Rotherham’s Changing Places facility at AESSEAL New York Stadium supports all

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Rotherham United Changing Places Facility
Image credit: Mick Atkins / Shutterstock.com

Rotherham United is playing host to a Changing Place facility at their home venue of The AESSEAL New York Stadium.

Led by the club’s Community Sports Trust and Rotherham Council, which secured around $92,000 AUD from the Government’s Changing Places Fund, the facility is now able to provide a space with essential equipment. This includes a hoist, height-adjustable changing table, and a height-adjustable washbasin – for people living with learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other conditions.

This implementation, located in the family-friendly West stand behind turnstiles 5-8, ensures inclusivity for all supporters and helps to make AESSEAL New York Stadium a safe and welcoming environment for all at their home ground. This not only lends itself to matchday for Rotherham United, but for various events year-round.

Kerry Coleman, Chair of the Rotherham United Disabled Supporters Association, expressed her delight at being able to put fan feedback into action, telling www.themillers.co.uk:

“As disabled fans, we know sometimes going to games can have its challenges,” she said.

“Having received feedback from some supporters about the need for a Changing Places facility that provided additional support to people’s personal needs, we have been working hard alongside Rotherham United and RUCST to implement this.

“RUDSA have been working hard to raise money towards the new facilities, we have had donations from local people, fundraising from a committee member, organised raffles, and donations from a local charity plus much more.

“We are so pleased we are able to offer this facility to all those attending AEESEAL New York Stadium, be it on a match day or any other event.”

Jamie Noble, Head of Community, also voiced his excitement about the new facility, adding via press release:

“As a football club, we pride ourselves on supporting the community, not only to live better and healthier lives, but to help make AESSEAL New York Stadium a safe and inclusive environment for everyone to enjoy their football,” he said.

Following the award of just over $666,000 AUD in the first round of the Changing Places Fund, Rotherham Council is now ‘looking forward to opening more of these facilities across Rotherham’ in order to provide the space and privacy that members of the local community deserve.

Additional Changing Places facilities are planned at the following locations:

  • Clifton Park Museum
  • Gullivers Valley Theme Park and Resort
  • Rother Valley Country Park
  • Thrybergh Country Park
  • Wentworth Woodhouse
  • Magna Science Adventure Centre
  • Grimm and Co.
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Project ACL: The initiative leading the way on injury research

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Launched in 2024, the research project recently welcomed two US-based organisations: the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

 

About Project ACL

Led by FIFPRO, PFA England, Nike and Leeds Beckett University, Project ACL aims to research ACL injuries and understand more about multifactorial risk factors.

After piloting in England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Project ACL will expand to the NWSL in the US, reflecting the global importance of the project’s research and outcome.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the NWSLPA and NWSL to Project ACL,” said Director of Women’s Football at FIFPRO, Dr. Alex Culvin, via official press release.

“Overall, we believe that player-centricity and collaboration with key stakeholders are central to establishing meaningful change in the soccer ecosystem and that players, competition organisers and stakeholdersaround the world will benefit from Project ACL’s outputs and outcomes.”

Interviews with over 30 players and team surveys across all 12 WSL clubs provided the project’s research team with valuable information about current prevention strategies and available resources.

Furthermore, the project tracks player workload and busy schedule periods during the season through the FIFPRO Player Workload Monitoring tool, therefore gaining insights into the link between scheduling and injury risks.

 

Looking to the data

Project ACL’s partnerships with the WSL – and now the NWSL – are immensely valuable for the future of player welfare in women’s football.

Although ACL injuries affect both male and female athletes, they are twice as likely to occur in women than men. However, according to the NWSL, as little as 8% of sports science research focuses on female athletes.

In Australia, several CommBank Matildas suffered ACL injuries in recent years: Sam Kerr was sidelined from January 2024 to September 2025, Ellie Carpenter for 8 months after suffering the injury while playing for Olympique Lyonnais, and Holly McNamara came back from three ACL’s aged 15, 18 and 20.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The 2025/26 ALW season saw several ACL incidents, including four in just two weeks.

 

Research, prevent, protect

Injury prevention and research are vital to sport – whether professional or amateur.

But when the numbers are so shocking – and incidents are so common – governing bodies must remember that player welfare comes above all else. Research can inform prevention strategies. Prevention means players can enjoy the game they love.

The work of Project ACL, continuing until 2027, will hopefully protect countless players across women’s football from suffering long-term or recurring injuries.

South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

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