Football Australia unveils major deal with Subway

Football Australia

Football Australia has today revealed that Subway is the naming rights partner of the National Senior Men’s Football Team, the Socceroos.

The partnership lasts for three years and in turn is the largest ever national team sponsorship deal in Australian football history. As the world’s largest sandwich chain – with more than 37,000 locations globally – Subway now holds the naming rights for not only the Socceroos, but also the Olyroos, Young Socceroos, and Joeys.

Additionally, Subway becomes an Official Partner of the CommBank Matildas and the Australia Cup – the largest knock-out competition in Australia with over 700 teams from all corners of the country entering each year. Subway will have exclusive category rights for the Socceroos, CommBank Matildas, men’s and women’s youth national teams, and the Australia Cup.

The Subway brand and logo will also be showcased across all apparel such as game day and training, plus any promotional or marketing campaigns including mascots.

Upon announcing the new partnership with Subway, Football Australia Chief Executive Officer James Johnson said in a statement:

“We are thrilled to welcome Subway as the naming rights partner of the now, Subway Socceroos and our men’s national youth teams for the next three years. We are also pleased to see Subway join as a partner of the Australia Cup, as we approach a history making Australia Cup Final on 1 October at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.”

“Subway joins us at a time of unprecedented interest and growth in Australian football. The team at Football Australia has worked tirelessly to strategically position our iconic national teams in an increasingly competitive market and this record-breaking partnership, which follows a series of other commercial announcements over the past two years, demonstrates how deeply the Subway Socceroos and CommBank Matildas resonate with the Australian public. It also continues our efforts to work with brands which align with our own values and as the top-ranked company on YouGov’s Dining and Quality Rating Standards, we are delighted to be working with another high performing team.

“The Subway partnership announcement is highlighted by the Centenary celebrations of the Subway Socceroos, as they build towards a sixth FIFA World CupTM appearance later this year and coincides with the team’s Farewell match against New Zealand in Brisbane.

“To add further to our Centenary celebrations, we have recently partnered with the Royal Australian Mint to launch a limited edition 2022 Socceroos Centenary $2 Coin, and Australia Post which has released two new stamps commemorating 100 years of the Australian men’s national football team.

“We are delighted that together with Subway, we can write the next chapter of Australian football and we welcome them to the Football Australia family.”

Subway Country Director for Australia and New Zealand, Shane Bracken, is excited by the opportunities ahead and acknowledged the similarities and values that Subway and Football Australia shared.

“This is a partnership of two iconic brands and binds together a sandwich chain enjoyed by millions worldwide and a sport that millions play, participate in and support across the globe,” Bracken added via press release.

“Subway is proud to be partnering with Football Australia at such an exciting time for the game – not only across the national men’s and women’s teams, but as junior players move through the ranks and become our next line of role models and heroes.

“Our Aussie football stars have a huge few years ahead of them and Subway is looking forward to being part of the journey and helping make the game of football even bigger than it is right now.

“From one green and gold team to another – we’ll be cheering from the sidelines and across our stores.”

The official partnership launch will take place at the Socceroos Centenary and Farewell match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane tonight (kick-off at 8pm AEST).

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Off the Pitch Podcast: Cavallucci On the Importance of FQ’s Future Club+ Initiative for Local Clubs

On Episode 16 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, it was a special episode with FQ CEO Rob Cavallucci ahead of the all-important 2025 Queensland Football Convention.

Many topics around the issues in Queensland football were discussed including Futsal’s incredible growth, update on Perry Park’s upgrade plan and driving player retention in certain youth age groups.

On the topic of administration, FQ’s new Future Club+ is a ground-breaking initiative designed to strengthen the foundations of football clubs across the state.

The concept of this began after last year’s convention and through interactive club lab sessions and ongoing consultation, FQ are continuing those discussions and driving practical change.

Cavallucci discussed the current volunteering and administration issues that are plaguing local football clubs.

“Future Club+ is in line with what I talked about earlier in regard to what we need to do to best position this sport for the next 20 years,” he said.

“Clubs are run by volunteers and volunteerism is waning. A lot of clubs can’t get the administration right because they also can’t get the governance right.

“The sport is run by volunteers and when you look at the fact that volunteerism is declining in Australia across every sport, you know it’s a problem we have to solve right now.

“From a governing body point of view, when you look at that, that’s actually a limiting factor on the success of our sport.”

He also gave a solution on how FQ are going to tackle this in the future, specifically in regards to what  Future Club+ will offer in the 2025 Queensland Football Convention and beyond.

“We need to start to work with clubs to transform how they manage themselves and that means a whole series of things. Hence the Future Club+ concept is looking at that and rethinking about best practice of how a club should operate,” he said.

“What we’ve been doing over the last 18 months through a series of webinars and in the last convention, and even in this upcoming one, there’s three Future Club+ sessions and it’s all about best practice at a club.”

In this convention, the three Future Club+ sessions are:

#1 What data reveals about your club future

#2 The amalgamation playbook: Real stories from the clubs forging the future

#3 The growth engine: your tool kit to fund staff and empower volunteers.

“Those three subjects should be very appealing to any club.”

Click hear the full interview with Rob Cavallucci, on Episode 16 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting platforms.

Why La Liga and Serie A’s Overseas Ambitions Miss the Mark

There’s something special about a home game. The walk to the ground, the echo of chants through narrow streets, and the sight of familiar faces in the stands all weave together to form football’s cultural heartbeat. It’s the essence of what makes the sport local, communal, and deeply personal.

So when a domestic league decides to move one of its regular-season fixtures to another country, it feels like a breach of that bond. La Liga’s recently cancelled plan to stage a match in Miami is a case in point, a move that was ambitious in its intent but misguided in its execution.

The proposal, initially set to feature Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami this December, was meant to mark the first time a Spanish league match would be played outside of Spain. It was to be a significant moment in La Liga’s international expansion, yet, this week, La Liga confirmed the game would no longer go ahead. 

La Liga announced the cancellation in a statement on October 22nd, stating, “the decision has been made to cancel the organisation of the event due to the uncertainty that has arisen in Spain over the past few weeks.”

The explanation might sound clear and logical, but the underlying tone was clear: resistance from players, clubs, and supporters had proven too strong for the league to ignore.

Football’s global reach has never been greater, and the appetite for elite European football across North America and Asia is undeniable. But not everything that makes sense commercially aligns with what makes football special.

A home fixture isn’t just a logistical concept; it’s a symbol of identity. It represents the connection between a club and its community, between the stands and the city they inhabit. When that connection is uprooted for the sake of marketing, the league risks diminishing the very qualities that make it engaging in the first place.

It received extreme backlash…

The backlash from both fans and players was immediate and significant. Across Spain, supporters’ groups voiced anger that such a fundamental change to the league was being discussed without meaningful consultation. Many saw it as a betrayal of local supporters who invest time, money, and passion into following their clubs week after week.

Players, too, made their objections clear. Earlier this season, La Liga footballers staged coordinated on-pitch protests, pausing for 15 seconds at kick-off to highlight their frustration over the lack of dialogue and respect shown by league officials.

The Spanish players’ union publicly condemned the proposal, warning that taking competitive fixtures abroad undermines not only the integrity of the league but also the players’ physical welfare due to travel demands and congested scheduling. Together, fans and players presented a united front, a strong display of solidarity that ultimately helped force La Liga to reconsider its plans.

These objections were more than emotional reactions, they were grounded in the structural logic of sport. The home-and-away format exists to ensure fairness, balance, and authenticity. A club’s “home advantage” is not merely a cliche or superstition; it’s a reflection of support and identity. 

La Liga still chasing the Premier League’s revenue records

However, it’s easy to see why the idea was tempting. La Liga faces an uphill battle to keep up with the Premier League’s global dominance.

Broadcasting revenue gaps continue to widen, and both La Liga and Serie A are seeking creative ways to reach new audiences. The Miami match would have been a global showcase, a polished event designed to generate headlines, sponsorships, and international attention.

But if the aim is to build sustainable global engagement, staging a regular-season game overseas is the wrong mechanism. Fans abroad are not asking for borrowed fixtures; they’re asking for connection.

They want access to content, insight, and a sense of belonging, all of which can be achieved through digital outreach or pre-season tours, both of which can be done  without disrupting the league calendar.

Serie A should definitely take note. The league is awaiting conformation from FIFA for a proposed competitive league match abroad, with Italian giants AC Milan set to take on Como FC at Optus Stadium on the 8th of February, 2026.

Como FC, in a club statement released for its members, have said that the international fixture and the revenue generated from it will “help ensure survival” for the club and mentioned the enormous financial advantage in English football.  

The ambition mirrors La Liga’s idea to expand the league’s global footprint and revitalise revenue streams. Yet, the lessons from Spain are plain to see. If the goal is to grow, do so without compromising the supporters who form the league’s foundation.

Conclusion

Domestic football thrives on the local community, the ritual of weekend fixtures, the generational ties that bind fans to their clubs. When that structure is interrupted for the sake of revenue or global recognition, the game begins to lose its grounding.

That’s why the cancellation of La Liga’s Miami game should be welcomed as more than a logistical decision; it’s an important reminder that football’s heart still beats at home. It suggests that, even amid the relentless pursuit of global growth, there remains an understanding that tradition and community still matter.

Perhaps the idea of regular-season games abroad will resurface in the future, the commercial pressures will certainly persist. But when that conversation returns, it should begin with the fans, and players, not the investors. 

La Liga’s decision may have disappointed some executives and sponsors, but it has restored a small measure of balance to the sport’s ongoing tension between profit and culture

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