The FA Commercial Director Navin Singh on inaugural FA Cup trophy tour to Australia

Liam Watson
FA Cup
Images provided by The FA

For the very first time in the competition’s 150-year long history, the Emirates FA Cup touched down in Australia, as part of an international tour spanning multiple countries.

Alongside Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Seoul’s South Korea, Sydney was the representative for Australia in a landmark occasion celebrating the rich and authentic heritage that the cup brings.

In collaboration with Paramount+, the tour was also made possible by The Football Association (FA) Commercial Director, Navin Singh.

Having been at the FA for a year now, Singh has played a pivotal role in managing the organisation’s commercial strategy and digital transformation for not only the men’s and women’s FA Cup, but also Wembley Stadium connected by EE and the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.

Speaking exclusively to Soccerscene, Singh shares the key objectives behind the tour, engaging with a wide audience and future plans for the competition itself.

Were there many discussions surrounding the tour to Sydney and what did it take to get it off the ground?

Navin Singh: Yes, there were a number of discussions and months of planning.

We have worked with our delivery partners who know the region to ensure we deliver appearances and events that are both engaging for the participants and media worthy, to help spread the message of what the competition does.

I’d like to give a huge thanks to our broadcast partner Paramount+ who have been instrumental in making this event happen.

Can you give a rundown of what you hope to achieve as part of this tour?

Navin Singh: We want to continue to grow the international appeal of the Emirates FA Cup.

For that to happen we must engage directly with the fans in these international regions that have a passion for the product – helping us to ensure there is fan retention and aiding with attracting greater audiences in the future. The trophy coming to the region is just one way of trying to achieve this.

We want to entertain and excite fans with the stories of unparalleled drama of FA Cup football and demonstrate why it’s the greatest domestic knockout tournament in the world. We are also demonstrating value to our broadcast partner (Paramount+), who have helped shed the competition in a positive light.

Is there a reason why Sydney has been targeted as the first destination in Australia?

Navin Singh: Sydney, like many Australian cities, has a rich sporting history.

We could have gone to a few cities, but the opportunity that Sydney provided, by working closely with our broadcast partner as well as Sydney FC, meant it was the right fit.

Given this is the first time the trophy has touched down in Australia, is it fair to say that this is the start of strengthening the relationship between the Australian football fanbase?

Navin Singh: We feel we have a good relationship with the Australian fanbase already, but will always want to strengthen any relationship.

We want to show our commitment to them and our commitment to growing the competition in this region and the trophy tour is one way of demonstrating that.

We know the Australian audience is engaged with English football and our products. There are a number of ex English Premier League players, both currently playing or managing a team in the A-League as well. There are also several Australians with a club who are yet to be knocked out of the Emirates FA Cup.

We hope to continue to strengthen our relationships via tactics such as this tour, in addition to working closer with our broadcast partner to ensure the fans are able to watch the best of the action.

Are there any business objectives that the tour may help the FA achieve?

Navin Singh: There are two key goals that the organisation is hoping to achieve.

We’re looking at the growth of our domestic and international audience – with an increase in engaged fans being healthy for any brand.

The second target is to continue to strengthen relationships with the fanbase and our broadcast partner Paramount+, as the agreement continues to evolve.

Hopefully we are able to carry out more tours like this in the future to help spread the message.

At this stage, what is the state of play regarding worldwide media rights, and do you expect any upcoming changes?

Navin Singh: The FA has an existing agreement for the FA Cup media rights in APAC (including Australia), Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe, which lasts until the completion of the 2023/2024 season. The FA will go to tender for the FA Cup broadcast rights in these regions in March.

You can catch all the action of the FA Cup on Paramount+, with every match streamed live and on demand.

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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.

Record Pathway Breakthrough: Football NSW Report Highlights Power of Access and Equity

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Football NSW has released its 2025 Player Development Report, documenting a year of significant growth across its Talented Player Pathway programs for girls, boys and regional players, and offering the clearest picture yet of how the state’s talent identification infrastructure is reshaping who gets access to elite football development in Australia.

The report distinguishes between three streams: girls, boys and regional, where each operate under the umbrella of the Talented Player Pathway, which encompasses Football NSW’s Youth Leagues, Talent Support Program and state teams. Across all three, the numbers point to a system that is identifying more players, reaching further into the community, and producing more national team representatives than at any previous point in the program’s history.

A Girls Pathway Coming of Age

The girls program recorded some of its most significant outcomes to date in 2025, headlined by the inaugural Future Sapphires Program, a dedicated development environment for 2009, 2010 and 2011-born players that ran 140 training sessions, 16 high-level matches against boys teams, and identified 20 players for national team involvement across its first year alone.

The Talent Support Program conducted 494 player assessments across 119 club visits, with 117 additional games provided for TSP players throughout the season. At the Emerging Matildas Championships, Football NSW fielded three state teams, with the Under-15s Sky team claiming the championship, the Under-16s finishing as runners-up, and the Under-15s Navy placing third.

The pathway-to-national-team conversion rate was striking. Of the 23-player squad selected to represent the Junior Matildas at the AFC Under-17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers, 13 were from Football NSW, a 56.5 percent representation rate from a single state federation.

“This report does not simply provide data and numbers,” said Girls Player Development Manager Nadine Shiels. “It highlights our progress and validates the standards we set.”

The equity implications of that pipeline are significant. Elite female footballers in Australia, have historically faced a narrower and less resourced development corridor than their male counterparts. Programs like the Future Sapphires and the TSP are structural interventions in that imbalance, reshaping access mechanisms that determine which players get seen and which do not.

Boys Program Deepens its Reach

The boys Talent Support Program underwent deliberate restructuring in 2025, reducing squad sizes from approximately 90 players and five teams to 54 players and three teams per age group, while extending match duration from 50 to 70 minutes. The intent was to raise the standard of the best-versus-best environment rather than simply widen it.

The results support that confidence. To date, 155 players who have participated in the boys TSP have transitioned to A-League academies, with approximately 35 progressing to A-League Men’s competition and a further 30 representing Australia at junior national level across the Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 squads.

The 2025 season added four Talent Development Scheme matches for players born between 2007 and 2009, delivered in collaboration with Football Australia and targeting potential Junior Socceroos and Young Socceroos selection. The program also hosted the inaugural A-Leagues/TSP Tournament at Valentine Sports Park in December, featuring Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney Wanderers, Sydney FC, Macarthur Bulls Academy and a TSP Select team.

“Our purpose is clear- not only to identify talent, but to prepare it,” said Boys Player Development Manager Philip Myall.

The Regional Question

Perhaps the most structurally significant section of the report concerns regional development- the stream that most directly addresses the geographic equity gap in Australian football’s talent pipeline.

Talent identification in Australia has historically concentrated in metropolitan areas, where NPL clubs, A-League academies and state federation programs are most densely located. Players in regional and rural NSW face a structural disadvantage that has nothing to do with ability and everything to do with geography. Fewer club visits, reduced access to high-performance environments, and reduced visibility to the coaches and scouts who determine national team selection saliently reflect a systemic barrier.

The 2025 regional TSP involved 241 players across 57 training sessions, 18 hub matches and 58 additional tournament games, with Football NSW coaches present at local association fixtures and regional tournaments including the Bathurst Cup and Country Cup. Regional players were also integrated into Elite Game Days at Valentine Sports Park, directly competing against metropolitan TSP cohorts and A-League academy players.

“The program has continued to enable identified players to progress and be part of the greater football elite player pathway,” said Regional Development Manager Andrew Fearnley, “with opportunity to progress and be identified into national youth teams.”

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