Brisbane Roar strengthens alliance with Football Queensland

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Image credit: Brisbane Roar

Brisbane Roar has announced further collaboration with Football Queensland, the state’s governing body.

This partnership will focus on developing next generation talent for both the men’s and women’s game. The club is hoping that this deal will create clearer paths for Queensland players to reach both the Isuzu UTE A-League and the Liberty A-League.

The deal also sees both parties committing to developing football infrastructure – such as club rooms, pitches, and other development focused facilities. This is directly attributed to the Matildas and their success at the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup.

During the tournament, 40% of the Matildas squad was Queensland developed talent. With some of the squad’s biggest names like Cortnee Vine and Mackenzie Arnold heralding from the sunny state.

The collaboration will also hope to build talent off the pitch with the partners citing the need for the development of officials and coaches.

The state has already proved its aptitude in this sphere with Matilda’s Assistant Coach Melissa Andreatta being a Queenslander, a former FQ Academy QAS, and the former Brisbane Roar Head Coach.

Speaking on the new collaboration and the partners shared goals for football in Queensland, Brisbane Roar CEO Kaz Patafta had this to say via media release:

“In strengthening our alliance with Football Queensland, Brisbane Roar reaffirms its dedication to the growth of football across Queensland. We are committed to nurturing local talent and deepening the connection with our dedicated fan base,” he said.

“This renewed partnership symbolises a unified vision and a shared passion for growing the world game in Queensland.”

Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci reiterated this message and spoke of Roar’s importance to football in the state.

“The Brisbane Roar is an important part of the football landscape in Queensland and this collaboration, with a fresh leadership approach, paves the way for new opportunities and innovative ways of working to reach our strategic vision of Football in Queensland United,” he added via press release.

This collaboration is an exciting new dawn for football in Queensland. As one of the nation’s strongest footballing states, it is great news to see that both clubs and governing bodies are committed to helping each other grow.

The announcement is also another huge reward for football off the back of the Matildas’ run at the Women’s World Cup and highlights how important the growth of the women’s game in Australia has been to allowing all of football to grow.

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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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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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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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