Football Federation Australia clarifies Collective Bargaining Agreement processes

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has issued a statement addressing the current status of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

In the statement, FFA announced it continues to work closely with the A-League and W-League Clubs (the Clubs) as the unbundling process continues towards a new model for Australia’s Professional Leagues. The new model is aligned with the in-principle agreement entered into in 2019 and was endorsed by the New Leagues Working Group, the body FFA Congress mandated to create recommendations for the optimal future of Australia’s Professional Football Leagues.

In deference to the in-principle agreement, FFA has gradually implemented practical changes to give the Clubs and its representative body, the Australian Professional Football Clubs Association (APFCA), more operational control.

For the Clubs and the APFCA, this has included assuming control over the negotiation with Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) of the CBA for the Professional Leagues. This change has seen the APFCA assume the role of ‘employer representative’ and negotiator on behalf of the Clubs directly with PFA, who represent the player group on CBA matters.  FFA has taken a more traditional ‘regulator’ role in the negotiations.

This is a process toward the unbundling of the Professional Leagues from FFA.  In time, the Clubs will have operational control of the Professional Leagues that has been sought and debated for many years. This will place Australia in a consistent position with global football frameworks where the Professional Leagues operate as a separate entity under the umbrella of the National Federation.

FFA concluded its statement by reinforcing that it is actively monitoring the negotiations between the APFCA and PFA, and remains committed to supporting both parties in their negotiations. The organisation stated that although it continues to monitor these negotiations, if the parties cannot reach agreement, FFA will enter the negotiations at the appropriate time.

FFA retains the role of negotiating the CBA directly with PFA relating to Australia’s National Teams, the Westfield Matildas and Socceroos.

For more information, visit www.ffa.com.au.

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More Than One in Five Football Australia Staff to Lose Jobs Amid Growing Financial Losses

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Image Credit: ESPN

Australian football finds itself in a curious position.

From the outside, the game appears to be riding a wave of momentum. Attendances, visibility and public interest have all experienced significant uplift in recent years, while major international tournaments and growing discussion around football’s future continue to place the sport firmly within the national conversation.

Yet behind that momentum, Football Australia is now confronting a far more challenging internal reality.

 

A compounding deficit

Chief Executive Martin Kugeler has reportedly indicated the governing body’s projected financial losses for 2025 are expected to exceed the organisation’s reported $8.5 million deficit from the previous year. Accompanying the financial outlook are substantial organisational changes, with reporting from Tracey Holmes indicating more than one in five Football Australia employees are expected to lose their positions through restructuring measures.

The figures represent more than a difficult balance sheet. They point toward a significant period of recalibration inside the organisation responsible for overseeing the sport nationally.

 

Losing the wisdom of existing staff members

For governing bodies, restructures are often framed as strategic necessities for future sustainability. However, workforce changes on this scale also raise broader questions around the challenges of such a transition.

People are often the carriers of knowledge, relationships and long-term strategic understanding. When organisations undergo significant structural change, the effects can extend beyond immediate financial outcomes.

 

Contradicting timing

The timing is what makes the developments particularly notable.

Football in Australia has spent recent years discussing expansion, growth and long-term opportunity. The conversation surrounding the game has increasingly centred on future potential. Often headlining stronger pathways, larger audiences, infrastructure development and greater visibility.

Against that backdrop, news of deep financial losses and substantial staffing reductions creates a different conversation: one focused not on where the game wants to go, but on what may be required to sustain that journey. Therefore, this announcement points toward stagnancy, rather than growth.

Further detail surrounding Football Australia’s strategy and long-term direction will likely emerge over coming months. For now, the developments serve as a reminder that growth stories are rarely straightforward.

Often, the periods that appear strongest from the outside can also be the moments organisations face their most significant internal tests.

Heidelberg United denied qualification to AFC UCL 2

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Image credit: Mark Avellino Photography / Australia Cup

In an announcement made yesterday, Football Australia revealed that, in place of Heidelberg United, Melbourne Victory will now take the AFC UCL 2 spot.

A premature ending

In what is sure to be a disappointing verdict for Heidelberg’s fans, staff and supporters, the NPL VIC side will no longer compete in next season’s AFC CL 2.

The decision comes despite Heidelberg meeting the necessary criteria outlined in Football Australia’s National Club Licensing Regulations.

“We understand that this will be a disappointing outcome for everyone connected to Heidelberg United FC,” said FA Executive Director of Football, Heather Garriock, via press release.

“The club earned enormous respect through its performances this season and should be proud of what it achieved both on and off the pitch.”

Indeed, through defeating several A-League outfits en-route to the Australia Cup Final against Newcastle Jets, Heidelberg did earn widespread respect and admiration across the landscape. Football Australia also strongly advocated for the side’s place in the AFC CL 2 following Newcastle’s qualification to the AFC CL Elite.

But despite the determined efforts of the club’s board to meet all necessary criteria, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ruled the side ineligible to compete.

 

Victory emerge as replacements

Filling the now-vacant position in next season’s competition is Melbourne Victory, who finished 4th in the A-League this year.

As 3rd-place Auckland FC are based in New Zealand, thus falling under the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), they are also ineligible to compete.

So while the AFC CL 2 will still be arriving in Melbourne next season, fixtures will no longer be built on the underdog success story of Heidelberg’s immense rise from NPL to AFC CL matchdays.

The club, however, will appeal the decision, and has written to Football Australia for further clarity on the Appeals Process.

It remains uncertain whether the appeal will be successful or not, but Heidelberg will undoubtedly enjoy the backing not just of its own staff and supporters, but of the entire Australian grassroots community.

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