Football Australia unveil association with LEGO Group

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Football Australia

Football Australia has announced its partnership with the global toy brand the LEGO Group for a multi-year sponsorship aimed at assisting in building the future of women’s football.

With an ambition to build a more inclusive future for football at the heart of the partnership, the three-year deal will see LEGO Australia become the first official partner of Football Australia’s Legacy ’23 programs which look to inspire and develop the footballers of tomorrow.

With nearly two million participants nationwide across 2,400 community clubs, football is Australia’s most diverse and representative sport and through the bold and ambitious Legacy ’23 strategy, football plans to leave an everlasting legacy for the sport beyond the global tournament being hosted in 2023.

Football Australia CEO James Johnson warmly welcomed the addition of LEGO Australia into the football family as a partner with strong shared ambitions for empowering the next generation.

“Legacy ’23 is our opportunity to transform Australian football through impactful and long-lasting tangible benefits from our co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australian and New Zealand 2023TM,” Johnson said in a statement.

“It is an opportunity that Football Australia has grasped with both hands, and we have achieved some significant milestones for the game to date.

“We know the power of play through football and the transformative opportunity it can provide for our participants and their families, and we are proud to have on board a partner like LEGO Australia who shares our values and vision.

“This exciting partnership with the iconic global LEGO brand alongside our iconic national teams and our Legacy ’23 plan presents an incredible opportunity for collaboration as we seek to inspire Australians.

“The next 12 months will be a true game-changer for our sport as we continue to bring our vision for legacy to life and make Australian football more inclusive and accessible. We are delighted to have LEGO join us for this journey.”

LEGO Australia will also become an Official Partner of the CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos with at-game branding, branded content campaigns and consumer promotions to feature over the course of the partnership.

The news also comes after LEGO was announced in the Laureus Sport for Good Index (released on November 7 2022), a global index which identifies those brands that, through collaboration, innovation and creativity are making a significant contribution across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as laid out by the United Nations.

The first deal of its kind with a sporting organisation in the Asia-Pacific region, LEGO Australia is investing and collaborating with Football Australia to celebrate the power of her and how she plays.

LEGO Australia & New Zealand Vice President & General Manager, Troy Taylor added via press release:

“This exciting new collaboration with Football Australia forms part of our ambition to inspire positive change for future generations.

“We believe that the benefits of play, such as building confidence, creativity, and communication skills, are felt by all children, yet unfortunately, led by society, we still experience stereotypes in what activities including sports, children are encouraged to do, based on their gender.

“At the LEGO Group, we know we have a role to play, to champion inclusive play and help give children the confidence to succeed.”

Football Australia and LEGO Australia will officially launch their partnership this Saturday when the CommBank Matildas host Olympic silver medalists Sweden at AAMI Park at 2.45pm.

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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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