Football Queensland launches Disaster Recovery Hub

Kristy Nicolaou10/03/2025 6:15 am12/03/2025

Image credit: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock.com

Football Queensland (FQ) has introduced a disaster recovery hub, dedicated to assisting clubs affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred across South East Queensland and Northern NSW.

FQ’s Disaster Recovery Hub allows a central platform available for clubs to complete the club damage report.

The Recovery Process

This report allows clubs to submit any damage that has impacted the state of the club; this may include:

View information on crucial grants and funding support that they may require.
Assess the state of the land.
Understand the extent of the damage .
Determine each club’s ability to return to the game and host fixtures, as well as other forms of activity.
Connect with volunteers who are ready to assist.

To ensure that the return to football is as efficient as possible, FQ is encouraging impacted clubs to complete this reporting form within the hub.

Queenslanders Ban Together

Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci expresses the vital nature of the initiative, reiterating FQ’s support for those impacted in the football community.

“FQ’s Disaster Recovery Hub provides clubs with a central destination to outline their needs while also enabling volunteers and the wider football community to provide assistance where it is needed most,’ he said via press release.

“We know that many clubs across South East Queensland will be significantly impacted by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and Football Queensland is committed to providing as much support as possible throughout the recovery process.

“Our football community is built on resilience and togetherness, and just as we have done many times before, Queenslanders will band together to help each other through this challenging period.”

Looking Ahead

FQ is working alongside the local and state government authorities to ensure affected clubs access the relevant resources and support required for recovery.

Clubs across Queensland will have information of available funding opportunities to help rebuild facilities and ensure the football community recovers promptly.

Click here to learn more about the FQ Disaster Recovery Hub.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

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

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

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.