A-League commissioner Nick Garcia says that the competition remains on track to add a Canberra expansion side to its men's league for the 2024-25 season and that progress is being made on finding new ownership for the Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory.
A-League administrators, the Australian Professional Leagues, announced plans to add franchises in Canberra and Auckland in March of last year, representing the leagues' 13th and 14th entrants in a long-term vision to grow to a 16-team competition.
American billionaire Bill Foley, owner of Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and NHL franchise the Vegas Golden Knights, was confirmed as the owner of the Auckland licence in November, with the franchise since appointing Steve Corica as its inaugural coach, Terry McFlynn as its football director, and Nick Becker as chief executive.
- Subscribe to ESPN's Women's Football Podcast: The Far Post
News on Canberra investors, in contrast, has been scarce, despite the window now being open for clubs to negotiate with out-of-contract men's players for next season; a process the as-yet-unnamed Auckland entity has enthusiastically commenced. Last week, Canberra United players voiced their concerns about their contract situations amidst the delays.
But Garcia, who assumed responsibility as the day-to-day custodian of the A-League following chief executive Danny Townsend's departure in October, remains confident that Canberra will have a presence in the men's top-flight next season, flagging talks with an Australian-based buyer.
"I'm very positive about Canberra right now," Garcia told ESPN and AAP. "We're in advanced discussions with a party for Canberra."
"The thing I think it's important to understand about Canberra is that they have a women's team already, it's not a cold start. There's a women's team, there's structure around the club, there's a brand, a lot of that's stood up.
"You're adding a men's team. It's not like Auckland.
"The other thing is because there's been other bids for an A-League licence out of Canberra. So much work and public support has already been done. Government support and stuff as well. We've got all that. So they'll move really fast when they're in."
The Australian capital, however, isn't the only location seeking A-League investment; both the Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory are ownerless heading into 2024.
Propped up by a consortium of fellow A-League clubs since its licence was stripped from Martin Lee in early 2021, KordaMentha was appointed to handle the sale of the Jets in October. The professional services firm had signalled its intention to have the Hunter club sold by Christmas, only for the holiday period to pass with no official word on new backers.
The Glory, meanwhile, collapsed into receivership in June, with KordaMentha also appointed to oversee a transition to new ownership "within 10 weeks" and the Australian Professional Leagues stepping in to help fund the club's ongoing obligations.
A Primeland Group-led consortium headed by Melbourne property magnate Robert Brij and associate John Nekic were unveiled as new owners in October, but that deal was terminated less than a month later and the club put back on the market after KordaMentha said Primeland failed to "satisfy certain conditions precedent to the sale transaction."
Garcia reiterated that the APL wasn't administering the sale of either the Jets or Glory licences but struck a positive tone over the sale of both.
"On Newcastle, they are in advanced stages of negotiations," he said. "[Glory's] receivers [KordaMentha] are in negotiations, which we expect to conclude quite soon. They have a timeline that is very aggressive."
At a time of significant and ongoing transition for the league, Garcia said that the process for determining the preferred locations for a 15th and 16th A-Leagues' licence, initially slated for entry in the 2025-26 season, had yet to begin.
"[The next steps in expansion are] something that we're going to be looking at very soon," said the commissioner. "As we come out of what we're doing and closing [the Canberra process], we're starting to pivot to it now as part of the football strategy."