Future of Football Review Report released by Northern NSW Football

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NNSWF
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Northern NSW Football have officially unveiled their Sports Business Partners’ Future of Football Review Final Report and Recommendations for 2022 and beyond.

The final report reflects 10 months of comprehensive consultation with member zones, standing committees, clubs, volunteers, coaches, referees, players and staff.

Member zones, standing committee chairs and elected representatives of NNSWF Northern Inland have all received the final report for response.

The final report has also been distributed to peak sporting bodies including Football Australia, Sport Australia and NSW Office of Sport.

“Today is an important milestone and one step closer to a future with more tangible support for clubs, volunteers, coaches, referees and players,” Northern NSW Football CEO David Eland said in a statement via NNSWF.

“This implementation plan positions clubs as the agents of change. The speed at which reform occurs will ultimately be determined by clubs. NNSWF is committed to investing in the plan and building the trust and credibility required to drive change which benefits all stakeholders.”

In October 2021 NNSWF commenced a comprehensive review into the effectiveness and efficiency of the governance and administration structures which underpin the game in our region.

The review responds to Northern NSW Football’s strategic priority to lead change and improve governance throughout football to gain efficiencies which make the game better and more accessible.

The process aligns to Principle VII of Football Australia’s XI Principles for the Future of Australian Football.

Principle VII identifies transitioning towards a modern, fit for purpose governance framework for football in line with global standards and best-practice sports governance in Australia as one of the key challenges facing the game.

NNSWF’s board of directors have endorsed the final report and its recommendations, with the report to remain with members for response over the next two weeks before being released to clubs and other stakeholders.

Northern NSW Football Chair Helene O’Neill believes the recommendations will be a much-needed boost for community clubs and volunteers.

“This process has been about listening to the concerns, needs and wants of a wide range of stakeholders across our member federation,” O’Neill said via NNSWF.

“We know there are opportunities to do things better and we want to do this together with clubs and colleagues in member zones. This report is the blueprint to do it.”

Members will have two weeks to consider the recommendations and provide a response.

Following this, the final report and recommendations will be released to clubs including invitations to attend club information sessions.

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Football Queensland to celebrate Female Football Week with statewide events, awards and coaching programs

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Brighton women's football motion
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Football Queensland will mark the 2026 Female Football Week with a program of statewide events, competitions and professional development opportunities running from May 8-17, as the governing body continues to push for broader access and representation across all levels of the women’s game in Queensland.

The nationwide initiative, now a fixture on the Australian football calendar, provides a concentrated period of visibility for female participation across playing, coaching, officiating and administration: areas where structural underrepresentation has historically limited both the growth of the game and the opportunities available to women and girls within it.

“Female Football Week provides us with a valuable opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women and girls across our game while continuing to increase the accessibility of football in Queensland,” said Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci. “We encourage our clubs to host their own Female Football Week events and activations for female participants.”

 

Elite Competition Meets Community Access

The centrepiece of Football Queensland’s program is the return of the NPL Women’s Magic Round to Nudgee Recreation Reserve on May 8 and 9, featuring five NPL Women’s Round 13 clashes alongside a Girls United Junior Carnival and family-friendly activations. Each Magic Round game will feature an all-female refereeing panel, a deliberate and visible commitment to developing the next generation of female match officials at a moment when referee shortages are among the most pressing structural challenges facing the game nationally.

A Women in Football networking event will be held on the opening night of Magic Round, bringing together coaches, match officials and administrators. The inclusion of that event alongside elite competition is significant because it positions professional development and community building not as supplementary activities but as core components of what Female Football Week is for.

The Central Coast region will host its own Magic Round on May 16, featuring a Youth Girls game and three FQPL Central Coast Women’s matches, while a Darling Downs Junior Girls Day will take place at Captain Cook Park on the same day, extending the reach of the week’s programming beyond the southeast corner of the state into regional Queensland.

 

Coaching access as a structural priority

Football Queensland will deliver a series of female-only coaching courses around Female Football Week, with clubs also able to express interest in hosting their own. The initiative addresses one of the most persistent barriers to female representation in football administration- its coaching pipeline.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented at all levels of the game in Australia, and the barriers to accreditation, including cost, availability and the cultural environment of mixed coaching courses, compound one another in ways that individual ambition alone cannot overcome. Female-only courses create environments where women can develop without those barriers, and their delivery during Female Football Week signals that the commitment extends beyond celebration into structural change.

The Girls United Carnivals, running in both Metro and Far North and Gulf regions alongside the Q-League Schools program at Meakin Park, extend that access to players at the earliest stages of their football journey.

Football South Australia renews partnership with Datacord as Community Football Commitment Deepens

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Image Credit: Football SA

Football South Australia has announced the renewal of its partnership with Datacord, continuing a relationship that has grown steadily since the South Australian print and document solutions provider first entered the football community as naming rights sponsor of the Collegiate Soccer League Division 1.

That initial agreement, which saw Datacord align with one of Adelaide’s most historic amateur competitions, marked the beginning of what has since developed into a broader commitment to South Australian football at every level. The renewed partnership extends Datacord’s involvement beyond the CSL and into the wider Football SA ecosystem, with clubs across the state now able to access exclusive offers and preferred pricing on photocopying, managed print services and tailored business solutions.

The practical value of that access should not be understated. Community football clubs operate on tight margins, relying heavily on volunteer administrators managing everything from registration paperwork to grant applications. Cost-effective print and document solutions reduce the operational burden on those volunteers, a small but meaningful contribution to the sustainability of clubs that form the backbone of the game in South Australia.

“George is a great supporter of sport in South Australia and we are delighted to have Datacord as a supporter of football,” said Football SA CEO Michael Carter. “Service is second to none and we highly recommend their services to the business community within the Football Family.”

For Datacord Managing Director George Koutsoubis, the renewal reflects a genuine investment in the community rather than a transactional commercial arrangement. “It is important to support the local community, and Football South Australia is the perfect place to start spreading the word about Datacord and what we do for the South Australian community,” he said. “We are locally owned and operated, and I think it is a great partnership to be part of.”

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