Canberra Stadium keen on theatre of the round ball to fill summer

A Canberra franchise in the A-League national soccer competition could be just what Canberra Stadium needs to keep the venue viable in the summer months.

Rugby union franchise the ACT Brumbies calls the stadium home for the Super 14 season from February until May while the other major tenant, the Canberra Raiders, plays games at the stadium in the National Rugby League from March until September.

Current contracts for both teams to play at Canberra Stadium finish at the end of the 2009 season which could leave the 25,000-seat venue empty.

Adding a Canberra soccer franchise to the list of users would keep the stadium operational year-round.

But the dream of establishing an A-League team that competes from August until January could be another three years from realisation. The eight clubs playing in the competition are contracted to the league for five years.

Entering the second year of competition, it would be unlikely that Football Federation Australia would extend the league to 10 teams until 2010. The region completed its first audition for a place in the country's top soccer competition on Saturday when 7226 supporters watched a preseason cup game against Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets.

Canberra Stadium chief executive Neale Guthrie said it would be ideal to have all three sports operating at the venue and understood their limitations to host national summer fixtures.

"My job is to try and realise as much revenue potential out of this place as we can and an A-League product is something that is played during the summer months and that can only be a good thing for us," he said.

The stadium, which used to have an athletics track, was redeveloped in 1990 to accommodate the Raiders. Further renovations were completed in 1997.

The playing surface was dropped, bowl seating added and the playing surface made rectangular, preventing Australian football being played at the stadium.

The stadium is owned by the ACT Government and ran at a profit of $200,000 last year but Guthrie said he would welcome more soccer being played at the venue.

"We have broken even so I'm happy with that. We got all the bills paid," he said. "We were willing to take a risk because I think A-League is the next best thing to happen in Australia and you want to be a part of it. You have got to start getting involved."

Other regional centres have struggled to attract more than 4000 spectators in the first two rounds of the cup.

In Perth, an estimated 2000 fans watched Perth Glory draw 1-1 with Melbourne Victory on Saturday.

In Maroochydore, 3447 supporters watched another 1-1 draw between the Queensland Roar and New the Zealand Knights, while the 0-0 draw between Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United attracted a healthy crowd of 4344 in Orange.

Capital Football chief executive Heather Reid said their estimated loss of $15,000 for hosting the preseason match was an important investment to measure the interest of establishing an A-League team in Canberra.