Football Queensland appoint former Matilda Amy Chapman

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Football Queensland has ticked yet another box as it continues to make good on its promises.

Their Strategic Plan has been adhered to thus far and they continue to go from strength to strength.

Last week, they announced that former Matilda Amy Chapman would be joining the Board of Directors, as well as a future role as Chair of the Women’s Advisory Council.

FQ’s full statement can be found here:

Football Queensland (FQ) is pleased to announce the appointment of Amy Chapman to the FQ Board of Directors.

A former Matilda and Westfield W-League player, Chapman brings a wealth of experience in the football landscape as a player, commentator and analyst for Optus Sport, Fox Sports and Channel 9.

As a Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) delegate, Chapman led negotiations for the W-League Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and initiated the first ever PFA corporate partnership designed to assist players in transitioning to life after football.

With a passion for growing football in Australia and giving back to the game, Chapman also boasts an understanding of the need to strengthen pathways in regional areas having grown up playing football in a regional town.

In addition to her appointment to the FQ Board of Directors, Chapman will bring her vast experience to the role of Chair of the Women’s Advisory Council, to be established by FQ in the coming weeks.

Supporting the implementation of the 2020-2022 Strategic Plan for football in Queensland, FQ’s Women’s Advisory Council will work to grow and strengthen the women’s game across the state.

*ENDS*

Chapman, 33, is a long-time servant of the game in Australia, especially in Queensland. She signed with Brisbane Roar’s W-League side in 2010 and clearly, with FQ appointing her in this position, she has rubbed people off the right way over the last 10 years.

As mentioned in the press release, Chapman has also worked in the media with Channel 9, Optus Sport and Fox Sports, showcasing her in-depth knowledge of the game.

Bringing Chapman onto the Board of Directors seems, on paper, to be a fantastic move. She has a lot of experience on the field and she can use that to help FQ gain more understanding as to what the players desire most. Players can only do so much on and off the field with little to no decision making ability.

Her inclusion onto the Board, once again as mentioned above, will lead into her role as the Chair of the Women’s Advisory Council that has the ability to shape things up off the field.

Football Queensland only recently committed to growing the women’s game on the Sunshine Coast. Now, with the establishment of the Advisory Council in the next few weeks to go with Chapman’s arrival at FQ, the Sunshine State now seems to be setting the standard off the field for representation.

The introduction of this role could potentially lead other states into following suit, which, in theory, could potentially change the women’s game in Australia.

Assuming the Advisory Council would be made up of women and with the purpose of growing the game for both aspiring juniors and current professionals, it would be a project everyone would be on board with.

It’s fair to say that giving young girls all the support and funding they need is one of the most important areas that Australian soccer needs to address. Currently, we’re going well both on home soil and overseas.

But if you don’t plan for the future, then you pay the price down the track. Planning for the future is the overarching purpose of any Strategic Plan and FQ seem to have the right idea on how to approach this significant issue.

In this everchanging world we live in, everyone deserves a chance to do what they have always wanted to. This Advisory Council, when officially formed, will have the ability to fulfill the hopes and dreams of many young girls in Queensland.

We here at Soccerscene once again praise Football Queensland and their commitment to fulfilling their Strategic Plan. It’s great to see them with so much passion for changing the game for the better off the field.

What are your thoughts on Chapman’s arrival at FQ? Get involved in the conversation on Twitter @Soccersceneau

 

 

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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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