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Is it time to make the A-League Women a full-time professional competition?
In the last fortnight, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) released their annual A-League Women’s report, providing an overview of the current state of the women’s game at the highest level in Australia.
The association had previously earmarked this as their number one priority in the year prior, but have now doubled down – setting a timeline for implementation by the 2026-2027 season.
The timeframe has come from extensive feedback from stakeholders within the game, with the vast majority of players agreeing that action on this front must come sooner rather than later.
The report outlined in detail the difficulties players are having with the current part-time nature of the league – with most players not on 12-month contracts, minimum wages set at $25,000 and club salary caps sitting at $600,000 per season.
The representative body also highlighted the threat to the competition based on significant progress of other women’s sporting leagues here in Australia and more importantly overseas women’s football leagues.
“The global growth of women’s football presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the A-League Women,” PFA Co-Chief Executive Kate Gill stated.
“Our players recognise that the league must embrace full-time professionalism by 2026 to remain competitive on the global stage.
“Our league and club leaders must unite behind a new vision that drives professionalism, commercial growth, and investment.”
Competitions such as the UK Women’s Super League (WSL) and the US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), have continued to build their presence in the global landscape.
The WSL has had a 700% increase in attendances, since establishing themselves as a full- time professional league in 2018.
The NWSL has recently increased its salary cap by 40% to $4.1 million for the 2024 season, after securing a significant broadcast deal worth 40 times more than their previous one.
Alongside this, a new American professional league, the United Soccer League’s Super League (USLS) launched in August of this year – with plans underway to continue to expand the competition.
These developments will continue to affect the ALW’s ability to not only retain but also attract talent to the Australian competition, as player salaries and conditions continue to rise in overseas leagues.
Of the 106 foreign player transfers into the ALW since 2018, 63 were Americans. 46% of the imported players (across all nationalities) came directly from the NWSL. With professionalism and club standards continuing to reach greater heights in competitions in America, for example, the ALW may continue to fall behind and not be an attractive proposition for foreign players coming into our competition, but also for players already competing in the ALW.
According to 2023-2024 end of season surveys conducted by the association, ALW players have now rated the NWSL as the second most preferred league to play in, behind the WSL in the UK.
In the previous year, 56% of ALW players put the ALW ahead of the NWSL on their respective lists, but a year later only 41% of players did the same.
It’s a clear sign that these leagues overseas are offering superior opportunities for players, which the ALW needs to try to combat and minimise this impact immediately.
With full time professionalism in the Australian competition set as a clear goal by the PFA, the commercial viability of the league will be at the forefront of any discussions around this.
The ALW did increase their crowds organically in the past season by 72 percent (on the back of a Women’s World Cup on home soil) however the PFA believes there were still strategic missteps that could have led to even further growth.
Based on fan focus groups setup by the organisation, newly converted Matildas fans were ignorant to details about ALW teams and schedules – due to a lack of promotion to spectators who attended international matches.
With the Women’s Asian Cup also to be played in Australia in two years’ time, the same mistakes cannot be made and capitalising on these home tournaments is paramount.
The 2026 Women’s Asian Cup is set to be an important part of the PFA’s proposed professional relaunch of the A-League women’s competition, using the major tournament to enhance the leagues visibility.
Alongside this, the report claims that an improvement of the ALW’s match presentation is needed – from consistent match day experiences, to appropriate venues for games and better broadcast standards.
All of these factors should, alongside overall improvements to club environments, lead to an attractive product that may eventually reap commercial rewards in the future.
The question is however, will the next step of initial investment towards a professional full-time A-League Women’s competition be taken?
The A-League has just lost a Victorian club. The death of Western United and the suspension of its license by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) on August 10th was inevitable. The club says it wants to rebuild and eventually return to the competition. That is unlikely to happen considering the search for new owners has to begin.
But one day after the announcement from Western United, South Melbourne stepped forward. The four-time NSL winners announced their intention to begin formal discussions with the APL about joining the A-Leagues. They believe the timing is right. Their argument is understandable. Their football credentials and history are stronger than most A-League teams.
But there is a problem. South Melbourne may have the history. It may have the supporters. It may even have one of the most attractive potential derbies in Australian football. But that does not mean it will get an A-League licence.
In fact, the more realistic prediction from my perspective is that South Melbourne will once again be told no.
South Melbourne has never been better placed
There is plenty to like about South Melbourne’s position. The club is not simply relying on its history. South Melbourne returned to national competition through the inaugural Australian Championship in 2025. It did not merely participate. South Melbourne won it. The club defeated Marconi Stallions 2-0 in the final to become the competition’s first champion.
That achievement matters. The Australian Championship was created to bridge state-based football and the professional game. Whilst it is seen as a second tier, there is no promotion and relegation with the A-League. But it has also continued to perform on the national stage. In the 2026 Australia Cup, which South Melbourne qualified for, they reached the final rounds and then produced one of the biggest results of the tournament.
Adelaide United came to Lakeside Stadium. South Melbourne won 2-1. Adelaide had won the Australia Cup three times. South knocked them out in front of its own supporters. They’re now into the quarter-finals of the 2026 Australia Cup.
South Melbourne celebrating the Australian Championship Image Credits: South Melbourne FC
The club also has a much bigger story to tell than its recent results. Alongside its four NSL victories, the club also won the 1999 Oceania Club Championship and represented Oceania at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. The club has a dedicated supporter base and the history to deserve a place.
The club says its Oceania Professional League participation has helped make it Australia’s 13th professional football club. It has more than 150 businesses supporting it in 2026 and a long-term arrangement at Lakeside Stadium, in the heart of South Melbourne.
On paper, it is difficult to argue that South Melbourne is not ready. The problem is that readiness and admission are two different things.
Third time’s the charm?
South Melbourne’s current push is not new. It has been here before. The club was pursuing an A-League return almost immediately after the NSL disappeared. In 2007, South announced its interest in becoming the second Victorian A-League club.
Then came the 2008-09 process. South Melbourne backed the Southern Cross bid for the second Victorian licence. The club proposed a new team based around the redevelopment of Bob Jane Stadium and involvement from the broader Victorian football community.
It lost. The Melbourne Heart bid won the race and eventually became Melbourne City. That was South Melbourne’s first major warning. Its football heritage was not enough. Its second major attempt came almost a decade later.
The 2017-18 expansion process produced the most serious South Melbourne bid yet. South made the shortlist for an expanded A-League licence. It ultimately lost to Western United. Bill Papastergiadis has since explained that he did not genuinely expect South Melbourne to win in 2018, despite believing strongly that the club belonged in the A-League. He also reflected on the barriers facing a traditional club trying to enter the existing Victorian professional football ecosystem.
That is important context for today’s bid. South Melbourne is not entering negotiations without understanding how difficult the politics and economics of the Victorian football market can be. The club has tried the direct route twice. Neither time worked.
The Western United lesson
This is where the current situation becomes complicated. In isolation, adding South Melbourne would be fantastic for the A-League. Imagine South Melbourne against Melbourne Victory. The atmosphere would be enormous.
There is a genuine football rivalry waiting to happen. South itself points to the potential for ready-made derbies and commercial interest. But the argument that Melbourne should simply have three A-League clubs because Melbourne is a huge city ignores what has just happened to Western United.
Western United was supposed to represent Melbourne’s rapidly growing west. Its original vision centred on a major project in Geelong. The club eventually moved into Ironbark Fields in Tarneit in 2024.
Yet the geographic separation never became as clear as the original concept suggested. Western United was not a Geelong club. It was not a regional Victorian club in the traditional sense. It was a western Melbourne club based and that matters.
The A-League already has Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory. Adding South Melbourne would give the competition three clubs operating within the same metropolitan football market. It is not necessarily brilliant for the business model, which has already lost a club operating on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The NSL offers an interesting historical comparison. The Falcons provide an even more striking Victorian example. They became the first and only regional Victorian club to play in the NSL, reaching the finals in 1996. The distinction is important.
A national competition can expand its footprint by adding genuinely new markets. That is different from adding another club inside an existing Melbourne metropolitan market. That was what was envisioned for Western United, and it failed quickly.
Will the APL see South Melbourne as a safe investment? Despite the fact they’re a well-established club, I’d argue the answer is no.
Promotion and relegation is the only realistic route
There is one scenario where South Melbourne could eventually force its way into the A-League, and that’s the great missing piece of Australian football. Promotion and relegation. South Melbourne would not need somebody to decide that Melbourne suddenly has room for another licence. It would simply need to earn it.
They would have done just that in 2025, winning the Australian Championship if the football pyramid was open. Football Australia originally designed the National Second Tier with the possibility of promotion and relegation being considered once the competition matured.
The format connects NPL clubs and established foundation clubs with national competition. It does not provide a sporting pathway into the A-League. South Melbourne can win the Australian Championship, NSL and Australia Cup but none of those achievements automatically produce an A-League licence.
South Melbourne in the Oceania Championship Image Credits: Oceania Championship
Opening the pyramid is far more complicated than simply announcing promotion and relegation. Australia’s football calendar is fragmented. The A-League operates primarily through the summer months. The NPL operates through the winter and early spring. For the 2026-27 season, the A-League Men runs from October to June, while the NPL begins in February and finishes in September.
That creates an enormous structural problem for a fully connected pyramid. The clubs below the A-League would need to operate at a level capable of supporting professional football. If the A-League aligned with the NPL and the lower pyramid, it would compete in a football calendar that already has to coexist with Australia’s other major winter sports. That is a difficult feat against bigger leagues such as the AFL and NRL.
Beyond that, clubs lower down would need travel budgets and to survive commercially would take real sacrifice from all parties to make that work. The A-League’s existing clubs also have something to lose. They have invested heavily in their licences and their businesses.
Historically, A-League licences were extended through to 2034, while those licence arrangements have included provisions allowing promotion and relegation to be introduced. But the existing clubs will do everything in their power to block it. Promotion and relegation removes certainty. An A-League club can finish last in the current system with no threat to their place. Under relegation, its place is no longer guaranteed.
That is a major commercial change for clubs that have invested in securing their position in the competition. It is therefore difficult to imagine the A-League opening the door. The A-League’s licensing system gives the competition enormous control over who enters, and for South Melbourne historically they’ve been left out in the cold.
South Melbourne deserves the conversation.
The frustrating part is South Melbourne has probably never had a stronger argument. It has history, supporters, infrastructure, commercial support and most importantly, ambition. Beating A-League clubs in national competition proves the capability is there.
It deserves to be in the conversation. But being in the conversation is not the same as being selected. The Western United experience should be a warning. If the A-League could not make the Western United project work, it is difficult to see why it would suddenly decide that another Melbourne club is the answer.
South Melbourne may be the better football story. It may even be the better football club. But the A-League is not simply selecting the best football story.
It is selecting a professional competition, and until Australia embraces a genuine promotion and relegation system, South Melbourne’s path back to the top flight will remain dependent on someone handing it a licence.
That is the part of the dream that looks unrealistic. South Melbourne can keep knocking and it should. They always say third time’s the charm. But unless the pyramid is opened, I expect the door to remain closed.
Football Australia has backed calls from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for stronger governance, transparency and accountability at FIFA.
Pressure continues to grow on world football’s governing body following the collapse of its controversial commercial proposal.
Football Australia said it supports the AFC’s position that the events of recent weeks should be met with “clear and credible action” to strengthen FIFA’s governance systems.
The Australian governing body said its priority was a “transparent and appropriately independent process” to establish what happened, why it happened and where governance, communication and decision-making processes fell short.
The statement follows a joint call from the AFC, UEFA and CONCACAF for greater accountability within FIFA after President Gianni Infantino’s proposal to create a commercial entity involving the sale of stakes in World Cup-related assets was abandoned.
The episode has since triggered a wider governance dispute in football, amid mounting calls for structural changes within FIFA.
FIFPRO Europe president David Terrier argued that the organisation needs sweeping governance reform rather than simply a change of leadership.
Football Australia stopped short of explicitly calling for Infantino’s resignation, instead aligning itself with the AFC’s broader call for institutional reform.
“Football Australia will continue to engage actively and constructively with and through our Confederation, the AFC, and alongside our fellow Member Associations as this process progresses,” the governing body said.
The position gives the AFC further backing from one of its major member associations.
FIFA faces an increasingly public and volatile debate over how power, commercial decision-making and accountability should operate within the global game.
Infantino remains in office and is seeking re-election, with the next FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 2027.
