'Disappointing': Government shifts Throsby plans as Capital Football walks

Capital Football has conceded the association cannot meet a $4.5 million commitment to the planned facility in Gungahlin, ending years of questions about the proposed Home of Football.

ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry says the ACT government - who labelled Capital Football's decision "disappointing" - has already been considering new plans for the past year given the soccer association's financial struggles.

Capital Football chief executive Samantha Farrow says the decision to back out is a necessity for the cash-strapped organisation, but they may opt in for future stages of the build if it is financially viable.

A federal government review into the Australian Institute of Sport recommended the delayed Throsby project - which was announced in 2019 and originally set to be opened in 2023 as the home of Canberra United - be scaled back as a community facility.

Those plans are set to proceed with A-League officials declaring the AIS is their preferred home for Canberra teams.

"Capital Football have had a bit of instability with their leadership over the last couple of years and so I have always had my door open to have conversations with Capital Football about the future of the Home of Football at Throsby," Berry said.

"Unfortunately, that uncertainty has meant that there was no opportunity for the government to go forward with the project as it had been originally planned.

"When I had the conversation with Capital Football and asked them to confirm with us whether they had the funding given we know they've had some challenges more recently, particularly with the Canberra United team, whether they were ready to go forward with the program. They've come to us and said that they can't.

"We'll go ahead and work with them and the football community about what the plans are for that site going forward. There'll still be work done at that site.

"We just need to work out now what's the plan B given that there's a bit of a switch in where the Home of Football might be realised, particularly given the funding that's just gone into the Australian Institute of Sport through the federal government and to the recommendations out of the federal government's review."

"The government will provide community facilities and look to work with Capital Football in the future when the organisation is able to contribute to an expansion and larger facility complementing the community facilities. The detail of this work and new design will be available later in 2024.

"This is a disappointing outcome for some, however allows the government commence construction on the community fields without further delay."

Australian Professional Leagues officials want Canberra's A-Leagues base moved to Bruce, with the AIS emerging as the "clear preferred option" for investors planning to hold a licence for the city's men's and women's A-League teams.

The Throsby site was to include a main field with a grandstand - which would be a home for Canberra's ALW games - as well as two indoor futsal courts, a synthetic outdoor training pitch and three community fields, and offices for Capital Football staff.

But costs blew out and left officials staring at an estimated $20 million shortfall, despite the ACT government committing $29 million and Capital Football pledging $4.5 million to fund the project.

Now the same financial struggles that left Canberra United in danger of folding has forced Capital Football's hand.

The government had already offered a lifeline by providing Capital Football with a $200,000 rescue package to allow the association to run Canberra United in the 2024-25 season, with the search for an investor continually delayed.

"I think we're in a stage where there's some uncertainty and that's fair enough. We've tried as the government to provide some certainty the team going forward at least until for the 2024-25 football season," Berry said.

"We know the A-League have granted a license for the ACT or will be granting a license for the ACT to have a men's A-League team. That A-League [bid] will include a women's team. There are investors that are interested in doing that project. The funding just hasn't come through at the point of time where it needed to start a men's team.

"I think there's probably a time to go through at the moment while we wait and see what happens. There's no point in speculating at the moment because we know there's all this work happening around the edges. We'll just keep the team going as much as we can and work with Capital Football about what their future could be."

Capital Football has officially withdrawn from the Home of Football in Throsby, confirming they cannot make a $4.5 million commitment to the facility in a decision set to trigger a planning review.

Capital Football chief executive Samantha Farrow said the ACT government were contacted on April 23 with the official request.

The ACT government is still committed to a community facility at Throsby, but it's unclear if they will spend the full $29 million they had planned to fund the project.

The project has been in the planning phase for five years. Farrow said Capital Football may opt in on future stages of the build, but only if it was financially viable.

"We had asked the Sport Minister Yvette Berry for consideration to move the Home of Football element of Throsby out of stage one of development," Farrow told The Canberra Times.

"We just don't have the ability to commit to that at the moment, and then it is my understanding that the government is currently working on a different facility model, with that in mind.

"We still are hopeful to be included as the Home of Football at a later stage, but not right now.

"We are awaiting an announcement from the government as to what that facility model will now look like. But at this point, we're completely removed from being able to contribute to the Home of Football, which I believe is predominantly the stadium, the big ground and the futsal fields.

"We're just not able to commit the $4.5 million. It's a completely different facility model the government model are working on for this initial stage, to get it going."

READ MORE: AIS REVIEW BACKS UNITED TO DITCH THROSBY

A federal government's findings from a review into the Australian Institute of Sport were released last week and recommended that the delayed Throsby project - which was originally set to be opened in 2023 and become the home for Canberra United - be scaled back as a community facility instead, with Canberra's A-Leagues base moved to Bruce.

As part of the review, officials from the Australian Professional Leagues - owners of the A-Leagues - spoke about its plans for teams in Canberra, with the AIS not Throsby the "clear preferred option" for the men's team investors that are also set to take over United's women's licence from Capital Football.

The federal government backed the findings of the AIS review, with a $250 million funding package set to build a new indoor multi-purpose dome, a high-performance testing facility and updated athlete accommodation.

Capital Football said it is "open to any alternate model" the government propose for the Throsby site, with the hope that plans don't change too significantly as more soccer fields and sport facilities are still desperately needed in the ACT.

Originally the Home of Football was planned to include a main field with a grandstand, two indoor futsal courts, a synthetic outdoor training pitch and three community soccer fields, as well as offices for Capital Football staff.

Since the Home of Football project was announced in 2019 a budget blowout blamed on COVID-19 delays and increased building costs led to an estimated $20 million shortfall, despite the ACT government committing $29 million and Capital Football's initial pledge of $4.5 million.

In recent years Capital Football has been under financial stress, with the strain of operating United reaching breaking point.

The foundation A-League Women club nearly folded if not for an ACT government funding lifeline, and is still set to run on a "minimalistic budget" for the next A-League Women season.

"We've got Canberra United going for another season and community football is also the priority," Farrow said.

"The Home of Football was always going to be a staged development, we're just asking for our bit to be added probably at stage two or a little bit down the track so we have a chance to get our organisation back in front and doing what we do best."