Football Victoria champions its advancements for women’s football in 2023 Annual Report

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Image credit: Mark Avellino Photography

Football Victoria (FV) released the 2023 Annual Report, detailing their efforts and successes last year.

In a massive year for women’s football, Football Victoria led the way in delivering improvements in both participation and infrastructure for the women’s game.

The Andrews-Allen State Government has invested an unprecedented $400 million towards developing Victoria’s football facilities over the past five years, however, 2023 would see a major push for the construction of female football facilities, as well as upgrading existing spaces to become more female-friendly.

Typifying this push was the completion of the ‘Home of the Matildas’ centre, which was constructed as part of the La Trobe University Sports Park project. The centre opened in July last year and has instantly become a symbol of women’s football and the Matildas efforts in 2023.

Again, the State Government set records, putting $42.29 million towards its construction – the largest donation ever made by any level of government for a football-specific project nationally. The centre boasts state-of-the-art football pitches (grass and artificial), twelve changerooms, a fully-equipped gym and wet recovery centre, medical facilities, and corporate spaces.

The facility has already been utilised for local, regional, national and international events, and will be the cornerstone of Football Victoria’s future efforts, serving as its official headquarters.

Further mentioned was the creation of 14 council-supported “Social Football Hubs” across the state, contributing to the enormous growth in summer football participation for females – reaching nearly 6,000 compared to just 1,900 in 2022.

Also in infrastructure, the report triumphs its involvement in revitalising recreational spaces in Ballarat. At an estimated spend of $16 million, the Victoria Park Sport & Community Facility and Wendouree West Recreation Reserve projects were completed in 2023, and Football Victoria believes this will provide the highest-quality football experience for the community.

There is less mentioned in the report about the present growth of football facilities in other regional centres, with the report mentioning that State government budgetary measures may hinder its plans in the short term.

Then-acting CEO, Karen Pearce OAM, commented on the federation’s endeavours regarding regional football within the report.

“We are currently undertaking a Regional Review to determine an optimal operating model to improve the function, efficiency, capacity, and overall football experience in regional Victoria,” she wrote via the report.

“The review has explored all key components of the football ecosystem, with some key findings currently underway.”

There is a long-term plan to construct ‘regional hubs’ consisting of 4-6 pitches and state-of-the-art facilities in the outer suburbs and rural centres of Victoria, including a redevelopment of the Gippsland Sports and Entertainment Centre in Sale.

The concentrated effort to improve football infrastructure has benefitted participation in the sport, with player registrations totalling at 82,945.

There were 4,229 teams from Metropolitan and Geelong areas that entered into community competitions last year, with player registration numbers totalling just under 54,000. The popularity of football amongst children remains strong, with 75% of this figure represented by Miniroos and juniors, with the remainder made up of seniors and over 35’s.

In addition, there was a 41% increase in coaching participation compared to 2022, and twice as much engagement between coaches and the federation on social media. This is owing to Football Victoria’s “Club Coach Coordinator Gala Day”, which championed greater access to coaching resources and accreditation.

Referee participation is less publicised across national media channels, but their importance to the growth of the game is crucial. Football Victoria has continued to invest in its refereeing facilities and academies, which helped see an increase of 350 referees compared to 2022. This includes a 50% increase in female referees.

Its accreditation and pathway programs has led to six match officials being selected on the FIFA panel – 17 reaching the A-League – and a further three joining the Football Australia Referee Academy. There were a further 67 officials who joined the successful Victorian Referee Academy in 2023.

Given the widespread success it has reported, Football Victoria will be challenged to sustain this momentum. Its efforts will have triggered interest from future sponsors and businesses, whose potential investment will play a key role in the expansion effort; especially if government spending is to be reduced.

Football Victoria President, Antonella Care, thanked the organisations current partners and sponsors in the report for their contributions.

“Our game would not survive without the support of partners at all levels of the game,” Care stated in the report.

“I would also like to thank FV’s proud sponsors for their dedication to football, and also pass on my gratitude to the many businesses who sponsor Clubs and allow them to reinvest into the game.”

Football Victoria’s improvements in participation and infrastructure – thanks to support from sponsors and government agencies – exemplify the state’s reputation as the national leader in football expansion.

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The Spreadsheet Is Dead: Majestri’s Fix for How Clubs Actually Assess Players

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If you’ve ever sat through a club’s end-of-season review, you’ll know the drill. A coach pulls out a folder of notes, someone half-remembers what a player was like back in Round 3 and a parent quietly wonders what they actually got for their rego fees beyond a team photo. Football club platform Majestri says it has a fix for that, and it’s built directly into its Player Assessment module.

Why clubs bother assessing players in the first place

According to Majestri, clubs run player assessments for one of three reasons – usually more than one at once. Some are chasing genuine development, using the data to lift the level across their high-performance squads. Others are after a fairer way to pick teams, putting every player on the same measurable scale so selection is based on evidence rather than a coach’s gut feel about who “looks the part.” And for clubs operating under a Football Australia or state federation licence, assessments at set intervals often aren’t optional – they’re a compliance requirement, with the paperwork to prove it when asked.

Whatever the motivation, Majestri’s pitch is the same: don’t let that assessment data die in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.

Build your own assessment, your way

There’s no one-size-fits-all template here. The Assessment Designer lets technical directors set their own criteria, sort them into whatever categories their coaching staff already use – think core skills, possession, defending, attacking – and decide what each point on the rating scale actually means. Crucially, every criterion also gets a comment field, because a bare number rarely tells the full story of a player’s development.

The Assessment Module Builder for an NPL Juniors assessment
The Assessment Module Builder, showing an NPL Juniors assessment with a 1-10 rating scale banded from under performing through to excelling and role-specific criteria grouped into core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

Build it once and it’s reusable every time that assessment cycle comes around, so every player and every coach – is working off the same yardstick.

Something for the parents to actually take home

One of the more relatable pain points Majestri is targeting: most families never see much tangible return from a season of fees beyond a team photo. Player Assessment addresses that with report cards – colour-coded against the same scale coaches used, grouped by category with averages calculated automatically, and delivered as a PDF or an interactive web page a parent can read without needing a coaching badge themselves.

A player report card for an under-15 player
A report card for an under-15 player, colour-coded from under performing to excelling, with a score for every criterion and a group average across core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

 

Turning the numbers into something useful

The real value, though, sits in what Majestri calls the Player Analysis Lab. This is where clubs can plot a player against their team-mates or an entire age group across two categories at once, spotting clusters and outliers at a glance. Every score gets read against the group average – so a “7” actually means something in context – and clubs can report at the broad category level or drill into individual fields underneath. The results can be filtered down and exported for selection meetings or grading purposes.

The Player Analysis Lab comparing players in an under-15 and under-16 squad
The Player Analysis Lab comparing seven players across under-15 and under-16 squads, with a scatter plot, a sortable table of scores against the player average, and controls for choosing which categories and fields to report on. Source: Majestri.

The admin side nobody enjoys, made easier

Beyond the flashy analytics, there’s a practical layer built for the volunteers actually running the process:

  • Sweep monitoring – a quick view of which assessments are done and which are still outstanding, organised into defined assessment periods so progress can be tracked against peers.
  • Individual development plans – every player gets a personalised plan, and clubs can group common improvement areas to run cross-team training sessions that lift the whole club rather than just one squad.
  • Access control – coaches and technical staff can only see assessments for the teams they’re responsible for, and completed assessments are only visible to people linked to that player’s registration.
“Hard numbers to draw on when you review coaching staff and curriculum – and something tangible for the players and parents who pay the fees.” – Majestri

 

The bigger picture

Majestri frames all of this as sitting on top of the club’s own data – assessment results live on each player’s profile inside the platform rather than in a spreadsheet that walks out the door when a technical director moves on. For committees, it also means hard numbers to lean on when reviewing coaching staff or curriculum, rather than relying on anecdote.

It’s a fairly clear read on where club administration software is heading: less about digitising paperwork for its own sake, and more about making the data clubs already collect actually work for player development, team selection and compliance  without adding to the workload of the volunteers who run the show.

For more information on Majestri’s Player Assessment module, visit majestri.com.au/player-assessment.

West Ham ownership battle intensifies as deal faces fresh challenge 

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Image Credits: chrisdorney

West Ham’s ownership battle has taken another turn. Amanda Staveley’s consortium reached an agreement to buy the Gold family’s 25.1 per cent stake in the club. The deal was confirmed in July, that Staveley would purchase the shares from Vanessa Gold, who is the current co-chair at West Ham. The club’s valuation stands at $1.1 billion (600 million pounds).

Gold’s shares in the club have come under intense speculation. Daniel Kretinsky originally agreed to take on Gold’s shares in June; this would have made him majority stakeholder with 43%. Kretinsky already owns 27 per cent of West Ham. He became a shareholder in 2021 after acquiring his stake from the club’s existing ownership group.

Gold now says the latest developments have turned, with Staveley set to purchase that stake in the club. Staveley is no stranger to Premier League ownership. She was part of the consortium that completed the takeover of Newcastle United in 2021. She later left her position at Newcastle after selling her stake in the club.

Her West Ham consortium has now targeted the shares held by the Gold family. The 25.1 per cent stake belonged to the family of the late David Gold. Gold co-owned West Ham alongside David Sullivan for many years. The pair acquired a controlling stake in the club in 2010. Their involvement began with a 50 per cent shareholding. They increased that position to 60 per cent later that year.

Sullivan subsequently became the club’s largest individual shareholder. Kretinsky’s arrival changed the balance of power. The Czech businessman bought 27 per cent of West Ham in November 2021. David Gold died in January 2023. His daughter, Vanessa, later became joint-chair alongside Sullivan.

Staveley’s consortium agreed a deal worth about $282 million (150 million pounds) for the 25.1 per cent holding, according to reports. It would instead give Staveley and her backers a major minority position. The club’s ownership structure remains divided between several significant shareholders.

Kretinsky already holds a larger shareholding than the stake Staveley is seeking to acquire. He has also been linked with ambitions to increase his control of the club. Existing stakeholders, including Kretinsky, have 30 days to implement a right of refusal. There is also an opportunity to purchase those shares instead. The deadline to block Staveley’s agreement expires this week.

The timing is also significant. West Ham were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2025-26 season. The club had spent more than a decade in the top flight before dropping into the Championship. That relegation came only three years after West Ham won the Europa Conference League.

The club is now attempting to rebuild on and off the pitch. Staveley’s presence adds another layer to that transition. She was also in attendance for West Ham’s Championship match against Wolves on the 1st of September.

Away from the pitch, however, the club remains at the centre of an ownership battle. The Gold family sale was expected to provide Staveley with a route into the club. Kretinsky’s potential challenge has now complicated that process.

The next stage will determine whether Staveley’s consortium completes its purchase or whether Kretinsky succeeds in increasing his own influence. Either outcome could have a major impact on West Ham’s future ownership structure. For now, the proposed sale remains the focus of a growing battle for control and influence at the London Stadium.

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