Long-serving referee says farewell to Football NSW

Liam Watson

One of the longest-serving referees for Football NSW has made a tough decision to hang up the whistle as he ends an extraordinary 50 consecutive seasons in the league.

James Barnes, nicknamed ‘Barnesie’, has made a legendary contribution for refereeing in Football NSW, clocking up 50 consecutive seasons as an offical and has gained the reputation of being one of the more well-known referees across the state.

He was first registered as a Football NSW referee in 1978 and has not looked back since. In 2005, he was the oldest referee to debut in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 competition, aged 53.

It was a career that he had the pleasure to officiate for some of Australian football royalty including Johnny Warren, Lawrie McKinna and Archie Blue.

Barnes’ decision to announce his retirement from refereeing has come as a surprise to those in attendance at the NSW State League Football Referees General Meeting at Bankstown Sports Club, but it has been confirmed that 2019 will be Barnes’ final season of officiating games.

However, Barnes won’t be completely lost to NSW refereeing, as he plans to stay involved by assessing and training the next generation coming through the ranks in a mentoring-type role. He will continue to spend some time with the Nepean Referees Group as well.

As with the nature of the game, Barnes will endeavour to stay up to date with any rule changes that do come in given some adjustments have been made recently, in order to make sure he and all up-and-coming officials are well informed.

Currently, Barnes’ total number of games sits at 2487, but will carry out his duties for the rest of the season.

His involvement in the Football NSW Champion of Champions and ANSA African Cup tournaments will see him reach the incredible 2500 game milestone and even surpass it. set to take the extraordinary tally past the 2500 mark.

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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.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Image Credit: Shutterstock

Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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