Auckland FC’s New Collaboration with UP Education

Ruby Reilly21/10/2025 6:15 am20/10/2025

Image Credit: A-Leagues

Auckland FC have confirmed a partnership with UP Education as the club’s official education partner. UP Education is Australasia’s largest independent tertiary education group.

UP Education has over 39,000 students enrolled yearly across 52 campuses in New Zealand and Australia. UP Education has over 300 courses that provide qualifications in sport, health, technology, trades and different creative industries.

“At UP Education, we equip students with the skills and confidence to succeed not just in the workplace, but in life,” said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of UP Education, Tim McFarlane.

“Mental health is central to that mission. Through AIPC, we’re proud to champion awareness of counselling, wellbeing and the role that sport plays in supporting positive mental health.”

The link between physical activity, mental health and wellbeing is a key focus area for UP Education. Due to this connection the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC) will feature on the team’s away shorts throughout the 2025/26 A-League season.

AIPC trains more than 4,000 counselling and community services students every year, which provides important skills to help develop the mental health workforce across Australia and New Zealand.

Auckland FC’s Mental Performance Coach, Hamish Barton said “We know that to be the best on the pitch, players need to be feeling their best off it, and mental health plays a huge role in that.”

The partnership will also allow Auckland FC players and staff access to professional development and wellbeing programs through UP Education.

Nick Becker, Auckland FC CEO said “UP Education is an impressive organisation to be partnering with.”

“We share a belief in the connection between sport and mental wellbeing – and we’re proud to carry the AIPC logo across Australia this season.”

This partnership not only strengthens Auckland FC’s commitment to player wellbeing and mental health but also allows UP Education and AIPC to reach a wider audience, fostering greater awareness, professional development, and positive impact across both the sporting and educational 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.