Football Queensland advocates referee education across the state

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Image credit: Andrey Popov via Shutterstock

Football Queensland’s referee strategy for 2025-26 focuses on developing quality refereeing with clubs to enhance the game quality in the state.

FQ has piloted this move with clubs Logan Lightning FC and Moreton City Excelsior FC ahead of the program’s expansion in 2025.

This program should deliver a positive referee and club environment for referees offering extensive pathways for excellence and recognition.

FQ manager of Referee Development Mark Simon-Green has supported this program.

“The club referee program delivers significant benefits by boosting community involvement in refereeing, strengthening referee participation and the quality of referee education within our local clubs,” he said via press release.

“The club referee program will significantly enhance referee coverage and address appointment inefficiencies by enabling young referees to officiate at their clubs before and after their matches, while also providing focused training and support at a single venue.

“Our initial selection and the success of Logan Lightning and Moreton City Excelsior FC as the two pilot clubs in the program reflected their significant commitment to referee training.

“As we expand the initiative to additional clubs across Queensland in 2025, club referees who are registered to a club will be able to officiate MiniRoos matches and, with the support of a Football Queensland registered match official, also officiate Under 13s, Under 14s, and Under 15s boys’ and girls’ academy and community level junior football matches.

“All clubs who participate in the program from next year will be required to have a designated Club Referee Coordinator responsible for overseeing the appointment of match officials, ensuring ongoing support for referees, and facilitating the smooth rollout and operation of the program.”

Referees are key to football at all levels and are a hot topic for the sport, however, quality referees struggle to get the education and support needed to deal with the pressures of the role.

FQ’s Investment in referee education at the club level shows that the FQ and its clubs support education for good officiating to fix officiating problems.

Providing referee’s good education is an important step in helping them have the confidence to continue, this program will hopefully grow the respectful relationship between referees and the spectators and players of the sport.

A promising start that in time will tell if it has been delivered.

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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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