Football Queensland one step closer to gender parity

In a statement on their website last Thursday, Melbourne Victory revealed the Arden Campus, situated within Melbourne’s new Arden Central parkland precinct, as the latest stage of its ongoing infrastructure strategy.

The news follows Victory’s February 2025 announcement of it’s first campus in Beveridge, with each seeking to cater to growing demographics within the city’s CBD and inner north-west suburbs.

The latest campus sits within the new cultural precinct centred around Arden Station, as part of a $7 billion redevelopment project helmed by Hamton and HostPlus on behalf of the Victorian Government.

Developers Hamton and HostPlus share a 17-year history of joint venture partnerships, which include a portfolio of large-scale, complex urban projects.

Victory is joined by other major precinct partners Live Nation, North Melbourne (Australian Rules) Football Club and the University of Melbourne’s School of Design, to deliver a new campus whose goals are aligned to the club’s strategic infrastructure plan, with the aim of supporting and nurturing the growth of it’s women’s and youth programs.

Arden Campus’ proposed slate of programs will include a hub for women’s and youth female pathway programs, (for both elite and community football) plus a Community Field and Community Hub, whose shared assets will provide space for future community soccer teams, the university and future local schools, with the capacity to host more than 300 on-site activations annually.

Melbourne Victory has lauded the investment – to be administered by Development Victoria, in collaboration with local Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elders and communities – as a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity‘, allowing the state to build on its network of cultural and parkland zones linked by, and built around, Melbourne’s expanding rail system.

Once complete, the $7 billion transformation of Arden Central is predicted to create a new school, as well as more than 5,400 new homes to cater to more than 10,000 people, located just 1.5kms from the CBD.

John Dovaston, Chairman of Melbourne Victory, is confident Arden Central will ‘cement itself‘ as a critical up-and-coming destination for sport, education and entertainment. Campuses such as this, he said, ‘guarantee a synergy between elite focus and community development,’ which he believes only football – ‘the world game’, can achieve.

Speaking on Victory’s female and youth infrastructure strategy, club Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, described the plan as a ‘multi-faceted‘ reflection of their vision to lead, unite, connect and inspire.

This update to the club’s infrastructure is an overdue one, but is nonetheless a strategy which she hopes will form part of the ‘micro and macro touch points of Melbournians’ lives at Arden Central’, strengthening Melbourne Victory’s commitment to being ‘a club for all Victorians.’

Carnegie highlighted football’s impact on social cohesion in early 2025, when Victory’s infrastructure strategy was first unveiled. She emphasised the club’s responsibility to establish programs that can positively impact communities, regardless of their members’ gender, background or location.

Benefits of the ‘Campus Model’

In an official Melbourne Victory report on their long-term infrastructure strategy, published early 2025, the club laid out the following goals for the future of the state’s fastest-growing participatory sport: to unlock common opportunities for the game, create greater accessibility for talent and their families across the State (including cutting out travel time for both training and matches) to enhance Victory’s ability to grow soccer’s footprint, and to expand community connection.

The report compares Melbourne’s extensive geographical sprawl to cities such as London, Rome and Madrid – stating their campus model helps break down geographical barriers to success, with the long-term aim of establishing campuses across Melbourne’s North, South, East and West, each within a 1-hour’s drive from their AAMI Park HQ, as well as ttheir existing men’s traning facilities at Gosch’s Paddock.

Melbourne Victory’s long-term plans for their Campus development

As per the project’s FAQs, Victory will run women’s, pre-academy and academy programs from each campus once fully completed, with the club maintaining transparent communications in the meantime with fans, players and key stakeholders as to the full schedule and details of its interim offerings.

The club aims to maintain a cohesive, uniform ‘look and feel’ across each campus, so that people can know what to expect when training, playing or otherwise connecting with the Melbourne Victory brand and broader community.

This approach allows the club a wider reach in terms of attracting, developing and retaining new talent, as well as creating more familiar places for players and their supporters to call home.