Sydney FC appoints Adam Santo as new Chief Executive Officer

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Following the departure of Danny Townsend to the Australian Professional Leagues, Sydney FC have announced the appointment of previous Chief Operating Officer Adam Santo as the club’s new Chief Executive Officer.

Having worked for the club over the past nine years in numerous roles including as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary from 2013 – and even as the Acting Chief Executive Officer for six months in 2017 prior to Townsend’s appointment – Santo brings a wealth of experience to the role.

During this time, he was instrumental in securing the transfer of A-League Player Of The Year Adrian Mierzejewski and the visit of Arsenal FC to Australia to play the Sky Blues.

Santo was born in Sydney and has dedicated much of his life to football – having played, coached, refereed, and volunteered within the Sydney football and futsal community.

He began his career at KPMG in Sydney before moving to London to work for investment bank UBS and property management firm Capital and Regional plc. for four years.

Santo has accumulated an extensive range of experience in his time with Sydney FC, including involvement in all football recruitment and transfer decisions. Santo has also played a key role off the pitch, overseeing a series of record financial performances for the club and successfully navigating the displacement from Allianz Stadium.

He has attended every Sydney FC Board Meeting over the past nine years and has a detailed understanding of the club’s strategy and expectations. Santo also played a significant role behind the scenes establishing processes to preserve the culture that has delivered great success the club has enjoyed during his tenure.

Chairman Scott Barlow believes Santo is the perfect appointment.

“Adam has a wealth of experience and an intimate knowledge of Sydney FC after nine years with the club,” he said in a statement.

“He has been instrumental in helping to guide Sydney FC through a very turbulent period over the past four years of displacement and Covid-19.

“We are proud to have such an exceptional candidate and to be able to promote someone from within the club.

“Next season is the most important in our club’s history and it’s critical we have someone with the experience and knowledge to help us maximize the opportunity of our move back to Moore Park and the rejuvenation of our A-League squad.

“I would like to thank Danny Townsend for the phenomenal job he has done during the past five years in the role and we look forward to working with him very closely in his role at the APL.”

Santo will move into the job immediately as the Sky Blues prepare for a big few months.

“It is a privilege to work and now lead the best sporting club in Australia,” he said in a statement.

“This is a crucial period for the club managing the return to Allianz Stadium, the construction of the Centre of Excellence and rebuilding our A-League squad.

“I am acutely aware of the expectations of the Members and fans; the club must deliver a high-quality on-field product and our interactions off the pitch need to align to our strong brand.

“I have lived and breathed Sydney FC for the past nine years and will bring my own approach into the head role, a philosophy of delivering a high level of service to the myriad of club stakeholders.”

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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.

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