Gungahlin United has made a strong bid for promotion to next year's Canberra men's National Premier League competition, but it could be at the expense of former partner club Canberra City.
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Capital Football has closed applications for National Premier League licences and will decide by September 25 which clubs are to compete from 2015-18.
Gungahlin was the only new club to apply for the men's top grade and, if accepted, it would be the first club to represent that region of Canberra.
But Gungahlin's ambition to field an NPL team has put pressure on Canberra City to meet Football Federation Australia requirements for junior development pathways.
A strong junior club comprising more than 1100 children, United previously had a formal affiliation with Canberra City to provide its necessary junior teams from under-12s to under-18s.
But Gungahlin's decision to go alone, means City is scrambling to find a new junior partnership. It's understood Cooma could also struggle to meet the mandatory criteria for junior teams.
Capital Football is willing to accept a maximum 10 teams for the men's NPL, but the applications are being assessed by a licence review committee and all clubs will be invited to make individual presentations over the next month.
United president Ricardo Alberto was confident in the club's application. It plans to play at the new Gungahlin Enclosed Oval.
"It's the only region in Canberra that currently isn't represented," Alberto said.
"There'd be all that effort, development and investment we made in our juniors, then the kids basically just went off into the myriad of [senior] teams. The last couple of years we've invested heavily in coaching and developing a club philosophy, so we wanted to make sure that investment was for a purpose."
Alberto said Gungahlin would need to recruit heavily in the senior ranks, given the highest ranked men's team it fields is in a State League Five.
"We will have to tap into existing players [in the Premier League]," Alberto said. "If we're successful with the bid, we'll have to look at trials and we have plans to move forward as quickly as possible, because we'll have to hit the ground pretty quickly."
Canberra City sits last on the NPL ladder with two wins and a draw from 13 matches this season.
A club spokesman said City was looking at alternatives to supply the necessary junior numbers.
There were eight applications for the Women’s Premier League, ANU WFC electing not to reapply for a licence.
