NZ Soccer CEO Graham Seatter said the Wellington bidders were "just short" of the necessary level of capital investment but is confident NZ Soccer can help them "get this over the line" with the hope of signing a sub-licence agreement by March 8.

"Our view is they need a minimum $2 million capital base to underpin their revenue and operational budget and they’re short of that," said Seatter who will be in Wellington for meetings early next week.

"It’s a clean break, Wellington has a great venue [Westpac Stadium], it’s the event capital of New Zealand with a proven record of spectator support and they’ve got a committed group of people putting this thing together," Seatter said.

It’s expected that the NZ national governing body will have a member on any new club’s board.

"They also have Wellington City Council support so we firmly believe we can get this over the line, we really do," added Seatter.

Wellington is also is home to Team Wellington in the New Zealand Football Championship.The city is located in the centre of New Zealand at the southern end of the North Island.