Victorian A-League clubs can benefit from unique home grounds, this is how.

AAMI Park in Melbourne

What makes a sporting venue unique?

Is it A). the respective fanbases that cheer for what seems an eternity in the hope their team will win?

Is it B). the overall quality and look of the venue, on the field and in the stands?

Or, is it C). the location of the venue that gives the team and its fans a sense of identity?

If you answered with C, congratulations. You won the jackpot. Go off and celebrate with Jamal Malik. Or Charles Van Doren, it doesn’t really matter.

Whilst there are cases that can be made for A and B, having a venue located appropriately for both the club and its supporters goes a long way to creating the most unique sporting venues across the planet.

European teams all have their own venues, which they have used for years to great effect, giving their sides genuine home ground advantages.

For example, FC Barcelona, arguably the biggest club in the world, uses the Nou Camp for home fixtures.

Any rival team would be rightly justified in being slightly overwhelmed at the prospect of playing against not only a world class team, but in front of nearly 100,000 Catalans.

There’s no one else, but you and your 10 teammates. If that can’t be classified as daunting, then nothing can.

But when we compare the European leagues to that of our own A-League, the differences are night and day.

For years, we’ve become accustomed to clubs playing at venues which are either shared with another club or simply not suitable for their supporters.

Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City often share AAMI Park for league fixtures. Sydney FC and Western Sydney have sometimes shared ANZ Stadium for larger fixtures.

By doing this, the local and state governments are ignoring the possibilities that come with individual home grounds.

It has worked for European teams and for a long time, it even worked in the Australian Football League. North Melbourne would play at Arden Street, Hawthorn in Waverley, Collingwood at Victoria Park, Carlton at Princes Park and so on.

By having unique venues, clubs would not only give back to the community, but they would attain a unique and distinguishable identity.

Picture this.

We are used to seeing London-based sides playing at their own locations. Crystal Palace have Selhurst Park, Arsenal have the Emirates, Chelsea have Stamford Bridge, Tottenham have their new Tottenham Stadium. The list could go on forever.

Now, take away all those stadiums, Every single one of them. Except for Wembley Stadium.

Now imagine all fixtures for London-based Premier League sides being hosted at Wembley and Wembley only.

It seems an incredibly stupid concept, doesn’t it?

That’s how it feels when both Melbourne sides are forced to share AAMI Park.

Sure, Wembley is a great stadium but soon, teams would slowly start losing their congruity and relationship with their fans. By having grounds in relevant and discernable locations, fans feel like they’re at home.

It’s not a club, it’s a large family.

That’s what having unique stadiums/locations for each side can do. It makes them feel at home, because in a way, they are.

Melbourne Victory could achieve something like this, should they invest in their Epping facilities. It is currently used for their NPL2 West fixtures, but it could be so much more.

Yes, it’s a downgrade from AAMI Park in terms of capacity and probably quality, but over time, fans will associate themselves with the ground and it can become a genuine home ground.

Sydney FC used Jubilee Oval in the city’s south to great effect in recent times, making it a tough ground to win at.

But also, it is located in the suburbs. With the people. With those who are the only reason the club is around today.

Now, Western Sydney will have the Bankwest Stadium as their unique home ground, starting next season. It will work as they are, once again, catering to their fanbase and community.

The Melbourne-based sides should take notes from this.

In Football Victoria’s strategic plan laid out earlier this year, FV said they would be look to be “expanding and improving all facilities and providing infrastructure to increase access, utilisation and sustainability”, by “building strong relationships with Local, State & Federal Governments.”

Creating a A-League quality stadium in Epping could go a long way to achieving this.

Clubs know that the fans are the most important stakeholders and that by adhering to them, they will become an infinitely better club.

History suggests that when clubs have their own distinctive venues, they perform better both on and off the field.

With time and money, more clubs across Australia can turn the A-League into a league on par with the MLS.

And yes, money can be a significant factor when it comes to this issue. Understandably, the governing bodies will not be wanting to make a move on this without money-back guarantees.

No one would agree to any sort of deal without guarantees that in time, their investments would be worthwhile. But the proof is in the pudding. It’s been done elsewhere, it can be done here. If the Sydney-based clubs can make it work, there’s no reason that other states can too.

Should this become a reality, more marquee players will want to play here, more youngsters will want to play the sport and overall, the sport of soccer in this country will thrive.

And who knows? With the right management and oversight, we could dare to dream even bigger…

 

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WA Government and Virgin Australia Partner to Bring Discounted Flights for Italian Football Series in Perth

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The Western Australian Government has partnered with Virgin Australia to offer discounted airfares to Perth ahead of a three-match series featuring AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Palermo, in a move that reflects how state governments are increasingly using major sporting fixtures as tools of tourism and economic strategy.

Subsidising travel costs rather than simply promoting the matches signals a shift in how state governments are approaching major sporting events. WA Tourism Minister Reece Whitby positioned the series within the state’s broader Winter of Unmissable Sport strategy, framing the partnership as a way to fill hotels, support local businesses and generate visible economic activity across a single week of programming. That logic places football alongside other major events states have used to justify public investment in visitor attraction, where the return is measured in tourism spend rather than ticket revenue alone.

A bet on Australia’s appetite for European football

Touring Italian clubs is not a routine occurrence in Australia, and Sport and Recreation Minister Rita Saffioti’s comments point to an underlying assumption behind the investment: that the existing fan base for European football in Australia is substantial enough to justify a state government underwriting travel costs to fill a stadium on the other side of the country.

Australian audiences for international football have grown considerably over the past decade, driven by streaming access, diaspora communities and the rising visibility of leagues once difficult to follow locally. State governments positioning themselves to capture economic value from that growth, rather than leaving it to broadcasters and travel operators, marks a change in how football’s commercial footprint in Australia is being treated by policymakers.

It also raises a question likely to recur as more international club fixtures are scheduled in Australian cities: whether public subsidy for travel around marquee football events delivers economic value beyond the host city, or whether the benefit is concentrated narrowly within the host state’s tourism and hospitality sectors. Virgin Australia’s involvement reflects the commercial logic on the airline side, with the partnership forming part of a broader push to connect Australians with major domestic and international destinations.

For the domestic football industry, the series is a reminder that international club football is competing for the same audience attention as the A-Leagues and grassroots competitions. Whether that competition proves complementary or extractive, in terms of where football-related spending in Australia ultimately lands, is a question state and national football bodies are likely to watch closely as similar fixtures become more frequent.

Build a home, create a culture: How do we secure the Socceroos as global competitors?

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The Socceroos kicked off their World Cup campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Turkey. It was an important win for their tournament ambitions, but also a statement about their quality on the world stage. It is time that we built a facility to ensure this quality is nurtured, not stifled.

Otherwise, we risk falling behind.

 

One of four…

Australia’s Men’s National Team currently sits as the 23rd-ranked team in the world in the official FIFA rankings. The Matildas, meanwhile, are the 15th highest-ranked women’s team.

This year is also the sixth consecutive FIFA Men’s World Cup featuring the Socceroos, confirming their position as a regular competitor in the most prestigious tournament in world football.

So why is it, despite these undeniably positive reflections of Australia’s growth in international football, that the Socceroos are still homeless?

At the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, Australia was one of four competing teams (a list featuring Denmark, Poland and Senegal) without a national base. In 2024, former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold described the team as “homeless” ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.

But four years on from the tournament’s last edition, the situations remains the same. And the world is taking notice.

 

A letter to the PM

In April this year, FIFA reportedly wrote to Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, encouraging the construction of a permanent home for football in the country.

The letter reflects concerns within the governing body that Australia, despite being so present in international football throughout the past 25 years, may fall behind the rest of the pack.

When we look at the talent in the current squad, Australia is by no means an emerging football economy. But commercial and infrastructural limitations in the landscape mean this talent is under-appreciated.

Nevertheless, it is a nation which regularly proves it can compete – and win – on the biggest stage. This we saw only a few days ago.

Which is why the players, coaches and staff representing the nation deserve a permanent facility which reflects, nurtures and inspires talent and competition. The survival of the landscape depends on it.

 

The investment question

Investment into football – from grassroots to professional levels – continues to be at the crux of national debate on how to secure football’s future in Australia.

In a conversation between Soccerscene and Melbourne-based community club, Sunbury United FC, infrastructure and facility-sharing challenges emphasised common grievances for many grassroots clubs.

The issue, therefore, is spread across the nation’s football pyramid. And prompts an uncomfortable question about future investments:

If even the Socceroos continue to share their current base, Leichhardt Oval, with various teams across rugby league and soccer, how can we ever expect clubs further down the pyramid to avoid similar fates?

The past few years, however, have fortunately seen improved investment into the women’s game in Australia – particularly embodied by the ‘Home of the Matildas’.

The result of a $101.1 million investment by the Victorian Government in collaboration with La Trobe University and the Federal Government, the facility boasts elite training features including premium FIFA-standard pitches, multiple changing rooms, a high-performance gym, a sports science lab and more.

This was a welcome and vital boost ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which took place in Australia. Now, ever-increasing participation and pride are synonymous with women’s football, and the numbers confirm it.

In 2023, women and girls represented 190,746 participants across social, outdoor, fustal and registered football. In 2025, this increased to 231,435. It proves that, with the arrival of purposeful investment at the top, comes the spread of a football culture across the nation.

 

Aligning practical and cultural benefits

But what would a potential facility for the Socceroos actually look like? And what are the benefits?

When considering similar projects, we can look to both Japan and England as distinct examples of how a national base for football can unite practical, social and cultural benefits.

St George’s Park – England

Built in 2012, England’s base at St George’s Park is a masterclass in using facilities to establish a centre for industry cohesion and community impact.

As a centre of excellence, St George’s Park holds 14 outdoor pitches, a fustal arena, and hosts coaching and medical courses. It welcomes 28 teams across men’s, women’s, youth and para football, representing a place of unity and alignment for the entire football community.

Furthermore, the ‘Play Like the Pride’ program offers grassroots participants and school students the chance to experience the elite facilities for a day, showing how facilities can serve to connect young players to the world of their professional idols and foster real passion for the game.

JFA J-Village – Japan

The J-Village – beyond being a state-of-the-art football training centre – shows why a home for football can positively impact the community.

After being used as a support base for the nuclear power plant accident following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the venue now holds a deeply important place in the memory of Fukishima. As a result, upon resuming full operations in 2019, the facility – and the football development within it – represented a sense of perseverance, reconstruction and unity.

And through hotels and public transportation links, the J-Village also welcomes tourists and business travellers, encouraging more people to step into the world of football in Japan.

One venue, therefore, can give rise to an essential part of a thriving football landscape: culture. A culture for participation, community outreach, and elite development.

 

Final thoughts

The focus of the summer will no doubt be how the Socceroos perform on the pitch. And with homes, offices, and public spaces brimming with enthusiastic support, the sense of national pride is irresistible.

But for all the positive sentiment currently taking hold of the nation, there will come a time when Australia’s World Cup run is over, at which point an all-important question must be asked:

How do we move forward?

We move forward by transforming buzz into an aligned vision, commitment to nurturing talent, and a desire to establish a real footballing culture across the nation.

The first step to building this culture? Building a home from which it can thrive.

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