Football Queensland adds eight more clubs to Futsal League

Adam Palombi12/06/2024 6:15 am11/06/2024

Image credit: Football Queensland website

Football Queensland (FQ) have confirmed eight additional futsal clubs who have been granted participation licenses for the upcoming 2024 FQ Futsal League (FL) competition.

The clubs will feature in the leagues fourth edition of the states highest tier of futsal spanning across respective women’s and men’s leagues.

A conference-based competition format will conclude in January 9th 2025 edition of the National Futsal Club Championships.

Football Queensland Manager of Futsal Vince Sciacca touched upon the competitions expansion, and the ripple effect it can have upon futsal within Queensland.

“Following the success of the competition in 2023, it was fantastic to receive F-League licence applications from 12 futsal clubs for the 2024 season, with the quality of applications demonstrating the strength of the Football Queensland Futsal Premier League and the appetite for high level competitive futsal in our state,” he said via press release.

“We can today announce that eight clubs have been awarded F-League licences for 2024 ahead of the planned expansion of the league to 10 clubs in 2026, and we are thrilled to see the high calibre of clubs who will participate in the league this season.

“Football Queensland is focused on the ongoing growth and development of futsal leagues across the state as we develop a strong pathway to the top tier of competition in Queensland through the connected futsal pyramid, and we look forward to continuing to work with our affiliated clubs to support them in delivering high-quality playing opportunities at every level of the game.”

Futsal within Australia is on the cusp of becoming a sport accustomed to mainstream recognition, the quick pace and high volume of scoring makes the product rather appealing to audiences.

Although well-appreciated by participants and officials, the sport remains untapped in broader audiences finding appreciation for the sport and its unique athletes.

The expansion of futsal within the state of Queensland, and betterment of the existing national championship competitions, there is an opportunity for the sport to grow on into the mainstream, enduring a newly founded plethora of participants and admirers. All becoming an audience in which provides the alternative variation of football a vested interest it is deserving of.

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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.