Football NSW cancels all competitions for 2021

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In response to ongoing lockdowns and restrictions, Football NSW has announced that all competitions within their state will be cancelled for the rest of 2021.

The state federation released a statement today detailing the competition structure going forward based on this decision, which was made on public health advice from the government, amid continuing lockdowns.

Promotion and relegation between leagues will be deferred until the end of the 2022/23 season, with a statement by Football NSW saying that with only 17 of the 22 regular season men’s NPL games completed it would be impossible to fairly promote and relegate clubs.

“Clearly, the Premiership season has not been completed and as such, the sporting integrity associated with our various principles surrounding promotion/relegation have been severely compromised,” Football NSW said.

“The promotion and relegation structure as set out in Section 2, Article 12 of the 2021 Competition Regulations is to be deferred to apply for promotion and relegation from the 2022 to 2023 season rather than from the 2021 to 2022 season.”

No Premiers or Champions titles, trophies, medals, or prize money for the 2021 season will be awarded to clubs.

For women’s and girl’s competitions, only 12 of the 22 games were completed. The structure for the 2022 season will be as follows:

“For the 2022 season, the women’s competition will comprise two competitions (NPLW 1 and NPLW 2) with no more than 12 clubs participating in NPLW 1 and no more than 16 clubs participating in NPLW 2,” Football NSW said.

“The clubs competing in the 2022 NPLW 1 Competition will be each of the 12 clubs that participated in the NPLW1 competition for the 2021 season.”

“At the conclusion of the 2022 season, the top two clubs from the NPLW 2 competition (based on Club Championship standings at the end of the 2022 season) will be eligible for promotion to the NPLW 1 Competition for the 2023 season, subject to any applicable competition regulations as well as any other criteria deemed appropriate by the Board.”

A 2022 NPL NSW girl’s and women’s Operational Structure Document to reflect the above will be communicated shortly.

For junior teams, Football NSW will allocate their positions in next season’s ‘three-tiered’ structure based on their performance in the already completed “Phase one” of competition.

“Football NSW confirms that it will still proceed with moving to the three-tiered structure for 2022 and with expanding the number rounds 30,” they said.

“While Phase Two of the 2021 season could not be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant cancellation of the season, Phase One was successfully completed and the Board, therefore, resolved to allocate clubs across the three tiers of the Competition based on their standings at the conclusion of Phase One.

“Football NSW recognises some clubs may feel disappointed and aggrieved that they did not have the opportunity to complete the season and improve their standings ahead of the 2022 season. However, Football NSW believes that allocating clubs based on standings at the conclusion of Phase One is the fairer option rather than allocating clubs based on standings at the time that football was suspended (i.e. as at 26 June 2021).”

Skill Acquisition Programs will continue with the same principles and no changes to age grades once they are restarted in 2022.

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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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Image Credit: Shutterstock

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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