Football Coaches Australia upholds the need for fair pay and suitable employment conditions in coach survey report

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FCA

Football Coaches Australia (FCA) – Australia’s national Association for supporting qualified coaches at professional, semi-professional and community levels – have today released a report outlining the importance of upholding fair pay and suitable conditions for coaches. The report coincides with the Australian Professional Leagues’ (APL) announcement of an expanded Liberty A-League season, and Football Australia’s (FA) recently published Domestic Match Calendar (DMC), for the period of October 7, 2022 to October 7, 2023.

The report comprises the results of two independent surveys conducted by FCA, during Season 2021-22, in partnership with The University of Queensland. The first – a National Premier Leagues (NPL) and A-Leagues (APL) coach survey – was conducted in October 2021, and the second – a Liberty A-League coach survey – was conducted in March 2022

The report can be read in full HERE.

Throughout FCA’s discussions with Australian football’s professional and semi-professional coaching cohort, it was made clear that many did not feel secure enough in their employment to negotiate contract terms, especially where there is not a Collective Agreement in place, which can lead to the potential exploitation of coaches, particularly in women’s football.

The release of the survey report aligns with FCA’s discussion with FA, and the APL, regarding the adoption of an A-Leagues coaches’ standard contract and a national grievance resolution process.

Consultation between FCA and the APL will be an ongoing process. A joint FCA and APL working group, comprising FCA Executive Committee members Phil Moss, Sarah West, Catherine Cannuli, Brad Crismale and Glenn Warry, and APL senior management Danny Townsend, Greg O’Rourke, Helena Dorczak and Emma Burrows, will undertake these discussions over the coming months.

Football Australia (FA) has previously committed to shifting cultural perceptions by focusing on women in leadership within their membership of ‘Male Champions of Change’. A key focus of the FA plan is ‘How do we define gender pay equity in football and what steps and commitment is required to close the gap?’. As Australian football moves towards the conclusion of the FA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan (2019-2023), FCA believes actions are now required to apply the gender equity framework for women coaches.

The Liberty A-League coaches believe that the expansion of the Liberty A-League makes the discussion around their employment conditions highly relevant. For many Liberty A-League coaches, their ability to sustain their coaching roles within their current portfolio football coaching careers, or in combination with their full-time jobs, is extremely difficult.

FCA has identified that there is an inequity regarding employment conditions, and what coaches are paid, in the A-League Women compared to A-League Men, and an inequity regarding what women coaches are paid. FCA believes the following will provide an excellent framework for all coaches – Men and Women:

  • A-League Standard Contracts/Grievance process.
  • Improved employment conditions and opportunities for coaches within the Liberty A-League.
  • Salary bands for Assistant coaches, Goalkeeping Coaches, Analysts.
  • Working with FA and APL to action the gender equity framework for women coaches within the FA Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Plan (2019-2023).

At this stage FCA have not completed any research into the commercial viability and funding model for the ALW. FCA is keen to work with the APL and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) on this model.

Danny Townsend, Chief Executive Officer at the APL, stated:

“At the APL we are committed to creating and maintaining the highest standards and conditions for players and coaches in professional football. The FCA Coach Surveys Report has produced important findings that the game needs to address and we welcome the chance to work with FCA and other important stakeholders in the football pyramid to tackle them collectively.

“We support the move to standardise coaching contracts, and we also want to work with our clubs to increase the opportunities being given to women coaches in professional football, as well as safeguarding better conditions for all coaches across the A-Leagues.”

Phil Moss, Football Coaches Australia President, stated:

“The coach surveys that FCA conducts are a critical piece of work designed to give our members a voice on the challenges we face, specifically around working conditions. The results, in context, show we have work to do in terms of improving those conditions. Coaching is a profession – a highly skilled profession – which must have working conditions commensurate with the role.

“The proactive, positive and solution focused approach shown by Danny Townsend, and his team at APL, aligns brilliantly with ours and fills us with confidence that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Together we can work through the issues and arrive at a place that will play a significant role in taking the game forward in Australia.

“Increased opportunities for coaches in the men’s and women’s game is a great start and we are pleased to be working closely with APL and other stakeholders within the game to implement standardized working conditions, including but not limited to standard coaching contracts.”

Sarah West, Vice President Football Coaches Australia, stated:

“The expansion of the Liberty A-League is certainly a positive step in the right direction for Australian Football, however important steps must be taken to ensure it doesn’t thrust those working in the league deeper under the poverty line.

“Coaching is a demanding role with significant pressures, expectation and responsibility, and the wellbeing of coaches depends on the ability to earn a live-able wage which fairly compensates for their responsibilities and real working hours.

“As shown by the FCA Independent surveys of Licenced Football Coaches report, around half of the coaches and 75% of the analysts working in the Liberty A-League last year held a job outside of football and all of them found juggling both roles challenging. That’s not the best situation for Australian football.

“Furthermore, the number of coaches – Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Analysts – who are being paid less than the Australian minimum wage rings major alarm bells.

“We can’t expect to produce the best possible football product and be confident that our players are being adequately protected, cared for and their needs catered for if our coaches – the people ultimately held responsible – are stretched so thin just trying to pay the bills and keep their heads above water.

“This situation is also counter-intuitive to growing coaching talent, because many great people walk away before they reach their potential, due to the challenges of managing several jobs, families and maintaining good mental health.

“It’s great that the APL and other stakeholders have agreed to come to the table to address this important issue. If we don’t – there will simply be no enduring legacy left from next year’s Women’s World Cup.”

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Western Strikers Nominated FSA Club of the Month for Equity Outcomes

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Image Credit: Football SA

Western Strikers SC has been nominated for Club of the Month after a period of deliberate structural investment in its female program that is already producing measurable outcomes, and offering a model for how community clubs can drive participation growth through equity-focused planning rather than passive goodwill.

The nomination recognises a program that has moved beyond surface-level commitment to women’s football and into the kind of structural change that determines whether female players actually stay. Improved lighting across training and match pitches, equitable scheduling, extended training hours and dedicated pitch allocation have addressed the practical barriers that clubs often overlook. It’s conditions that tell players, implicitly or otherwise, whether the game was built for them.

 

Leadership as Infrastructure

Central to Western Strikers’ approach is a leadership structure that takes female football seriously as a technical and administrative priority. Women’s Coordinator Michelle Loprete and Technical Director Georgia Iannella, a former Matilda, provide the program with both organisational direction and the kind of visible role modelling that shapes whether younger players can picture themselves progressing through the game.

The presence of a former international player in a technical leadership role at a community level isn’t incidental. It signals to junior players that the pathway from their Friday night training session to elite football is real and navigable, and it gives the club’s coaching staff access to experience and credibility that most community programs cannot offer.

That pipeline is already functioning. Western Strikers’ Under-13 to Under-16 girls teams all qualified for finals in the Youth Premier League this season. Under-15 goalkeeper Sian Schopfer made her debut in the Women’s State League team which is a direct product of a club environment designed to move players upward.

 

The Friday-night model

One of the more quietly significant initiatives at Western Strikers is the scheduling of Friday night women’s matches, with junior girls training beforehand encouraged to stay and watch senior football. The structure is straightforward but its implications are meaningful. Aspiration in sport is not abstract. It’s built through proximity, through watching players a few years older doing what you want to do, in the same kit, at the same club.

The absence of that experience is one of the more consistent reasons girls disengage from football in their mid-teens. When junior female players cannot see where the game goes after their age group, the logical conclusion is that it goes nowhere. Western Strikers’ scheduling decision addresses that directly, at minimal cost, and whose effects are starting to manifest.

 

The Club Changer framework

The club’s participation in Football South Australia’s Club Changer Program has provided a structured framework for identifying and addressing barriers that might otherwise go unexamined. Pitch allocation, training structures and safety conditions are the kinds of issues that accumulate quietly in club environments; not because of deliberate exclusion but because the default systems were built around male participation and have never been comprehensively reviewed.

The Club Changer Program creates accountability for that review. Western Strikers’ ability to project an additional 146 female players over the next three years is a product of planning rather than optimism.

 

Industry implications

Western Strikers’ model matters beyond its own membership. At a time when women’s football in Australia is navigating the challenge of converting a participation surge into sustainable long-term growth, the question of what community clubs actually do with increased interest is among the most consequential in the sport.

Record crowds at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and sustained national visibility have opened the door. Whether players walk through it and stay depends on whether the club on the other side looks anything like Western Strikers

Melbourne City expand youth program with Hallam Secondary College

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Image credit: Melbourne City FC

The school will join the City Futures Program in its mission to consolidate pathways and community bonds for students.

From pupils to players

Hallam is the latest school in Melbourne’s South-East to join the City Futures Program. Also backing the program’s ambitions are Narre Warren South P-12 College, Gleneagles Secondary College and Timbarra P-9 School.

Partnerships between professional clubs like Melbourne City and local schools help to promote community connection, as well as providing pathways from the classroom to the stadium.

“City Futures is about creating genuine opportunities for young people to stay engaged in their education while feeling connected to something bigger,” said Head of Community, Sunil Melon, via press release.

“By bringing the Club into schools and providing access to our environment, we’re helping students build confidence, explore future pathways and see what’s possible both within football and beyond.”

Gone are the days when young players must choose between football and education. Through the City Futures Program, they can enjoy both worlds and still have the opportunities to develop.

 

What City Futures provides

Hallam sudents will be at the centre of the benefits provided by the connection to Melbourne City.

For example, high-quality coaching sessions delivered twice a week will instill confidence and teamwork skills into young participants. And as Melbourne City coaches are set to deliver the sessions, the students will truly learn from the best in Australia’s footbal landscape.

Furthermore, participants can visit Casey Fields, home to the City Football Academy, where they can experience the ins and outs of how an A-League club operates and trains.

“We’re proud to be part of the City Futures Program,” outlined Acting Principal at Hallam Secondary College, Shelly Haughey.

“Seeing our students come together and commit to their training is setting them up for success both on and off the pitch, and we look forward to building a strong and lasting partnership with Melbourne City FC.”

 

The future of football pathways

This isn’t the first – nor will it be the last – partnership to connect football and education in Australia.

Earlier this year, Queensland-based John Paul College embarked on an exciting journey with Spanish outfit, RCD Espanyol, to provide unique coaching support, player education, and pathway opportunities.

But these partnerships aren’t merely about giving young talents a place in the starting XI.

They are designed to ensure all participants develop into confident young people – whether their future lies on the pitch, in the dugout or in the boardroom.

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