Mulgoa Rise Playing Fields expand with Stage 2 of development

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Glenmore Park FC

Glenmore Park FC have seen the club amenity building of their home ground, Mulgoa Rise Playing Fields, expanded as part of Stage 2 development at the park.

Known to the locals as “The Nest”, Mulgoa Rise Playing Fields houses the side which is the largest club in the Nepean Football Association, with 1,196 registered participants recorded in the 2021 winter season.

In the shortened 2021 winter campaign, almost 7,800 Penrith LGA residents participated in football.

Active Kids Voucher redemption in the Penrith LGA also emphasised the popularity of football in the area, with over 5,000 children claiming the Active Kids Voucher in 2021 – making it the largest sport in the Penrith LGA.

Stage 2 of the development included the addition of two more change rooms to service the three full size fields at The Nest.

Extra toilets, further landscaping throughout the site and the expansion of the club’s BBQ facility are featured in the recent works.

Football NSW’s Manager Government Relations, Funding and Infrastructure – Daniel Ristic:

“BBQ facilities are a vital aspect of any community club. Canteen and BBQ revenue provides much needed funding for local grassroots clubs.

“A key objective from the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy over the next 10 years is to increase and improve gender neutral player and match official change room provision.”

Penrith City Council were successful in gaining the majority of the funding ($649,600) from the NSW Government’s Greater Sydney Sport Facility Fund.

The NSW Government Community Building Partnership program provided $20,000, as well as Glenmore Park FC contributing $3,000 to the upgrades.

Penrith City Council has been identified as one of the top 10 NSW LGA future demand hot spots in the next 10 years. The Council is predicted to experience population growth of approximately 60,000 in the next 10 years.

With the current 3.8% state average participation rate applied, the Penrith area is expected to see an additional 2,300 participants between 2021 and 2031.

The increase in participation will require upgraded and renewed facilities across Penrith to ensure the city can cope with the upcoming demand for football.

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Football NSW releases $600,000 towards Grassroots Grants to meet Participation Pressure

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The Victorian State Government has announced new grants and funding for 11 new community infrastructure projects for local football clubs, totalling $3.8 million.
Image Credit: Shutterstock

Sixty-five football clubs across New South Wales have secured a combined total of nearly $600,000 in funding through the NSW Office of Sport’s Local Sports Grant Program. It follows as a result of Football NSW’s scale of demand for community sport support and the growing pressure on clubs struggling to keep pace with surging participation.

The grants, covering 69 individual projects across the Football NSW footprint, will fund facility upgrades, equipment purchases, participation programs and accessibility improvements: the unglamorous but essential infrastructure that determines whether community clubs can function at the level their members require.

The Local Sports Grant Program made up to $4.65 million available statewide in 2025, with $50,000 allocated to each electoral district and individual grants capped at $20,000. Football’s share of nearly $600,000 reflects the sport’s status as the largest participation code in NSW, and the degree to which that status has not always been matched by corresponding investment in the facilities and resources required to sustain it.

Volunteers carrying an unsustainable load

The announcement arrives against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the volunteer workforce that keeps community football operational. Across NSW, thousands of volunteers dedicate significant unpaid time each week to administration, ground preparation, canteen operation and the logistical demands of running competitive junior and senior programs. As participation numbers climb, driven in part by the sustained visibility of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the legacy of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, those demands have intensified without a corresponding increase in the resources available to meet them.

“As the largest participation sport in NSW it is pleasing to see almost $600,000 will be reinvested back into supporting our players, coaches, referees and volunteers to improve the football experience across our community clubs,” said Helen Armson, Football NSW’s Group Head of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Affairs.

The equity dimension

The distribution of the grants across 65 clubs and 69 projects also speaks to the geographic breadth of football’s footprint in NSW, and to the uneven distribution of resources that has historically characterised community sport in this country. Clubs in outer metropolitan and regional areas tend to operate with smaller budgets, older facilities and thinner volunteer bases than their inner-city counterparts. Grant programs structured around electoral allocation, rather than club size or existing resource base, provide a degree of equity that market-driven funding cannot.

The kinds of projects funded under this program disproportionately benefit clubs serving communities where the barriers to participation are highest. A club that cannot offer adequate facilities or equipment is a club that turns players away, often without intending to.

Football NSW has used the announcement to call on the NSW Government to maintain and extend its investment in the sport. “We urge the government to continue to invest in football,” Armson said, in the midst for a nation-wide push for a $343 million decade-long infrastructure fund to address the facilities gap across the state.

The nearly $600,000 secured through this round is meaningful. Against the scale of what is needed, it is also a measure of how far the investment still has to go.

Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

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