Long-serving CDSFA CEO Ian Holmes to depart at season’s end

Avatar
Ian Holmes
Image via Football NSW

After half a century of serving football, Chief Executive Officer of Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association, Ian Holmes, has announced that he will depart the CDSFA at the end of the season.

Holmes, who has served football for almost 50 years at local, state, and national level, will leave a lasting legacy within the football community of the Canterbury District.

Starting his football life at Belmore Police Citizens Boys Club, it did not take long for a young Holmes to become heavily involved in sports administration as he took on a committee position with his local club.

From there, he progressed to the CDSFA where he was elected the Association’s youngest ever President when he was elected on December 1, 1975 at the age of 19-years-old. Seven years later, Holmes was elected President of the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation in 1982.

With football needing an overhaul from the top down, Holmes was soon in a position to help make fundamental change as the General Manager of the NSW Soccer Federation (1987-1991), the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation (1998-1999), Soccer Australia (1999-2002), and Football NSW (2007-2011).

With his services to the national and state governing body coming to a close, Holmes returned to CDSFA in 2012, taking over as CEO in 2014. His last day with the Association will be Friday, October 14, 2022.

In his most recent time with CDSFA, Holmes has been instrumental in securing over $15 million in government grants for the region and its clubs.

Holmes’ contribution has been recognised with several awards and achievements, including:

  • Life Member of CDSFA (1982)
  • Life Member of Football NSW (1987)
  • NSW Soccer Federation State Award (1991)
  • George Churchward Medal recipient (2016)
  • Vince and Val Laws Medal recipient (2019)

A strong believer that no individual is bigger than the game, Holmes also helped mentor and mould many up-and-coming sports administrators, with many in the game gaining benefit from his knowledge and experience.

Holmes’ services and achievements will be recognised at the end-of-season Volunteer Recognition Dinner.

Ian Holmes, CEO of CDSFA, shared the following in regards to his upcoming departure – via Football NSW.

“Change is a constant in football. There is a time for renewal and the future. A time for transition.

“The CDSFA needs to maintain dynamism and the Association cannot be flatfooted, so you need to create the pipeline for future talent. It has been my privilege to have been able to serve the game. I did not want to make the mistake of staying too long.

“Leadership is about working with others to make things better due to your presence and ensuring that impact lasts in your absence. It has been my ultimate aim at the Association to do so.

“Working with positive difference makers at the CDSFA and the clubs has been very meaningful. I have been fortunate to work with volunteer directors at the board level who have placed genuine honesty ahead of corporate jargon.

“There is a fundamental principle I share with my Chairman, Armando Gardiman. It is this: you don’t make decisions because they are easy; you don’t make them because they are cheap; you don’t make them because they’re popular; you make them because they are right.”

“I trust the culture created that this should remain the mantra in the Boardroom and with the membership.

“The Association has at the club level an extraordinary army of volunteers. They deliver the football opportunity and experience at the community level. One can only be in awe of their contribution. Many things have changed over 50 years but the CDSFA relies upon volunteers to deliver the game at its very core. Working with so many of them has been an honour.

“The CDSFA is celebrating its Centenary season in 2022. It will commence season 101 in 2023. Season 101 should be the focus for refreshing and resetting. There are challenges ahead. A new generation now needs to take up the mantel. While people matter, we need to get comfortable with change. I need to get out of the way.

“In Gough Whitlam’s words: It’s Time.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Football West runs Indigenous pilot program during NAIDOC Week’s 50th anniversary

Avatar
Image Credit: Football West

Football West ran a pilot program for Indigenous children at the Sam Kerr Football Centre during NAIDOC Week’s 50th anniversary. Former Socceroo David Williams delivered the session.

This year’s national NAIDOC theme, “50 Years of Deadly,” marks five decades since the movement began. It honours the Elders, artists and communities who built it.

“Having these young indigenous kids here at the Sam Kerr Football Centre was great to see,” Williams said. “The feeling they got running around the same pitch the Socceroos and Matildas have trained on was special for them and me.”

A player turned administrator

Williams retired from professional football in November 2025 after a career-ending ACL injury. As a teenager he trained with Club Brugge and Liverpool, and coach Miron Bleiberg once described him as the “best Australian prospect since Harry Kewell.”

He went on to become the first Indigenous player to represent Melbourne City, scored in the UEFA Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt, and won the Indian Super League with ATK.

Since retiring, Williams has moved into administration at Football West. He also sits on the Indigenous Football Australia Council, which oversees the grassroots initiative John Moriarty Football.

A name with its own history

Football Australia named Williams head coach of the Charles Perkins XI last year, the governing body’s national Indigenous youth team. Football Australia renamed the side in 2025 in honour of Dr Charles Perkins AO, following endorsement from the Perkins family and the National Indigenous Advisory Group.

Perkins, an Arrernte and Kalkadoon man, played for Adelaide Croatia and Pan Hellenic in the 1950s. He went on to become the first Aboriginal Australian to graduate from university and a leader of the 1965 Freedom Rides.

Football Australia has described the renamed team as reflecting a commitment to embedding cultural identity and leadership within its high-performance pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.

What happens next

“After living out my dream as a professional player, to now being able to offer experiences like this and hopefully inspire the next generation of young Indigenous footballers is very rewarding,” Williams said. “There is also a lot of talent that we can tap into.”

He said running the session during NAIDOC Week let Football West mark two things at once. “Creating a fun session for these kids during NAIDOC Week meant we could celebrate culture and sport in one go,” he said.

Williams wants the session to become a regular fixture rather than a single event. “Going forward, I would love to put on more of these programs throughout the year and get more indigenous youngsters playing football,” he said.

Football West has not yet confirmed funding or a schedule for further sessions.

FIFA sparks widespread backlash with private investment proposal

Avatar
Image credit: BBC Sport

In a shock announcement made on Tuesday this week, FIFA revealed plans to create a subsidiary known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) to manage commercial and event operations for major competitions, including the World Cup. FIFA promises to reinvest all benefits back into the game, but the plan is receiving widespread criticism from governing bodies and governments around the world.

 

“Unleashing” football’s commercial power

Following the huge financial success of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino indicated plans to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity” at FIFA’s disposal.

Indeed, it appears Infantino is wasting no time in capitalising on the tournament’s success, which generated AUD 21 billion (USD 15 billion) for FIFA.

An eye-watering number. A tournament record. And, apparently, still not enough.

Tuesday’s announcement made clear the intention to bring commercial rights under a new subsidiary, FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE). This, according to FIFA, could generate AUD 6 billion (USD 4.2 billion) of initial capital with all net benefits going back into grassroots and infrastructure development for Member Associations (MA) through the FIFA Forward programme.

The money would be raised by selling minority stakes in FFE to private third-party investors, although FIFA has outlined that it will retain “sole control of FFE”.

The venture has a reported valuation of AUD 29 billion (USD 20 billion), prompting questions and backlash from around the world over who will actually benefit from the finances – and whether anyone should benefit at all.

 

What are critics saying?

On the surface, the principle of generating more money for MAs and investing into grassroots, coaching, women’s and youth football is a worthwhile ambition.

Currently, each MA receives AUD 11.5 million (USD 8 million) per year from FIFA Forward. FIFA affirms that, should the proposal go through, this funding would increase to AUD 29 million (USD 20 million) between 2027-2030.

However, several governing bodies, including UEFA, Concacaf and the English FA, are adamantly fighting the plans.

“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said via an official statement on social media.

“The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA continued.

“None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”

Concacaf also expressed deep concern over the reports, citing a distinct lack of warning and due process from FIFA prior to the announcement.

“We share the disappointment of many within our region and the game that this level of detail has been designed and shared publicly before any discussion with the relevant governance bodies and stakeholders has taken place,” Concacaf said via official statement.

“As leaders within football, we are custodians of the game. Collectively, FIFA, the Confederations and every Member Association have a responsibility to always act in the best interests of the sport.”

Further concerns also centre around the company set to lead the proposed investor group – Thrive Eternal. Founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Thrive Eternal’s role in the venture opens the door to potential conflicts of interests – and emboldens criticisms that Infantino’s relationship with the US President is compromising his leading role in football’s international governing body.

 

Football was never about the money

Investing into the game is vital to football’s sustained future, especially for nations without the financial power to fund it independent of football’s governing body.

Nobody will argue that supporting the entire football pyramid – from grassroots to professional, men’s and women’s, youth and para, playing and coaching – should benefit from the financial might of the sport’s elite.

And FIFA is promising such benefits for all – arriving in the form of tens of millions of dollars – and stemming from third-party investors intrigued by the commercial value of the beautiful game.

But this is exactly where the venture’s flaws start to appear.

Rhetoric about increasing football’s commercial power following the 2026 World Cup leads the governing body down a slippery slope to a sport which prioritises money over integrity, due process and the fans who uphold it week-in week-out.

Football – from its very first beginnings as a working class sport – was never about the money.

Although modern commercialisation has turned clubs into businesses and players into tradable assets, everyone within the pyramid is a custodian of the game.

The game is not a product to sell – especially by those entrusted to uphold its integrity.

 

What happens now?

FIFA stated its intentions to only proceed with the venture if it receives support from the majority of MAs. While many are already uniting in opposition to the proposal, there are national governing bodies who have vocalised their support, including the Czech FA.

UEFA, on the other hand, is set to hold an emergency meeting with its 55 members to discuss a potential boycott of future tournaments.

But with a deadline of September 19 for MAs to accept the proposal, and the promise of a payment worth AUD 57.5 million (USD 40 million) if they do, the next eight weeks will reveal the future of the game and the nature of its global governance.

FIFA’s plan, although laced with promises of investment, development and growth for all, has instead kicked off a contest to save the game’s soul – or change it forever.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend