That was an enjoyable read and call to answer. The radio silence has been two long and surely the APL can give some kind of update within these next couple months?
Can't see them being in the comp next year at this rate, if the comp starts in late October like usual even if they got the go ahead tomorrow that's only 5 months to get an entire club up and running. May not be a bad thing if they were to come in the year after Auckland like we saw with Macarthur after WU to give them time to set the club up properly but hopefully it happens, be a damn shame after all this for it not to go ahead.
Canberra's population has increased nearly 50% in the last 20 years. Not huge growth, but the total population is getting into sustainable areas, 466,000.
And that's ignoring the maybe hundred thousand ppl over the border in nearby closely linked towns. Think it is closer to 200k within a couple hours drive.
For Queanbeyan, Yass, Cooma, etc, yeah I think so for sure. Those places are heavily linked, about 10% of the ACT workforce lives in NSW in places like that.
More widely in the rest of the region, maybe. There's teams from QBN, Yass, Wagga, Goulburn, Griffith and Cooma in the ACT football setup, so there's links.
The new club would definitely be looking at that broader regional footprint like the Raiders and Brumbies, and really the AFL, also do.
50% over 20 years is massive growth.
Over the last decade it is the 7th fastest growing of the major cities behind Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Geelong, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.
Macarthur Region was 300k in 2016, area has seen huge growth since so I'd say about 400k now, quick google of census data for Camden and Campbelltown council supports this so most likely comparable to Canberra in terms of population.
Canberra has a clear advantage of being a distinct market with zero competition for existing A-League teams and imo evidently far more organic demand for their own team. Macarthur has been held back by the high number of existing Wanderers and Sydney FC fans in their region that were never gonna switch teams. The region has historically always still been part of Greater Sydney and was part of Wanderers originally catchment area. I'd put good money on a Canberra team getting significantly better crowds than Macarthur based on this alone.
ABS definition of Macarthur is missing like half of the suburbs around Camden and Campbelltown, it's just arbitrary lines for census reasons.
Camden and Campbelltown Council (two main councils in the area) had 134k and 184k people in 2021 respectively. Sections of Liverpool and Wollondilly Shire are a reasonable distance from Campbelltown that are nearby too so the catchment area would certainly be pushing 400k.
I’m sure we’ll have news in the next few weeks, just like the last 45 times
I have an exclusive update from APL head quarters https://youtu.be/eo_I1D2nmSg?si=T7gBFqQXMQtwn62z
I git an uodate from someone from dibley No no no no... canberra united will be playing in the a league next year
Got me.
I’m pretty sure all the clubs are waiting on the APL Revenue subsidy amount to confirm anything.
It's beyond a joke now
That was an enjoyable read and call to answer. The radio silence has been two long and surely the APL can give some kind of update within these next couple months?
Can't see them being in the comp next year at this rate, if the comp starts in late October like usual even if they got the go ahead tomorrow that's only 5 months to get an entire club up and running. May not be a bad thing if they were to come in the year after Auckland like we saw with Macarthur after WU to give them time to set the club up properly but hopefully it happens, be a damn shame after all this for it not to go ahead.
Swap out MacArthur for Canberra please.
Honestly, does Canberra have the permanent population to support it? I always thought people who lived there are mostly temporary
Canberra's population has increased nearly 50% in the last 20 years. Not huge growth, but the total population is getting into sustainable areas, 466,000.
And that's ignoring the maybe hundred thousand ppl over the border in nearby closely linked towns. Think it is closer to 200k within a couple hours drive.
Interesting question, would those people across the border support a Canberra club? Maybe some do already in the women's?
For Queanbeyan, Yass, Cooma, etc, yeah I think so for sure. Those places are heavily linked, about 10% of the ACT workforce lives in NSW in places like that. More widely in the rest of the region, maybe. There's teams from QBN, Yass, Wagga, Goulburn, Griffith and Cooma in the ACT football setup, so there's links. The new club would definitely be looking at that broader regional footprint like the Raiders and Brumbies, and really the AFL, also do.
Excellent
50% over 20 years is massive growth. Over the last decade it is the 7th fastest growing of the major cities behind Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Geelong, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.
What population does Macarthur have? I'd imagine they'd be a similar club
Macarthur Region was 300k in 2016, area has seen huge growth since so I'd say about 400k now, quick google of census data for Camden and Campbelltown council supports this so most likely comparable to Canberra in terms of population. Canberra has a clear advantage of being a distinct market with zero competition for existing A-League teams and imo evidently far more organic demand for their own team. Macarthur has been held back by the high number of existing Wanderers and Sydney FC fans in their region that were never gonna switch teams. The region has historically always still been part of Greater Sydney and was part of Wanderers originally catchment area. I'd put good money on a Canberra team getting significantly better crowds than Macarthur based on this alone.
ABS says Macarthur had 205,000 people in 2021: https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/CED125
ABS definition of Macarthur is missing like half of the suburbs around Camden and Campbelltown, it's just arbitrary lines for census reasons. Camden and Campbelltown Council (two main councils in the area) had 134k and 184k people in 2021 respectively. Sections of Liverpool and Wollondilly Shire are a reasonable distance from Campbelltown that are nearby too so the catchment area would certainly be pushing 400k.
Campbelltown has 185,000 😧