Canberra United fans are rallying together to dig deep into their pockets in an effort to rescue the embattled A-League Women club.
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United member Sue Read is leading a new group of 15 supporters wanting to work alongside Capital Football as a committee, to try and come up with funding that will support United through next season if the delayed A-League Men Canberra bid doesn't eventuate.
While there remains many hoops for the working group to jump through to achieve their desired goal, they are hoping to raise an impressive $300,000 in a crowdfunding initiative, aiming to help alleviate the financial situation Capital Football argues is putting the future of United in doubt.
Initially the amount was going to be $500,000 but it was pulled back to $300,000 upon the crowdfunding link being launched on Friday morning.
"Capital Football is happy to look at any endeavour that will raise money and keep the team for next year," chair Angelo Konstantinou told The Canberra Times.
"We all want this to succeed but we need work together."
Capital Football are set to review the working group's proposals in the coming days, with a meeting between the fan group and chief executive Samantha Farrow scheduled on Monday.
Exactly how the fundraised amount would be directly and securely delivered to address United-related expenses is still unclear as discussions with Capital Football are ongoing.
However, the fundraising page vows: "All donations will go directly to supporting Canberra United and elite women's football - this means that your donation will go to cover coaching and support staff, training facilities, uniforms, performance support, accommodation, meals and nutrition, transport, and other wraparound support".
A 'Save Canberra United' petition that gained steam last week had over 2700 signatures and if just 2500 of those people donated $120, the total of $300,000 would be successfully raised.
Despite some frustration among fans in the last few games of the A-League Women season as it became clear United's existence in the competition was in jeopardy, there is a more positive outlook after recent developments.
"We've come to a place where we are communicating with Capital Football," United fan organiser Mikaela Danvers said.
"We're not trying to step on toes, we just want to save the team and I think everyone is on the same page now. Capital Football wants to save the team also.
"They said they've exhausted all traditional methods of funding and we've suggested there are non-traditional methods that perhaps could be implemented that maybe they don't have the capacity to explore.
"We really want to capitalise on this groundswell of support for United, and we're looking at the best way to do that.
"There's also massive enthusiasm to make an active fan group as well, separate to the working group, just like other A-League clubs have."
The working group also wanted to express that it shouldn't be up to fans to raise the money, and pushed the ACT government - that already provide $250,000 annual funding to United - to invest further in the women's game.
The working group plan to reach out to all Canberra's soccer clubs this weekend about their fundraising efforts as the winter season competitions commence.
"It's a mountain to climb but it's more doable than people might think," Danvers said.
"We're looking at a multi-pronged approach, including smaller donations from the public, but we're also still looking into investors and sponsorship."
Capital Football had promised to "step up its discussions with key stakeholders" of the stalled A-League Men bid, but there remains no clear indication of when the new Canberra team's $20 million backer will be announced.
Chief executive Samantha Farrow last week said Capital Football faced significant financial pressures with $1.25 million per year spent on United in the past two seasons, and the current situation threatens to impact soccer's 15,000 registered players in Canberra.
United coach Njegosh Popovich told ABC Radio on Thursday that since Canberra's final game of the season on the weekend, Capital Football has been busy trying to raise funds to keep United alive.
"They're working hard on it," he said. "I know the chief executive officer [Farrow] is definitely having a lot of meetings with people and external funding.
"So we're really hopeful and positive that there will be an outcome in the short term.
"I think there is enough support out there that wants to see women's sport get its fair share," Popovich added.
"I was talking to some of our sponsors at our presentation night and they couldn't be more helpful."
United captain Michelle Heyman was named the Player of the Year at the annual presentation evening in Braddon on Wednesday, following her record-tying 17-goal season that won her the A-League Golden Boot award.
Mary Stanic-Floody claimed the Rising Star Award, Heyman and Nickoletta Flannery took out the Ellie Brush Players' Player, and Young Matildas defender Sasha Grove got the Supporters' Player.
United's second-leading goal-scorer Vesna Milivojevic was not in attendance at the awards night after leaving following the season finale to join Swedish club IFK Norrkoping.
Several players are being circled by rival clubs as contract talks with Capital Football are held off, and Milivojevic's departure followed international star Maria "Cote" Rojas last week signing with Chilean club, Santiago Morning.
According to Popovich, a majority of the team are content to wait and see what unfolds in the coming weeks for United, but with the talent the club boasts, he wouldn't be surprised to see a few more players depart. He also clarified that Milivojevic had sealed a deal with IFK Norrkoping mid-season.
"The players are a commodity and they're always going to be looked at by other clubs," he said.
"It wouldn't surprise me if a player like Chloe Lincoln has got some interest from overseas. She's a world-class goalkeeper.
"Hopefully we can get a resolution pretty quick and have these players signed up an the future of canberra looks pretty bright."