Young gun George Timotheou is being lined up as a potential first signing for Canberra's A-League team, should the FFA grant Capital Region FC a licence to enter the competition.
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Canberra boy Timotheou is now a free agent after parting ways with Belgian top-flight club Zulte Waregem late last month, and is keen to sign with an A-League side and resurrect his career after recovering from heart surgery back in March.
His first priority is to join an Australian club and play in the A-League next season, before turning his eye to a possible Canberra move. The prospective Capital Region FC have stated they would be ready to enter the competition for the 2021-22 season.
"Being a Canberra boy, that's the biggest dream, you dream of playing in Europe but what better club to play for then your home town," Timotheou said.
"That would be a massive achievement for me and for my family. I'm very close with a lot of people in Canberra still and my roots are there.
"Long term we'd want to settle down and retire there. To be named as the first player would be incredible, that would be a massive pleasure for me.
"I just think it's crazy that they don't have a team yet. It's just common sense, how can you not have a team in the capital of a country?"
Timotheou and his partner Amanda have been living in Sydney and are expecting their first child in the next two weeks.
It will mark the next chapter in a whirlwind 2020 for the 23-year-old who feared he would never play again after a congenital heart condition flared up over the summer.
On the verge of joining A-League newcomers Western United on loan, Timotheou failed a medical and was told he needed surgery or risk an imminent heart attack.
"It was basically you're going to need surgery, you may never play again, you're hearing a million different things, it was crazy," Timotheou said.
"The day before I was supposed to play and now I'm being told your heart's at a dangerous level, you can have a heart attack at any point, all that crazy stuff that you see in movies.
"We'd just found out that my partner was pregnant, so there was all those kind of emotions as well. While I was in hospital having the surgery, that's when COVID basically peaked, that's when it was at its craziest."
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Complications arose soon after surgery but Timotheou survived, and began the slow road to rehabilitation.
Six weeks of walking was all he could manage in the beginning, but he has since been cleared to resume playing and has been training individually while looking out for his next opportunity.
In a perfect world, that would precede a long career representing his home town in the A-League.
"There's so much Canberra talent that gets missed," Timotheou said.
"Players shouldn't have to leave home at an early age just to realise their dream. They should have a pathway in Canberra.
"If there is an A-League team there we can produce more talent and more players get an opportunity to go from potentially a Canberra A-League team to overseas, or whatever they want."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
