Football Queensland confirm Club Convention topics

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Football Queensland recently released the central topics that will ‘Elevate the Debate’ of their inaugural Queensland Club Convention.

The convention will be held on Saturday, 2 November, and Sunday, 3 November 2024, at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

This event will bring international speakers and panellists with industry expertise to give specialised sessions for Queensland’s clubs, coaches, teams, and associations.

Before the event on the 1st, there will be a cocktail networking event at the Sunset Lounge at Suncorp Stadium for Brisbane Roar Men’s home opener against Sydney FC.

Furthermore, on the 2nd, there will be a Queensland Awards Night at Brisbane City Hall.

These Focused sessions for participants will be based on the three broad themes of Growth, Sustainability and Technology.

GROWTH 

  • It’s Already Coming – The Next Phase – 50/50 – Football’s Growth Story

Unpacking the truth about the growth of the game – what is the role of clubs and how can they prepare for it

  • Revenue Diversification – What Business are we in?

Case studies of clubs that have successfully diversified their income sources with an opportunity mindset

SUSTAINABILITY 

  • Critical Transition of Club Culture through Phases of Growth & Time

An analysis of how static club culture can paralyse a club’s maturation and progress

  • Dynamic Club Business Models

Breaking away from treading water, reducing reliance on volunteers & unlocking growth (case studies)

  • Optimal Club Governance & Administrative Structures

What does best practice look like and how do we get there? (Case studies)

TECHNOLOGY 

  • Digital Transformation in Sport Operations: Benefits of Deploying a Common Tech Stack

Reducing the volunteer burden – managing risk, data security, continuity of IP

  • Achieving Alignment, Unlocking Value & Eliminating Key Person Risk

The benefits of a common CMS and fully integrated platform for all clubs

  • Cyber Bullying – Protecting the Game, our Clubs and Participants
  • Government Relations – #EQUALISER

In the coming weeks, details of the specialised speakers for each club, official and coaching session will be released.

This event will be a great opportunity for the state’s clubs to network with some of the best in their respective field, as well as interested stakeholders and other FQ clubs.

It will also enhance the positive community-based focus that has been central to Football Queensland’s strategic plans for 2024-2026.

Tickets are selling out fast and with a limited supply, this event for the interested is not one to miss out on.

To purchase tickets to the Club Convention, click here.

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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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