Canberra United welcomes not-for-profit Gift of Life with important cause in mind

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Gift of Life and Canberra United

Canberra United has welcomed Gift of Life as its back of shorts partner for the 2023/24 Liberty A-League season.

Gift of Life is an ACT-based not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote greater community awareness around the importance of organ and tissue donation.

They focus its efforts mainly on the ACT and surrounding region, but with this new partnership it will be looking to extend its message more nationally as it aims to through its advocacy save more Australian Lives.

The organisation accomplishes its aims mainly through advocacy, targeting the ACT as it has the lowest organ donor sign up percentage in the Commonwealth.

However, it is not only through direct advocacy that the organisation does its work, but also it helps to organise events and activities aimed both at boosting organ donor sign ups and supporting the lives of those who have received the life saving operations.

For the season, Gift of Life’s logo will appear on the back of Canberra United’s Liberty A-League side shorts, helping to provide crucial exposure for the organisation whenever the team takes to the pitch.

Speaking on the announcement, Capital Football Chairman Angelo Konstantinou expressed the club’s hopes for helping Gift of Life in its mission during this season.

“We are delighted that Gift of Life have joined the Canberra United family as Back of Shorts partner for the forthcoming Liberty A-League campaign,” he said via press release.

“They are a vital organisation in Australia, providing community awareness via major events and activities during the year. We are hoping that our partnership can assist this drive to create even more awareness about the important role they play.”

Gift of Life’s President Catherine Scott also commented on importance of raising awareness for this crucial issue.

“We have joined with Canberra United in order to continue to raise awareness on the importance of organ and tissue donation registration,” she said via press release.

“We would encourage the fans of the club to take the next step and register to be an organ and tissue donor and have the conversation with your family.”

This deal highlights Canberra United’s commitment to being a driver of social benefit in its community. It is also great to see clubs supporting not only businesses but also charities in their sponsorships.

For any readers interested in signing up to the Australian Organ Donor Register, please visit www.donatelife.gov.au/canberraunitedfootballclub for more information.

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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.

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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