Football Australia and Allianz Australia unveil a multi-year deal

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Image credit: Brett Costello

Football Australia has confirmed a multi-year partnership with Allianz Australia to be their Official Insurance Partner.

Allianz has a strong history of supporting sports, especially football in Australia, such as having a stadium named after the insurance company in Sydney and showing support through major sporting initiatives such as the ‘Grassroots Champions’ which encourages young athletes to continue playing sport.

This agreed partnership showcases a significant investment in the ongoing growth and development of football in Australia.

CEO of Football Australia, James Johnson, commented on the collaboration with Allianz Australia:

“We are delighted to welcome Allianz to the growing Football Australia family. Their commitment to inclusivity and community empowerment mirrors our own values and vision for football in Australia. This partnership will not only provide crucial support for our national teams but also inspire the next generation of Australian talent. We look forward to a successful and collaborative partnership,” he said in a statement from Football Australia.

“Allianz joins a suite of other commercial partners who have partnered with Football Australia over the last four years. We are delighted to add another global brand to our network of strong partnerships, further enhancing our ability to grow the game and support our teams.”

Managing Director of Allianz Australia, Richard Feledy, has expressed his excitement about the multi-year partnership with Football Australia:

“We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Football Australia, further highlighting our global commitment to sport and the incredible value it brings to the communities in which we operate. This partnership is a natural fit for us, given Allianz’s global family of stadiums and our commitment to football internationally. We believe sport promotes diversity, supports mental and physical health, and fosters a sense of unity and belonging. Through this partnership with Football Australia, we hope to inspire future generations of footballers,” he said in an Allianz media release.

Football Australia has outlined some other key highlights of their partnership:

  • Major Branded Assets: Allianz Australia will have logo branding on the back of the training and off-field apparel for Socceroos, Matildas, ParaMatildas, and Pararoos teams.
  • Support for Para-athletes: Allianz Australia strengthens its commitment to para-athletes as the Official Partner of the ParaMatildas and Pararoos.
  • Global and Local Presence: The partnership builds on Allianz Australia’s rich history in football globally, which includes collaborations with FC Bayern and Allianz Stadium (Sydney Football Stadium). Since 2021, Football Australia’s National Teams have played 39 nations across 16 countries on four continents.
  • Inclusive, Diverse, and Accessible: According to Cultural Pulse, football represents over 200 cultures, spanning 2,300 grassroots clubs across Australia. This rich cultural diversity enhances the sport and creates a welcoming, supportive environment for players, fans, and communities.
  • Empowering Individuals and Communities: According to Cultural Pulse, football is the top sport for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia.

Furthermore, Allianz Australia will launch a major marketing campaign for Paris 2024 ahead of the Matildas’ opening Olympic match on July 25.

After this announcement, the partnership is bound to bring excitement to the broad Australian football community and will provide benefits to many different cultural and diverse groups to support the growth and development of the beautiful game. 

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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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