The re-birth of the Carleton Ravens football team is almost a reality, as the ultimate goal of $5 million dollars in funding continues to draw near.

While the original plan had the team slated for a return to action in the 2012 campaign, former Raven and current president of the Old Crow society, Kevin McKerrow, has conceded that a later date is needed to ensure that everything is in order to get off to a strong start.

"We are very close to being in a position to re-launch the program," he told Your Region Ottawa. "We are aiming at August-September 2013 for the program to start league play."

According to an announcement on Carleton.ca, $4.7 million has been pledged to the program so far. These funds will go towards an expected annual operating cost of $800,000, Carleton athletic director Jennifer Brenning has stated in the past.

The desired total will allow the team to compete for five seasons, at a cost of $1 million per year.

The remaining $200,000 per season will be utilized to make improvements to Carleton's athletics facilities, which are not ready to house full-sized football teams just yet. This includes upgrades to both the weight room and dressing rooms.

If anyone was going to spearhead this revival, it was going to be McKerrow. Few people can rival his involvement with the Ravens program. The recent winner of the Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award suited up as an offensive lineman for the Ravens from 1983 to 1986, before moving to the sidelines and taking on the role of assistant coach from 1989 to 1991.

He has also served as president of the Old Crow Society since 1998 — a group which consists of approximately 600 Ravens’ football alumni, and has been the driving force behind the revival of Carleton football.

Poor performances, including two consecutive 1-7 seasons, and dwindling support in the bleachers resulted in the original edition of the team being shut down by the university in 1998. Citing exceedingly high costs and escalating losses on and off the field, the program was given the axe.

But on the back of McKerrow's enthusiasm and effort, momentum has been building throughout the Carleton community for a return to the gridiron. In November 2008, a student survey revealed that 86 per cent of students would support a football team if it did finally return.

The original proposal to bring the team back was brought to the forefront in 2000, only two years after the team was dissolved.

Just as it was back then, the major selling point for the Old Crows is the implementation of a new, self-sufficient business model. This time around, the team will act as its own entity, absorbing the costs of the program without involvement from the school. It is a model that has proved hugely successful with other CIS football programs, most notably the six-time champion Laval Rouge et Or.

The group was given the ultimate boost in the fall of 2009, when former Raven John Ruddy — now the president of the Trinity Development Group — committed a $2.5-million pledge to aid in resurrecting his former team. Ruddy is also a key member of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), who are the major catalysts attempting to bring the CFL back to the nations capital.

With OSEG on board, the foundation was put in place to make the Ravens resurrection a reality.

If things progress as expected, Pedro the Panda may finally be able to wipe away the dust he has been collecting for over a decade, and give Ravens fans a chance to experience CIS football once again.