FCA looks to the future as it farewells two long-term champions of Australian coaches

Staff Writer
Football Coaches Australia

Football Coaches Australia (FCA) will enter a new era at its Annual General Meeting on September 20, when two of the organisation’s stalwarts depart, making way for new leadership as the organisation approaches its sixth anniversary.

Chief Executive Officer Glenn Warry and President Phil Moss will step down from their positions, having held them since FCA’s inaugural AGM on November 15, 2017.

Having previously driven the establishment of two national player development and wellbeing programs and worked with elite coaches in all football codes, Glenn observed that the needs of Australia’s football coaches were not being catered for by football’s governing bodies.

He partnered with experienced global sports industry leader James Kitching to start Football Coaches Australia, with the goal of providing coaches with legal advocacy, professional development, mental health and well-being services, and a collective voice and voting rights on the Football Australia Congress.

Phil Moss was appointed FCA’s inaugural President, having been Head Coach of the Central Coast Mariners, and Assistant Coach of the 2008 Olyroos, the Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC. He has held the President position for two terms, working alongside Vice Presidents Rae Dower, Heather Garriock and Sarah West during his time at the helm.

Both Glenn and Phil will leave the organisation due to family and work commitments, having volunteered thousands of hours to improve the working conditions and wellbeing of Australian coaches working at home and abroad.

FCA Vice President Sarah West said the two stalwarts would be greatly missed but would leave a strong legacy to build upon.

“Both Glenn and Phil have made tremendous contributions to the sport of football, by tirelessly working to keep the issues affecting coaches on the radar where decisions for our beautiful game are being made,” she said.

“Together, they have led FCA from its humble beginnings to achieve provisional member status with Football Australia, which is an achievement they should be extremely proud of.”

“While Glenn and Phil will be sorely missed, they have set the foundations for FCA to be a driving force for positive change within the Australian football landscape and ensure that coaches and their needs are never again an afterthought.”

“The FCA Executive Committee is committed to continuing their great work in strengthening relationships across football’s governance and taking FCA and Australian coaches to new heights.”

“Personally, and on behalf of the Executive Committee, I would like to thank Glenn and Phil for their extraordinary contributions and leadership,” FCA’s Vice President said.

Warry said he was proud of what FCA had been able to achieve despite significant opposition from some of the sport’s leadership.

“Coaching is the most visible leadership role in football, with coaches the face of the club and responsible for driving club culture, high performance, team success and the wellbeing of the players. At the community level, this involves providing a safe, and importantly, fun environment for young players,” he said.

“In a short period of time, and through a challenging period for all Australians, FCA is proud of the collective voice, extensive advocacy services and world-leading professional development programs that it has developed and delivers for Australian football coaches worldwide.”

“Since its inception, FCA has endeavoured at all times to work collaboratively and collectively with football stakeholders for the betterment of coaches and football,” the outgoing CEO and founder said.

He added that most recently FCA had worked beyond borders and through pandemics to deliver for Australian coaches.

“The association provides Australian coaches continued access to legal support in Australia, Asia and Europe to proceed disputes to the FIFA Player Status Committee or to Fair Work Australia (NPL Club disputes), Contract Negotiations, Code of Conduct determinations, legal support in ‘Cease and Desist’ proceedings against individuals, and finally, resume preparation and interview skills.”

“In particular, FCA was proud to be the national leader in supporting football coaches throughout the COVID period of 2021 and 2022, surging our capacity to provide free learning through more than 60 professional development Zoom conferences, virtual community-building activities, and 100 complimentary Mental Health Masterclass programs,” Warry said.

Outgoing President Phil Moss said while he was tremendously proud to have led FCA during a period of rapid growth in the game and ensure coaches have more support than ever before, the lack of funding and embrace from within the game continued to disappoint.

“So much quality work has been done by so many brilliant football people to get FCA to where it is today,” he said.

“Everyone involved, past and present, has let their actions do the talking in setting up, sustaining and strengthening the support that all coaches now have available to them for the duration of their journey.”

“That is a far cry from what so many other coaches had in the past,” he said.

Moss added that there was still much to be done to provide coaches with adequate support.

“The need for vastly improved coaching pathways, increased opportunities and support for coaches for the full length of their journey is no less important than for that of players,” he said.

“Coaches develop players and provide the structure and environment that liberates players to realise their potential. Yet, the attitude towards – and treatment of – coaches is still generally poor.”

“FCA is set up well to go to the next level, and football’s power brokers must realise the non-negotiable importance of having an organisation that specifically supports coaches from start to finish, as FCA does. The handbrake slowing coaching as a profession must be released.”

“The positive rhetoric from a number of stakeholders FCA has worked collaboratively with has not been backed by actions, and that is really disappointing,” the outgoing President said.

Football Coaches Australia members are invited to attend the organisation’s Annual General Meeting on 20 September and cast their vote to appoint a new President, as well as appoint a new member to its Executive Committee to fill a vacancy. The CEO position has been advertised and will be selected by the FCA Executive Committee in accordance with the organisation’s constitution.

Registrations are required to attend the AGM, which is open to FCA Members only. Members are invited to register at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/football-coaches-australia-annual-general-meeting-2023-tickets-708988041317

To read full statements from outgoing CEO Glenn Warry and outgoing President Phil Moss, please click here.

Media Interviews are available with Glenn Warry, Phil Moss and Sarah West.

To arrange an interview, please contact Glenn Warry on 0417 346 312

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Football West’s Female Football Week draws record engagement from Metropolitan Perth to Remote Kunurra

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Image Credit: Football West

Football West has wrapped up its 2026 Female Football Week with activations spanning metropolitan Perth, regional Western Australia and national online platforms, as participation data from the state’s most remote football association underlined the scale of demand for women’s and girls’ football beyond the city.

Kununurra Soccer Association, situated in the East Kimberley more than 3,000 kilometres from Perth, recorded 47 new female registrations aged 7 to 12 across the first two terms of 2026 through Football West’s Junior Girls United program, representing a 30 percent increase in female membership that coaches Hannah Grominsky and Evie Marchetti described as overwhelming.

“The support from the community has been simply awesome,” Grominsky said. “We’re up to nearly 50 registered girls now. The majority of them have never played before or aren’t part of our association, so it’s great to give them a positive football experience in a comfortable environment.”

The program, supported by the Federal Government’s Play Our Way grant, now runs every Wednesday and has extended football activity into the cooler months of the Kimberley calendar, a season when the association would not traditionally operate. The result is a cohort of players new to the game, in a region where access to organised sport has historically been constrained by geography, infrastructure and seasonality.

Recognition across the state

Back in Perth, Female Football Week’s centrepiece event was the Women in Football Celebrate You Breakfast at the Sam Kerr Football Centre, featuring two panel discussions covering officiating pathways, coaching development and advocacy for women in football.

Subiaco AFC NPL Women’s head coach Christine Coppin, who is one of few women coaching at her level in the region, said events like the breakfast were critical to making the pathway visible for others.

“I’d love to see more women coaches putting their hat in the ring, both at junior and senior levels, realising that there’s more to football than just playing,” Coppin said. “They can stay involved in the sport as they get older in different ways.”

A regional Women in Football Breakfast in Albany drew more than 30 attendees, while a Girls Day Out event in the same city attracted more than 50 participants aged 6 to 16 for a come-and-try introduction to the game, extending the week’s reach into the Great Southern and reinforcing Football West’s stated commitment to building women’s football outside metropolitan areas.

Recognising those who make it happen

The week’s awards, nominated by the WA public, recognised five individuals whose contributions to female football across the state were judged most significant over the past year. Cassandra Paxman of Albany Rovers FC was named Coach of the Year, Georgia Whitelaw of Great Southern JSA and Albany JSA took Referee of the Year, Karen Harris of Carramar Shamrock Rovers FC was named Volunteer of the Year, Georgia Aiesi of Mandurah City FC received the Player of the Year award, and Melissa Spillman of Football Futures Foundations was named Community Champion of the Year— a recognition she also received at the national level.

Football West Female Football and Advocacy Manager Sarah Carroll said the week had reinforced both the momentum and the responsibility facing the sport.

“Female Football Week continues to showcase the incredible passion and growing appetite for the women’s game,” Carroll said. “It’s a reminder of how important it is that we keep working together to drive the game forward.”

The contrast between a packed breakfast at the Sam Kerr Football Centre and a Wednesday afternoon program in Kununurra working around wet season schedules captures something essential about where women’s football in Western Australia actually lives. The growth is real, and it is happening in places the cameras do not always reach.

Tasmania’s State Budget Commits $350,000 to Football Facility Planning as $80 million Home of Football Moves Closer to Reality

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Image Credit: Football Tasmania

The Tasmanian State Government has committed $350,000 in seed funding for the next stage of planning for Football Tasmania‘s proposed Home of Football, moving the state’s most significant football infrastructure project closer to construction and signalling political recognition that demand for rectangular facilities in Tasmania has outgrown what currently exists.

The funding, confirmed in the 2026-27 State Budget handed down last week, sits within an almost $200 million investment in sport and recreation across the budget and forward estimates: a package the government describes as designed to improve access and participation for Tasmanians of all ages. The football allocation is listed alongside a $25 million community sporting infrastructure commitment at Kingborough, $12.5 million for new multipurpose indoor sporting courts at New Town Bay, and $8 million for the Domain Tennis Centre redevelopment.

Football Tasmania CEO Tony Pignata OAM welcomed the commitment as an acknowledgement of the structural gap between participation numbers and available infrastructure, particularly in the state’s south.

“The State Government’s delivery on this commitment shows us that they understand that demand outstrips supply for rectangular facilities in the state,” Pignata said. “If we are to continue to grow and develop future Matildas and Socceroos, we need to invest in the infrastructure our game so desperately needs.”

The proposed $80 million facility would include six full-sized pitches, three synthetic and three turf, alongside four five-a-side pitches, modern changerooms for both men and women, and dedicated training facilities. The design is intended to serve every level of the game simultaneously, from grassroots junior competitions through to national-level tournaments.

From grassroots to A-League ambitions

Football Tasmania has framed the facility’s purpose across a deliberately wide range of uses. At the community end, it would provide a permanent home for junior games and regional tournaments that currently compete for limited rectangular ground availability across the state. At the elite end, it would create the capacity to host national competitions including the Emerging Matildas and Emerging Socceroos Championships, flagship state competitions such as the Statewide Cup finals, and potentially, in time, an A-League team.

That last ambition is the most significant and the most distant. Pignata was measured but direct in raising it, situating a Tasmanian A-League club alongside the NBL’s Jackjumpers, the WNBL’s Jewels and the AFL’s Devils as part of the state’s emerging identity as a home for national sporting competition.

“One day down the track, we anticipate this would become home to our very own A-League team, so that we take our rightful place in the nation’s elite competition,” he said.

The pathway from planning funding to A-League admission is long and would require sustained political and commercial support well beyond the current commitment. But the logic is consistent with how football infrastructure investment has worked elsewhere in Australia. The facility comes first, and the competitive pathway follows. Without a purpose-built ground that meets the standards required for elite competition, the conversation about an A-League team cannot begin in earnest.

The equity dimension

The inclusion of modern women’s and men’s changerooms in the facility’s design carries more weight than it might appear. Community and semi-professional football facilities across Australia have historically been built to male standards, with women’s changerooms added as afterthoughts or not included at all. That inadequacy has been consistently identified as a barrier to female participation and to the hosting of women’s competitions at venues that cannot accommodate them properly.

A purpose-built facility that treats women’s infrastructure as a design requirement rather than a retrofit positions the Home of Football to serve the growth of women’s football in Tasmania in a way that existing facilities cannot. The state recorded 41,395 registered football participants in 2025, a number that has been growing and that the current rectangular facility stock was not built to support at this scale.

Additionally, the government’s Ticket to Play program, which provides eligible children with two vouchers worth up to $100 each for sporting participation, and the Ticket to Wellbeing program offering $100 vouchers to eligible seniors, represent indirect but meaningful support for football participation across the state’s communities.

Pignata also acknowledged outgoing Football Tasmania President Bob Gordon, who he said had dedicated almost a decade to the organisation and had been instrumental in lobbying for this and other facilities across the state.

The $350,000 planning commitment is a beginning. The $80 million facility it is intended to progress remains subject to further government investment and development approval.

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