'There is no question it will happen': Incoming Capital Football CEO throws support behind A-League bid

It's a bold statement from the man who unsuccessfully led the charge for a licence a decade ago.

But Slavich has watched the Australian soccer landscape closely and he believes Canberra is the leading contender in the next round of A-League expansion.

While he is no longer the bid leader, the experienced administrator will use his role as Capital Football chief executive to ensure the submission has the best possible chance of success.

"There's a 12-team competition now, you've got three teams in Sydney, three teams in Melbourne and one in Wellington," Slavich said. "You've got the capital of New Zealand represented in the Australian professional league but not Canberra, the capital of Australia.

"It will happen. There is no question it will happen. What form it will take, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty confident there will be an A-League team in Canberra."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

It remains unclear when the A-League will next expand and how that mixes with plans to establish a National Second Division.

While Canberra has long sought a men's A-League team, they have held a women's licence since the competition's inception in 2008.

In a sign of the disjointed nature of expansion, they are the only franchise to have a women's team but not a men's side.

It's a situation Slavich wants to rectify to ensure emerging male footballers don't have to depart the capital in order to pursue their A-League dream.

"One of the unique differences between this football federation and other federations is we have an A-League Women's side," he said. "That gives Canberra leverage in terms of expansion.

"You've got an A-League Women's team, it's the only A-League Women's team not attached to an A-League Men's team. Hello APL, there's your big gap."

Among the factors identified in past failed Canberra A-League bids has been the lack of financial support and the ACT's small population.

Slavich points to the Central Coast to dispute the population claim while he is confident A-League bid leader Michael Caggiano has the backers required to join the competition.

"If they expand the competition from 12 to 14 teams, one of those two teams has to be in Canberra," Slavich said. "Are you going to put one in Darwin before Canberra? Darwin, with a population of 150,000, Canberra has a population of 450,000.

"Tasmania is a similar size to Canberra. The two next logical teams are Canberra and Tasmania.

"What's important is it's supported. We've got such a big football community already, 35,000 participants, there's so much passion for football in this region. You've got to have an A-League team in Canberra."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: