CEO OPINION

It’s Time for Football Administrators to Lead: CPD and Membership Standards Can’t Wait

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As CEO of Soccerscene, I’ve been watching Australian football grow and evolve. Crowds are bigger, clubs are modernising, and communities are reconnecting with the game. But there’s a gap that can’t be ignored.
football administrators CPD membership meeting

Australian football is growing fast. Crowds are bigger, clubs are modernising, and communities are reconnecting with the game. However, football administrators CPD membership and professional development are still lacking. The people running clubs and governing bodies operate without clear frameworks or accountability.

For too long, administrators have worked without structured professional standards. If we want a sustainable future, professionalising football administration must match the standards we already require from coaches, agents, and other key roles in the game.

The Gap in Professional Development for Football Administrators

The gap is obvious. Coaches must earn AFC coaching licences or Football Australia equivalent qualifications and complete Continuing Professional Development every three years. Agents must earn 20 CPD credits each year with an 80 percent pass rate.

Administrators, who run clubs and federations, have no similar rules. Consequently, there are no CPD requirements, baseline standards, or accountability measures. This is not a small problem. Instead, it is a major gap in how we see football administration standards.

Membership and CPD Frameworks for Football Administrators

A membership-style framework for administrators would fix this. It could include mandatory CPD, accredited courses, recognition for good work, and clear accountability rules. Importantly, this is not bureaucracy. It helps administrators make better decisions, lead with purpose, and manage football responsibly.

Learning from Chartered Accountants to Guide Football Administrators

Other sectors offer a model. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand CA ANZ represents over 140,000 professionals. Members follow strict ethical rules, ongoing education, and recognition programs. Their Member Benefits Program supports members personally and professionally through technology, business services, and lifestyle tools.

Chartered Accountants are known for their skill and integrity. Therefore, if football administrators had similar structured professional standards, the game off the pitch could match the ambition on it.

Global Inspiration: Made in Korea and Football Administration Reform

There are strong examples nearby. Over the past two years, the Korea Football Association Made in Korea project has overhauled coaching and administrative systems. It created a clear philosophy, fixed gaps in development, and built a national identity.

Korea Republic has qualified for every FIFA World Cup since 1986, but it has never broken into the top tier of world football. The Made in Korea project shows that progress needs structure, planning, and shared purpose. Australian football needs the same.

Encouraging Moves at Home for Football Administrators

Positive steps are happening locally. For example, the recent Football Convention in Queensland empowered all stakeholders and lifted the discussion about governance and professional development.

Michael Connelly from CPR Group, who spoke at the convention, highlighted Stewardship. This means making decisions for the long-term health of clubs, not just today. He also discussed pathways to sustainable growth from strategic partnerships to small practical changes. These examples show that we have people ready to lead reforms in football administration.

Strategic Planning and CPR Group in Football Administration

CPR Group is Australia’s leading provider of sports governance, planning, and community development. They help national and state bodies, councils, universities, and grassroots clubs. CPR Group delivers master plans, governance advice, constitutions, feasibility studies, and sport and recreation plans.

Michael Connelly’s leadership demonstrates how strategic planning provides a clear roadmap. It aligns decisions with a club’s vision and communicates values to members, sponsors, and funders. Many committees want to transform their clubs but struggle with day-to-day tasks. Strategic planning gives focus and confidence.

Keeping Pace with Growth: CPD for Football Administrators

Victorian football is growing fast. Crowds are bigger, clubs are modernising, and communities are more engaged. Growth brings opportunity but also responsibility. Therefore, administrators need tools, training, and frameworks to manage it effectively.

Professional development would give administrators access to digital membership tools, community engagement models, and financial planning strategies. Without this support, administrators risk falling behind. Structured training helps them lead rather than just react.

Recognition and Motivation for Football Administrators

Recognition helps build a professional culture. CA ANZ rewards excellence through fellowships, service awards, and honours. Football could do the same for administrators who innovate, lead inclusively, and strengthen clubs. Recognition motivates administrators to stay engaged and improve the game.

The Time to Act for Football Administrators CPD and Membership

Australian football is at an important point. Crowds are growing, investment is rising, and community support is strong. However, if this growth is to last, administrators must be prepared to lead professionally.

The CA ANZ model shows how professional standards can transform a sector. The KFA’s Made in Korea project shows how structure can redefine football identity. The Football Queensland Convention shows how stakeholders can elevate the debate. CPR Group shows how planning brings clarity and focus.

By introducing football administrators CPD membership programs, we can create a generation of ethical, capable, and accountable leaders. Football is more than what happens on the pitch. It is the reawakening of the game’s heart and identity. To protect that, we must invest in the people who manage, grow, and sustain football every day.

The time to act is now.

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NSW Football Associations Unite Behind AED Mapping Project for Statewide Safety Network

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Twelve football associations across New South Wales have joined a statewide effort to map and register Automated External Defibrillators across sporting facilities, in a project that its organisers say will significantly improve emergency response times and save lives at community sport venues.

The Heartbeat of Sport AED Mapping Project, backed by funding from the Minns Labor Government to the Heartbeat of Football Foundation, represents the first comprehensive research into AED placement across NSW sports grounds. The data collected will be provided to NSW Ambulance and its GoodSAM team to enrich the existing AED registry available to ambulance and public first responders, and will feed into NSW Health’s newly released public AED map.

The project has drawn active participation from associations spanning the breadth of the state’s football community, including Eastern Suburbs, Manly Warringah, Granville, Southern Districts, Nepean, Northern Suburbs, Football Canterbury, Bankstown, Hills, Sutherland Shire, North West Sydney Football and Football South Coast.

When seconds matter

The urgency behind the project is not theoretical. At Doyalson Wyee Football Club, a 70-year-old player survived a sudden on-field cardiac arrest because an AED was available on site. The outcome of that incident – and the many others like it that occur across community sport each year – depends entirely on whether a defibrillator is accessible, charged and registered in the systems that emergency responders rely upon.

Sudden cardiac arrest kills without warning. The survival rate drops by approximately ten percent for every minute without defibrillation. In a community sport setting, where professional medical staff are rarely present, a registered and accessible AED is the difference between a player walking off a pitch and one who does not.

The mapping project addresses a gap that has existed largely unexamined. More than 2,400 defibrillators have been deployed across NSW sports and recreation facilities through the Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program, with grants of up to $3,000 available to eligible organisations. But a device that exists without being registered in emergency response systems provides significantly less value than one that is accurately mapped and immediately locatable by ambulance crews responding to a call.

By encouraging clubs to complete AED registration surveys, the twelve participating associations are ensuring that the equipment already on their grounds is activated within the broader emergency infrastructure – translating a physical asset into a functional one.

Regional communities and the equity of safety

The project’s expansion of the #HeartHealthMatters Program, which brings CPR and AED familiarisation training to sporting organisations with a particular focus on regional areas, addresses a dimension of safety preparedness that often receives less attention than equipment access alone.

Knowing a defibrillator exists on site is insufficient if the people present during an emergency do not know how to use it. Regional clubs, which frequently operate with smaller volunteer bases and less access to formal training programs, face a compounded risk – less equipment, less training, and longer ambulance response times due to geography. The program’s regional focus acknowledges that safety infrastructure, like sporting infrastructure more broadly, is not evenly distributed.

The data gathered through the mapping project will also guide future investment decisions, identifying facilities that still lack AEDs and providing the evidence base for targeted grant funding to address those gaps.

Football associations that have already contributed AED data have demonstrated, in the words of the project’s organisers, strong sector leadership and a shared commitment to safeguarding participants at every level of the game.

For a sport that involves hundreds of thousands of players, officials and volunteers across the state each week, the ambition of the Heartbeat of Sport project is straightforward – that no preventable death occurs on a football ground because the right equipment was not there, or could not be found.

Decision overturned: FIFA World Cup 2026 to return to Federation Square

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Image credit: FiledIMAGE

Following the announcement earlier this week that Federation Square would not return as a live site for this summer’s FIFA World Cup, Football Victoria announced yesterday that the decision has now been overturned.

Widespread support prevails

The football industry moves swiftly. Whether it’s a deadline-day transfer or cut-throat managerial changes, a lot can happen in a short time span.

And this proved true once again in Melbourne this week.

On Wednesday, Melbourne Arts Precinct announced that it will not proceed as a live site during this year’s tournament.

But following widespread backlash to the decision to not use Federation Square as a live site, the initial verdict will no longer go ahead.

“In the past 24 hours, Victorians demonstrated just how important our national teams are to the fabric of our community,” said Football Victoria CEO, Dan Birrell, via press release.

Furthermore, Birrell highlighted that support for a swift overturn also came from those outside the football landscape.

“The response extended far beyond football participants and supporters, reflecting the wider community’s recognition of the signficance of the tournament and the role these moments play in bringing people together.”

 

Community comes first

Having Federation Square as a live site during this year’s World Cup ensures that Melburnians wanting to back the Socceroos, can do so as one unit.

But even those who won’t be cheering for Australia, and will instead be adorning another nation’s colours, will still be able to unite and show their pride.

This is what live football is all about.

A variety of communities and nationalities which – despite supporting opposing sides – can come together under a shared love of the game. As Birrell continued to explain, this is a fundamental part of why the decision to overturn bares such importance.

“Football is a game that transcends age, background, language and culture.”

“It brings people together from all walks of life and creates moments of connection that are incredibly powerful, particularly uring global tournaments like the FIFA World Cup.”

The Socceroos will kick off their World Cup campaign against Turkey on June 14.

 

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