In the meantime, a franchise in Townsville is being sounded out should the New Zealanders fail to find $2 million in the required upfront funding.

"We've upped the ante with New Zealand today - they've been very slow in coming forward with the financials to show us how they can actually fund the club," Carroll told the press in Sydney yesterday.

"As much as Wellington is a great city and they've got a great coach and infrastructure, without the necessary funding it would be very hard to run an A-League club.”

New Zealand Soccer CEO Graham Seatter was hopeful the Wellington bid could find the money but didn’t sound confident.

"The FFA have said very clearly Wellington need to show investment at that level [$2million]. We're working very hard to achieve that but at this time the Wellington bid is not there," Seatter reportedly said.

"Wellington are to be praised for their continuing efforts and we hope they succeed but getting investment up front for a club is extremely difficult, particularly in New Zealand.

"Unless an investor can be found for the up-front funding, it's not going to happen," Seatter added.

In what was a tumultuous day, FFA Head of Operations Matt Carroll also announced his resignation.

Carroll has been instrumental in assessing the New Zealand bids but in the wider context has been crucial in getting the successful A-League up and running over the last three years.

One FFA source told www.au.fourfourtwo.com it was “sad that Matt was leaving.”