Football Queensland launches #EQUALISER to secure funding

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Image Credit: Football Queensland website

Football Queensland (FQ) has launched their #EQUALISER campaign ahead of the 2025 federal election.

After its success in 2024 strengthening advocacy for infrastructure investment, FQ will be hosting two online webinars designed to guide and prepare clubs on how to use the upcoming federal election to their advantage.

Empowering Clubs for Advocacy

The focus of this campaign is to empower Queensland’s football clubs to engage with their local federal representatives, with the goal of addressing infrastructure funding gaps. 

Following the success of the 2024 state election #EQUALISER campaign, which secured a record $28 million in pre-election project commitments, FQ is shifting the focus to a federal level.

FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci emphasises the need for a united push to secure funding for the sports growth.

“While the state election campaign delivered great results, the federal election offers us a unique opportunity to continue pushing for the infrastructure investment needed to meet the game’s growing demand. We still face an infrastructure funding gap, and now is the time to address it.

“With football’s growth outpacing infrastructure development, the federal election is a crucial moment to collectively advocate for the investment our clubs need to keep up with the increasing demand for facilities across Queensland,” he said via press release.

Webinars Series: A Guiding Hand for Clubs

To support clubs in this endeavour, FQ’s webinars will cover:

  • Lessons from the #2024 EQUALISER campaign and its successes
  • How clubs can position themselves for federal election opportunities
  • Project readiness and the necessary documentation for funding applications
  • Effective strategies to engage with federal candidates and advocating for investment in their local football facilities
A continued push for Infrastructure Investment

Cavallucci highlighted the fresh opportunity that the federal election presents for clubs.

“Football brings people together, unites communities, and creates lifelong connections. Our clubs are often at the heart of their local areas, and we are determined to ensure they have the facilities that reflect their importance,” he said via press release.

Two online webinars are being hosted on Wednesday, March 5th, and Wednesday, March 12th

With the federal election on the horizon, FQ is calling on clubs to join the #EQUALISER campaign and actively help shape the future of football across the state.

For more on the #EQUALISER campaign, click here.
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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

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Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

 

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

 

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.

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