NSW Government Backs Bold Launch of Australian Championship

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Image credit: Damian Briggs / Football Australia

The New South Wales Government have supported the inaugural season of the Australian Championship by confirming $300,000 of seed funding.

The funding is set to elevate the Australian Championship through engagement with multicultural communities, enhancing venues with equipment and upgrading minor infrastructure to help broadcast key matches nationally.

The funding came from the NSW Government’s Project Support Program, established last year, which aims to improve access and contribution in the sports for underrepresented groups, as well as support community sporting events and projects within the NSW sports sector.

This recent investment has underlined the NSW Government’s previous commitment to support elite football pathways, increase participation in all levels of the sport, and maintain the Australian Championship has an impact in local communities and the broader sporting landscape.

The Hon. Stephen Kamper MP mentioned the importance sport plays in community building and community harmony.

“The NSW Government’s support of the Australian Championship will help build a cohesive pathway for emerging athletes and facilitate engagement within the multicultural communities of the participating NSW clubs,” he said via press release.

“It will also support the clubs to play in the national competition through infrastructure upgrades at their local grounds.”

Football Australia Interim Chief Executive Officer, Heather Garriock mentioned the significance of how the Australian Championship is a game-changer for football by lifting historic community clubs and creating a bridge from grassroots to the professional level.

“This funding will help shine a spotlight on clubs with deep roots in NSW’s multicultural and regional communities,” she said via press release.

“I want to thank Minister Steve Kamper and the NSW Government for their commitment and support for our inaugural season of the Australian Championships.

“This investment will not only help clubs meet national standards but also connect communities across the state to this exciting new competition, bringing football – and its opportunities – to more people than ever before.”

The NSW Government’s Project Support Program have funded approximately 55 projects across the state so far, with individual grants between $4,000 to $2.5 million towards community sporting hubs.

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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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