Member Federations throw support behind Football Australia’s #VaxxedToBeBack initiative

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Australia’s Member Federations have thrown their support behind Football Australia’s ‘#VaxxedToBeBack’ initiative.

The initiative features representatives from across Australia’s large, diverse, and multicultural football family, providing amplification of Federal, State, and Territory Government COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

Included in the video are Commonwealth Bank Matildas players Sam Kerr and Alanna Kennedy, Socceroos number one goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, former Socceroo Joel Griffiths, elite referee Kate Jacewicz and prominent Australian football personality, Stephanie Brantz.

The #VaxxedToBeBack initiative seeks to encourage members of Australia’s broad football community to share the reasons why they’ve been vaccinated as football and Australia as a whole strives to emerge from the global pandemic.

“I haven’t been back to Australia in almost two years so I am doing my part to protect myself and my family,” Kerr said in the video. Kennedy reflects that her nieces and nephews have grown so much over the past year, so she “can’t wait to be home and give them a big hug”.

Spain-based Socceroo Ryan is #VaxxedToBeBack “to help try and create a healthy and safe environment out there for all of us to be able to thrive in.” Leading match official Jacewicz, who refereed in the recent Tokyo 2020 Women’s Football Tournament, is “’#VaxxedToBeBack’ to return to the pitch for your football matches.”

While Football Australia and Member Federations respect and acknowledge that vaccination is an individual decision, the organisations support Federal, State, and Territory Government advice that mass vaccinations is Australia’s pathway out of COVID-19.

James Johnson, CEO of Football Australia, applauded the initiative in the interests of the wellbeing of our Australian football community at large.

“The safety and wellbeing of the Australian football community is paramount to Football Australia. As Australia’s most diverse and largest club-based participation sport, Australian football will continue to play its part as a responsible and good citizen, as Australia looks to reopen and recover from the devastating impacts of COVID-19,” Johnson said.

Football Australia, in partnership with Member Federations, continues to work on and plan for a variety of competitions, projects and initiatives that will underpin the growth of football as Australia emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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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