Brisbane Roar closing in on new facility after two years in construction

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Brisbane Roar training facility
Image credit: Brisbane Roar

Brisbane Roar has given an update for the new Brendale training facility, which has been under development for the past 24 months.

The club’s Isuzu UTE, Liberty A-League, and NPL squads will have access to purpose-built high performance training grounds at the cutting-edge complex.

The facility, featuring an 80,000 square metre area, has an 80 metre long structure with two enormous football fields surrounded by three-meter high fencing with black scrim to maintain seclusion.

It will hold three change rooms, a video analysis room, a large office space for the coaching staff, while the football department are all located in the clubhouse, indicating a state of the art facility is on the way for the two-time A-League champions.

The facility should be completed within the next several months, but the fields will not be finished until the end of the year.

“We’re thrilled to turn the sod today and bring us one step closer to this brilliant new base in Moreton Bay,” vice chairman Chris Fong stated via press release.

“This will be a huge advantage and benefit to our players, and it’s a big part of our strategic plan to not only reclaim our place at the top of the A-League Women’s competition but to grow the sport in Queensland.”

The $22 million project indicates the growth and recognition of womens football in Australia, along with clubs realising the importance of their youth. With the sport growing in popularity in the country, it is time for A-league clubs to take their youth squads extremely seriously and begin producing the next generation of stars Australia has to offer.

This all starts with state-of-the-art facilities, proving clubs are serious about player development and success. Brisbane Roar’s project sets an example of investing in the youth and how starting with a new facility can pave the way for new-born success.

The training centre will be up to the best professional sports standards in Australia. When completed, Brisbane Roar is eager to hold friendly games and fan events at the facility.

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Altona East Phoenix SC Makes Deal With The Eye Labs

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Image Credit: Football Victoria

Altona East Phoenix Soccer Club have announced a partnership with local business, The Eye Labs.

The Eye Lab is an eyecare and designer prescription provider who specialise in diagnosing and treating dry eyes with personalised care plans to relieve irritation, redness, and inflammation.

The Newport clinic who are now partnered with the football club is the only Eye Lab who offer myopia control, which aims to halt the development of near-sightedness.

The company wanted to partner with Altona East SC to help increase community understanding around: eye health, children’s eye health, some misconceptions regarding when to see an optometrist and what an optometrist does.

The Eye Lab Founder and Principal Optometrist, Vic El-Khoury stated the Newport branch will try and achieve eye care awareness through more social media engagement, workshops with the club and information sheets for players and parents.

“We find that partnering with local clubs is both a very fulfilling way to give back to the local community, increases general awareness of our clinic and improves community engagement around the importance of eye health,” he said to Soccerscene.

“The main benefit is to promote eye health.

“It will strengthen our connections to our patients and families that already visit us. We have since found out that some of our patients and friends already play for Altona East, which was something nice to see.”

Eye Coordination In Football

In any sports, and everyday life, eye coordination is paramount to the safety of the player and everyone around them.

The process of what a player sees, how they react, and their awareness of their surroundings.

Footballers can enhance their eye health with vision training and regular eye checks with companies like The Eye Lab.

Vision training also helps improve how the brain processed visual information, using tests like peripheral awareness, depth perception, eye tracking, focus and attention, and visual reaction speed.

Footballers can also use drills like trapping high balls, passing while under match-day-like pressure, and how to angle the ball when kicking can also help train eye coordination.

Protecting the Game’s Future: Head Safe Football and the Fight Against CTE

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Image Credit: Head Safe Football

Head Safe Football (HSF) is a pioneering organisation dedicated to tackling one of football’s most pressing health concerns: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The charity’s mission is simple but vital: to protect current and future generations of players from the devastating effects of repetitive head impacts.

CTE is a progressive, incurable brain disease caused by repeated head trauma, including heading the ball. Over time, these impacts can lead to memory loss, confusion, aggression, depression, and eventually dementia.

With symptoms worsening over decades and no known cure, prevention is the only solution.

The aim isn’t to eliminate heading from football because it remains an integral and unique part of the game. Instead, the focus is on promoting safer training practices that limit repeated head impacts.

For young players, particularly those under the age of 10 or 11, heading plays a minimal role due to the limited time the ball spends in the air. At this age, removing heading from training and matches can be done safely and without compromising the essence or flow of the game.

HSF is leading the charge to bring this conversation out of the shadows. Inspired by the “elephant in the room”, a metaphor used in its logo, the organisation challenges the football community to acknowledge and address the risks of CTE.

Its initiatives focus on education, awareness, and practical change: reducing heading in youth training, supporting affected players and families, and mobilising the wider football community to unite under the message Football United v CTE.

By combining the latest scientific research with community action, HSF aims to create a safer future for the sport. Their approach blends compassion and advocacy, ensuring that football’s progress doesn’t come at the expense of player wellbeing.

Conclusion

Education around head injuries remains one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of player welfare in football.

Many still underestimate the long-term dangers of repeated head impacts, and greater awareness is needed to ensure that players, coaches, and parents can make informed, responsible decisions.

By understanding the risks, the football community can take meaningful steps toward lasting change and safer playing environments.

Learn more about Head Safe Football and their current initiatives HERE

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