PFA release Matildas report on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup outlining success

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Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) have published a new report on the Matildas and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that showcase positive numbers regarding the growth of the women’s game.

After a successful World Cup and a record-breaking A-League Women’s campaign in many areas, this comprehensive report is a guideline to FIFA and the AFC on how to tackle the current problems and challenges.

The report presents four pivotal recommendations that they believe will significantly contribute to the ongoing growth and success of women’s football. These include:

– A-League Women Professionalisation

The report suggests that it is imperative that the A-League Women adopts full-time professionalism as soon as possible to allow players to maximise their potential and produce the next generation of Matildas.

It currently lacks in that department compared to the top European leagues and is under threat from falling behind.

The A-League Women’s league has provided a crucial development platform for Australian football’s most successful, valuable, and powerful assets.

Every Matilda named in the World Cup squad had played in the A-League Women’s competition, playing a combined 1,953 matches prior to the World Cup.

– Equal World Cup Prize Money

Prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup was one quarter that of the 2022 Men’s World Cup. FIFA has suggested it intends to equalise prize money for the 2026-2027 cycle, but it has added a caveat that this is contingent on commercial outcomes.

However, the PFA pushes for FIFA to start their commitment now in order to build a foundation that will breed marketing and commercial success rather than wait.

The evidence from this recent World Cup suggests commercial success and potential is there if the funding gets lifted to allow it to grow.

– Increased Club Solidarity Fund

The report’s third recommendation, an increased Club Solidarity Fund, is an urgent call to action.

The Women’s World Cup Club Solidarity Fund for 2023 was US$11.5 million, just 5.5% of the men’s 2022 fund.

A substantial increase to the Women’s World Cup Club Solidarity Fund for 2027 would provide a massive stimulus package to women’s football and unlock investment in the environments where players spend the majority of their time.

The PFA consider this to be an imperative move.

– Player input into Scheduling

As the women’s football calendar expands, the report emphasises the importance of including players in decision-making processes.

In the report, it suggested FIFPRO found that 60% of World Cup players felt they did not have enough rest after the tournament before returning to club duties. Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley played for Arsenal just 17 days after the World Cup final.

Ensuring player welfare and competition integrity will create a sustainable and thriving environment for women’s football.

In the Executive Summary, it outlined many statistics and facts to come as a result of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Funding

The tournament generated a significant amount of money for a range of stakeholders. Football Australia (FA) estimated the tournament provided $1.32 billion in economic benefits to Australia.

FA’s Legacy ’23 strategy unlocked $398 million of government funding for women’s sports facilities and programs, of which two thirds would primarily benefit football.

‘The Golden Generation’

The home World Cup aligned with the peak of the Matildas’ golden generation of players. Fifteen of the squad were also part of the 2019 World Cup. The eight players aged between 28 and 30 played 59% of the Australia’s match minutes at the tournament. The data flags that there is a challenging period of transition on the horizon.

A-League Women’s growth

A-League Women clubs have also benefited from an organic increase in attendances and memberships as a result of the World Cup’s success.

This includes holding records such as Average attendance, Total attendance, Most in a single game, and Most memberships in league history.

CBA Competitive Advantage

Nearly two thirds (64%) of the Matildas felt their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was a competitive advantage at the World Cup. The CBA guaranteed world class conditions in the four years preceding the tournament (equal to the Socceroos).

Great conditions

The player survey found generally positive feedback about the conditions, facilities, and environment during the World Cup camp.

The legacy and impact this World Cup has left this country is immense, with the numbers in the report suggesting many avenues like the future of the Matildas and the domestic league are progressing at an alarmingly high rate.

Conclusion:

The four recommendations made by the FA do suggest change is imperative and the product still has a long way to go before it maximises its commercial and on field growth but overall the report was quite positive.

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JH Allan Reserve in Keilor East to undergo lighting upgrades

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Image credit: Football Victoria

After strong backing from the community and Football Victoria, Moonee Valley City Council confirmed the green light for upgrades to proceed later this year.

Resounding support

Ahead of the council meeting on Tuesday 24 March, Football Victoria and five Moonee Valley Council clubs created a petition backing lighting improvements at JH Allan Reserve.

What followed was an astounding 624 signatures – a demonstration of the power of united, community support. As a result, main tenants Moonee Ponds United SC and four addition clubs (including Essendon Royals FC, Avondale FC, FC Strathmore and the Moonee Valley Knights) will all benefit from the developments.

“As one of the only facilities within Moonee Valley not shared with other codes, ensuring that JH Allan Reserve meets the needs of our participants is crucial for Football Victoria,” said FV Head of Government Relations and Strategy, Lachlan Cole.

“It was fantastic to see participants and officials from those five clubs come together, support this project, and unite to speak on behalf of their needs. And it was even more heartening to see the wider football community throw their support behind the development by signing the petition.”

 

A long-awaited verdict

The decision comes as a huge step forward for the local football community, arriving after an extended process of consultations and surveys.

In September 2022, Moonee Valley City Council endorsed the Moonee Valley Soccer Strategy, which sought to identify potential upgrades at JH Allan Reserve.

Furthermore, during the community consulation between March and April 2023, 365 people participated in a survey regarding the developments. In the end, 65% of responses supported or strongly supported the installation of sports lighting at the ground.

It is therefore clear that, for much of the community, this was a cause worth fighting for. Over three years since the initial endorsement from Moonee Valley City Council, JH Allan Reserve is now set for a vital upgrade.

Final thoughts

More importantly, however, are the current and future athletes who will feel the benefit from these developments.

Football participation is growing and will continue to do so, in Moonee Valley, Victoria and Australia as a whole. That is why developments like this are so vital.

They are not merely nice to have, but are fundamental to supporting future footballers in the community by providing them with the facilities and environment to play.

Football SA Commits $100,000 to Referee Fuel Subsidy as Cost-of-Living pressure Mounts

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Football South Australia has announced a fuel subsidy scheme for match officials across its semi-professional competitions, allocating up to $100,000 for the remainder of the 2026 season in response to rising fuel costs that the governing body says are threatening the delivery of fixtures across the state.

The subsidy, effective immediately, covers referees officiating across the RAA National Premier League, Apex Steel Women’s National Premier League, Apex Steel Women’s State League, HPG Homes State League 1 and State League 2. The subsidy spans senior, reserves and under-18 competitions across both men’s and women’s football.

Under the metro scheme, reimbursements will be tiered against the average Adelaide unleaded petrol price recorded each Friday, applying to all matches played in the following seven-day period. Officials will receive $30 per match day when the average price sits at $3.25 or above, $25 between $2.75 and $3.24, and $20 between $2.35 and $2.74. No subsidy applies below $2.34. For regional matches, referees travelling to Port Pirie, Barossa and Whyalla will see their per-kilometre reimbursement rise from 88 cents to $1.26 when petrol prices exceed $2.35.

All subsidy payments will be funded directly by Football SA, with no cost passed to competing clubs.

The Economics behind the Whistle

Fuel prices in South Australia, as across much of Australia, have been running at elevated levels against the backdrop of an ongoing imperialist war on Iran that has sent shockwaves through global oil markets. Iran’s targeting of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant proportion of the world’s oil supply passes, has disrupted shipping and contributed to price surges that are being felt at service stations in Adelaide as acutely as anywhere.

For match officials, who are overwhelmingly volunteers or low-paid part-time workers travelling to multiple venues across a season, those price surges are not an abstraction. They are a direct financial disincentive to take on appointments, particularly in outer metropolitan and regional areas where travel distances are significant and the cost of attending a game can approach, or exceed the payment for officiating it.

The consequences are cancelled fixtures, forfeited points, disrupted seasons and players who stop turning up to clubs that cannot guarantee them a game.

“This initiative recognises the critical role match officials play in delivering competitions,” CEO Michael Carter said in the announcement, “and aims to reduce the impact of travel costs across the 2026 season.”

A Structural Problem, a Seasonal Solution

The subsidy applies only to the 2026 season. Football SA has been careful to frame it as a response to current conditions rather than a permanent structural change. The $100,000 allocation is described as subject to fuel prices remaining at current levels, with the final amount invested likely to vary as the weekly threshold calculations play out across the season.

That framing is honest about what the scheme is and isn’t. It does not resolve the underlying question of whether referee payments in community and semi-professional football are adequate relative to the demands placed on officials. It remains a question that transcends the current fuel price environment and will outlast it. What it does is buy time and goodwill in a moment when both are in short supply.

Sport, and football in particular, depends on a volunteer and semi-volunteer workforce that is increasingly being squeezed by the same cost-of-living pressures affecting every other part of Australian life. When the price of petrol rises, the people who feel it first are not the players or the clubs, it’s the officials, the committee members and the volunteers who make the infrastructure of community sport function.

Football SA’s decision to absorb that cost rather than pass it to clubs is a recognition that the referee pipeline is fragile in ways that are not always visible until it breaks. The SAPA review into South Australian football, released earlier this month, identified referee development and retention as one of the most pressing structural challenges facing the game in the state, recommending greater investment in recruitment and suggesting affiliation fee subsidies for clubs that bring new officials into the system.

Friday’s announcement does not go that far. But in a season already defined by uncertain economic and geopolitical circumstance, the levy sends a clear enough signal about where Football SA’s priorities lie.

The fuel levy will be calculated each Friday using average Adelaide prices listed on Fuel Price Australia, with payments made to officials on the regular weekly schedule.

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