Canberra Eclipse FC

The Canberra Eclipse (founded in 1996 as the ACT Academy of Sport) were a women's soccer club that represented the city of Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory in the now defunct Women's National Soccer League.

The club featured several players that would go on to represent the Matildas and are considered to be the forerunner for the professional W-League club Canberra United FC.

The six foundation clubs, broken up into two conferences of three teams each, were represented by the individual states elite Academy of Sports.

[1] The 1998–99 season saw the club adopt the moniker of the Canberra Eclipse, as clubs in the competition sought to move away from their academy roots, and attempt to garner interest and visibility on the league[2] The club would go on to win its first silverware, winning the regular season, however losing to the SA Pirates 2–0 in the grand final.

[3] Further success would come during the 2001–02 season, as the beat the NSW Sapphires in the Grand Final[4] having gone into the final classed as underdogs,[5] with 18-year-old telent Caitlin Munoz scoring the only goal of the game.