Football Victoria Celebrates Construction Start on Gippsland Sports & Entertainment Park Redevelopment

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Credit: Development Victoria

Football Victoria welcomes the start of construction on the Gippsland Sports & Entertainment Park redevelopment, a major boost for football in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland, funded by the Victorian Government’s Regional Sports Infrastructure Program.

Construction getting underway with head contractor Building Engineering marks a major milestone in creating a modern, inclusive, and top-quality home for football in the region.

Lachlan Cole, FV’s Head of Government Relations & Strategy, said the upgraded Gippsland Sports & Entertainment Park is a flagship project that will provide local clubs and the wider Latrobe Valley football community with top-quality facilities and boost Gippsland’s ability to host regional tournaments and events.

“This is a crown jewel project for regional football in Victoria,” he said in a press release

“The upgraded Gippsland Sports & Entertainment Park will ensure that local clubs like Falcons 2000, Gippsland United FC and the wider Latrobe Valley football community have the facilities they deserve to grow and thrive, while strengthens Gippsland’s capacity to host regional tournaments and showcase events.”

The GSEP site holds a special place in Victoria’s football history, from the proud legacy of the former Morwell Falcons SC in the old NSL, to the lasting impact of the late Don Di Fabrizio OAM, a respected community figure who led the club as president from 1969 to 1994 and served as a Commissioner for the Australian Soccer Federation (ASF).

In honour of his legacy, the new grandstand pavilion will continue to carry Di Fabrizio’s name, acknowledging his significant contributions to the local football community.

The redevelopment will feature a new grandstand pavilion with accessible change rooms and facilities, upgraded pitches with improved lighting, a new change facility, and expanded parking. The project is also expected to boost the local economy through job creation and new opportunities for local businesses during and after the construction phase.

Cole also stated that Football Victoria is proud to partner with the government and the local football community on this upgrade, and thanked key ministers and agencies whose support has been vital in getting the project underway.

“Football Victoria is proud to partner with key government stakeholders and the local football community on this transformative upgrade,” he said.

“We thank Minister Shing, Minister Spence, and the Allan Labor Government for their continued investment in football and regional sport infrastructure.

“The vision and support of Sport and Recreation Victoria, Development Victoria, and Latrobe City Council has been instrumental in getting this project off the ground.”

The upgraded precinct will remain a central hub for the Latrobe Valley Soccer League, the Gippsland Referees Branch, and the next generation of regional football talent, supporting both community football and Football Victoria pathways and events.

Football Victoria looks forward to the project’s completion in late 2026 and the lasting impact this investment will have on Gippsland football for years to come.

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Capital Football Introduces Pink Armband to Protect Junior Referees

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Image Credit: Marist Canberra FC

Capital Football has launched a visible identification program for referees under 18, requiring them to wear a pink armband during matches. It’s intended to build awareness surrounding the concern across Australian football about the abuse driving young officials out of the game.

The Pink Armband Initiative, effective immediately across Capital Football’s competitions in the ACT and surrounding region, makes junior referees identifiable to players, coaches and spectators. The federation says the marker is designed to set clear behavioural expectations and signal that many match officials are minors still developing their skills.

Capital Football acknowledged a referee crisis as far back as 2022, at which point it restructured its entire referee department in partnership with Football Australia. The pink armband program is the latest layer of that response; this time by targeting the cultural conditions on match day rather than systems of recruitment and pay.

A problem that spans codes and states

Research has consistently linked referee abuse to declining retention rates, with officials quitting in growing numbers due to sustained mistreatment, a trend researchers warn will reduce the pool of skilled match officials available at all levels of the game. Studies also show that young, less experienced referees are disproportionately likely to be subject to abuse.

Capital Football is not alone in reaching for a visible solution. Similar programs operate across Football Queensland, Football South Australia, Football South Coast and several other federations, while Basketball Victoria and Basketball South Australia have adopted comparable measures through the Green Whistle initiative. The spread of these programs across codes and states reflects a shared administrative problem: many grassroots referees are teenagers and volunteers who do not officiate for money but because they love the game, and abuse is eroding that foundation.

For a federation overseeing nearly 29,000 registered players, fewer referees means fewer matches. Fewer matches means reduced participation. The pink armband is a low-cost intervention with structural consequences if it works.

Football Victoria Backs Campaign to Shield Junior Players from Gambling Harm

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More than 600 sporting clubs across Victoria have enrolled in a state government program designed to limit young players’ exposure to gambling, with Football Victoria now urging its community clubs to join before a late-July registration deadline.

The Love the Game initiative asks clubs to formally commit to a set of principles: refusing sports betting sponsorships, developing internal harm prevention policies, and building environments where coaches, parents and players are equipped to discuss gambling risks with children.

The program’s public health rationale has a sharper statistical edge than its community-facing materials suggest. A 2025 study of Victorian secondary school students aged 12 to 17 found that nearly 30% had gambled at some point, and among those who had gambled in the past year, 7.5% met the criteria for problem-gambling and a further 26.8% were classified as ‘at-risk’. The research, commissioned by the state government and published earlier this year, also found that students exposed to gambling venues and advertising were more likely to gamble or to do so in a risky manner.

The most recent Victorian Population Gambling Study found that Victorians aged 18 to 24 are the group least likely to gamble overall, yet carry the highest rates of harmful gambling across all age groups. Young people aged 18 to 34 are around five times more likely to bet on sports than older cohorts.

When the data lands at the clubhouse door

Football Victoria’s support for the program reflects a broader recognition within community sport that participation rates and club culture are connected. The environments clubs create shape whether young people stay in sport and what norms they carry with them into adulthood. For football specifically, which draws participants across a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds, that responsibility is not evenly distributed. Approximately 440,000 Victorians, or 8.5 per cent of the state’s population, are classified as being at some risk of experiencing problem gambling.

The Victorian Government’s program gives clubs more than symbolic membership. Registered clubs receive practical tools to develop governance frameworks around gambling harm, resources for coaching staff and volunteers, and standing as part of a growing network of clubs taking a formal position on the issue.

Researchers have described the current framing of gambling harm as a matter of personal responsibility as inadequate, arguing it is a public health issue requiring a systemic response. Community football clubs, with their reach into households across the state, are one of the institutional levers available to make that response visible.

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