SC Braga begin construction on new stadium to complete long-term ‘Sports City’ project

Theo Athans22/06/2023 5:55 am24/06/2023

Image credit: SC Braga

Primeira Liga football club SC Braga have officially started works for the construction of Estádio Centenário, a new 2,600-seat stadium that will serve as the home of its women’s team and Men’s B team, and is scheduled to be completed at the beginning of the 2024/25 season.

Features of the stadium complex include a 250-space car park, four changing rooms, a medical department, gym, first-aid room, anti-doping room, work rooms, a press room, a tribune dedicated to social communication and LED lighting of 1,400 lux, which makes it possible to hold games at night.

The Centenario Stadium – which has been planned and mapped out since 2017 – will be the final step in completing the ambitious infrastructural two-phase ‘Sports City’ project made by SC Braga.

The stadium is a part of ‘Phase 1’ which involves building a large-scale Training Centre consisting of nine training fields with two of them qualified to host official matches as well as a beach soccer field in addition to the Centenario Stadium.

The 2nd phase of ‘Cidade Desportiva’ – which is soon to be completed – will involve the 250-space underground car park, a residential area space for the professional teams, and the opening of the SC Braga museum in January 2025 to recognise the club’s rich culture and history.

With these upgrades and new complexes inside the Sports city, SC Braga are taking a step in the right direction for their future as a club on and off the pitch.

They hope to create a system which encourages young male players and senior women players to get involved with the club as well as improve facilities for the first team.

Whilst the first team will still play its home matches at the Estádio Municipal de Braga with a 30,000 seat capacity, the goal of this ‘Sports City’ complex and the Centenario Stadium was to shift their focus on expanding the club as a brand and to become a more complete football club involving academies and the women’s team.

With a long-term plan committed to and completed, as well as a strong 78-point third place finish in the league last season, Braga’s hopeful rise to the peak of Liga Portugal’s summit could be sooner than ever before for the historic club.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

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

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

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.