City of Greater Geelong and Football Victoria form strategic partnership in regional soccer centre plans

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The City of Greater Geelong has engaged with Football Victoria to further plans for a regional soccer centre.
Image Credit: Jonathan Petersson

After committing $50,000 to develop a feasibility and business plan for a regional soccer centre, the City of Greater Geelong has engaged with Football Victoria (FV) to further plans for the new facility.

Councillor Kylie Grzybek said that after a meeting on Monday, FV has committed to supporting the concept of a Geelong regional soccer centre.

“They have committed with us to engage with us throughout the entire process in terms of statistics, player numbers, and those types of things,” she said.

Grzybek added that FV was looking to renew previous plans to evaluate and renew Geelong’s football facilities.

“They’ve also looked to how they engage and renew the G21 soccer plan, which was done in 2010, and that is the document for Geelong concerning what venues have, what types of facilities are available, and what the overall vision for soccer in Geelong is. There are two different things there, the new facility and the G21 soccer plan, but they link together quite nicely,” she said.

Foddy Kyprian, FV’s club and regional ambassador for Geelong, stated the plan has the full backing of the member federation.

“We are having all the relevant government relations staff working with (councilors) Kylie and Eddy (Kontelj). The CEO Kimon Taliadoros has given his full backing to cooperate in every single way they can when working with Local and state government,” he said.

Grzybek explained that FV’s connections could create further opportunities for funding and improved facilities.

“They have great connections with both state and federal governments. Having the governing body on board with us is exciting, and we will look to how they help us get this up and running,” she said.

The City of Greater Geelong has also engaged with Mike McKinstry from the Geelong Regional Football Committee (GRFC).

“While councillor Eddy and I are spearheading this at the moment, we feel there is an opportunity for GRFC and Football Victoria to play their part in promoting Football in Geelong,” Grzybek said.

The opportunity of a regional state soccer centre is one the football community in Geelong deserves for their hard work in developing the game, according to Kyprian.

“The sooner we can have this stadium the better. We can showcase the A-League, the W-League and the FFA cup games we have,” he said.

“The clubs and the Geelong region deserve this. They’ve worked hard over the past 10 years to come together as a group. They deserve the reward for working together.”

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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.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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