Toebash said:

A new owner for Canberra United has been found, with an option of an A-League team in two years:

APL announces Australian Sports Group as new owner of Canberra United FC

Huge news for Canberra United - the Ninja A-League powerhouse now has new ownership, with the deal confirmed by APL on Friday morning.

aleagues.com.au

https://football360.com.au/canberra-united-ownership-details-a-league-women-men/

Does anyone know anything about this Australian Sports Group entity?

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Is this them?
Registered 9 days ago…

New Horizon said:

Is this them?

Current details for ABN 71 700 079 018 | ABN Lookup

abr.business.gov.au

Registered 9 days ago…

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Yes, leans me towards the "we have some money, but not all the money" theory I have. Something needed to be done immediately about the women's team.

Issue in Canberra is the clubs are never in step with Capital Football, and vice-versa.

Capital Football - back when they were competent - tried putting all the building blocks in place. There was already a Girls Academy (CUA) running in the NPL here, so in 2017, Capital Football decided to get the ball rolling on a boys academy, that way there's already something in place for if/when an A-League licence is finally in place. Plus, you had the expansion of the NPL pyramid to take in Southern NSW (Wagga, Griffith, Goulburn - there was talks of possibly brining in Albury I heard as well). They played an age group down (same as the A-League academies elsewhere), except they didn't have a 20's at the time (this spot was essentially filled in by CoE/AIS) - so a matchday against CUA/AIS would be:

13s NPL = 12s CUA
14s NPL = 13s CUA
16s NPL = 14s CUA
18s NPL = 16s CUA
20s NPL = 18s CUA
Senior NPL = CoE/AIS (Which I believe was also 18s at the time)

But - the clubs all kicked a stink that they were losing their best players, so after one season on the boys side, this was scrapped - and then I believe the girls academy was scrapped when Capital Football worked out they couldn't afford to run Canberra United anymore (circa 2022-23 I believe).

Back then, Capital Football were on the ball (A-League wise) and now it's the other way around.

Toebash said:

A new owner for Canberra United has been found, with an option of an A-League team in two years:

APL announces Australian Sports Group as new owner of Canberra United FC

Huge news for Canberra United - the Ninja A-League powerhouse now has new ownership, with the deal confirmed by APL on Friday morning.

aleagues.com.au

https://football360.com.au/canberra-united-ownership-details-a-league-women-men/

Does anyone know anything about this Australian Sports Group entity?

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Finally!!!

HonestSpursFan said:

Finally!!!

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Hopefully the ALM team comes in. Canberra is needed big time.

SocceroosFan84 said:

Hopefully the ALM team comes in. Canberra is needed big time.

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Why do we need Canberra? Another club playing in front of 1-2k crowds that will go under within 2 years. No thanks.
Christchurch and a team from North QLD please.
This thread needs to be locked and banned for misleading posts/misinformation. No sponsor is going to back a ALM club in the ACT just like how they fled the Women's team.

NoMates said:

Why do we need Canberra? Another club playing in front of 1-2k crowds that will go under within 2 years. No thanks.
Christchurch and a team from North QLD please.
This thread needs to be locked and banned for misleading posts/misinformation. No sponsor is going to back a ALM club in the ACT just like how they fled the Women's team.

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When are you pissing off to New Zealand?

You're clearly a Kiwi troll.

Ange's high line said:

This comp needs 16 teams, (including Canberra, even Sourh Island Utd from Christchurch), with 30 rounds plus semis if we must.
Furthermore, it needs to operate without a salary cap, just expenditure of the floor minimal limit.
Otherwise, other than the rusted on fans, this comp doesn't demand the required respect it should have but doesn't have.

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Problem is without a cap then clubs like City, Sydney, Victory, WSW & Auckland would occupy 5 of the top 6 each and every season.

Plus most clubs outside wouldn't be able to afford it.

SocceroosFan84 said:

Problem is without a cap then clubs like City, Sydney, Victory, WSW & Auckland would occupy 5 of the top 6 each and every season.

Plus most clubs outside wouldn't be able to afford it.

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Yes and no - if the big clubs spent more so might the Bakries and TSG

SocceroosFan84 said:

Problem is without a cap then clubs like City, Sydney, Victory, WSW & Auckland would occupy 5 of the top 6 each and every season.

Plus most clubs outside wouldn't be able to afford it.

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I’d rather have a competition that attracts our best players so they do not feel the need to play overseas unless it is for a “first tier” club in a major league. If some clubs dominate periodically, so be it. It should, Ike the EPL drag up the overall quality of the league. And, like the EPL, more clubs eventually close the gap and compete for trophies. A salary cap drags the league down to the lowest common denominator, and makes clubs lazy in their administration and squad management. Financial rules governing expenditure versus revenue should be the governing control, allowing well run clubs to innovate and grow rather than be constrained by unnatural forces.

Ange's high line said:

This comp needs 16 teams, (including Canberra, even South Island Utd from Christchurch), with 30 rounds plus semis, if we must.
Furthermore, it needs to operate without a salary cap, just expenditure of the floor minimal limit.
Otherwise, other than the rusted on fans, this comp doesn't demand the required respect it should have but doesn't have.

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Agree.
Bottom line is that the League is not succeeding in Asia, is not attracting TV audiences and live attendances are poor and declining.
What more evidence does anyone need that the cap is a dead albatross.

K55 said:

I’d rather have a competition that attracts our best players so they do not feel the need to play overseas unless it is for a “first tier” club in a major league. If some clubs dominate periodically, so be it. It should, Ike the EPL drag up the overall quality of the league. And, like the EPL, more clubs eventually close the gap and compete for trophies. A salary cap drags the league down to the lowest common denominator, and makes clubs lazy in their administration and squad management. Financial rules governing expenditure versus revenue should be the governing control, allowing well run clubs to innovate and grow rather than be constrained by unnatural forces.

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I agree with scrapping the cap and attracting the local talent as the priority but how would we enforce the balance with the clubs? Would a local player cap work?

Could you upgrade Deakin Stadium in Canberra ??

GIO Stadium is way too big for a Canberra A League team to play out of ..25,000 seater, the atmosphere would be horrendous.

vincenzogold said:

Could you upgrade Deakin Stadium in Canberra ??

GIO Stadium is way too big for a Canberra A League team to play out of ..25,000 seater, the atmosphere would be horrendous.

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25 is ok. Average crowd of 10k would be acceptable.

vincenzogold said:

Could you upgrade Deakin Stadium in Canberra ??

GIO Stadium is way too big for a Canberra A League team to play out of ..25,000 seater, the atmosphere would be horrendous.

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It's owned by Canberra Croatia, I think? So probably not upgradeable for this purpose.

If aiming to have something that will work for A-League, NRL and Super Rugby (but also allow for larger crowds in-case finals, and smaller international matches) 25k is probably perfect. Honestly, that new stadium in Christchurch NZ is possibly the perfect blueprint.

erogenouszone said:

25 is ok. Average crowd of 10k would be acceptable.

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You really think they're getting an average crowd of 10,000 ??

Melbourne Victory our best supported club only managed an average of 11,000.

They'd have an average of half that. It would look awful on tv and probably just as souless in the stadium.