Football Queensland updates Return to Play guidelines

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Football Queensland has released an updated version of its Return to Play guidelines following the Queensland Government’s easing of restrictions.

Football Queensland has released an updated version of its Return to Play guidelines following the Queensland Government’s easing of restrictions.

The Queensland Chief Health Officer has allowed the state to move into Stage Three of the Government’s Return to Play rules from July 3rd.

Contact training and competition is now permitted on the field of play. However, other attendees at training who are not players such as coaches or spectators need to maintain social distancing.

Before and after training when participants are not on the field of play, physical distancing of 1.5 metres must be followed.

Facilities at community sports grounds can now be reopened. These include showers, change rooms, bathrooms, and canteens.

In the Return to Play guidelines, Football Queensland said that it was their priority to protect the health and wellbeing of the public and football community during the pandemic.

“This document outlines the conditions that must be met for training sessions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in line with Federal and State Government guidance,” they said.

“Stage 3 will commence from July 3, when contact training will be permitted as per the Industry COVID Safe Plan and the Return to Play Guide.

“Indoor sports facilities can open with one person per 2 square metres for venues of 200 square metres or less (up to a total of 50 people) and 4 square metres for venues of 200 square metres or more. Outdoor sports facilities can open with physical distancing (off the field of play).”

Heading of the ball is now permitted. Players must also bring their own drink bottles and not share with any other participants.

Sharing of equipment is to be minimised, while training bibs used at training are to be taken home by the individual who wore it and then washed.

Football Queensland is recommending that each training session has a COVID Safe Coordinator to undertake cleaning requirements before the next training session.

The guidelines also ask that there be 15 minute breaks in between training sessions finishing and the next group’s session starting. Participants are also advised to leave promptly after a session finishes with no social activity.

On Friday, Football Queensland announced that competitions will start to return from Friday, July 17th.

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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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