sport, top-sport-stories, ffa, capital football, a-league, canberra a-league, greg o'rourke

A-League boss Greg O'Rourke says Canberra could have a team in the A-League within three years. He'll be in Canberra for Football Federation Australia's fan forum at the University of Canberra on Wednesday night, where he was expecting a barrage of questions relating to the capital's unsuccessful bid. O'Rourke said Canberra and Brisbane were two of the options for when the A-League expands to 14 teams, which O'Rourke hoped would be before the end of the current broadcast deal. He also felt being part of that expansion was the more likely path for Canberra, rather than being promoted from any future second division. The forum has been set up to discuss community soccer issues, but O'Rourke was attending because of the ACT's interest in the A-League. While Canberra's bid to enter the national competition was unsuccessful late last year, with the FFA opting for the Western Melbourne and Macarthur South West Sydney instead, O'Rourke felt they could be in the competition by the 2021-22 season. "Then we'll have to make a decision whether we put two teams in at that time or continue this one-team-at-a-time stepping process and end up with one in '21-22 and another in '22-23," he said. "Now they all stay within the existing broadcast deal, which is important because then you go to a new broadcast deal with a 14-team, 26-week competition ... [which] becomes a home-and-away competition." The A-League boss wouldn't guarantee Canberra's place as one of the next two expansion teams, but he said they were perfectly placed to be one of them. He said with more teams from Melbourne and Sydney now out of the equation, Canberra and Brisbane were at the front of the queue and would be one of only four or so bids. "That mix is becoming a much shorter list because we see strength in Brisbane and we see strength in Canberra, and we've already populated Sydney and Melbourne," O'Rourke said. "So they're not going to be two teams out of seven, they're more likely to be two teams out of four. "The fact they have been in the application process for quite a while, plus they have a well-supported W-League team and they've got their own stadium, which is also a bonus." There's a push for the introduction of a national second division with promotion and relegation part of the equation. It was seen as an option for Canberra to force their way into the top flight. But O'Rourke felt expansion was the more-likely option. "I wouldn't close them off to a second division promotion, but I think as far as choosing the 13th and 14th team will most likely come from the expansion process," he said. FFA FAN FORUM Wednesday: In the Ann Harding Centre at the University of Canberra, 7-9pm.

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