Liverpool Olympic FC enjoy game-changing grant from NSW Football Legacy Fund

Nick Davis08/01/2024 6:15 am07/01/2024

Image via Football NSW & South West Voice

Liverpool Olympic FC received over $60,000 as part of the NSW Football Legacy Fund initiative, helping to upgrade its footballing facilities in Sydney’s South West.

The initiative, which was announced in 2022 as a collaboration between the NSW Government, Football NSW and Northern NSW Football Federation, provides up to $6.21 million to federation-affiliated, not for profit football clubs and associations.

The fund aims to help clubs in two areas, participation and infrastructure, with its goal being to capture the increasing interest in football following the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Liverpool Olympic are one of many clubs in NSW to be successful in their funding application, with money going towards upgrading its existing clubrooms and football amenities.

The club, founded in 1983, have been playing football at Hoxton Park Reserve in Hinchinbrook since 1990 and have not had a significant facilities upgrade since 2002.

Speaking to the South West Voice, Liverpool Olympic FC’s Committee spokesperson Damien Gauci believes the club’s selection will be crucial to its future.

“The funds from these grants will assist the club in their plans to have all players training and playing games in suitable facilities with safe equipment, including our disability group, SNAPParoos,’’ Gauci said.

Football NSW and Southern Districts Football Association, of which Olympic are a member, have long-collaborated on the SNAPParoos program that provides an environment for children and adults with disabilities to participate in football.

As recognised by Gauci, the grant will have a lasting effect on the club’s vision of making football accessible for all ages, genders and abilities.

Another key part of the legacy fund is the equitable provision of infrastructure and resources for women’s football specifically, demonstrating a commitment to Football Australia’s overarching Legacy ‘23 strategy that aims to have 50% female participation by 2027.

Liverpool Olympic, alongside other clubs in NSW, will now have greater capacity to make football not just a more inclusive participatory experience, but to be at the forefront of their respective communities.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

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.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.