Football Australia reveals record participation in 2024

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Image Credit: Football Australia Website

Football Australia has presented the 2024 National Participation Report, revealing record growth for the sport across the country.

The report found that football is in a healthy state in the country, once again being Australia’s most popular sport. With an 11 percent increase in participation from 2023 to 2024, total participation now sits at over 1.9 million active participants.

However, total participation was not the only success uncovered via the report, as a number of key areas saw substantial increases in participation.

Key Findings from the 2024 National Participation Report: 

  • Total Participation: Climbed 11% to 1,911,539 participants.
  • Women and Girls’ Participation: Grew by 16% to 221,436 participants.
  • Registered Coaches: Rose by 19%.
  • Registered Volunteers: Increased by 26%.
  • Outdoor football participation: Increased by 10% to 640,170 participants.
  • Social Football Engagement: Grew by 13% to 174,846 participants.
  • Schools and Community Football Programs Participation: Rose by 13%.
  • Football Australia Sporting Schools Program Participation: Increased by 21% to 158,700 participants.

Football Australia has lauded the hard work of each Member Federation and the role out of key grassroots strategies such as the Club Changer: Club Development Program in attaining these positive outcomes.

Launched in February 2023, and aided by the Australian Sports Commission, the Club Changer initiative has assisted over 1,000 grassroots clubs across Australia. Through providing unique support for each club, the program aimed to develop club operations, increase volunteer numbers and retention, as well as improve women and girls’ participation.

For its efforts, the Club Changer Program won the AFC President’s Recognition Grassroots Award for the second year in a row.

Football Australia CEO, James Johnson, outlined how important initiatives such as Club Changer are for community football.

“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ inspired a generation, and we are determined to harness that momentum to unite and grow football across the country. Through programs like Club Changer, we are empowering community clubs to deliver quality football experiences while ensuring inclusivity and sustainability remain at the heart of our mission,” he said via press release.

“Our success is a shared achievement with our Member Federations, local associations, grassroots clubs and community volunteers. Programs like the Growing Football Fund supported by CommBank, have provided vital resources to over 200 community clubs, fostering opportunities for women and girls in football and enabling the next generation of coaches, referees and players to thrive.”

One of the core focuses of Football Australia’s grassroots development plans has been on diversity and inclusion. In collaboration with the National Volunteer Focus Group and 28 clubs, Football Australia has developed a series of action plans that strive to increase women and girls’ participation by aiming for 40% women, 40% men and 20% flexible roles’ structure.

Through 2025, Football Australia will continue to support grassroots and community football via valuable programs such as Club Changer and the Growing Football Fund to build off of the immense success of 2024’s participation records.

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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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