UEFA remains committed to women’s football

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UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin confirmed on Monday that the governing body for football in Europe is committed to helping women’s football recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

UEFA believes that the pandemic had exposed the fragility of women’s football in Europe. The association said that women’s football was still working towards creating a sustainable future at both the elite and grassroots level, however UEFA is determined to put women’s football back on the front foot.

Čeferin said that women’s football is a major aspect of UEFA’s overall strategy.

“The consequences of COVID-19 will be felt by football for some time, but it is at times like these that UEFA’s support is more important than ever for safeguarding the long-term future of women’s football in Europe,” he said in a statement.

“We remain fully committed to our long-term vision for the women’s game set out in Time for Action. We have already secured all the funding needed to implement the strategy over the next four years. This means that we will still be investing more in the female game than ever before.”

Time for Action is a five-year strategy for women’s football which was launched at the Women’s Champions League Final in May 2019.

The 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final was played on Sunday in Spain – Lyon defeated Wolfsburg 3-1 to claim their fifth title in a row.

“The UEFA Women’s Champions League is one of the first female sports competitions to return to play,” said Čeferin.

“I am confident it will help kick-start the resumption of most domestic competitions across the continent.”

A first year progress report on the Time for Action strategy was also released by UEFA last week. The report revealed that UEFA was on track to meet its objectives despite the pandemic with participation and public perception of women’s football improving.

“Together with our stakeholders and partners, we can be proud of how we have progressed in the first year of the strategy,” UEFA’s Chief of Women’s Football, Nadine Kessler said.

“Women’s football has already evolved into a strong position and has always been resilient. While the challenge is greater, it’s not insurmountable. There is so much more to look forward to.”

Women’s domestic football is starting to return across Europe – over 20 domestic competitions have returned while another 26 are preparing to start their 2020/21 seasons.

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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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