There was a lot of huffing and puffing, but what was the upshot for Canberra's A-League bid after a fan forum this week? Keep the faith, but don't hold your breath.
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The relationship between the FFA, the A-League and Canberra is a complex one. There are several layers, trust issues, broken promises and hope for a brighter future.
Australian soccer's top officials came to Canberra with a clear objective at the fan forum: they wanted a peace deal.
FFA boss David Gallop, chairman Chris Nikou and A-League chief executive Greg O'Rourke were determined to find common ground when they spoke to a group of hardcore soccer fans at the University of Canberra.
The answered questions for two hours, and despite attempts to address a wide range of issues the one common theme was the decision to snub Canberra's A-League bid last year.
Perhaps an exchange between A-League bid leader Michael Caggiano and O'Rourke about the expansion process best summed up the night.
Caggiano: "Why couldn'tyou award Canberra a provisional 13th team licence, we've done everything you've asked."
A slight pause, and then this from O'Rourke: "I think we could have, but we chose not to. And that's where we have a difference of opinion."
Caggiano hits back: "And that's where we lose faith in you saying Canberra [will be] the 13th team [in the A-League]."
It was a blunt back and forth between two straight shooters. Caggiano is the man who built up Canberra's bid, found overseas investors and took the capital to the verge of joining the A-League in the expansion process in December.
O'Rourke is the man in charge of an professional competition trying to find better crowds, more television revenue, more fans and more teams, but he doesn't want to give "false hope".
And credit where it's due. O'Rourke didn't shy away from the questions and knows he would cause more problems if he offered guarantees he was unable to keep.
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Television viewer numbers this year have been dismal, although officials argue that is due to a number of factors including increased crowds and the fact broadcast figures don't account for streaming services.
Gallop and O'Rourke have gone out of their way to reassure Canberra's A-League fans they are one of the next, if not the next, in line for an expansion team.
But the problems come when we look back at history. Canberra was supposed to be the next team added to the competition 10 years ago. The FFA opted for a team in Western Sydney, despite the bid being flimsy. The reasons, the FFA say, why Canberra was overlooked this time was because of Fox Sports' preference to have extra teams in Sydney and Melbourne to create more derbies. Fox Sports also offered a $5 million incentive to the FFA for picking third teams in Sydney and Melbourne.
So why should Canberra believe Gallop and O'Rourke when they speak about the city being the next one in line? That's what everyone in the room wanted to know and the lack of a straight answer just made everyone more frustrated than when they arrived.
The lack of a timeline is clearly a source of frustration for Caggiano, who is trying to keep his rich investors interested in the bid even though the FFA is dragging the chain.
At some points of the fan meeting it came across as if the FFA had scant regard for the backers Caggiano has managed to wrangle. It felt as though the FFA wanted Caggiano to tell them: 'wait if you can, but if you don't we'll find someone else'.
The A-League is hardly in a position to be turning away money, let alone an overseas consortium willing to fund a team in a struggling competition.
The frustration for everyone else is that we've been here before. We've heard the FFA telling Canberra to be patient. We've heard the 'you're next' line. We've heard the reasons why Sydney and Melbourne are bigger and better. The A-League bosses say they decided on teams in "growth corridors" in Sydney and Melbourne. But they overlooked a soccer community crying out for A-League content.
At the moment there appears to be no vision to help Caggiano maintain the momentum he built with sponsors and signing up members in the bid campaign.
Is there a plan to play Socceroos or Matildas matches in Canberra? What about A-League matches, without the usual threat of a poor crowd reflecting badly on the city's hopes of having its own team. Show Canberra you're serious about having a future here.
For a game which is desperate for fans, the FFA and the A-League have disrespected the 395,000 people of Canberra one too many times. They are at risk of being laughed at when they tell Canberra fans they are next.
That message was clear when one of the fans at the forum said this: "You will capture me when you put a team here."
Gallop countered: "The community aspect is a huge advantage. You get the team into the community and the community gets into the team. Canberra is ripe for that. But so are some other areas."
Will the huffing and puffing get Canberra anywhere? A city and its soccer fans can only hold their breath for so long.
