Western United unveil Andrew Durante in Player Welfare and Development Manager role

Matthew Badrov18/08/2022 5:55 am18/08/2022

Image provided by Western United

Having retired recently at the conclusion of the 2020/21 season, A-Leagues veteran Andrew Durante will return to Western United in the newly created role of Player Welfare and Development Manager.

Durante will work in tandem with Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) to ensure Western United players across all programs, including men’s, women’s and youth teams, will have the necessary support and guidance to achieve their football and non-football goals.

“Having a strong connection to the Club from my playing days, it really feels fitting for me to return to the place where my playing career ended, to now start my next chapter with Western United,” Durante said in a statement.

“I’m really excited to get started in this new role. The Club is full of fantastic people and I’m looking forward to being a part of it and furthering my growth as a person, as well as the growth of the Club.

“I’m passionate about helping develop talent on and off the pitch, and I’m really determined to support all the Western United athletes to become the best versions of themselves.”

Durante will also take up a development coach role in Western United’s Academy program, working alongside Academy Director Anthony Frost and his existing staff.

Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato welcomed back the Club favourite.

“As a foundation player of the club, we are delighted to have someone of Andrew’s ilk join our football department,” he said via Western United.

“Andrew’s experience in the A-League is unrivalled and he will add extraordinary value to our program in this newly created role.

“With an exceptional football CV under his belt, we are thrilled that Andrew will lead this program and continue to drive the Club’s values and behaviours that are fundamental to our Club culture.”

Durante made 45 of his 358 A-League Men appearances for Western United and played 416 Australian men’s national league games, the sixth highest figure all-time.

The former Newcastle Jets, Wellington Phoenix and New Zealand international player will now make his first foray into life behind on the other side of the white line, and seek to impart some of his wisdom on the young players in the West.

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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.