Football Australia release collaborative One Football Strategy with Member Federations

Avatar
Football Australia
Image via Shutterstock

Following several months of collaborative development alongside the nine member federations, Football Australia has announced the release of their One Football Strategy document.

Having procured the strategy through a number of in-person working group meetings around the country over the past 18 months, this document serves as both a commitment from Football Australia and each Member Federation around the direction for the game, and as an expression of a common desire to work collectively to take Australian football to new heights by 2026.

A first of its kind for Australian football, the One Football Strategy establishes a framework with targets for Australian football that each Member Federation will align and contribute to.

It acknowledges the diversity of football in Australia, and the different local contexts that can be seen across the continent, by providing Member Federations the opportunity to localise responses and approaches while still working towards a consistent vision for the future of the game.

The Strategy opens with 12 different targets for Australian football by 2026, to be achieved by FA working together with Member Federations and the broader Australian football community.

These targets will be achieved via work through four distinct pillars, representing different ways that members of the Australian football family engage with the game:

  • Participants and Clubs
  • Elite Teams & Pathways
  • Fans
  • Unifying Football

Each of the four pillars includes a specific ambition for the future of Australian football, as well as several focus areas, initiatives and results that will see football move closer to realising that ambition.

The Pillars are underpinned by three enablers:

  • Reshape the game for Women & Girls
  • Leverage the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
  • Align digital and data strategies

According to Football Australia’s statement, these enablers will guide thinking and contribute to the success of all four pillars.

Over the past 20 years, football has been the fastest growing sport in Australia, and it remains the largest club-based participation sport in the country today.

This scale provides opportunities for the game to come together collaboratively, using a fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup qualification for the Subway Socceroos and a home 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the CommBank Matildas to kick off an exciting period for Australian football.

The Member Federations, in various stages of the strategic planning cycle, will develop or release strategic plans that are inspired by this collaboratively developed strategy for the game.

Football Australia envision the document’s release as a critical step to progressing Principle VII of the XI Principles, ensuring that the game moves towards a more connected and united Australian football family – working together to deliver the best possible experience for all those who live and love football.

The FA One Football Strategy 2022 – 2026 can be read here.

Previous ArticleNext Article

Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Avatar
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

Avatar
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.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend