Long-serving CDSFA CEO Ian Holmes to depart at season’s end

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Ian Holmes
Image via Football NSW

After half a century of serving football, Chief Executive Officer of Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association, Ian Holmes, has announced that he will depart the CDSFA at the end of the season.

Holmes, who has served football for almost 50 years at local, state, and national level, will leave a lasting legacy within the football community of the Canterbury District.

Starting his football life at Belmore Police Citizens Boys Club, it did not take long for a young Holmes to become heavily involved in sports administration as he took on a committee position with his local club.

From there, he progressed to the CDSFA where he was elected the Association’s youngest ever President when he was elected on December 1, 1975 at the age of 19-years-old. Seven years later, Holmes was elected President of the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation in 1982.

With football needing an overhaul from the top down, Holmes was soon in a position to help make fundamental change as the General Manager of the NSW Soccer Federation (1987-1991), the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation (1998-1999), Soccer Australia (1999-2002), and Football NSW (2007-2011).

With his services to the national and state governing body coming to a close, Holmes returned to CDSFA in 2012, taking over as CEO in 2014. His last day with the Association will be Friday, October 14, 2022.

In his most recent time with CDSFA, Holmes has been instrumental in securing over $15 million in government grants for the region and its clubs.

Holmes’ contribution has been recognised with several awards and achievements, including:

  • Life Member of CDSFA (1982)
  • Life Member of Football NSW (1987)
  • NSW Soccer Federation State Award (1991)
  • George Churchward Medal recipient (2016)
  • Vince and Val Laws Medal recipient (2019)

A strong believer that no individual is bigger than the game, Holmes also helped mentor and mould many up-and-coming sports administrators, with many in the game gaining benefit from his knowledge and experience.

Holmes’ services and achievements will be recognised at the end-of-season Volunteer Recognition Dinner.

Ian Holmes, CEO of CDSFA, shared the following in regards to his upcoming departure – via Football NSW.

“Change is a constant in football. There is a time for renewal and the future. A time for transition.

“The CDSFA needs to maintain dynamism and the Association cannot be flatfooted, so you need to create the pipeline for future talent. It has been my privilege to have been able to serve the game. I did not want to make the mistake of staying too long.

“Leadership is about working with others to make things better due to your presence and ensuring that impact lasts in your absence. It has been my ultimate aim at the Association to do so.

“Working with positive difference makers at the CDSFA and the clubs has been very meaningful. I have been fortunate to work with volunteer directors at the board level who have placed genuine honesty ahead of corporate jargon.

“There is a fundamental principle I share with my Chairman, Armando Gardiman. It is this: you don’t make decisions because they are easy; you don’t make them because they are cheap; you don’t make them because they’re popular; you make them because they are right.”

“I trust the culture created that this should remain the mantra in the Boardroom and with the membership.

“The Association has at the club level an extraordinary army of volunteers. They deliver the football opportunity and experience at the community level. One can only be in awe of their contribution. Many things have changed over 50 years but the CDSFA relies upon volunteers to deliver the game at its very core. Working with so many of them has been an honour.

“The CDSFA is celebrating its Centenary season in 2022. It will commence season 101 in 2023. Season 101 should be the focus for refreshing and resetting. There are challenges ahead. A new generation now needs to take up the mantel. While people matter, we need to get comfortable with change. I need to get out of the way.

“In Gough Whitlam’s words: It’s Time.”

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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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