Australian NPL clubs persevere through COVID restrictions

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The COVID-19 pandemic has put an immense strain on football clubs worldwide, and Australia is no exception. From stop-start seasons, stifled player development, and clubs being put under financial stress, National Premier League (NPL) clubs have faced some of their biggest challenges.

Bentleigh Greens are one of many clubs hit by lockdowns and postponements, as they have seen the second NPL Victoria season in a row disrupted by the pandemic. Bentleigh Greens President Trifon Rellos has seen his team heavily affected by this.

“Financially game takings are gone, canteens are gone. Now with the junior programs, we have with the mini roos and NPL kids we don’t know the parents are going to ask for, whether they want their money back,” he said.

“The impact has been massive, but not just financially.”

Not every club and league has been heavily impacted. Edgeworth Eagles Football Director and Treasurer, Warren Mills, explains that the Further Northern New South Wales region has managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic.

“Newcastle has been a lot less impacted than others. Last year was pretty horrendous obviously, we started later but we managed to get in a competition, playing our competition plus finals,” he said.

“This year we’ve got two rounds to go. To be fair we’ve been much luckier than others.”

In contrast with other clubs in New South Wales and Victoria, Warren believes that the amateur status of the Newcastle clubs has helped weather financial strain.

“Financially it hasn’t been a massive drain on us. We are more amateur than Sydney or Melbourne, in terms of wages paid out. Its smashed those clubs a lot more.” he said.

The season will be completed once restrictions in the Hunter region are eased, with one advantage they have over other areas being that they rarely share grounds with summer sports.

“I don’t think there is anybody who doesn’t have their own ground in Newcastle,” he said.

“We have the potential to host the grand final this year, and we’ve just got a new 1.1 million dollar clubhouse. Newcastle is very lucky that way.”

Football Victoria recently agreed to a ground-sharing agreement with Cricket Victoria, in an attempt to alleviate this issue if the season is restarted.

For regional NPL clubs in Victoria, they have been in and out of lockdown more than anywhere in the country. For the Goulburn Valley Suns, their season has been disrupted by not only state-wide lockdowns, but also a major outbreak within the city of Shepparton.

Goulburn Valley head coach Craig Carley believes that players at the club are uniting together through the hardship.

“We don’t know what’s going on at the moment, but we need to try to tick over. Previously we were able to do that as a team because the metropolitan area was in lockdown, the last couple of weeks it’s been individual training,” he said.

“We’ve got players posting times on runs and activities that they are doing. It’s been good from a team point of view with players pushing each other and staying connected, even though everyone is in lockdown. The longer that goes on the hard that is going to get.”

Rellos fears that these disruptions could cause setbacks for some of the most talented players at Bentleigh Greens.

“It’s a sad situation that we are in for our children, and our young senior soccer players. We need to remember that the boys that are playing under 16s and 18s and talented, and they are just about to break into that senior team,” he said.

“I think this year is worse than last year. Those boys and their careers have been cut short by coronavirus. These kids need to break into the senior team, god knows if they will. Some might lose interest and not come back as football players.”

For others, they can only appreciate that their seasons and clubs have only had minor disruptions.

“In Newcastle, we’ve been so blessed. I don’t know how we’ve hardly had a case while we are so close to Sydney. It hasn’t the impact on us that a lot of areas have.” Warren said.

Every state has had different challenges they have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. For NPL clubs in New South Wales and Victoria, some are facing the biggest in their history. Most are looking forward to next season, hoping for the light at the end of the tunnel following these hard times.

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Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

Football NSW Targets Female Coaching Gap with Twin Programs

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced two new initiatives targeting the development of female coaches and coach education tutors, backed by federal and state government funding, as the governing body moves to address the longstanding structural absence of women across all levels of coaching in the sport.

The Future Female Coaches Mentoring Program, funded through the NSW Office of Sport’s Empower Her program, will select six female coaches holding a minimum AFC B Diploma for a structured mentoring program beginning mid-year. Participants will be paired with experienced mentors and receive three in-person visits including real-time observation and feedback, alongside regular online development sessions throughout the season.

Separately, Football NSW has opened expressions of interest for its 2026/27 Female Coach Education Tutor (CET) Program, supported by the Australian Federal Government’s Play Our Way investment, targeting C Diploma holders who want to move into coach education delivery.

Together, the programs address two distinct but connected gaps in the women’s football coaching pipeline- the progression from active coach to elite-level practitioner, and the transition from practitioner to the tutors who shape how coaching is taught.

The Pipeline Problem

The structural underrepresentation of women in football coaching isn’t a new observation. It is a documented and persistent feature of the game at every level, from community clubs to national team environments. Female coaches remain a minority in pathway competitions, and female coach education tutors are even more so.

One current tutor in the program described the environment she encountered when she came through the system. “My experience coming through as a coach, there was no females on the courses as participants and there was no females running the courses either,” she said. “That kind of inspires me to be someone that can hopefully make other females feel comfortable and confident to want to become coaches.”

“It is really important to have female role models because it shows that there is an opportunity or pathway for females,” said one program participant. “Traditionally it has been a male-dominated area and to know that yes, you can do it as a passion or a side thing, or you can actually make a career of it if you want.”

Removing barriers at the point of entry

The mentoring program’s design reflects an understanding that formal accreditation alone is insufficient to retain and develop female coaches in high-performance environments. Access to experienced mentors, observation in live coaching contexts and ongoing reflective practice address the informal development gaps that credentials cannot fill.

“Learning happens through coaching in real environments, and we recognise our role in providing both stretch and support to high-potential coaches,” said Edward Ferguson, Football NSW Head of Football Development. “This program offers tailored mentoring that complements formal coach education and enhances effectiveness in practice.”

Hayley Todd, Football NSW Head of Womens and Schools Football, framed the initiative in terms of long-term system building rather than individual development. “Creating sustainable pathways for female coaches is a key priority,” she said. “This program supports their development while also providing valuable insight into what is required to progress from state competitions into national and international environments.”

The barriers the programs are designed to remove are clear. The cost of accreditation, lack of access to mentoring networks, the absence of welcoming environments in coaching courses and the scarcity of female role models at senior levels all compound one another in ways that make progression difficult regardless of ability or commitment.

“You want to try and remove as many barriers as possible,” said one tutor involved in the program. “If you can start to remove those barriers, you actually get to engage with the females more consistently and build their confidence and competence in that space.”

A system investing in itself

The timing of both announcements sits within a broader national moment for women’s football. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup, currently underway in Australia, has delivered record crowds and sustained visibility for the female game at the elite level. The programs announced this week operate at the other end of the pipeline – building the coaching infrastructure that will determine whether the players inspired by that visibility have qualified, experienced and representative coaches to develop them.

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