The dream team Canberra's A-League push can assemble as Civic stadium hopes take a hit

So you're starting a new A-League team? What's on the shopping list?

You'll need a marquee man, someone fans can identify with. For that, Canberra needs Tom Rogic, a homegrown Socceroo who won titles for fun at Celtic.

You need a coach. We're tipping Michael Caggiano will have Carl Valeri's number. Bring the local lad home. And if you're looking for another mentor, bring former long-term Socceroos captain Paul Wade into the mix for good measure.

There's your new team's dream team.

A Rogic homecoming is more than wishful thinking. Canberra's A-League bid insiders are genuinely hopeful of luring the Socceroo home as a marquee signing as the city prepares to launch its men's team for the 2024-25 season.

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The 30-year-old is playing with West Bromwich Albion in the EFL Championship - the second tier of English soccer - on a one-year deal, and the club has the option to extend for another.

Should he pack his bags and leave The Hawthorns, you would imagine there is no place more fitting for Rogic to go than Canberra - unless he secures a big-money deal overseas.

Then there is Nikolai Topor-Stanley, who at 38 has stayed out later than the twilight of his career. Imagine the A-League games record holder holding on for another season with Western United before returning to where it all began for one last dance.

But you might only get one season out of him, so where do you go from there? Enter Josip Simunic.

Expansion consultant Caggiano is hopeful the manager of the Croatian under 19 team - and veteran of 106 international appearances - could streamline a rich talent pool from Zagreb to Canberra.

Wishful thinking, maybe, but Caggiano is a dreamer and kept Canberra's ALM dream alive for years without a clear pathway forward.

Imagine what he could do when he has one.

So, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says a new A-League team changes nothing as the city cries out for a new stadium.

Even if it guarantees the year-round content Barr said Canberra needed to make a new Civic stadium viable.

The ACT Brumbies run from February until June, the Canberra Raiders are charging from March until September, and a soccer team would play from October until May.

Barr has his missing link, yet his preference has been shifted to rebuilding Canberra Stadium at Bruce - still an expensive process which won't solve a fan's gripe with the sheer lack of game day atmosphere around the venue.

ACT Senator David Pocock hopes the Australian Professional Leagues' decision to expand into Canberra will put a Civic stadium back on Barr's agenda and reignite the push to have a convention centre and stadium precinct on the site of the Civic pool, while a new option at Commonwealth Park is also being floated.

An ALM team in Canberra should revive the vision for a stadium in the heart of the city - but if you're dreaming of a shiny new venue, remember to slap a sign at the front gate reading: "Proceed with caution".

The biggest challenge facing Canberra's A-League men's team from day one isn't winning a championship. It's uniting - and retaining - a fan base.

Canberra Croatia and Gungahlin United have aspirations to feature in Football Australia's proposed national second division.

Someone watching at Deakin on Saturday already has a reason to believe in Canberra Croatia. The player who rose through juniors at Gungahlin wants to pull on the jersey at a national level.

When Canberra joins the ALM and either Gungahlin or Canberra Croatia are playing in second division, people within those clubs are going to feel stronger ties to where they have history.

Local clubs pride themselves on ties to their cultural roots. Football Australia has encouraged clubs to acknowledge their heritage through names, logos and jerseys "in preference to using monoculture branding".

Canberra Olympic was founded by the local Greek community in 1956. Gungahlin United has Italian roots. Canberra Croatia needs no explanation - though clubs are not exclusive to players of any given background.

The challenge now becomes giving all of them reason to believe in a new banner. It's easy enough at first with the buzz and excitement of a new team.

But there are fears the novelty could wear off and crowd numbers will drop as a result in a city that has failed to sustain a men's team at the elite level for two decades.

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