Poletti 
Canberra United 2024/25 A-League Women's season preview. Photo: Provided by Football Australia / Tiff Williams. Design: Round Ball Australia.
After a disastrous 2023/24 campaign which ended on a high note with three straight victories to close out the season, Canberra will be hoping for a much better campaign as talks around their future continue to dominate discussions.
There were serious fears that last season would be Canberra’s last in the A-League Women over ownership and funding concerns, before a fan movement helped raise a significant portion of money to keep the club going in addition to government support.
Canberra is supposed to be getting an A-League Men expansion side, but with ownership talks stalling out, United were, and still are, left in the lurch, with no clear indication over what the future holds beyond this season.
It is hard to be optimistic and preview a side that has lost some of its talented young players and might not exist in another 12 months, but here we go anyway.
The Manager: Antoni Jagarinec
The departure of Njegosh Popovic following the conclusion of his contract, who was invited to re-apply for the role by Capital Football, saw assistant coach Jagarinec appointed as the new head coach.
He is well placed in the Canberra football scene, having won multiple trophies at Belconnen United and was described by Capital Football CEO Samantha Farrow as a standout amongst a very high calibre field of applicants for the job.
“He ticked all the boxes we were looking for as a leader for the team and his knowledge of the league and the playing group is an additional bonus for us. We are looking forward to working with him,” she said.
Jagarinec said he recognised the challenge that is in front of him and that there is plenty of work to do, which included replacing some massive departures, with an emphasis on the character of the players being recruited.
“It’s the person before the player without a doubt,” he said.
“[I] had a lot of chats to players that aren’t in our environment and if it didn’t feel right straight away, it probably didn’t come to fruition.
“So the players that I have signed, I’m very comfortable with the person that they are, and what they can bring to our club and our community, as well as the football park.”
The Squad
The outs list may be small, but it is massive in both names and playing talent.
Sasha Grove and Chloe Lincoln have both departed to Western United. Nikki Flannery has moved to Melbourne Victory. Vesna Milivojevic departed at the end of last season for an overseas transfer, while Emma Ilijoski did the same in the off-season.
Coming in to Canberra is Sally James, who will be hoping for consistent game time and a breakout season after her time at Melbourne City was hampened by injury and being behind Morgan Aquino, who had a breakout season at Perth Glory.
Also joining her on the ins list are former Sydney FC players Aideen Keane, Darcey Malone and Jynaya Dos Santos, New Zealand international Elizabeth Anton (Perth Glory), and former Wanderer Bethany Gordon, along with Emma Robers (Western United) and Maja Markovski, who returns to the league following a successful stint at NPL Women’s Victoria side Bulleen Lions.
The re-signings are plentiful, highlighted by the return of Matildas star Michelle Heyman, who will be key to Canberra’s plans this season in attack.
Also re-signing were New Zealand international Ruby Nathan, Hayley Taylor-Young who returns following an ankle injury that kept her out of last season, but had a strong return to match fitness with the Illawarra Stingrays in NPL Women’s NSW, along with her teammate at the Stingrays Sofia Christopherson for her third season at Canberra.
Mary Stanic-Floody also re-signed, along with Junior Matilda Lillian Skelly and Young Matilda Tegan Bertolissio.
It is a side mixed with plenty of young talent and several experienced veterans that could trouble a lot of teams this year, but sustained success over the 23-game season might be an issue.
Expectations
Just exist next season. Please. The thought of losing Canberra United is a dreadful one, and everything needs to be done to save the club and its place in Dub history, whether it is attached to an A-League Men side or not.
For this season however, coming off an 11th place finish last season means a lot of work to do to gain ground on the rest of the competition, with a strong finish masking a disappointing season and just how far away the club was for the bulk of the season from the 10 teams above them.
A strong recruitment period and key re-signings have left Canberra with a very talented team on paper under new coach Jagarinec.
Success this season probably looks like competing for a finals spot for a chunk of the season, even if they fall short in the last few rounds.