner, or ask them to back in Sydney/Melbourne instead.
Now, it's a battle with the ACT government to:
a) get a redeveloped stadium to house the A-League side (given the extra 12-13 games that this will bring in the summer to an otherwise unused stadium) and,
b) get comparable government support to the other football codes (particularly the ones that Arrogant Barr would rather have involved in Canberra).
www.canberratimes.com.au
