![Craig Moore has been appointed as the prospective Canberra A-League team's football operations manager. Picture: Getty Images Craig Moore has been appointed as the prospective Canberra A-League team's football operations manager. Picture: Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/saUj2cRAP9bwWw3hs5sGK4/d3693825-86e8-4047-9e66-f9c5998f6a92.jpg/r0_373_3651_2434_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Canberra's prospective A-League team has lured former Socceroo Craig Moore to the capital, adding another major cog to the region's bid.
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Moore would assist head of football Ron Smith if Canberra was successful in securing an A-League licence, joining the group as its football operations manager.
The pair would be responsible for laying the club's foundations in terms of overseeing coaching appointments, player development and elite pathways.
The Capital Region Football Collective was still waiting for Football Federation Australia's response to its multi-million dollar offer to acquire an A-League licence. If successful, the Canberra-based club was expected to join the competition from the 2021-22 season.
Moore, who previously worked as the director of football at the Brisbane Roar, was excited by the prospect of starting a club from scratch.
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He hoped to put Canberra in a position to be successful from day one, saying the region had plenty of talent to be brought into a future A-League system.
"The challenge for me is putting the right people in the position to be able to grow the football club," Moore said.
"The talent in terms of bringing players through and getting them in the system. I'm a strong believer that we have talent in Australia and certainly in the ACT.
"There's been great talent that's left Canberra over the years, your Ned Zelics, Tom Rogics and Carl Valeris. I brought Kai Trewin from the ACT to Brisbane Roar who has played for the first grade team.
"The talent is there, it's making sure you bring the right personnel in to drive what could be a very exciting project for Canberra because it's a state that's probably missed out a bit in terms of the A-League.
"They've thrown their hat in a couple of times and missed out. I believe there's a good opportunity now. There'll be a real hunger and desire for those people to have an opportunity because they probably haven't had previously."
Moore will fly to the United Kingdom later this month to explore and strengthen opportunities for potential partnerships with Canberra.
"At some stage they'll be looking for head coaches, strength and conditioning coaches and overseas talent. It's a good opportunity to get a little bit of work in terms of football consultancy," Moore said.
"The ability to network, have meetings and explore some different opportunities in terms of partnerships, it'll be exciting for players in Canberra to have pathways out of Australia eventually."
Talks between Capital Region FC and the FFA were progressing, with the bid leaders hoping for a response in the coming weeks.
Moore, who played 62 games for Brisbane after a glittering European career, said the addition of a Canberra team would benefit the A-League amid an uncertain time for the competition.
"It can bring something fresh and new, a little bit of excitement to Australian football," Moore said.
"Certainly a club in Canberra would be able to enhance the excitement of what has been, the last couple of seasons, a grind.
"I think someone new would bring a lot of excitement and more opportunities to the game in general, hopefully it's not just Canberra.
"We need to be getting to 16 teams in the A-League so there can be a 30-round competition. We need more games for players in Australia if we want them to do bigger and better things on the international stage."