Canberra's failed A-League licence bid in 2018, like so many things in life, can be summed up with a punchy Simspons quote.
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As her gravely ill Grandpa lays in hospital, Lisa Simpson asks Dr Hibbert:
"I thought you located another kidney for Grandpa?" to which the forever chortling doc replies:
"Larry Hagman took it. He's got five of them now...and three hearts."
Football Federation Australia's decision in late 2018 to once again overlook the capital as an expansion option felt like a much heftier gut punch than the rejection earlier in the decade.
The bid, led by Michael Caggiano, had everything - a ready-made stadium, a huge junior participation foundation, and a city salivating at the prospect of welcoming another national sporting team.
Yet the FFA decided instead to fatten up Australia's two heaving metropolitan areas tacking on another team in Melbourne, and one more in Sydney. For the second time since the league's inception, Sydney and Melbourne were given another club.
Granted, the initial decisions in 2009 to bring in the Melbourne Heart, and then three years later to admit the Western Sydney Wanderers were correct.
A-League momentum collected from the Socceroos' dream run at the 2006 World Cup was rapidly evaporating, and injecting a Melbourne and then Sydney derby into the competition's fabric provided a much-needed boost for crowds and interest.
When the FFA's chance came two years ago to tap into a market starved of a national men's soccer team for almost 20 years, it failed to take the opportunity.
But the universe works in mysterious ways, and as luck would have it, there might well be a backdoor into the A-League for Canberra.
Central Coast owner Mike Charlesworth has decided to sell his Mariners, reportedly for just $4m. It's a development Caggiano and his bid team have observed with significant interest.
Since being rebuked by the FFA they have waited patiently for another chance, unlike certain bids that were overlooked last time such as Southern Expansion - chaired by former Premier Morris Iemma and led by ex Football NSW board member Chris Gardiner.
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The Southern Expansion bid which covered St George, Sutherland and Wollongong disbanded following their rejection, and several of its key players have since thrown their support behind Canberra's A-League licence push.
Iemma and Gardiner both suggested this week that the ACT Government should buy the Central Coast licence, move the team to Canberra, wait for the next broadcast deal to go through (increasing the value of the licence) and then on sell the team for a tidy profit.
"The ACT Government does not purchase sporting teams," a spokesperson said when presented with the idea.
"Our focus at this time is supporting Canberrans through the COVID-19 pandemic."
And fair enough too...these are worrying, unprecedented times and the health of all Canberrans is much more important than purchasing a sporting team.
But an A-League team would be supported by the government, which had previously pledged to kick in $1.2m worth of funding per season.
Perhaps the last piece of the puzzle would be a home for a Canberra team.
No immediate timeline has been set on building a proposed new stadium in Canberra be that on the site of Civic Pool, or at Exhibition Park.
Manuka Oval remains a short-to-medium term possibility, while an A-League team could well be the catalyst for the upgrade Queanbeyan's Seiffert Oval has been crying out for.
Canberra is ready. To steal a brilliant phrase from Gough Whitlam's successful 1972 election campaign - It's time.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
