Benchwarmers: Providing a sportswear solution to improve player performance and safety

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Australian company Benchwarmers have developed an innovative solution, through their functional sporting attire, to keep players warm when they are not on the field.

Their product, a body-length garment, is specifically designed to keep the most vulnerable parts of the body warm such as the upper legs, whilst keeping the arms free to allow players to regulate their own body temperature.

The item is ultra-lightweight and includes other features such as insulated inside pockets, a hood, a resistance to water and wind, as well as fully fleeced lining for extra warmth.

Creator of the product, Andrew Lauder, recently developed the Benchwarmer after his previous experiences as a coach on the sidelines.

“I identified that there was a problem years ago, he told Soccerscene.

“I was coaching young kids and was having to take down blankets and stuff to keep them warm on the benches.

“Some kids in football once they get a head knock or something, they go into a little bit of a shock and there was nothing to keep them warm on the bench apart from club hoodies or something along those lines, which was ridiculous.”

“Over the 2020 period I sort of started designing Benchwarmers, working out the features of how best to do it and have continued to go on from there.”

Lauder explained it was extremely necessary for grassroots players to keep their muscles warm on the bench before they came on, to avoid hamstring strains and other common soft tissue injuries.

“The main point is, especially with juniors and amateurs, they are sitting on the bench waiting for their time to come on and they don’t warm up like the professionals do,” he said.

“Professionals may say ‘let’s jump on the bike and get your legs moving’, but the kids and the amateurs they run on without properly warming up their body.”

The design of the Benchwarmers product.

Lauder has built up the product to a local and international audience and has found some success in doing so, despite it being a relatively new product.

“I put it out there to the kids, because that’s where I started it all,” he said.

“But at the moment it’s the amateurs in England who have started grabbing it and some clubs here.

“One thing that I get sometimes with the smaller clubs is they love it but they don’t want to pay for it. With junior clubs they are obviously volunteers and they are more hesitant to make the decision to spend the money. It’s crazy because you ask them every time, what do you have in the kitbag to keep the kids warm? They usually have nothing, just club jackets, which I don’t believe is sufficient.”

Lauder continues to invest his time into avenues which will grow the presence of his item, such as social media work, further marketing of Benchwarmers and listening to customer’s feedback.

“My main thing at this point of time is that I’ve been doing a lot of direct email marketing which I’ve put out,” he said.

“I am also building the Instagram and Facebook pages to target clubs and people to sort of get them onto it and that has started to work in some cases.

“Some feedback I’ve received by one of the clubs, for example, showed me the benefits of how important it is to be a lightweight product. One club wanted ten of them and wanted his manager to be able to put them into the kit bag and carry them from job to job. They don’t take up too much space, their waterproof, their fully lined inside, they’ve been developed with 40cm pockets on the inside which are insulated – all these things help.”

The creator of Benchwarmers hopes the product will continue to have steady growth here in Australia and overseas in the long term.

“In the future I wish that the Benchwarmers brand is in a hell of a lot of clubs and people are wrapped they have them for their kids,” Lauder said.

“Basically, I want them to think to themselves, why didn’t we do this or buy this years ago?”

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Build a home, create a culture: How do we secure the Socceroos as global competitors?

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

The Socceroos kicked off their World Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Turkey. It was an important win for their tournament ambitions, but also a statement about their quality on the world stage. It is time that we built a facility to ensure this quality is nurtured, not stifled.

Otherwise, we risk falling behind.

 

One of four…

Australia’s Men’s National Team currently sits as the 23rd-ranked team in the world in the official FIFA rankings. The Matildas, meanwhile, are the 15th highest-ranked women’s team.

This year is also the sixth consecutive FIFA Men’s World Cup featuring the Socceroos, confirming their position as a regular competitor in the most prestigious tournament in world football.

So why is it, despite these undeniably positive reflections of Australia’s growth in international football, that the Socceroos are still homeless?

At the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, Australia was one of four competing teams (a list featuring Denmark, Poland and Senegal) without a national base. In 2024, former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold described the team as “homeless” ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

But four years on from the tournament’s last edition, the situations remains the same. And the world is taking notice.

 

A letter to the PM

In April this year, FIFA reportedly wrote to Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, encouraging the construction of a permanent home for football in the country.

The letter reflects concerns within the governing body that Australia, despite being so present in international football throughout the past 25 years, may fall behind the rest of the pack.

When we look at the talent in the current squad, Australia is by no means an emerging football economy. But commercial and infrastructural limitations in the landscape mean this talent is under-appreciated.

Nevertheless, it is a nation which regularly proves it can compete – and win – on the biggest stage. This we saw only a few days ago.

Which is why the players, coaches and staff representing the nation deserve a permanent facility which reflects, nurtures and inspires talent and competition. The survival of the landscape depends on it.

 

The investment question

Investment into football – from grassroots to professional levels – continues to be at the crux of national debate on how to secure football’s future in Australia.

In a conversation between Soccerscene and Melbourne-based community club, Sunbury United FC, infrastructure and facility-sharing challenges emphasised common grievances for many grassroots clubs.

The issue, therefore, is spread across the nation’s football pyramid. And prompts an uncomfortable question about future investments:

If even the Socceroos continue to share their current base, Leichhardt Oval, with various teams across rugby league and soccer, how can we ever expect clubs further down the pyramid to avoid similar fates?

The past few years, however, have fortunately seen improved investment into the women’s game in Australia – particularly embodied by the ‘Home of the Matildas’.

The result of a $101.1 million investment by the Victorian Government in collaboration with La Trobe University and the Federal Government, the facility boasts elite training features including premium FIFA-standard pitches, multiple changing rooms, a high-performance gym, a sports science lab and more.

This was a welcome and vital boost ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which took place in Australia. Now, ever-increasing participation and pride are synonymous with women’s football, and the numbers confirm it.

In 2023, women and girls represented 190,746 participants across social, outdoor, fustal and registered football. In 2025, this increased to 231,435. It proves that, with the arrival of purposeful investment at the top, comes the spread of a football culture across the nation.

 

Aligning practical and cultural benefits

But what would a potential facility for the Socceroos actually look like? And what are the benefits?

When considering similar projects, we can look to both Japan and England as distinct examples of how a national base for football can unite practical, social and cultural benefits.

St George’s Park – England

Built in 2012, England’s base at St George’s Park is a masterclass in using facilities to establish a centre for industry cohesion and community impact.

As a centre of excellence, St George’s Park holds 14 outdoor pitches, a fustal arena, and hosts coaching and medical courses. It welcomes 28 teams across men’s, women’s, youth and para football, representing a place of unity and alignment for the entire football community.

Furthermore, the ‘Play Like the Pride’ program offers grassroots participants and school students the chance to experience the elite facilities for a day, showing how facilities can serve to connect young players to the world of their professional idols and foster real passion for the game.

JFA J-Village – Japan

The J-Village – beyond being a state-of-the-art football training centre – shows why a home for football can positively impact the community.

After being used as a support base for the nuclear power plant accident following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the venue now holds a deeply important place in the memory of Fukishima. As a result, upon resuming full operations in 2019, the facility – and the football development within it – represented a sense of perseverance, reconstruction and unity.

And through hotels and public transportation links, the J-Village also welcomes tourists and business travellers, encouraging more people to step into the world of football in Japan.

One venue, therefore, can give rise to an essential part of a thriving football landscape: culture. A culture for participation, community outreach, and elite development.

 

Final thoughts

The focus of the summer will no doubt be how the Socceroos perform on the pitch. And with homes, offices, and public spaces brimming with enthusiastic support, the sense of national pride is irresistible.

But for all the positive sentiment currently taking hold of the nation, there will come a time when Australia’s World Cup run is over, at which point an all-important question must be asked:

How do we move forward?

We move forward by transforming buzz into an aligned vision, commitment to nurturing talent, and a desire to establish a real footballing culture across the nation.

The first step to building this culture? Building a home from which it can thrive.

If Australia Wants to Be a Football Nation, We Need to Stop Scheduling Against the Socceroos

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Image Credit: ABC News

Jake Stringer isn’t a football analyst, a broadcaster or a football administrator.

Yet this week, he articulated a frustration many Australian football fans have felt for decades.

Following Australia’s opening match at the FIFA World Cup, the former AFL star labelled it a “disgrace” that AFL fixtures were scheduled head-to-head with the Socceroos, questioning why Australian sport would compete with one of the country’s most important sporting events rather than embrace it.

Whether you agree with Stringer or not, his comments touch on a much larger issue.

For all the discussion about football’s growth in Australia, the game still struggles to receive the national recognition afforded to comparable moments in other sports.

The Socceroos are not simply another national team.

They are Australia’s most globally relevant sporting side.

The argument that football remains a niche sport in Australia becomes increasingly difficult to sustain when the Socceroos take the field.

Their opening World Cup victory over Türkiye attracted a total television audience of 4.78 million Australians, with an average audience exceeding three million across SBS and SBS On Demand. SBS confirmed it was the third most-watched free-to-air event of 2026, while World Cup coverage had already reached more than eight million Australians during the tournament.

These are not football numbers.

They are national event numbers.

The Socceroos’ 2-0 victory, powered by goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, generated nationwide interest that extended far beyond football’s traditional supporter base. It was one of those increasingly rare sporting occasions capable of capturing the attention of millions of Australians simultaneously.

When an event is attracting audiences measured in the millions and commanding national attention, it ceases to be simply a football fixture. It becomes a moment of national significance.

Now the question is why Australian sport still struggles to treat one of its most globally relevant teams as a national asset rather than a competitor.

The argument from competing codes is usually straightforward: schedules are set years in advance, broadcasters have obligations, and domestic competitions cannot simply stop every time the Socceroos play.

That is true.

But there is a significant difference between maintaining a schedule and actively competing against a national moment.

Other sporting nations understand this distinction.

When major national teams compete on the world’s biggest stage, rival sports often find ways to accommodate, promote or at the very least avoid directly undermining the occasion. Not because they are required to, but because there is an understanding that national representation transcends code wars.

In the United States, the NBA adjusted its 2026 Finals schedule to avoid a direct clash with the USMNT’s opening FIFA World Cup match against Paraguay. It was not a charitable act towards football, but a recognition that a home World Cup creates a national sporting moment too significant to ignore.

That is the point Australia still struggles to grasp.

When the Socceroos play on the world stage, it should not be treated as just another football broadcast competing for space. It should be viewed as a national event.

One that rival codes can acknowledge without diminishing themselves.

 

Missed opportunities

The irony of the current approach is that everyone loses.

Football loses potential viewers and momentum.

Competing codes lose the opportunity to align themselves with a rare moment of national unity.

Most importantly, Australian sport misses the chance to present itself as a collective ecosystem rather than a collection of competing tribes.

This is particularly significant as Australia prepares for one of the most important decades in its sporting history.

Australia’s football rise

The Socceroos have now qualified for six consecutive FIFA World Cups and continue to build on the momentum generated by their remarkable run in Qatar. Under Tony Popovic, expectations are growing that Australia can once again challenge on the world stage.

At the same time, football participation continues to rise nationally, women’s football is experiencing unprecedented growth, and Australia is positioning itself as a major player in the global game.

Yet moments that should be celebrated nationally still feel like they require justification.

Perhaps that is why Stringer’s comments resonated.

They did not come from a football insider defending his own code.

They came from someone outside the game looking in and questioning why Australia would choose competition over collaboration when the Socceroos are representing the nation.

The real conversation is not whether one AFL round should move or whether broadcasters should alter their programming.

The question is much bigger.

If we genuinely believe football has a place at the centre of Australia’s sporting landscape, then our biggest football moments should be treated as national sporting occasions—not just football occasions.

Until that happens, Australian football will continue fighting a battle that most football nations settled long ago.

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