Canberra's A-League bid will immediately start working to meet the criteria in an FFA expansion plan and the capital will know by the end of October if it has secured a return to the national men's competition.
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The FFA published its timeline and process for adding two new teams to the A-League for the 2019-20 season, with a decision on the successful bidders to be made by October 31.
Jeff Williamson has been leading a Canberra proposal since last year to build momentum to be ready to join the A-League.
The FFA has previously shunned Canberra because of its population size, despite raising the required funding, but Williamson is hopeful the city will be viewed in a different light this time.
The ACT government is yet to receive a formal approach from the bid, while Capital Football says it will support the proposal but has no desire to "own and operate" a team.
The FFA has opened the process for expressions of interest with a shortlist to be finalised in June.
"We'd still like some more detail, there are a lot of things we want to find out," Williamson said.
"But at least we now have a timeline. There is progress and that's exciting for everything moving forward.
"We are further advanced. Up until now we've never been privy to what the FFA is interested in, so hopefully we discover that in the very near future which will help us with the direction we need to go."
Canberra is set to compete against bids from Melbourne, Geelong, the Gold Coast, Southern Sydney and Wollongong.
The idea of combining with a Wollongong bid has been raised in the past, with the idea to form a similar alliance to the one AFL club the GWS Giants have with Canberra.
The criteria for the bid will evaluate:
- Vision and strategy, including "unique" selling points, fan engagement, what stadium would be used, government support and development pathways;
- Proposed locations and a wider area for supporters to come fromt;
- Financial capacity, with evidence of capital, revenue and membership as well as a plan to finance the licence and ongoing funding to operate the club;
- Details of the people involved in the bid.
The Canberra bid is set to ask the capital's soccer community for input on the team name, colours and logo.
More than 50 per cent of people who voted in a Fairfax Media poll wanted the team to be named Canberra United, with 19 per cent keen to revive the Canberra Cosmos moniker.
The bid could also target Carl Valeri and Nikolai Topor-Stanley as marquee recruits for its first season.
Capital Football, Canberra's governing body for soccer, said it would support a bid, but not finance it.
"We welcome the announcement by FFA of the process to expand the A-League," Capital Football boss Phil Brown said in a statement.
"...While it is not part of Capital Football's strategic plan to own and operate a A-League team, we are open to discussions with any interested parties that have ambitions to bring A-League matches to the ACT."
A A-League4Canberra bid raised more than $5 million in government, corporate support and memberships almost a decade ago.
However, the FFA snubbed the solid proposal in favour of an opportunity to start the Western Sydney Wanderers.
"The ACT Government has not been approached formally about supporting a bid for a new A-league team and the FFA is yet to articulate its expectations for potential bids and the mechanics of the bidding process," a government spokesperson said.
"I know some Canberrans are working on a possible bid and the government will talk further with them if things progress.
"We consider a variety of factors when considering funding for elite sporting teams, including economic impacts, sponsor benefits, venue arrangements, opportunities for junior and participation levels and broader community benefits.
"Any government support would be dependent on the business case presented that covers these factors."
