Australia to host AFC youth women’s qualifiers

Philip Panas05/10/2020 5:31 am05/10/2020

FFA have announced Australia will host two AFC youth women’s qualification tournaments in 2021.

The AFC has awarded Australia the right to host a group of the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers (Round 1) in Shepparton, Victoria and a group of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers (Round 1) in Cessnock, NSW.

The AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2022 Qualifiers are set to take place in March of next year, with the U17 qualifiers due to start a month later, in April.

FFA CEO James Johnson believed hosting these types of tournaments was important for the development of the game.

“On behalf of the Australian football community, I would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the AFC for granting Australia the hosting rights for these important youth women’s football tournaments which will be held next year,” he said.

“The hosting of these two tournaments aligns with our desire, espoused within the XI Principles for the future of Australian football for Australia, to become the centre of women’s football in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We are excited that our future stars will have the chance to play for Australia on home soil and to showcase their talent in front of friends and family. It also our great pleasure to bring international football to the communities in Cessnock and Shepparton and we hope to provide more opportunities for Australian communities, particularly those in regional areas, to share in the spectacle of the world game.

“We are looking forward to working with the Greater Shepparton City Council and Cessnock City Council to host these important fixtures for the Westfield Young Matildas and Westfield Junior Matildas.”

Johnson added: “We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation nationally and internationally,” with these games to be held in 2021 we hope and expect that the situation locally and within the Asian region will have improved by the kick-off of these tournaments.”

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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.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

Declan Chan15/04/2026 6:15 am14/04/2026

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.