Just a year after winning the competition, a community football club is closing its doors after its license was revoked.
More than 2,000 junior and senior players have been left without a club for the 2026 football season after the ACT’s Gungahlin United Football Club (GUFC) announced in a social media post today that it was folding.
Last year, former president Aaron Alexander was given a suspended prison sentence for stealing $23,546 from the club while he was in charge of its finances between September 2016 and July 2018.
Since then, what Capital Football described in a statement as “financial mismanagement” under another subsequent chairman, means the club now owes more than $200,000 to a number of creditors, including $180,000 to ACT Sportsgrounds.
In a statement posted on social media, the club said that when GUFC received a final notice from Capital Football earlier this month, it “became evident that the former chairman had exercised poor financial oversight and the executive committee under his leadership had failed to implement adequate governance controls”.
“The executive committee under his leadership failed to implement adequate governance controls… This mismanagement directly contributed to the deterioration of the club’s financial position and its inability to meet its key obligations,” the statement said.
“As a result, the President and Executive Committee have been asked to step down.
“It is deeply saddening that the actions and mismanagement of a few individuals have resulted in the displacement of over 2,000 players as well as coaches, volunteers and families.“
The club faced controversy earlier this season after threats of a boycott by players in the men’s first-year team.
Just five weeks ago, the club took to social media to insist that “all contractual payments are currently up to date”.
Preparing for the 2026 season
Gungahlin United Football Club won the men’s NPL competition last year. (Facebook: Gungahlin United Football Club)
The GUFC had already started preparations for the 2026 season.
According to their statement, these included issuing pre-offers to players and submitting a recovery plan to Capital Football and the ACT Government, proposing improved financial management and stricter and regular financial reporting.
However, Capital Football has not issued a 2026 license allowing the club to play in the men’s and women’s National Premier Leagues (NPL) – the highest level competition in the ACT.
“Without such a license, it is not possible or reasonable for the community arm of the club to carry a debt in excess of $200,000 while continuing normal operations,”
indicates the club press release.
“The Interim Executive determined that GUFC’s only viable future depended on maintaining an NPL license.”
The statement said the club “is left with little or no alternative.”
However, in a statement, Capital Football said GUFC declined the opportunity to submit financial documents which could have allowed the club to continue with grassroots community teams and without NPL teams.
This was in response to correspondence from the Capital Football board released on October 15 by the GUFC regarding its concern that the club appeared unable to maintain operations within the NPL.
Find new clubs for budding footballers
In a statement, Capital Football said it was deeply saddened by this announcement.
“Capital Football regrets that poor financial management has led to a situation in which a club believes it can no longer continue its activities,”
said the press release.
The statement said Capital Football’s priority was to ensure all players associated with GUFC had the opportunity to continue playing football in the ACT.
In a statement, the ACT government said it had “worked constructively” with the GUFC in recent years and offered the club “payment plans” for sports ground rental fees.
“Despite these efforts, a significant debt remains unpaid,” a government spokesperson said.
The government said it would work with Capital Football on “future steps for a club in Gungahlin”.
GUFC was founded in 1963 and has held an NPL license in both men’s and women’s competitions since 2015.
The men’s team won the competition in 2019 and 2024.
Editor’s Note 10/18/2025: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Aaron Alexander as the GUFC president mentioned in Capital Football’s advisory regarding the club’s recent “financial mismanagement.”
The story also incorrectly stated that Aaron Alexander was jailed for stealing $23,000 from GUFC. He received a suspended prison sentence for this crime.
