Canberra United legends join mentorship group

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Canberra United
Image via Professional Footballers Australia

Canberra United legends Grace Gill and Caitlin Munoz are the latest pair to join the burgeoning United Coaching Support Group, with the former Liberty A-League Champions named as mentors for the upcoming 2022/23 season.

The pair have a well-established connection with Canberra United and its supporters, having represented the side in its formative years as a club. Both Gill and Munoz were involved in the very first season of Canberra United football, the 2008/09 campaign, where Canberra was defeated in the inaugural Grand Final.

They will join with former team-mates Ashleigh Sykes and Nicole Begg as mentors to a new generation of Canberra United talent as Head Coach Njegosh Popovich continues to build a core support network that bleeds green.

“It is with great delight that I welcome both Grace and Caitlin into our coaching support network for the upcoming Liberty A-League season,” Popovich said via Capital Football.

“They are both legends of the game here in Canberra and are fan favourites with our wonderful support base. They understand the game and are both winners having tasted what it’s like to win trophies for this club.

“They understand what Canberra United means to everyone involved in our football community and will bring vast knowledge of the game on a local, national, and international level. As with Ash and Nic, we will utilise that knowledge as part of our mentorship program throughout the season.”

Gill has been busy post playing career making her name in the media world with appearances across various broadcasters, including being a part of the 10 ViacomCBS team for the A-Leagues, but is pleased to be able to offer something back to the club that she graced for her entire A-League career.

“Canberra United, as a Canberran, obviously holds a place close to my heart and I am excited at being able to offer something back to the next generation of players making their name at the club,” Gill said via Capital Football.

“Njegosh is developing a very exciting project at United and the inclusion of some of the former playing group is a nice way to merge past with the present. I will do whatever I can to help this club and am hopeful that we are entering into an exciting new phase at Canberra United.”

Munoz, meanwhile, despite playing as a midfielder for most of her Canberra United career, was twice leading scorer for the club and racked up a ton of trophies at club level with the dominant Belconnen United squad, under the leadership of new United Assistant Coach Antoni Jagarinec.

“Canberra United have been a huge part of my football life and am delighted to be back helping them in this mentorship role,” Munoz said via Capital Football of her involvement back at the club she represented 83 times, scoring 21 goals.

“Everyone who knows me understands what this club means to me. I have been invested in it since day one, firstly as a player and then latterly as a spectator. To be back in green, in this capacity, is extremely exciting and I am looking forward to adding what I can to help us become as successful a team as possible.”

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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.

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

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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.

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