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The 2008–09 season was Canberra United Football Club's first season, in the newly formed women's league in Australia the W-League. Canberra United finished 3rd in their W-League season, finishing as runners-up in the Grand Final.

Review

The first announcement of the club came in July 2008, coinciding with the establishment of the new W-League. The formation of the new club presented a unique situation in the league, that it was not associated with an established A-League side. In August, Canberra appointed Matildas assistant coach Robbie Hooker as coach for the inaugural season, and ACT Senator Kate Lundy as club chair. United also announced its first key signing in local Canberran and Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams. Hooker made a number of key signings in the first registration window, also securing Caitlin Munoz, Amy Chapman, Grace Gill-McGrath, Hayley Crawford, Rhian Davies, Thea Slatyer for the inaugural season. The squad was further expanded in the lead up to the first round, signing on a number of players from the ACT and Southern NSW, and also signing Sasha McDonnell and Kara Mowbray from Queensland. The final squad presented significant strength on paper, boasting eight full internationals and a further four Young Matildas.

United started the season steadily, alternating losses and wins in the opening rounds - including a win over eventual Premiers Queensland Roar. Scoring came with some difficulty for the side, with four goals in their opening first five matches. Influencing this record was an injury to striker Caitlin Munoz in Round 1, keeping her sidelined for a number of weeks. Munoz's return to the side in Round 6 immediately lifted the scoring rate, contributing four goals in the last five rounds. Despite early losses, Canberra were unbeaten in the last seven rounds of the competition, achieving a third placed finish with a record of four wins, four draws and two losses. Canberra's strength throughout the season has been in defence, drawn from a number of experienced players. In front of a dependable Williams in goal, a defensive backline led by Thea Slatyer and captain Ellie Brush frustrated opposition and ensured the second-best defensive record in the competition, bettered only by Premiers Queensland.

United won their away semi-final against Newcastle Jets, and progressed to the inaugural final, where they were defeated by Queensland Roar.

Players

Name and position	No	Joined in	Former team	Birth date	Citizenship
Goalkeepers
Lydia Williams	1	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1988-05-13) 13 May 1988 (age 36)
Maja Blasch	20	2008	Canberra City SC	(1990-06-19) 19 June 1990 (age 34)
Defenders
Ellie Brush (c)	7	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1988-08-19) 19 August 1988 (age 36)
Rhian Davies	2	2008	NSW Institute of Sport	(1981-01-05) 5 January 1981 (age 44)
Grace Gill-McGrath	9	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1989-06-27) 27 June 1989 (age 35)
Rebecca Kiting	8	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1991-05-08) 8 May 1991 (age 33)
Thea Slatyer (vc)	13	2008	NSW Institute of Sport	(1983-02-02) 2 February 1983 (age 41)
Bronwyn Studman	4	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1992-03-24) 24 March 1992 (age 32)
Snez Veljanovska	16	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(age 20)
Christine Walters	17	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1991-06-17) 17 June 1991 (age 33)
Midfielders
Lucy Allan	18	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1991-06-30) 30 June 1991 (age 33)
Jennifer Bisset	19	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1992-01-28) 28 January 1992 (age 32)
Cian Maciejewski	11	2008	Belwest Foxes	(1987-06-14) 14 June 1987 (age 37)
Kara Mowbray	12	2008	Queensland Lions	(1985-05-07) 7 May 1985 (age 39)
Nicole Sykes	15	2008	Western NSW Panthers FC	(1991-12-15) 15 December 1991 (age 33)
Forwards
Amy Chapman	3	2008	ACT Academy of Sport	(1987-12-02) 2 December 1987 (age 37)
Hayley Crawford	10	2008	NSW Institute of Sport	(1984-03-27) 27 March 1984 (age 40)
Sasha McDonnell	5	2008	Queensland Lions	(1987-01-12) 12 January 1987 (age 38)
Caitlin Munoz	6	2008	Pali Blues	(1983-10-04) 4 October 1983 (age 41)
Ashleigh Sykes	14	2008	Western NSW Panthers FC	(1991-12-15) 15 December 1991 (age 33)

Transfers

Short-term signings

Player	Team	Start Date	End Date	Reason
Ellie Raymond	ACTAS	29 October 2008	6 November 2008	Cover for Ashleigh Sykes while on international duty
Sophie Kochinos	ACTAS	29 October 2008	6 November 2008	Cover for Christine Walters while on international duty
Michaela Day	Belwest Foxes	29 October 2008	6 November 2008	Cover for Bronwyn Studman while on international duty

Competitions

Overall record

Source: Competitions

W-League

League table

Results summary

Source: worldfootball.net

Results by round

Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 1 October 2008.

  Win   Draw   Loss

Finals series

References

1. "Canberra United appoint Chair and Head Coach". Capital Football. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
2. Sherwood, M (28 July 2008). "Canberras best players on national stage". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
3. Smith, P (10 January 2009). "Canberra into Westfield W-League final". A-League.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
4. ^ Gottaas, C (29 October 2008). "Canberra United gets a top up". Canberra United FC. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2008.

• Canberra United FC seasons
• 2008–09 W-League (Australia) by team