Northern NSW Football appoints Mitchell O’Keefe as Northern Inland Football Officer

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Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) has announced Mitchell O’Keefe as its new Northern Inland Regional Football Officer.

A staple within the Northern Inland football community – through his previous leadership role at Oxley Vale Attunga FC and his time as an experienced senior referee in the region – O’Keefe has also been working for NNSWF in a casual capacity recently overseeing Northern Inland match days on Friday nights and Saturdays.

O’Keefe’s initial priorities will include convening an all-clubs meeting and drafting an aligned operational plan for football in the Northern Inland region in collaboration with NNSWF’s executive.

NNSWF CEO David Eland thanked the Northern Inland football community for their patience throughout the recruitment process which commenced following Toby McVey’s departure in December.

“I’m very confident our patience has paid off and Mitch will prove to be a great appointment for the game throughout Northern Inland,” Eland said via NNSWF.

“Our appreciation is also extended to James Rankine who has been acting in the role remotely from the Far North Coast region throughout the protracted recruitment process. James will work with Mitch in his first week to ensure a smooth transition.

“We congratulate Mitchell on his appointment and wish him every success in his new role.”

O’Keefe told NNSWF that he was excited to start in the role.

“The one constant in my life has been football. It has had an impact on everything from the person I’ve become to my social groups, to meeting my wife through the game and having my two wonderful children,” he said.

“My day to day will focus on being the initial point of contact for all our local clubs across Northern Inland and to oversee our competitions to make sure they are running as smoothly and efficiently as our clubs deserve.

“There are many things I hope to achieve in this role including the continued growth of football in our region and to provide as many opportunities for the development of our youth and seniors as we can.”

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Filopoulos: Football Must Move Beyond Campaigns to Win Fans for Good

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Image Credit: Perth Glory

Global marketing and advisory firm Bastion has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Peter Filopoulos as Managing Director, Experience. This decision brings one of Australian football’s most influential administrators into a new phase of the sports business landscape.

Filopoulos, who has held senior roles across Football Australia, Football Victoria and Perth Glory, will lead Bastion’s experiential and partnerships division, applying a football-informed lens to brand engagement.

Drawing on his time in the game, Filopoulos emphasised the importance of cohesion in building meaningful fan connections.

“For me, the biggest lesson is that fans don’t see brand, content and experience as individual silos, they experience it all as one connected ecosystem,” he said.

“At Football Australia, the work resonated most when everything was aligned; the team, the narrative, the partners and the matchday experience all working together to feel cohesive and authentic. That’s when engagement moves beyond interaction and becomes something far more meaningful.”

He added that too many organisations still treat fan engagement as short-term.

“Where a lot of organisations fall short is treating fan engagement as a campaign. It’s not, it’s an always-on system.”

Filopoulos’ move reflects a broader shift within football, where commercial growth is increasingly driven by experience-led strategy.

“At Bastion, we put experience at the centre—because it’s where the brand comes to life, where partners integrate in a way that adds real value and where fans genuinely connect,” he said.

“Our focus is on building platforms that bring fans closer to the brand… Get that right, and you’re creating something people actively want to be part of.”

Pushing for First Nations representation in the game with Football Queensland’s Murri Cup

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Image Credit: Football Queensland

Football Queensland has announced the inaugural FQ Murri Cup, a two-day tournament celebrating First Nations cultures and showcasing Indigenous football talent from across Queensland, to be held at Nudgee Recreation Reserve on November 28 and 29.

The competition, developed in close consultation with Football Australia’s National Indigenous Advisory Group and Football Australia’s General Manager of First Nations Courtney Fewquandie, will feature a Coles MiniRoos activation, a Charles Perkins XI Talent ID session and a community stallholder zone alongside the on-field competition. Expressions of interest are open now for individuals and teams across the state.

More than a tournament

The launch arrives at a moment when the structural underrepresentation of First Nations Australians in organised sport, at the administrative, coaching, and pathway levels, is under sustained scrutiny. Football, like most codes, has historically failed to build the kind of community-embedded structures that make sustained Indigenous participation possible rather than incidental.

The FQ Murri Cup is a direct response to that gap. By centering First Nations culture within the competition itself, rather than treating it as supplementary to a standard football event, the tournament signals a shift in how the game positions Indigenous participation as a community with its own relationship to the sport that deserves its own platform.

The inclusion of a Talent ID session carries specific weight. Structured pathways into elite football have not always been accessible to players from regional and remote Indigenous communities, where geography, cost and cultural barriers compound one another. Embedding that opportunity within a culturally safe environment lowers the threshold at the point where it most frequently closes.

“The FQ Murri Cup will bring together First Nations players, families and communities for a two-day celebration, providing a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of First Nations participants within our game,” said Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci.Mu

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