Southampton reunite with Draper Tools after long time away

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Southampton and Draper Tools
Image credit: Southampton FC

After initially collaborating with Southampton FC 40 years ago, Draper Tools is coming back as a partner.

The Hampshire-based company will take on the role of the Saints Official Tool Partner, with its iconic emblem appearing on the backs of the women’s and men’s first teams’ shorts and shirts, respectively.

From 1984 through 1993, Draper Tools successfully sponsored the front of the shirt for nine years, during which time legendary players like Alan Shearer, Matthew Le Tissier, and Francis Benali made their Saints debuts. The next year, Draper Tools announced Saints Foundation as their community charity partner, and they kept working with the team until 2018.

The news came shortly after the team unveiled their home uniform for 2023–24, which pays homage to the team’s Draper Tools–sponsored 1987–89 kit. The 2023–24 version honours a different part of the club emblem, giving this timeless shirt a small touch.  A diagonal pattern of over a thousand tiny roses is tastefully put onto the 2023–24 home shirt to highlight the Hampshire rose. The Hampshire rose, which stands in for Southampton, is prominently shown on the shirt’s back. The uniform was introduced as part of the club’s “For the Badge” initiative, which aims to recognise and appreciate the crest’s heritage.

Charlie Boss, Chief Commercial Officer for Southampton Football Club said via press release:

“We’re delighted to welcome back Draper Tools as a partner. Their rich history with us makes this feel extra special as we embark on this new chapter together, particularly as we celebrate such an iconic shirt,” he said.

“We look forward to working with them over the course of the season and beyond to deliver a brilliant partnership.”

Draper Tools CEO Matt Sheen added via press release:

“We at Draper Tools are very proud to be one of the partners of Southampton FC men’s and women’s teams this season. As a family business, our local community has always been important to us, and we’ve never forgotten our history with the club,” he said.

“Recent years have seen us support the work of the club’s official charity, Saints Foundation, so it feels really special for our relationship with the club to enter this exciting new chapter. After a difficult last season for the men’s team, it’s now all about supporting them in what will be a very competitive EFL Championship. Being a lifelong fan, like many of my Draper colleagues, the nostalgia involved in this partnership feels great too.”

Southampton’s EFL Championship season gets underway against Sheffield Wednesday on August 5, 2023 AEST.

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE / Shutterstock.com

Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

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.

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