2022 Annual Report Football NSW

CHAIR’S REPORT

GILBERT LORQUET

It remains a privilege to have served the Football NSW community for a second calendar year in the capacity of Chair and I firstly want to thank my fellow Board members for their support and contributions over the past 12 months.

In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Louie Apostolovski and Stephen Hayes who ended their long-term tenures in late 2022. With over six and 12 years served respectively, both Louie and Stephen have made substantial contributions to the Board and to FNSW’s overall strategic direction.

At the 2023 Football NSW Annual General Meeting, our Deputy Chair Fiona Lang will also finish her tenure on the Board. Fiona has played an important leadership role and I am especially grateful for Fiona’s tremendous support and guidance over the past few years.

After two seasons of COVID-19 interruptions, the continued resilience shown by the football family to navigate the inclement weather experienced throughout 2022 was truly remarkable. In most cases, our Associations were successful in delivering competitions in their entirety, a credit to their committed competition administrators, respective community club members and officials. Thank you to each and every one of you for helping to maximise the time our players were able to spend on the football field.

Since Australia was named as co-host of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ (FWWC2023), Football NSW had been lobbying for a substantial Legacy fund that would ensure the benefits of the international event would reach our entire football community.

In April, the NSW Government officially announced the $10 million NSW Football Legacy Program and it has been great to see the program begin its rollout in the second half of the year. Congratulations to the team who worked countless hours on advocating, negotiating and finalising the details of the Legacy Program and I am looking forward to seeing what can be achieved in 2023 and beyond.

Funding remains vital to our continued growth as a sport to ensure players of all ages, abilities and genders have access to football played in a safe and welcoming environment. In 2022, we worked alongside Football Australia on the #Equaliser campaign ahead of the Federal Election and Football NSW has been advocating strongly to both sitting Members of Parliament and local candidates during the leadup to the 2023 NSW State election. We will continue to advocate to Governments

at all levels to ensure the country’s largest organised sport is sufficiently supported through infrastructure investment that can support future generations to come.

In November, Football NSW released its Strategic Plan 20232026, built around the core purpose of facilitating the best experience for all participants. Following community consultation and feedback, the final plan provides a framework for operational objectives built around five key pillars of growing female football, supporting community football, enhancing competitions, producing football talent and providing leadership. We remain committed to working alongside Football Australia towards our shared goals for football within the nation’s largest Member Federation and the Football NSW team is focused on making significant strides towards our ambitious growth goals in the coming years.

At the end of 2022, we said farewell to CEO Stuart Hodge. It has been a pleasure working with Stuart over the last two years, during which he has shown fantastic leadership through some truly unprecedented times. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Stuart was an industry leader in advocating for Government support grants for Clubs and Associations, as well as lobbying the NSW Government for the timely provision of a Return to Sport Framework.

Off the back of Stuart’s management through multiple lockdowns, Football NSW remained in a strong enough position to provide $1.5 million in fee relief to the community in 2021, something he should take great pride in. I wish Stuart the very best with his role at Sport NSW, where I am positive football will remain a beneficiary of his industry leadership in advocating to Government on behalf of all sports in NSW.

In December, we welcomed John Tsatsimas, an experienced football administrator at all levels of the game, as the new CEO. Ultimately, Football NSW exists to serve its members and I am encouraged with John’s strong focus on ensuring we are continually looking at ways to increase the value of our services to Associations, Clubs and the wider participation base.

With a new Strategic Plan in place and buoyed by both the Socceroos incredible achievements in Qatar and the final countdown to the FWWC2023, I am incredibly excited about the future of the sport in NSW and am delighted to have John at the helm to help maximise Football NSW’s growth over the coming years.

It is an honour to have been appointed as CEO of Football NSW in late 2022 and I thank the Board of Directors for entrusting me with the critical role of leading Australia’s largest Member Federation forward.

This is a sport that has played a significant part in my upbringing and my career. I have been involved in the game through various playing, coaching and administration roles with various Associations and NPL NSW clubs, before working with the likes of the Newcastle Jets and the Western Sydney Wanderers.

CEO’S REPORT

JOHN TSATSIMAS

The wet weather also brought to the foreground the key issue we face around the need for further investment in playing surfaces, through the inclusion of irrigation systems and effective field drainage, as well as the development of new all-weather fields. I acknowledge the support of the NSW Government through the Multi-Sport Community Facility Fund which saw Football NSW stakeholders benefit from $44 million of funding over two rounds.

With the demand for football continually growing, it is vital that all levels of Government are investing in accessible playing surfaces across all regions and this will remain a key focus area for Football NSW over the coming years.

In April 2022, the NSW Government announced a $10 million NSW Football Legacy Program in an effort to help our Clubs and Associations meet the growing demands of football participation, while ensuring females across the state have the ability to participate, develop and prosper as part of the football community.

On this note, I want to pay tribute to outgoing CEO, Stuart Hodge. I am fortunate enough to have known Stuart for some time, have great respect for him as a leader in sport and recognise the legacy he has left at Football NSW. Stuart fostered strong participation growth during his tenure and led our community through some unprecedented challenges, ensuring Football NSW remained resilient and could emerge stronger out the other side. I thank Stuart for his contributions and wish him the best in his new role at Sport NSW.

I have already been fortunate to meet many of our stakeholders out in the community and I want to acknowledge the incredible work that was produced throughout 2022. The inclement weather we all experienced had an effect on all involved with the game and it was only through the dedication of our Clubs, Associations and volunteers that the vast majority of competitions were able to be completed in their entirety. To achieve this, immediately after two years of COVID-19 interruptions, is an incredible feat and testament to just how strong our football community remains.

There has already been a significant amount of work being produced around the Legacy Program, led by our Women’s Football and Legacy teams. It has been great to see female scholarships continually rolling out to coaches, referees and volunteers as well as funding being secured for inclusive infrastructure projects and participation programs. There is still so much more to be rolled out over the next 18 months and I look forward to seeing the Legacy benefits continue to reach all areas of our community.

Moving forward it is vitally important that football in NSW remains aspirational, inclusive for all and that Football NSW, as a governing body, is constantly progressing. To this end, I am encouraged by the diverse array of talents and experiences that exist among the Board, sharing not only a love for the game but an aligned vision for the future.

Similarly, it is incredibly positive to be supported by such a committed team of staff and I am looking forward to making significant strides together off the back of the recently published 2023-2026 Football NSW Strategic Plan.

Throughout 2023, I plan to continue acquainting myself with members across our entire participation base, ensuring we can work effectively as a collective towards the ongoing growth of our game.

I feel incredibly privileged to now be in a position where I can utilise my experience to continue growing football’s stature as the state’s largest team-based participation sport, working closely and collaboratively with our Associations, Clubs and members.

THANK YOU

Football NSW would like to thank the members of its Disciplinary Committee, General Purposes Tribunal and Appeals Tribunal for their contribution and commitment to the operation of grievance and disciplinary matters in 2022. The members are passionate about Football and volunteer a significant amount of time and effort to assist Football NSW in ensuring a level playing field for all participants.

In 2022, the members of the Disciplinary Committee, General Purposes Tribunal and Appeals Tribunal were:

DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE

• Barry Hoare

• Geoff Leverton

• Theo Wisman

• Shane Merry

• Michael Napoli

• Luke Margelis

GENERAL PURPOSES TRIBUNAL

• David Lewis (Chair)

• Ben Jones (Vice-Chair)

• Anthony Scarcella (Vice-Chair)

• Marcelo Valerio

• Robert Iaconis

• Louis Fayd’Herbe

• Mendo Cklamovski

• Duncan Tweed

• Pouyan Afshar

• Lara Nurpuri

APPEALS TRIBUNAL

• Anthony Lo Surdo SC (Chair)

• Judge Graham Turnbull SC (Vice-Chair)

• Iain Todd (Vice-Chair)

• Iain Rennie

• Julia Sorbara

• David Stanton

• Ivan Griscti

• Michael Holmes

• Simon Philips

• Peter Mulligan

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIR

DEPUTY CHAIR

BOARD MEMBERS

* Retired December 2022

1. Gilbert Lorquet

2. Fiona Lang DIRECTORS

3. Stephen Hayes*

4. Louie Apostolovski*

5. Carlos Gonzalez

6. Morris Iemma

7. Stephanie Brantz

8. Deborah Chapman

9. Brett Mitchell

JUNIOR PARTICIPATION

Junior participation in football remains vital to the future growth prospects of the sport as a whole. Football NSW, together with Football Australia, continue to support the participation of juniors through various programs and initiatives.

MiniRoos Club Football

2022 saw more than 95,000 players up to the age of 12 sign up with their local club to participate in MiniRoos Football across NSW.

MiniRoos Club Football is the home of Australia’s largest network of grassroots football clubs who provide opportunities for boys and girls of all abilities to play small-sided games at the weekend.

Of the 95,000 children registered to play during the Winter club football season, 25,000 were female (26%), representing an increase of 1% in the proportion of female MiniRoos players. This growth at the foundations of girls football is vital as FNSW works towards the goal of achieving 50/50 gender equity in participation.

MiniRoos Kick-Off

A fun, safe introductory program designed for new players aged between 4 and 9, the MiniRoos Kick-Off program provides a great way to learn football.

The program consists of weekly 45-minute sessions that build skills through games and simple drills delivered in an engaging and inclusive environment, without the weekend game.

2022 saw over 1,500 registrations in the program, and FNSW are looking forward to kicking-off again in the new year.

Inflatable Activations

Football NSW visited more than 60 local club presentation days, come and try days, as well as promotional events in 2022. In 2023, FNSW

look forward to supporting even more local club events throughout the season as a means of engaging current participants and enticing new players to join the football family.

Football NSW MiniRoos School Program

Football NSW delivered 29 MiniRoos Schools Programs at schools across NSW in 2022. Based off the MiniRoos introductory Kick-Off program, students were able to experience the joy of being a MiniRoo in their school environment. Programs included weekly skills sessions that promote game-based activities with emphasis on sparking a love for football.

Football NSW Gala Days

Football NSW conducts Gala Days throughout the state, giving students the opportunity to participate in small-sided games in a noncompetitive, safe environment. In celebration of 500 days to go until the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, FNSW delivered a mini–World Cup event alongside Football Australia, with plans in place to deliver many more in 2023 as the countdown continues.

Sporting Schools

Sporting Schools is an Australian Government Initiative designed to help schools to increase children’s participation in sport, and to connect them with community sporting opportunities. Football Australia delivers these programs, but Football NSW has worked to connect the programs being conducted in schools with their local Associations to ensure that we can drive conversion from school programs to club registrations.

FEMALE FOOTBALL

In 2022, Football NSW (FNSW) continued its move towards gender parity in participation through a further increase in the proportion of female player and non-player registrants. Boosted by the roll-out of the NSW Football Legacy Program and Australia’s co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, the ongoing growth of the female game looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.

FEMALE FOOTBALL WEEK

Football NSW (FNSW) was proud to support and promote Female Football Week (FFW) in May 2022. The initiative celebrates the immense growth of women’s football at all levels of the game while acknowledging and promoting the important roles women play in developing football.

Throughout the course of FFW 2022, over 9,700 participants were involved in activations as players, coaches, administrators and officials across more than 35 different activations.

In 2022, Football NSW enlisted a dedicated Female Football Week Ambassador, Matildas player Chloe Logarzo, to provide a series of video clips promoting the event and encouraging Clubs and Associations to register their event.

Chloe also provided a personalised video for each Association who did register their event through the Football NSW website which was also accompanied by a social media suite for the clubs to utilise.

Association and Club Activations

2022 was a huge year for FFW, with some of the events activated across the community including:

• Female Football Festivals

• Free skills sessions, clinics and come’n’try days

• Female-only coaching courses and workshops

• All abilities matches

• Female trial and exhibition games

• Various promotions, including player appearances, previews, and media reports about events, and FFW-dedicated social media campaign on FNSW website and social media pages

FNSW was extremely appreciative of the initiative shown and support provided by Associations and Clubs to support the biggest year yet for FFW.

Football NSW Activations

Female Community Coaches Update: 9th May 2022

On Monday 9th May, Football NSW hosted the first of two coaching updates, targeted at community female coaches and coaches of female football teams. On the evening, the coaches in attendance were able to watch a variety of sessions delivered by an exceptional panel of coaching staff. Warren Grieve hosted a Skill Training Session, Isabella Nimmo & Annabel Meadley delivered an Inclusion Session for players with a disability, Eilidh Mackay delivered a Skill Acquisition Phase Session and Jackson Franich provided a Goalkeeper Session. Thank you to the Football NSW Institute U13s & U14s teams who participated as players for the sessions.

Female Referee’s Workshop: 10th May 2022

On Tuesday, 10th May, Football NSW Referees Department hosted an all-female referee training session at Valentine Sports Park. Referees from all levels of the game were invited to participate in the session, which involved drills working on key components of being a referee and assistant referee such as positioning, signals, concentration, and agility. The session was facilitated by FNSW’s Community Football Referees Coordinator and A-League Women’s Assistant Referee, Emma Kocbek, with assistance from NSW based referees, assistant referees and fourth officials on the A-League Women’s and NPL NSW Women’s refereeing panels. There were over 40 registrations for the session, and in attendance were match officials from a range of levels, including MiniRoos all the way through to FIFA Assistant Referee and 2023 World Cup candidate, Sarah Ho.

Female Advanced Coaches Update: 11th May 2022

The second of two Female Coaches Workshops was aimed towards Advanced Coaches of Female Football. This event was aligned with the 2005 Girls Elite TSP Match held at Valentine Sports Park. During this event, coaches were provided the opportunity to hear from Junior Matildas Head Coach Rae Dower and Football Australia’s Girls Youth Development Manager Debbie Fisher as they spoke about Talent Identification in Women’s Football.

Coaches were also shown the Talent Identification app used by coaches Australia-wide to identify talented players and log their information in a national database.

Concluding this presentation, coaches were then invited into the grandstand to observe and identify players from the 2005 GTSP Elite Match and put that information into the application.

2022 Female Football Round

Football NSW Female Football Week Round: 8th May 2022

This year, Football NSW held an official Female Football Round where the matches occurring in both League One Women’s and NPL NSW Women’s were highlighted and promoted for spectators to attend.

The program created for the event featured:

• A welcome message

• Women in football profiles (2x female administrators, 2x female coaches and 2x female referees)

• First Grade team sheets for both competitions

Football NSW Promotions

FNSW managed a significant FFW digital campaign, as well as promoting the event across the community. Articles were posted regularly, and FFW social media activities were also fed through the socials, including relays of Club and Association releases.

FNSW issued a social media suite for use by participating organisations, which included graphics, kids’ activities, a promotional video from Chloe Logarzo and social media assets for Clubs and Associations. There were also resources provided to clubs from FA that promoted and included graphics promoting their ‘Our Game’ platform that had been soft launched.

An extensive FNSW social media campaign was conducted in the leadup to and during the FFW activities, with many Clubs and Associations also implementing their own campaigns, which were amplified by FNSW.

GIRLS LOVE FOOTBALL

In 2022, Football NSW launched the ‘Girls Love Football’ program, a skill development program delivered over six weekly sessions, focusing on engaging adolescent girls and encouraging them to remain in football. FNSW partnered with Associations and Clubs to deliver programs across the following locations/hubs during Term 4:

• Macarthur Football Association – Lynwood Park

• Granville Districts SFA - Rydalmere Park

• Nepean Football Association - Hickeys Park

• Russell Lea Women’s Soccer Club - Queen Elizabeth Park

• Chipping Norton - South Park

The 2022 programs also included an A-League Women’s matchday experience. Players, coaches and parents attended the fixture as a squad and a selected few had the added experience of being flag bearers for the game.

With Term 1 programs already locked in for 2023, FNSW is excited to see its continued growth over the coming years.

KICK-ON FOR WOMEN

Kick-On for Women is an introductory, low-impact football program targeted at women over the age of 16 with a focus on fun, football and friendship.

In 2022, programs were conducted in hub locations by North West Sydney Football, Northbridge Football Club and Macarthur Football Association with great success. FNSW looks forward to supporting more Clubs and Associations to deliver the programs in 2023.

2022 FEMALE COACHING SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

FNSW continued to support female advanced coaches in 2022, awarding 12 coach scholarships to undertake an AFC/FA C-Licence or AFC/FA B-Licence.

Designed to provide greater access for female coaches to obtain advanced coaching qualifications, the scholarships provide financial support, access to mentors and ongoing support via the Female Coaches Network. Congratulations to all successful scholarship recipients:

AFC/FA C-Licence

AFC/FA B-License

Angela Bottaro-Porter Brittany Anderson

Kate Cheyne

Saoirse Cobbe

Sophie Clarke Meaghan Kempson

Michelle Grigg

Tom Lane

Amanda Millgate

Genevieve Nisbet

Lauren Phelps

Fiona Smith

NSW FOOTBALL LEGACY PROGRAM

In June 2022, Football NSW secured government funding and signed a quadripartite agreement with the NSW Government, Football Australia (FA) and Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) to facilitate a $10 million investment into the NSW football community as a result of Australia co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

The NSW Football Legacy Program aims to improve football facilities and support infrastructure, increase participation opportunities, and improve female football pathways.

There are five main pillars:

• NSW Football Legacy Fund - Infrastructure and Participation Grants

• Daughters & Dads Active and Empowered program

• Women in Football Scholarship program for coaches, referees, volunteers, administrators

• Women in Leadership program

• First Nations football development

NSW Football Legacy Fund

Round 1 of the infrastructure and participation grants closed October 2022 and successful candidates are expected to be announced early 2023. With $3.1 million to be allocated, it is exciting that both streams were oversubscribed with a mix of Council, Club, and Association applications for the infrastructure grants and 79 applications for the participation grants.

Daughters & Dads Active and Empowered

During September, Football NSW hosted the University of Newcastle’s Professor Phil Morgan and his team to deliver facilitator training to upskill 18 new Daughters & Dads Active and Empowered facilitators.

With the facilitators in place, four Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered pilot programs commenced (two in FNSW and two in NNSWF). All programs were fully subscribed resulting in 100 dads and their daughters completing the first football specific program. Thirty programs are scheduled to be delivered in the next 18 months and Football NSW is excited to partner with Associations and Clubs to deliver this program that aims to use fathers and father like figures as the activists for supporting their daughters social, mental and physical wellbeing through football.

Women in Football Scholarships

In November and December 2022, the first group of scholarships were awarded and resulted in over 50 new female referees completing their Level 4 qualification, while an additional 21 women completed their Futsal Certificate or Licence.

Volunteers in clubs received online scholarships for courses including budgeting, conflict resolution and leadership with the bulk of scholarships to be awarded in 2023.

Women in Leadership Program

The Women in Leadership program will partner with Football Australia and Ebru Koksal and will result in over 60 women further developing their leadership skills in 2023/24.

First Nations Football

The First Nations tournament will see our NAIDOC Cup expand to include additional age groups in 2023. The tournament will be held at Valentine Sports Park from 3-5 July during NAIDOC week.

INCLUSION & DIVERSITY

Football NSW has a range of inclusive initiatives that allows all abilities players to engage and enjoy the game of football in a safe and welcoming environment.

ALL ABILITIES

football4all

With great pride, Football NSW (FNSW) saw the annual football4all Nova Employment Gala Day back for 2022 after COVID-19 forced a cancellation to the 2021 edition. The Gala Day saw over 350 players from football4all programs around NSW come together and celebrate inclusive football, with ParaMatildas and Pararoos representatives in attendance, a Western Sydney Wanderers activation on site, jumping castles, showbags, a NOVA Employment BBQ and much more.

Despite the rain throughout the year, football4all programs around NSW managed to have a great season.

International Day of People with a Disability (IDPwD)

Hills Football (HF), Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA) and North West Sydney Football (NWSF) came together again in 2022 on Saturday 3rd of December to run a gala day, inclusive of a Miniroos Coaching Certificate, to celebrate International Day of People with a Disability (IDPwD).

CP Football

The National Para Football Championship was held on the Gold Coast in 2022, with

FNSW sending two teams (FNSW Navy and Sky) to compete. The squads held multiple training sessions in the build up to Nationals, helping both teams to perform strongly at the Championship event.

FNSW Navy were successful in qualifying for the bronze medal match, losing 6 – 1 to Western Australia to finish fourth overall. FNSW Sky went all the to the final and managed to earn a 7-3 victory over Victoria, ensuring FNSW remained champions for the 12th consecutive time.

The ParaFootball Development Centre, formally known as the Pararoos Development Centre, was up and running with the addition of a Sutherland location in 2022. The Centre is hosted by NSFA, with monthly trainings run for participants with Cerebral Palsy (CP), Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) or symptoms resulting from a stroke. Trainings are run by experienced coaches and Pararoos Ben Sutton, Ben Akins and Jeremy Boyce.

The Female only CP program also ran throughout the 2022 season, with the exception of some washed out sessions due to the rain. These sessions were run for female participants with CP, ABI or symptoms resulting from a stroke, with many of the program regulars representing Australia in the ParaMatildas squad.

Powerchair Football

The 2022 NSW Powerchair League season kicked-off in late February at Valentine Sports Park, with teams competing across Premier League and Reserve Grade divisions.

NSWPFA’s Reserve Grade had a remarkably successful transition to a fully competitive and action-packed competition in 2021, and this continued into 2022. With teams now aware of just how tough the competition would be, Sydney FC claimed the first 3 points to launch the season in style. Hills United quickly became the team to beat in, racing to a dominant lead with a nine-match winning streak to start the Reserve Grade season. The team in yellow finished the season undefeated and were crowned champions with four matches to spare.

In the 2022 Premier League, Hills United looked to emulate their Reserve Grade side, going through the opening six rounds without a single loss, while 2021 Champions Newcastle Jets were once again battling their way into the title fight as both sides swapped victories through the season. An encouraging start from the Wanderers saw them claim wins over both the title contenders, but their momentum faded as the season continued.

The battle between the Newcastle Jets and Hills United continued during the midseason break for the annual APFA Club

Championship. The tournament brought the best teams in the nation to Sydney for the titles, with Hills United claiming a slender group stage win over Newcastle. But the Newcastle Jets’ fighting spirit shone through as they avenged their earlier loss, defeating their Hills rivals 1-0 in the final to claim backto-back National Championships.

Back in the NSWPFA league, the Jets used that momentum and closed to within a single point with four matches remaining. Re-establishing a four-point gap over the final few rounds was enough for the Hills United side to win backto-back titles with a round to spare.

MULTICULTURAL FOOTBALL

2022 saw the introduction of the MiniRoos Multicultural Settlement program by Football Australia, funded by the Federal Government’s Department of Social Services.

The Program is another branch of the KickOff product that aims to build more inclusive football environments by supporting recently arrived migrant and refugee communities through subsidised programs. Throughout the year, Football NSW facilitated 200 young players to get their first taste of MiniRoos football at various sites across Western Sydney.

FIRST NATIONS FOOTBALL NAIDOC Cup

Football NSW, in conjunction with Northern NSW Football (NNSWF), introduced the NAIDOC Cup for the first time in 2022 with great success. The event was run on the 6th July, in conjunction with NAIDOC Week, with FNSW sending girls and boys U16 First Nations teams to Awabakal Land at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.

Over 120 First Nations players were involved in the inaugural event with the NAIDOC Cup claimed by Football NSW after the FNSW girls came out on top as 4-3 victors and the FNSW boys completed a clean sweep with a dominant 10-0 win.

Following the 2022 success, FNSW and NNSWF are committed to growing the competition over the coming years as a means of inspiring young First Nations children to get active and play football.

NAIDOC Week

During NAIDOC Week, FNSW also celebrated Indigenous Round on the weekend of the 9-10th of July. FNSW hosted Indigenous Round on Durag Land at Valentine Sports Park (VSP) and were joined by Graham Davis King from the Deerubbin Local Aboriginal Land Council who performed a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony before the

Football NSW Institute v Sydney University NPL NSW Women’s match.

FNSW looks forward to seeing more Clubs and Associations activating in 2023 with the continuation of Indigenous Round.

Nations of Origin

Football NSW supported Nations of Origin football component which ran at Northern NSW Football. Nations of Origin is run in conjunction with PCYC and teams from all around NSW participated in 5-a-side competition.

First Nations Football Festival

The First Nations Football Festival (FNFF), formerly known as the National Indigenous Football Championships, finally came back in 2022 after COVID-19 caused a temporary halt.

The tournament in Nowra ran between the 3rd – 5th of November and featured top class competitions from Open Men’s, Women’s as well as Under 6s and Under 14 Boys and Girls teams.

In the Under 14s category, the Newcastle All Stars reigned supreme, taking out both boys’ and girls’ finals against Dhubu Dinawan.

A celebrity match also took place, including former Socceroos players, First Nations role models, Football NSW and Football Australia staff representatives and non-Indigenous athletes. It was Jade North’s side that proved too strong winning 3-2 in what was a fun and exciting match.

The women’s final saw the Central Coast Mariners come out on top winning 3-1 against the Newcastle All Stars, while in the men’s, the Newcastle All Stars proved too strong defeating the Northern Nations 7-1.

The Australian Sports Commission / CSIRO megatrends research recognises the growing desire for people to be able to engage in sport in a more social environment. While COVID-19 and inclement weather limited the growth of modified football programs in 2022, the area remains a vital growth area for Football NSW in the years ahead.

Summer Football

Following the interruption of the 2021 winter season, the 2021/22 Summer Football season started under the shadow of months of lockdown and with considerable uncertainty related to vaccine restrictions and the patchy withdrawal of public health measures. Many centres simply did not run, as their normal July to September registration window was under lockdown with uncertainty existing over when the lockdown would end and the September to December operating period being delayed.

Sixty-two metropolitan centres and 13 regional centres ran competitions for the season ending in early 2022. Given the above context, it was incredibly pleasing that more than 44,000 players were still itching to pull on the boots and get together with their friends in the fresh air to enjoy their football.

Women and girls continue to make a higher proportion of summer football players than winter, showing the merits of a more casual, lower stakes and lower commitment football environment that is more focussed on fun and friends than competing for trophies. This

MODIFIED FOOTBALL SUMMER FOOTBALL

provides a strong indication that to boost women’s and girls’ participation, there needs to be increased consideration to the availability of social formats.

PARTICIPATION 2021/22

Following two years of competition disruptions, COVID-19 also provided futsal with the additional challenge of constantly changing Public Health Orders around sports participation within indoor facilities. The resulting stunted competitions in late 2021 allowed for little momentum to start the new year and only 12 of the 19 affiliated futsal centres were able to run programs in 2022. Despite the above setbacks, community futsal numbers achieved 5% growth with a total of 4682 registrants and the significant numbers across Futsal School competitions continues to show promise around interest in the sport among junior age groups.

The availability of indoor facilities suitable for futsal remains a major barrier for growth in the sport, placing emphasis on the importance of selling the benefits around running futsal competitions at centres across the state.

Walking Football

In 2022 Walking Football was supported by grant funding through Football Australia and Football NSW helped a number of new programs to take their first steps while supporting existing programs to consolidate. Walking Football is now being played by hundreds of players across a range of centres and it is building momentum as more people hear about it and see it at a park near them.

The very first walking football leagues are taking shape, moving to a new phase of ‘competitive’ walking football developing alongside the more social programs. FNSW and our various Clubs’ and Associations’ Walking Football centres can see a steady progression underway as the concept matures among the increasingly diverse range of products that football now offers.

CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

The 52nd Football NSW Champion of Champions finals were played at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday 23rd of October, featuring nineteen highly entertaining matches.

Returning after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, teams from all over NSW descended upon the Home of Football in NSW, braving the wet conditions to provide for a fantastic demonstration of community football.

Northern Suburbs FA and Sutherland Shire FA both took out four titles each, while Football South Coast, thanks to Shellharbour JFC’s clean sweep of their finals, took out three. There were also Championship victories for St George FA (2) Manly FA (2), Canterbury District SFA (1) Hills FA (1), Macarthur FA (1) and Eastern Suburbs FA (1).

2022 CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS RESULTS

NPL NSW MEN’S

2022 was one of the tightest National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competitions for years as the fight for finals football went to the final day of the competition.

After COVID-19 interruptions in the preceding two seasons, all 12 teams were raring to get back on the football pitch, putting on some fantastic displays in the opening stages of the season.

The tides turned several times throughout the year as several different teams found themselves in the top spot, but after 22 weeks of hardfought battles, the race for finals football, and for the NPL NSW Men’s Premiership title, came down to the final breath.

With three possible Premiers on the final day, it was Sydney Olympic who came out on top with a crucial victory over Blacktown City and an incredibly narrow goal difference over Manly giving them the edge. After a tough final contest, the Premiers bowed out after losses to both Manly and Blacktown, leaving positions 2 and 3 to battle it out in the Grand Final at Commbank Stadium, with Blacktown the eventual victors.

Not only did the Premiership race go until the final day, the golden boot also came down to a fight between Sydney FC’s Jaiden Kucharski, Rockdale’s Alec Urosevski and Olympic’s Roy O’Donovan. Experienced striker O’Donovan came out on top with a sensational season at Belmore.

In 2023, the competition will grow to 16 teams, incorporating a 30-round season, a first-past-the-post Championship format and the return of relegation.

NPL NSW WOMEN’S

Starting in mid-April, it was the Blacktown Spartans that got off to an impeccable start, remaining undefeated in their first six starts, with the Macarthur Rams and Northern Tigers following close behind.

Going about their business quietly and consistently, Sydney University started their ascent up the competition ladder, with their star striker Rola Badawiya starting to make a name for herself.

APIA Leichhardt also had a start import scoring goals, with Shea Connors, the eventual Golden Boot winner, leading the inner-west side from the front.

As the last month of competition approached, Sydney Uni had consolidated the Premiership comfortably while the battle for finals places stretched across six teams; Northern Tigers, APIA, Macarthur, Manly, Bankstown and Sydney Olympic.

It was Olympic that made the late dash playing nine games in the final four weeks and needing two victories from their last two games to claim a finals berth. Bankstown ended Manly’s final hopes, before the Lions soon fell out of contention.

Before the final day of the regular season, the Rams had secured their top four position but lost second position through their defeat to APIA. The Northern Tigers lost at home to the Premiers however the Spartans victory over Sydney Olympic secure the Tigers’ final spot.

Macarthur, having lost twice during the season to APIA, needed extra time to overcome their rivals as Beth Gordon scored one of the goals of the season to secure their spot in the Grand Final. The next day saw the

Northern Tigers’ Shadeene Evans produce a spectacular performance to help knock out the 2022 Premiers Sydney University.

In the Grand Final, Morgan Aquino produced an inspiring performance in the Tigers goal to repel a ferocious Rams attack, helping to send the high intensity match into a penalty shoot-out. However, the shoot-out would go the other way, with her opposite number Sham Khamis saving the final spot kick to see the Rams lifting the trophy. Rams legend Kylie Ledbrook would hang up the boots a Champion.

LEAGUE ONE MEN’S

A season which promised so much with four potential promotion spots certainly delivered in the Football NSW League One Men’s competition.

The premiership went down to the wire with Central Coast Mariners claiming it on goal difference. However, it was St George City who got their revenge with an extra time victory over the Mariners in the Grand Final. Fitting, given the two teams could not be separated throughout.

Western Sydney Wanderers and Waratah Cup winners NWS Spirit FC made up the top four, which was only separated by three points at the end of 22 rounds. Elsewhere, Northern Tigers flew out to a fast start to the season undefeated in their first seven games but faded as the season went on, while the likes of Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Hakoah FC struggled to find enough consistency to challenge the top five.

Taking individual goalscoring honours were Emmanuel Gonzalez and Lachlan Bayliss who both scored 13 goals to share the golden boot, while Aaron Peterson, Alexander Badolato and Anthony Morabito also scored double figures.

Coach of the Season went to Mariners Head Coach Andrew Christiansen who led his side to the Premiership before parting with the club, while the Player of the Season was shared by Bayliss, doubling up with a second nod, and Spirit defensive midfielder Kota Odakura.

It was also a memorable campaign in the Cup competition, with the league holding a positive record over their top tier NPL NSW counterparts and, fittingly, Spirit coming away as Waratah Cup victors.

Their cup success comes at the end of a five-year project which has seen them transform into a side who will compete in the top tier next season.

LEAGUE TWO MEN’S

2022 was setup to be one of the most thrilling years in the competition’s history, with eight promotion spots up for grabs.

The season did not disappoint, going down to the final day to determine promotion and finals spots.

Inter Lions and Rydalmere Lions quickly asserted themselves as the teams to beat, racing away in a battle for top spot. Meanwhile, Dulwich Hill and Bankstown City rounded out the top four by a convincing margin for the majority of the year.

The battle for eighth place was tightly contested throughout the year, with Canterbury Bankstown, Dunbar Rovers and Gladesville Ryde Magic all battling for the final promotion spot.

The Berries started off slow and after a couple postponed fixtures, they faced an uphill battle to gain promotion. As the season progressed, the Berries and Macarthur Rams secured some much needed points and were knocking on the door for a finals berth. Dulwich Hill and Bankstown City slid down the ladder in the final stages of the season, as their finals spots looked in doubt.

The story of the regular season was Central Coast United, who took their time to get going but finished off the season in red-hot form. The Pirates were defeated just once at home and were rewarded with a secondplace finish.

With the just two games remaining, Dunbar Rovers defeated the Magic in a thrilling contest to secure promotion, as the race for finals followed.

The Rams pulled off a gutsy win over Rydalmere on the final day and needed an emphatic win by Dulwich Hill over Bankstown City to book a spot in the finals.

Macarthur came from behind to defeat the Berries in the first round of finals, as Rydalmere upset Central Coast at Pluim Park.

The Rams Cinderella run in the finals continued with a stellar win over the Pirates, as Inter Lions booked a spot in the Grand Final with a win over Rydalmere.

The penultimate game of the finals series came down to Macarthur and Rydalmere, as the Rams pulled off yet another upset to secure a date with Inter in the big dance.

After going down early in the Grand Final, Macarthur defied the odds once again and scored two late goals to be crowned League Two Champions.

LEAGUE THREE MEN’S

The Football NSW League Three Men’s campaign ended in a double victory for Newcastle Jets, as the Novocastrian side took home the Premiership and Championship after a stellar season.

The campaign began with some emphatic results, as three teams remained unbeaten after five rounds. The Jets had scored 14 goals by round three and were yet to lose a match, with Hawkesbury City and Prospect United also remaining unbeaten.

Hawkesbury’s run came to an end in round six after losing 2-1 to Newcastle, with Prospect’s ending one round later thanks to Hurstville FC. Newcastle remained unbeaten until round 15, where a defeat to UNSW FC brought the scintillating streak to an end.

The second half of the season saw a change in form with Western Rage showing their quality with four wins in five matches, while Parramatta FC lost just one match in six and Fraser Park went on an unbeaten run of six matches.

Camden Tigers concluded their season with a four-game unbeaten run, while South Coast Flame showed their quality with some impressive matches throughout the campaign.

Hurstville was the side who were just edged out of the top six, losing out on goal difference to Prospect, while UNSW, Hawkesbury, Nepean and Newcastle made up the top five, with the Jets becoming Premiers.

UNSW was the first side to exit the finals series in a narrow defeat to Prospect before Prospect knocked out Hawkesbury the next week, before eventually bowing out to Nepean in the Preliminary Final.

The Grand Final saw the Jets take on Nepean FC in a thrilling, intense affair, where a Ben Van Dorssen header in the 90th minute meant Newcastle completed a double in a fantastic campaign.

Newcastle Jets emerged victorious in both the league and finals series, with Nepean FC close by as the runners-up in both competitions.

LEAGUE ONE WOMEN’S

The 2022 Football NSW League One Women’s brought in a new era for the competition with five teams joining to make up a 16-team league.

Gladesville Ravens had a season to remember, completing a trifecta of triumphs which saw them land the Premiership, Championship, and earn promotion to the NPLNSW Women’s competition.

Hills United FC were one of the new teams which entered the competition and had a mantra to ‘make history’. They did so by making the Grand Final and went close to completing the fairytale but it remained a year they will not forget.

Northbridge Bulls and UNSW FC were the other two sides which made the top four, the Bulls able to secure promotion to the NPLNSW, while the students fought to the end, going down in a penalty shootout.

St George FC and Sutherland Shire FA missed out on finals but were some of the most competitive teams in the division. The Saints had held a position in the top four, while the Shire team reeled off a double-digit win streak to end the season.

Both SD Raiders FC and Marconi Stallions had a rollercoaster year with the former starting the year fast but fading away, while the latter fought through a tough year with injuries and rain-affected matches.

Two of the other debutants, South Coast Flame FC and Blacktown City FC, took their time to settle into their new surroundings but ended the season on positive notes and will use those lessons to build on for 2023.

Central Coast Mariners, Inter Lions and Nepean FC had difficult seasons with some memorable moments, South East Phoenix FC took a few big scalps, while Mt Druitt Town Rangers were able to finish the year on a winning note.

FUTSAL COMPETITIONS

It was a busy 2022 season for futsal, returning in its entirety following two interrupted seasons due to COVID-19.

The year did, however, commence on a tough note with the cancellation of the 2022 National Futsal Championships. After initially being postponed from January to April, the ultimate decision to cancel came down to some Member Federations’ continuing issues surrounding COVID-19 lockdowns and protocols with their respective state governments.

After two disrupted seasons, Football NSW saw the completion of the 2022 Winter Futsal League season, along with the comeback of the Futsal Premier League 1 and 2 competitions.

The Winter Futsal League saw seven men’s teams participate in the 2022 edition of the competition, delivered from May to July 2022. It was a year to remember for the Mountain Majik Futsal Club who were convincing 8-2 victors over a gallant Sydney Knights Futsal Club in the inaugural 2022 Winter Futsal League Final at Valentine Sports Park. It was a memorable run by Sydney Knights, but they were met with some force as the Mountain Majik, an established Futsal Premier League club, proved a mountain too hard to climb for the Knights in front of well over 100 spectators. The Golden Boot was shared between two Majik players with Robson De Souza and Jordan Guerreiro netting 14 goals each throughout the competition while the impressive Majid Eslami was the king of the league taking out the MVP award.

It was fantastic to see the 2022 Futsal Premier League elite competitions make a comeback following two disrupted seasons. With 16 Futsal clubs returning, the cream of the crop had a platform to showcase their skills at an elite level once again.

The NOVA Employment AWD Futsal Leagues also kicked-off in great fashion with six clubs going head-to-head in the competition. This was yet another opportunity to promote Futsal to the AWD community, with the appetite to see more continuing to grow across the community.

The 2022 edition of the Futsal School Championships saw thirteen Regional Championships across NSW. The Football NSW Futsal Schools Championships was yet another unique opportunity for schools to participate in a competition against a variety of schools.

Regions such as Bankstown, Bathurst, Orange, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Central Coast, Dural, Eastern Suburbs, St George, Liverpool, Northern Beaches, Penrith, South Coast, Sutherland, Wagga Wagga and Windsor all played host to Futsal Schools Championships.

LOCAL FUTSAL AFFILIATESCOMPETITIONS SNAPSHOT

Football NSW had 17 Futsal Club and Centre providers delivering Futsal competitions throughout NSW.

2022 FUTSAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

U10 Boys Moriah College 3-0 Excelsior Public School

U10 Girls St Bernadettes Primary 1-0 Excelsior Public School

U13 Boys Moriah College 2-1 St Catherine of Sienna

13 Girls Oatley West Public School 2-0 Moriah College

U14 Boys Mamre Anglican School 2-1 Belmore Boys High School

U14 Girls Endeavour Sports 3-1 Ryde Secondary College

U16 Boys Hills Sports High School 3-1 Central Coast Sports College

U16 Girls Mamre Anglican School 2-0 Ryde Secondary College

Open Boys Endeavour Sports 3-2 (AET) Edmund Rice College

Open Girls Central Coast Sports College 1-0 (AET) Hills Sports High School

CUP COMPETITIONS

Despite an unavoidable set-back in the running of the State Cup, both the Waratah Cup and Australia Cup competitions provided some major highlights for Football NSW clubs in 2022.

2022 Football NSW State Cup

The persistent inclement weather had a major impact on community football, which forced Football NSW and its Member Associations to review the viability of running the 2022 State Cup competition.

In completing the review, Football NSW consulted closely with Member Associations around the current status of their local competitions, field availability to host Cup matches, and ongoing discussions with respective local Councils.

The wet weather had already placed an incredible burden on Member Associations’ and competition administrators’ capacity to deliver domestic competitions in their entirety. Considering this, Football NSW reluctantly made the decision to cancel the State Cup for the 2022 season.

2022 Waratah Cup

NWS Spirit FC secured a sensational 2-1 victory over Sydney United 58 FC to claim the 2022 Waratah Cup at Blacktown City Sports Centre.

Goals to Michael Konestabo and Richard Darko in the first half gave Spirit the advantage, but Sydney United 58 came out with renewed vigour in the second half.

Chris Payne managed to get one back for Sydney United 58 FC in the 68th minute, but it wasn’t enough for them to climb back into the match as the League One outfit took the glory. For NWS Sydney Spirit, the match gave them a great opportunity to show they can hold their own against NPL NSW Men’s heavyweights, after earning promotion to the top tier competition in 2023.

2022 Australia Cup

It was a memorable year for Football NSW clubs as the 2022 season heralded the best year yet for any Member Federation club in the competition with Sydney United 58 making a run to the Cup Final and finishing runners-up to Macarthur FC.

Football NSW was represented by the Bonnyrigg White Eagles, NWS Spirit FC and Sydney United 58, alongside a grassroots clubs, Wollongong United, in a first ever for the prestigious nationwide knockout competition.

Unfortunately, the White Eagles, NWS Spirit FC and Wollongong United all bowed out in the Round of 32 but it was Sydney United 58 who progressed onwards.

Miro Vlastelica’s troops defeating the Monaro Panthers in the Round of 32 before taking care

of A-League Men’s side Western United 4-3 on penalties in the Round of 16. United 58 then defeated Peninsula Power in the quarter-finals before knocking out yet another A-League Men’s outfit in the Brisbane Roar 3-2. That set up a Final, a first for any non – A-League Men’s side, where they courageously went down 2-0 to Macarthur FC.

STATE CUPS WARATAH CUP

COACH DEVELOPMENT

As Coach Education continues to grow and play a pivotal role in the development of new coaches to the advanced pathway, 2022 brought a new and exciting brand of B and C Licence courses to coaches from all around NSW.

In all, 25 C Licence courses, with a total of 457 coaches, were completed in 2022 through Football NSW and the following Associations:

• Blacktown Districts Football Association

• Northern Suburbs Football Association

• Southern Highlands Soccer Association

• Hills Football Association

• Macarthur Football Association

• Manly Warringah Football Association

• Albury and Wodonga Associations

• Southern Districts Soccer Football Association

• North West Sydney Football Association

• Sutherland Shire Football Association

• Bathurst

• Football South Coast

• Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association

• Football St George

• Eastern Suburbs Football Association

After two years of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, B Licence courses were back. Three courses that were previously placed on hold were completed for 48 coaches and one new course with 16 coaches. The Level 1 Goalkeeper course held at Valentine Sports Park saw 10 new participants embark on their Advanced Goalkeeper Coaching journey. In October, Football NSW partnered with Sports Medicine Australia to present the unique and informative Football Medicine Forum. The Forum saw coaches and medical students have the opportunity to gain invaluable knowledge from world class guest speakers on a range of football related medical topics, gaining coaches 30 Coaching Professional Development points (CPD). The guest speakers included Professor Tim Meyer, Professor Ollie Jay, Leah Blayney, Andrew Ross, Stella Veith, Dr Matt Whalan, Dr Kerry Peek, Dean Heffernan, Prof Rob Duffield and Georgia Brown.

The final CPD event of the year played host to Football Australia and FIFA in an initiative linked to Football NSW elite matches for both boys and Girls. FIFA presented to NSW coaches on the FIFA Talent Development Scheme and how it aligns to the Australia’s National approach to player development. It was then an opportunity for the coaches to assist with talent identification whilst observing the elite matches across the evening. The event afforded coaches 20 CPD points.

REFEREE DEVELOPMENT

A full season of football in 2022 saw the return of Referee Development tournaments such as the National Youth Championships, in-person education and training for referees at community and state level, as well as involvement in the Futsal Premier League.

Expanded competitions and increased player participation saw a greater need for higher referee numbers. Throughout the year, 121 entry level courses were run, and Football NSW implemented a marketing campaign to promote becoming a referee to the current player base in an effort to drive referee numbers up for 2023.

Acknowledging that it has become increasingly difficult for referee branches to attract new referees, Football NSW has moved to eliminate the $45 referee capitation fee for 2023 to lower the barrier of entry for prospective referees.

Community Refereeing

A total of 153 referee courses and ten referee assessor courses were conducted across NSW in 2022, largely run by referee branches. As always, Football NSW Referees Department would like to thank the tireless work of referee branches across the state and the individuals who volunteer their time and energy into developing referees within their areas.

Referees and their commitment to their local community were strongly represented at this year’s Football NSW State Dinner. Theo Dracopoulos from Far South Coast Referees Association and Matt Staples from Sutherland Shire Football Referees Association (and Blacktown District Soccer Football

Association’s current Referee Coordinator) were awarded the inaugural Future Leader Awards for their exceptional leadership and commitment to football. Phil Torpy from Football South Coast received the State Award for his contribution to football over the years.

Female Referees

Milestones for female match officials were also achieved across the state. Female Central Coast Football referees had the opportunity to meet FIFA officials refereeing the Matildas v Thailand match in Gosford was a major news story.

The first all-female referee crew officiated an M-League match in the Macarthur Football Association and over 40 female referees attended a special Female Football Week training session in May.

At the NPL NSW level, 2022 saw the largest inclusion of female match officials on NPL NSW panels.

Referee Education & Training

Throughout the 2022 season, Football NSW Referees Department conducted training sessions across the state from Central Coast referees, all the way down to the Far South Coast Referees Association. These sessions included upgrade courses, assessor courses, branch training and presentations at seminars.

Online courses have continued to prove their relevance in increasing accessibility of education and training with over 100 people participating in referee courses run via digital classrooms through Football NSW.

The football governing body supplied referees and referee coaches to both Bathurst Cup and Proctor Park Challenge in 2022. For both tournaments, referees were taken into a training camp environment where they received feedback on each of their matches from experienced referee coaches, including those who currently work within the A-Leagues and NPL NSW competitions. Over 50 referees at each tournament took charge of over 400 games across both weekends.

Football NSW Referee Academy

The Football NSW Referee Academy saw 23 match officials involved in the program in 2022.

The Academy trains and prepares selected referees for success at state and national levels, with the potential to be identified by Football Australia as future A-Leagues Women, Men and Youth referees and assistant referees. Since its inception, 16 Academy graduates have been selected onto national panels.

Bathurst Cup 2022

Photo by Hugh Fenton-White

This year, the National Youth Championship (Girls and Boys) competitions returned after they were cancelled in previous years due to COVID-19. These tournaments are an incredible experience for up-and-coming referees, giving them access to high quality games as well as Football Australia and A-Leagues referee coaches who provide feedback on each of their matches.

Six female and six male referees attended the NYC Girls and NYC Boys respectively representing Football NSW. All match officials were either current, or graduating members of the Academy and represented Football NSW strongly with Molly Godsell from Nepean Referees Group being announced as the Referee of the Tournament for the Under 14 Girls age group.

Looking to 2023, over 100 nominations were received from match officials across the state for positions in the Academy next year. Trials included Laws of the Game quizzes, speed, agility, and fitness testing as well as game viewings. Congratulations to the nine referees who have been selected.

Referee Development Panel (RDP)

The Referee Development Panel (RDP) had another successful year in 2022. Despite wet weather and field closures restricting training to indoors and online sessions, the RDP still had the opportunity to learn from technical training sessions, presentations delivered by NPL NSW and A-Leagues match officials, and game day coaching. Fortnightly sessions were conducted throughout the season on topics such as handball, match management and positioning.

Selection to National Panels and FIFA

This year, two additional match officials from NSW were selected onto the A-Leagues panels. Hassan Jomaa from St George Referees Association and Isabella Mossin from North West Sydney Football Referees Association were rewarded for their ongoing dedication and development to refereeing with selection onto the A-League Men’s and

A-Leagues Women’s fourth official panels respectively. The addition of Jomaa and Mossin meant there is a representation of 26 NSW match officials on the national stage for the 22/23 A-Leagues season.

At the international level, Kearney Robinson was selected as part of the 28 Australian match officials appointed to FIFA’s Panel of International Referees for 2022. Robinson, originally from the North West Sydney Football Referees Association, received his FIFA badge as an assistant referee. He joins NSW peers Kurt Ams (Referee), Lance Greenshields (Assistant Referee), Sarah Ho (Assistant Referee), Andrew Best (Futsal Referee), Jonathon Moore (Futsal Referee), Ryan Shepheard (Futsal Referee) and Darius Turner (Futsal Referee) in being recognised by FIFA.

Academy Referee

Molly (Right) Photo by David Wigley

Kearney Robinson

SOCIAL & DIGITAL STATISTICS 2022

10,732,705

1,151,195

83,431 TOTAL: 11,967,331

VALENTINE SPORTS PARK

The world-class multi-purpose sports facility continued to support and host A-League teams in 2022, providing a venue for them to continue its competition throughout the pandemic.

During 2022, the likes of Wellington Phoenix, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets FC and Melbourne City FC all graced the Valentine Sports Park training facilities.

The facility played host to the Canadian, Fijian and Tongan national women’s teams, with the latter also playing an international friendly against the Philippines National Women’s Team. The facility also had the privilege of welcoming royalty at Valentine Sports Park with a visit from Princess Lātūfuipeka Tuku’aho.

Through the year, Valentine Sports Park hosted the Pararoos and ParaMatildas ahead of their successful international tournaments. The facility also continued to provide support to community, NPL NSW and Leagues clubs and Associations, particularly in 2022, with a significant number of fields being closed around the state due to unprecedented weather.

Valentine Sports Park has received funding from FIFA and the Office of Sport to deliver infrastructure projects in preparation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, including drainage and lighting upgrades to Field 1.

Major Bookings in 2022

• Winter Futsal League

• Fiji Women’s National Team

• Tonga Women’s National Team

• Canada Women’s National Team

• Hosted Philippians vs Tonga in an International Friendly

• Hosted the Princess of Tonga in a celebration

• Australian Defence Force National Tournament

• Australia Cup matches

• TSP and GTSP Tournament

• Dad’s and Daughters

• Pararoos Camp

• ParaMatildas Camp

• FA Elite Matches

• A Licence

• B Licence

• C Licence

• MiniRoos Holiday Clinic

• NSW CP Training

• Blind and Vision Impaired Training

• Champion of Champions

• Summer Football Champion of Champions

• Rhythmic Gymnastics National Competition

Season Hirers

• Hills Football Inc

• Hills United

• Hawkesbury City FC

• Volleyball NSW

• FNSW Institute Program

• TSP

• Powerchair NSW

Schools Tournaments played at VSP

• Sydney West

• CIS

• CSSA

• CDSSA

• Hills Zone

• St Andrew Cup

• AICES

• NSW CCC

• NSW All Schools

INFRASTRUCTURE AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Football saw another eventful and successful year in the infrastructure and funding domain for Clubs and Associations across NSW.

The year kicked off in the best possible way for football with the announcement of the Greater Sydney Sports Facility Fund and Regional Sport Facility Fund – Round 2. Thirteen (13) projects for Football NSW venues totalling just shy of $10 million were announced, including new amenity buildings, significant field refurbishments, and lighting upgrades. Nine of the projects were based in the Greater Sydney region, from as far south as Football St George, while spanning to Blacktown City Football Club in the west.

From the Regional Sport Facility Fund, four football venues received funding with Shoalhaven District Football Association (SDFA) claiming the maximum $1,000,000 amount for the replacement of their amenities building at Ison Park, the home of the SDFA. Over the two rounds of the Greater Cities Sports Facility Fund and Regional Sport Facility Fund, football venues received over $20 million in funding.

To assist our Clubs and Associations, Football NSW alongside the Grants Guy, Keith Whelan, delivered a series of grant webinars early in the new year. Over 100 participants took part in the seminars, providing all

Football NSW Clubs and Associations with valuable information that will assist in their pursuit of funding for facility upgrades and development.

The Federal Election took place in May where there was a change in Government with the Australian Labor Party taking the reign for the next three years. In the lead up to the

NSW Football Legacy Fund launch at Sydney Olympic Park

McCarthy Reserve – Home of Rockdale Raiders

election, several funding commitments were made by both major parties, and Football NSW clubs benefitted with $11.5 million of election commitments coming to fruition from the Labor party. Cook Park in the Federal electorate of Lindsay received $8.5 million to redevelop the football venue into a state-ofthe-art facility, including an upgraded new amenity building, a synthetic field and other infrastructure upgrades.

Since learning that Australia would cohost the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ (FWWC2023), Football NSW has advocated strongly to the Government that the event will provide legacy benefits to the NSW female football community. In April, Football in NSW received a $10 million boost from the NSW Government as a legacy of hosting world cup matches in NSW. Football NSW thanks the NSW Government for supporting the ongoing growth of football across the state.

The collaboration between Football NSW, Northern NSW Football, Football Australia, and the NSW Government has set the benchmark across the country with NSW the only state providing a Legacy Fund in the country to date. Clubs and Associations across NSW will see the benefits of this Legacy Fund well into the future, allowing the world game to continually grow for generations to come.

The NSW Football Legacy Program will support football at all levels through the construction of new community facilities, participation initiatives, high performance, leadership, and development programs as well as tourism and international engagement.

The grant component of the NSW Football Legacy Fund will have $6.2 million invested over two and half years to support the development of football infrastructure and participation programs. Round one of the NSW Football Legacy Fund opened in October with Round 2 expected to open post July 1, 2023.

Round 1 of the Infrastructure Stream saw $2.5 million distributed to 29 Clubs, Associations, and local Councils across Football NSW and Northern NSW Football Member Federations. Projects comprised of gender-neutral amenity upgrades, drainage and irrigation installation and lighting redevelopment and upgrades. The funding was spread far and wide from Byron Bay in the north to Albury in the south, Forbes to the west and Pagewood in the east; all areas of NSW benefiting from the Legacy Fund.

The NSW Government committed $200 million to the Multi-Sport Community Facility Fund (across two rounds) in 2022, recognising the critical role sport infrastructure plays in keeping communities healthy, active, and connected. Venues that Football NSW Clubs

and Associations are key users of benefitted from over $44 million worth of funding over the two rounds (Round 1 - $26 million and Round 2 - $18 million). Funding went towards the development of new venues in Blacktown, City of Ryde, City of Parramatta and Hawkesbury, as well as new amenity upgrades and vital surface works to improve the quality of pitches.

The 2023 season is going to be exciting, enthralling and will encapsulate all that football has to give in NSW and Australia. Football NSW will continue its advocacy for further funding into infrastructure pre and post the World Cup. Infrastructure development is vital in NSW to ensure the world game can continue to grow and remain the largest teambased sport in NSW.

Cronulla Seagulls

Official opening at Jamison Park

ELITE FOOTBALL

With excitement around the Socceroos’ success in Qatar and Australia’s co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, it is crucial that talented players from all areas of NSW have access to pathway opportunities that can help to develop the next generation of national representatives.

Girls TSP

As another season drew to a close it was not without its challenges. The whole football community had to navigate inclement weather patterns impacting both training and playing environments. It was however still a very successful year with lots of positives, including completing the first full year of the Girls Talent Support Program for 2009/2008 and 2007/2006 born players. The program added another layer to the overall talent identification process, providing opportunities which included more matches for over 180 potentially talented Girls Youth League players.

In addition to the matches which took place during the school term, the program also allowed for one tournament during the April School Holidays. Establishing working relationships with the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets added to the quality and this will continue into next year.

Four players from the GTSP were selected into the Football NSW State Teams, including two Under 14s and two Under 16s, highlighting the importance of its place as part of the player pathway and providing more match minutes to young talent players.

Boys TSP

Now into its third year, the Boys program was about adding layers to continue to grow and evolve. The introduction of Individual Development Plans (IDP), which were to be completed each term by the players, encouraged raising self-awareness and focus areas for the individuals on their own development and growth.

With this in place, the coaches were able to deliver formal feedback with more objective evidence using video analysis.

The IDPs have become a live document which are stored and edited on an online platform which provides real time detail. In order to provide

such detail, the Football NSW technical department have worked to establish relationships with ACU and WSU to provide interns for the video analysis, who then create personalised video clips for each player in the TSP. Video clips are delivered to the players via their IDP at the end of each term.

Overall, the boys TSP completed four terms which in turn provided 16 extra games for each age group. There were also four tournaments which took place in January, April, and July at Valentine Sports Park and one in October in Canberra in collaboration with Capital Football. The TSP has increased links with National Teams Units, with seven players now representing Australia and Football NSW Player Development Manager, Phil Myall, also working as part of the National Teams Unit.

In addition to the games and tournaments, the coaching staff attended Boys Youth League matchdays as part of the talent identification process. Scouting for TSP and state teams, the TSP staff attended five Boys Youth League 1, 2, and 3 games every week during the season. Whilst at the clubs, the TSP coaches also completed 78 matchday assessments which will support FNSW in understanding the landscape and working with Clubs to improve the football experience for all involved.

Country TSP Game Days

As regional football continues to grow, the country TSP has been pivotal in supporting potentially talented players.

The Country TSP teams competed in tournaments held at Valentine Sports Park, in addition to a tournament held in April in Goulburn for Under 14s, which included Capital Football, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers.

In July, a tournament for Under 14s and 16s girls saw teams from Northern NSW, Capital Football and a variety of Girls Youth League teams take part.

Completing the talent identification process for regional players there were game days held in Goulburn and Young for both boys and girls.

Elite Games

As an extension of the Talent Support Program, Football NSW hosted seven elite games for females across the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 age groups. The boys also hosted seven games for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 age groups.

These games were used as a filtering process to play the ‘best against the best’ within the state and provide vital talent identification opportunities to the National Teams Unit.

In collaboration with Football Australia, the elite games also included GPS reports, Biological Maturation measurements, standing broad jump and player video coding.

State Teams NTC

In September, both the boys and the girls participated in the National Youth Championships at Coffs Harbour, with the Girls also participating in the National Training Centre (NTC) competition in Canberra.

For the girls, a total of 15 NPL/GYL players from eight different clubs were selected into the NSW State Team and NTC squads, with four players from GTSP. An incredibly successful week for the state team girls included the Under 14s Metro team winning the championship with an Under 14s player named Player of the tournament.

The Under 16s also had a player named Goalkeeper of the tournament, while seven of the players from the tournament were selected for the Junior Matildas camp that followed. There were also two players from the tournaments selected for the Young Matildas squad for the Pacific Women’s Four Nations Tournament.

The boys 2008 group had representatives from 14 Boys Youth League Clubs, with 22 of the 34 players from BYL clubs and the other 12 from A-League academies. The 2007 age

group had representatives from 13 BYL clubs, with the other 17 from A-League academies. The 2007 White team were crowned National Youth Champions.

The Football NSW country teams were also well represented with four teams in attendance. The boys provided one team in the Under 14s and Under 15s age groups and the girls also had two teams; one in the Under 14s and one in the Under 16s. Regional NSW for the first time also had one country team that participated at the NTC challenge in Canberra.

Football NSW Institute

It was once again another stellar year for the Football NSW Institute program. Fifteen players from the program were named in the Junior Matildas squad that travelled to

Indonesia for the AFF Under 18s tournament where they won in style.

There were also three players named in the Young Matildas squad that travelled to Mexico ahead of the FIFA Youth World Cup in Costa Rica, before being selected to attend the tournament. One additional player was also selected for the Philippines to travel to Indonesia for the AFF tournament.

Four of the six Institute teams made the NPL NSW Grand Finals. Whilst the program is not results driven, it is a demonstration of the progress and development of these players and teams during the season and the great work the coaches have done. There are nine players from the Under 18s (1st Grade) that have progressed into A-League women’s teams this season and one player that has progressed to playing for a college in the United States of America.

BANKSTOWN DAFA

The past 12 months have been a busy one for the Bankstown District Amateur Football Association (BDAFA) office and valued volunteers.

The pre-season started with the training and implementation of Dribl as the Competition Management System for the 2022 season.

The BDAFA Board worked closely with Bankstown Football Referees (BFR) to bring the community under the Association’s umbrella. Although it was a quick turnaround, BDAFA saw an increase in new referees, especially in the adult age group, offering free registration to all referees and providing gear at no cost to new referees to ensure there were no barriers of entry. In total, over $15,000 was invested into the referees for 2022 and BDAFA look to replicate this initiative in 2023. Meanwhile, the Association are also focusing on building the training program to support referees and grow the standards within the branch.

It was a tough start to the season for competition matches as NSW received some of the heaviest rainfalls ever experienced. The delayed start to the local competitions extended the season further but pleasingly we managed to play all our matches.

BDAFA would like to sincerely thank clubs and committees who ensured our participants got on the field. It took a combined effort to deliver the season and it is evident what a strong team exists across the clubs and the office.

BDAFA had numerous capital works taking place across various club venues which saw multiple parks offline. Although this impacted the 2022 season delivery, it will enable the Association to have four newly refurbished football grounds for 2023.

The highlight of these capital works is Padstow Park (Bankstown’s first Association synthetic field is expected to be completed in November 2023), along with a new building in mid-2023. Bankstown will finally have a ‘Home of Football’ to call their own for its members.

BLACKTOWN DSFA

The 2022 season brought hope that after two COVID-19 ravaged years, a full season of competition would be played.

To help Members, rebates were offered to returning players ranging from $10 to $40, depending on their age.

The Blacktown District Soccer Football Association (BDSFA) undertook a sustained registration marketing campaign which was aimed at the different segments of competition offered and included a Coaching and Referee promotional drive.

From the outset, registrations were tracking lower than 2021 and, in the end, our numbers were down by 839 players year-on-year (8.4%).

The BDSFA focused a lot of energy in engaging with its membership throughout the season. The Deploy Football Premier League Match of the Round, Phoenix League Livestreams, the weekly Blacktown Football Hour Podcast, the interviewing of our junior players in the LJ Hooker MiniRoos Moments and the LJ Hooker Goal of the Week segments again proved popular in 2022.

Membership became involved and connected to our digital assets with the BDSFA Facebook page increasing its followers from 6,630 in January to 7,780 in November (1,150/17%).

While we had hoped for an uninterrupted season, rain played havoc from the outset. Unfortunately, the early rains were a sign of things to come, and the local grounds were inundated with precipitation, leading to closed grounds for days on end.

BDSFA Football Operations Manager Michael Carraro was adamant that after two seasons of COVID-19, Blacktown players were going to contest 18 rounds and a full finals series. An aggressive strategy was deployed to make up as many games as possible, with the community working tirelessly together to make up the postponed matches on weeknights, weekends, public holidays and during school holidays.

A highlight due to the volume of catch-up games was the number of local grassroots teams who were given the opportunity to play on Blacktown Football Park. Nearly every Monday and Wednesday night was filled with local footballers who had the opportunity to experience a pitch walkout, goal celebrations through music stingers, goal scorer announcements, a scoreboard and playing on a synthetic pitch.

With further rain, a plan of management with scenarios based on numbers of matches played in differing sized competitions was issued.

Testament to the BDSFA stakeholders in being able to achieve 18 rounds and a full finals series.

During the season, long serving Office Manager and Member Protection Information Officer Sue Sim retired. The BDSFA congratulates Sue on a wonderful career, and thanks her for her amazing service to football in Blacktown.

Our Grand Final weekends were again a great spectacle, all matches were video recorded and were made available on YouTube via the BDSFA TV channel. Congratulations to our competition Champions.

The BDSFA would like to acknowledge the clubs and the Blacktown City Soccer Referees Branch for their support, the time they give to the game in the District and for the unbelievable job they have done over the last three seasons to allow members to play their chosen sport of football.

CANTERBURY DSFA

It was a historical year for Canterbury District Football Soccer Association (CDSFA) who celebrated their centenary in 2022.

As well as honouring the past, 2022 saw several innovations in the region that will ensure football will continue to grow well into the future.

To mark 100 years, the CDSFA Hall of Fame was established to celebrate the history and achievements of the best talent produced in the region. A Centenary Gala was held to announce the inaugural inductees and to celebrate the historical occasion, with a crowd of 500 people attending, including Life Members, Hall of Fame inductees, club representatives, and special guests such as 1974 World Cup coach, Rale Rasic, and recently elected Labor member for Reid, Sally Sitou.

The inaugural inductees were made up of 22 individuals who rose from the Association ranks to achieve high honours in football. They included players, match officials, coaches, and administrators from the early days of the CDSFA all the way to modern times.

With the need for an advanced-level competition at Association level identified, the CDSFA Representative League was launched at the start of this season to give players the opportunity to play and train at a higher level.

Reserved solely for players competing in the CDSFA competitions, the Representative League allows players to experience high-level coaching as well as training and playing with/against higher quality players, without having to spend big money on registration fees for NPL NSW clubs.

This gives players the opportunity to develop while staying close to home and at an affordable price. The observations, analysis, and direct feedback from the first season was overwhelmingly positive with administrators, players, coaches, and game leaders all backing the program to return in an expanded capacity in 2023.

For the first time in the Association’s history, an over-50s league was established to offer more age-appropriate competition to participants. An over-50s competition allows older players to continue playing while also attracting former players to return by offering a league that suits their speed and physicality. The inaugural season saw 174 participants across nine teams play a full 16-game season with finals.

It was also an emotional farewell for one well respected member of the CDSFA. Long-serving Chief Executive Officer, Ian Holmes, departed CDSFA at the end of the 2022 season. Holmes, who served football for almost 50 years at local, state, and national level, leaves a legacy within the football community of the Canterbury District.

On his final night as CEO of Football Canterbury, Holmes was inducted into the CDSFA Hall of Fame in a surprise ceremony. At the conclusion of the 2022 Volunteer Recognition Dinner, Chairman Armando Gardiman and Hall of Famer Jim Fraser made the announcement to the crowd.

CENTRAL COAST FOOTBALL

2022 saw Central Coast Football (CCF) endure another unprecedented season (for the third year running) as widespread wet weather saw clubs and teams sidelined for weeks at a time due to unplayable, waterlogged conditions.

None the less, clubs, coaches, team managers, volunteers and referees all worked through the endless reschedules and fixture changes to deliver a completed season and an amazing finals series for the first time since 2020.

The commencement of the season saw Central Coast Football apply discounts and process refunds to players amounting to over $590,000 from the 2021 cancelled competitions.

These refunds were made possible by scaling back costs and saving expenses due to the COVID-19 shortened season with savings on referee fees, reduction in fees payable to Central Coast Council and savings on player insurance.

Throughout the season, football participants lost hundreds of hours of playing and training due to the severe weather events and subsequent field closures. Winter rainfall for Greater Sydney was around 2.5 times the average, making the logistics of running the competition extremely complex for the administrators and over 2000 club volunteers.

A mid-season change to Average Points system when calculating competition ladders allowed CCF and clubs to create opportunity for as many football games to be played as possible, whilst maintaining competition integrity. The MyCompApp system again proved valuable in providing timely and accessible notifications to all stakeholders on a daily and sometimes hourly basis in the heavily affected season.

To mitigate the effect that wet weather has on fields, CCF have taken steps to address the strain on council grounds, with the 2022 offseason seeing over $260,000 in field drainage works undertaken at nine key football venues across the region.

This combined investment from the Association and clubs shows the commitment football is willing to make towards Council grounds to create better community facilities and enable greater participation for our code.

On behalf of the football community, CCF thanks its members for their time, effort, and enthusiasm, as well as their ongoing resilience and dedication to both club and community.

CCF would like to acknowledge the work of the Referee Council throughout the 2022 season, including Des Patch, Mark Roberts, Troy Ward and Warwick Barwell. Refereeing is a key priority area for CCF moving into the future, and the team’s guidance and support this year was appreciated by Clubs and players alike.

Finally, a thank you goes to the dedicated CCF staff for their work in 2022, grappling with yet another disrupted season. To Darren Sprod, Lindy Peters, Luke Dunkerley, Kristy

Robertson, Adam Blunden, Matt Page and Stacey Campbell, CCF thanks you for the approach you have taken to your work this year, showing an immense passion for the game and outstanding teamwork under challenging circumstances.

The challenges of 2022 showed that football is more than a game for the coast community. The passion, the family, and the sense of belonging that is achieved through participating in the beautiful game delivers immense value to all involved.

EASTERN SUBURBS FA

Despite the consistent rains in 2022, the Eastern Suburbs Football Association (ESFA) managed to get a full season of football in, including a complete finals series.

This would not have been possible had it not been a collaborative approach between ESFA Office staff, the ESFA Board, Club representatives, referees, coaches, players, Councils, and many others.

From an ESFA Office perspective, Head of Competitions Greg Storey, Competitions Manager Caroline Oakes-Ash and Match Review Officer Dwayne Leverett showed great resilience and produced a mountain of work rescheduling fixtures, allocating and reallocating referees, and sometimes booking grounds. There were stressful times, but the satisfaction of getting people onto the park was extremely important to them, with the Clubs working equally as well together.

This season saw the Juniors take part in their first finals series since 2019 and the Seniors since 2020; some incredibly gratifying days. The best thing were the smiles on people’s faces as well as team Captain’s saying thank you during their Grand Final speeches. That makes it so worthwhile for all concerned, especially for the Club volunteers. One of the best things about football is that it is so welcoming and so inclusive, and many people both on and off the field experience the many positive aspects that football delivers.

Facilities are a clear burning issue. This season inclement weather illustrated there clearly needs to be some significant investment made on pitches as well as amenities, both new and current. To do this, all four levels of football in this country need to work together with all three levels of Government. Also, within the ESFA boundary, there needs to be more field space made available for ESFA to grow the game. ESFA Chairperson Nigel Singh has produced a significant amount of work in this area, as have Club Committees, but they need help from up higher in the football food chain.

The ESFA Pathways under Head of Football Jaime Gomez continues to prosper. The SAP teams that compete in the Football NSW space continue to do well with the coaches focused on player development.

The ESFA Under 12s, that mirrors the Football NSW SAP, is a great initiative and there were six teams that entered the inaugural season and credit goes to the Clubs for supporting this. Next season, the target is for more teams to play in this program as well as start up a program for the girls.

The Minis program for two-to-five-year old’s run by Rio Darlaston went well this year and this provides a great link for our local Clubs once these kids are eligible for MiniRoos.

Coach Education is extremely important, and Jaime Gomez delivers programs that are critical for our aspiring coaches.

ESFA Community Engagement Officer, Rio Darlaston’s work has been great, especially with the social media postings and articles she has produced throughout the year.

The School Holiday Clinics, Skills Program and School visits run in partnership with Sydney FC continue to develop. Fan Development Officer Sarah Ferris has done a great job and will continue to grow all programs.

A huge thank you must go to all ESFA sponsors. To Ray White Woollahra|Paddington, Western Imaging Group, JazzRight Production Services, Deploy, Ultra Football, and Sydney FC, they are all truly valued partners of ESFA.

The ESFA Board, under the leadership of Chairperson Nigel Singh, are a fantastic group of people and the Association is in excellent hands.

In conclusion, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ in this country will be a great highlight and all involved in the game hope the sport thrives on this event and sets itself up for the future.

The legacy that people involved in football create and leave is to be applauded as well as respected.

FOOTBALL SOUTH COAST

After two years of COVID-19, Football South Coast (FSC) was looking forward to some normality, however mother nature had a different idea.

As a result of heavy rain across the Illawarra, many clubs lost their home grounds for the duration of the season. What resulted was a huge effort across the FSC football family to schedule an average 75% of games across our community competitions and a near full complement of games in our Men’s Premiership competition.

This would not have been possible without the efforts of clubs to find alternative training and playing venues, embracing constant scheduling changes and the armies of volunteers that equipped themselves with mowers and whipper snippers in an attempt to get fields ready.

For FSC, it was another year of contingency competition planning and significant use of the regions only synthetic pitch which was used by schools and clubs.

The disruption with the wet weather was also compounded by Wollongong hosting the UCI Road Cycling World Championships at the business end of the season. This meant the season could not accommodate Grand Finals for our Junior and some of our community competitions.

It was also a historic year as Ian McLennan Park was shortlisted as a Training Base Camp (TBC) for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™. Funding has been obtained to facilitate significant improvements and enable this to be the home base for our Association.

There were a number of fantastic achievements via our competitions in 2022 starting off with the naming of the regions first ever Matilda, the inaugural Julie Porter Cup (Women’s Division 1) which was won by the Albion Park White Eagles.

It was a huge year for the Wollongong United Men’s senior side who made history by becoming the first ever Association side to reach the Australia Cup Round of 32.

Football NSW’s Champion of Champions was next on the achievement list as Shellharbour Junior Football created history by taking out the Under 14 Boys, Under 15 Boys and Under 16 Girls categories in what was a monumental tournament for the club and region.

The University of Wollongong FC were crowned winners of the first ever live streamed Women’s Division 1 Grand Final, ending the Albion Park White Eagles’ six-season winning streak.

Finally, the Men’s Premiership Grand Finals held at WIN Stadium saw Wollongong Olympic claim its first Grand Final win in 37 years defeating League Champions Wollongong United.

There were also key wins in the Football Development at FSC. The Association announced the appointment of a Female Football Development Manager to focus on increasing the number of females participating in all areas of football. Numerous ‘Come and

Try’ sessions were facilitated across grounds and schools, which has been a key focus point for the Football Development Manager.

Pre SAP and SAP Development programs continued, despite the grim weather disruptions, and a highly successful Female Only Program was also introduced which proved to be a huge success.

There was a continuation of development programs across all ages and FSC’s partnership with Sydney FC for the Skills Training Program and School Holiday Clinics continued to blossom.

Finally, FSC continued to support The Disability Trust through the Annual Sports Ready Gala with over 230 students from nine Illawarra schools in attendance.

FOOTBALL ST GEORGE

Despite the wet weather, the 2022 season saw a full and exciting season of football in the St George region.

In 2022, over 6,160 games were played during the winter football season. Considering the significant impact wet weather had on field access, this is no small feat, and something to take great pride in. This was only possible due to the dedication, perseverance, and commitment of the Football St George (FSG) Clubs, Committees, staff, and Competition Secretary; to all of whom a great debt of thanks is owed.

On the field, the football was competitive and played in great spirit. Over 240,000 minutes of FSG’s flagship competition, the McDonalds Premier League for Women and Men, was enjoyed by spectators on the livestream provided by Cluch.TV.

In state-wide competitions, FSG was represented by 56 teams in the State Cup and 18 teams in the Champion of Champions. In the Football NSW Champion of Champions competition, four FSG teams qualified to the finals; Rockdale City Suns FC in the U12 girls, Sans Souci FC in the U21 men, Banksia Tigers FC in the All Age men, and Hurstville City Minotaurs in the O/45 men. It was a proud moment for FSG when the Rockdale City Suns and Hurstville City Minotaurs were crowned Champion of Champions competition winners for their respective divisions, with Hurstville City Minotaurs taking out the O/45 men’s division for a record breaking fourth time.

Following a hiatus since 2019 due to COVID-19, the St George Cup made an emphatic return in July 2022, with 40 junior

teams competing over two days in youth boy’s and girl’s divisions.

Similarly, the Chairmans Cup, played in honour of the late FSG Chairman Sok Mallios, returned in 2022 with 24 O/35 men and mixed All Age teams competing in a 6-a-side tournament. The main focus of the Chairman’s Cup was to raise much needed funding to support ongoing research into the treatment of cancer. Female Football thrived with participation of women and girls growing to 25% of all registered players.

The FSG girl’s Skill Acquisition Program continued to provide a pathway for local female players and the Association established a Female Coach Mentor Program, with 20 female coaches who were provided with free access to education courses and ongoing mentorship delivered by the FSG Technical Director.

FSG acknowledged two stalwarts of the game at the end of season awards night, with Leo Blanda from Ramsgate RSL FC and Jeremey Babb from All Saints Oatley West FC receiving the Associations highest award, the Gold Medal. Football NSW awards followed shortly after for another long serving club volunteer, with Carlton Rovers FC President Peter Mallios accepting a 2022 State Award. Refereeing remains an area of focus moving into 2023. While 83% of all youth and senior matches were covered by at least one referee in the 2022 season, more needs to be done

at every level of the game to promote, recruit and retain referees in football, and to ensure referees are provided a safe and welcoming environment, free of anti-social behaviour and abuse.

In the office, FSG undertook a review of its financial management policy and ratified a new organisation structure aimed at enabling an enhanced level of service delivery by better aligning the Association’s human resources with the programs, competitions and services offered to the football community.

FSG extends its thanks to the staff, volunteers, and committees, the loyal sponsors, community partners, member clubs and their army of volunteers, without whom football would not be offered to the 10,000 plus players in the region.

GRANVILLE DSFA

Football returned to some form of normality in the Granville District Soccer Football Association following two interrupted seasons due to COVID-19, however La Nina had other ideas.

As the 2022 grassroots football season kicked off, the rain came down causing many fields to be washed out and matches postponed.

Player registrations were difficult as clubs were unable to train and recruit players, and off the back of two COVID-19 years, there were concerns. However, in true GDSFA football family spirit, the community worked together and finally the season kicked off at the end of April and concluded at the beginning of September.

Even though 2022 was a difficult season, GDSFA still managed to introduce three new competition formats; the XL1, XL2 and a crowd favourite the ‘Mini tildas’ (U6-U7 girls).

The XL league started well but some hurdles saw a few teams unable to fulfil their commitments. Competition matches were played on Friday evenings which saw some difficulties around lights, field availability, amongst a few other issues, arise. The season went on and as the rounds went by, the competition difficulties started to ease in what was a good first season for the new league.

The ‘Mini tildas’ kicked off in 2022 with six teams as clubs from Auburn FC, Holroyd Rangers and Merrylands took part in this exciting new initiative shown by the GDSFA. The matches were played at hubs with each club getting home games every three weeks. All ‘Mini tildas’ players received pink socks and all were so excited to play. There was also disappointment from these players when games had to be cancelled due to the wet weather. Hopefully 2023 sees a surge of ‘Mini tildas’ players, especially with all the hype of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ taking place.

Despite La Nina disrupting the season, it was still able to be completed with 30 grand finals spread across three parks and six fields. Congratulations to all teams that reached the final series and a further congratulations to all the 2022 Champions.

The GDSFA ladies once again participated in the Phoenix League competition within the BDSFA. Of the 23 teams competing, eight GDSFA teams went on to win their Grand Finals in what was a great year for these clubs.

The 2022 season did see the return of the historic GDSFA Cottam Cup competition where 16 Association teams from across the state were invited to compete against 16 GDSFA teams. It was BDSFA’s Marayong FC who proved too strong for their competition, taking out the silverware.

In the individual awards, GDSFA would like to congratulate Granville Waratahs’ Zac Farah who took out the annual Club Person of the Year award. Zac not only works extremely hard for Granville Waratahs, but also assists others as well as the Association when needed.

The 2022 season may have had a shaky start, but the GDSFA family got through it, the community was able to participate in the game they love and are now looking forward to what 2023 will bring.

HILLS FA

After two disrupted years due to COVID-19, it was a pleasure to see a completed season for Hills Football

The resilience of HFI Clubs and members showed during a difficult time with wet weather and the imposed impacts upon the well-established competitions.

The Walking Football League officially kicked off following its initial start in 2021, which was halted due to the cancellation of the season. Member Club Kenthurst & District Football Club hosted the League and due to its success, has continued into the summer months.

In addition, the long-standing Summer Walking Football Program has seen its largest numbers to date with a large representation of female participants. As a whole, during the warmer months, HFI’s much loved Summer Football competitions saw the Association hit capacity after two weeks of registrations being opened, highlighting a much-loved return to football for some of those that may not have participated last season.

The Hills Football Community Match of the Round launched during the 2022 winter season which provided all youth and senior teams the opportunity for one of their matches to be live streamed and commentated on, creating a holistic approach to HFI’s appreciation of grassroots football at all levels, age grades, and genders.

Player development programs were at an all-time high with the HFI Development programs reaching the highest registration and retention numbers since its inception in 2018.

HFI will continue to support all members and Clubs by expanding on these player development opportunities both as an Association, and by running these in collaboration with Clubs.

The first Hills Female Only All Abilities program was also launched by Castle Hill United and will continue to grow as the Association heads into a huge year for female football in 2023 thanks to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

Other All Abilities programs within the Association have continued to thrive as they experienced their first Football NSW football4all Gala Day since 2019.

The Hills Football Association Youth League (AYL) program had a successful year with two of four teams (U13s and U16s) reaching the final series for the first time. With the addition of an U18s side and the biggest amount of interest within this program, HFI hope to see further success in the upcoming 2023 season.

2022 also featured the launch of a Youth Coaching and Referee Development Clinic held during the school holidays which saw many aspiring and up and coming coaches and referees participate. In addition, HFI saw the highest number of coaches and referees attend HFI facilitated and hosted courses in 2022.

In total, 279 coaches attended HFI run grassroots and advanced coaching courses, with an astounding 133 referees attending Level 4 courses in 2022. HFI Referee Development opportunities are also at a high with two astounding female referees involved in the Football NSW Referee Academy for 2022, which have been reconfirmed for the 2023 season.

Inc. (HFI) members in 2022.

MACARTHUR FA

After a disappointing end to the 2021 season, it was pleasing to welcome back over 10,000 registered players across the Macarthur Football Association (MFA) this year.

Returning to life as it was known prepandemic was never going to be easy, but it certainly was something to look forward to. Whilst restrictions were easing, the threat of the virus was still very real and would certainly impact on community sport participation in 2022.

Well over 830 registered teams were raring to go ahead of Round One, before the heavens opened in NSW like never before. Torrential rain causing severe flooding in our region, not only delaying the start of the Football season but causing far more serious issues for local community members. Unfortunately, MFA had not seen the end of it either with over 2,000mm of rain falling across the state - approximately four times the yearly average - over the course of the season.

Despite the challenges of inclement weather throughout the season, there were certainly many highlights to acknowledge and celebrate.

It was great to put back smiles on the thousands of young footballers faces as the MiniRoos Gala Days returned.

The launch of a 12-team Women’s M-League competition, in partnership with the Southern Districts Soccer Football Association, made for one of the most exciting seasons on record. Congratulations to both the Liverpool City Robins (Premiers) and the Camden Tigers (Champions) on a remarkable season.

As part of the promotion for women’s football, MFA also launched the Football for Women and Girls in Macarthur 2022 – 2027 strategy.

It was great to see the introduction of MOJO Sports as the official grassroots coaching app, as an initiative to help support local coaches and raise coaching standards.

The expansion of the Macarthur ‘SAP’ League and introduction of the M-SAP Cup was also a great achievement in 2022.

MFA also had some exciting upgrades thanks to various Government grants taking place across various clubs and grounds. Picton Rangers FC secured $2.13m to upgrade Fairley Road (Picton Showgrounds), thanks to the NSW Summer Bushfire Recovery Grant, and Wollondilly Shire Council secured $2m for the Tahmoor Sports Complex thanks to the Multisport Community Facility Fund.

Camden Council also endorsed the masterplan for Harrington Park Reserve, with the first stage funded by Council’s COVID-19 Community Sport Package, while progress was made on the Lynwood Park masterplan, with a WestInvest funding application submitted in partnership with Campbelltown City Council.

There were also various club achievements MFA were honoured to promote. From an Anniversary front, various MFA clubs celebrated milestones including Campbelltown Collegians FC (50), Eschol Park FC (40) and Harrington United (20), while the Macarthur District Football Referees Association also marked 40 years of existence.

MFA were proud to see Harrington United FC’s Under 18 Girls crowned 2022 Football NSW Champion of Champions in what was an epic display at Valentine Sports Park.

It was fantastic to see Macarthur FC claim its first historic title, taking out the 2022 Australia Cup by defeating Sydney United 58 while the Macarthur Rams Men’s and Women’s sides added to its trophy cabinet with Championship victories in the League 2 Men’s and NPL NSW Women’s competitions respectively.

It is fair to say that the Macarthur Football Family has much to be proud of, but so much more to achieve.

MANLY WARRINGAH FA

There is no doubt that the 2022 season tested the patience of everyone in the Manly Warringah Football Association (MWFA) with the rain throwing up challenges following two-years of COVID-19 disruptions.

A rain event that sunk 12 fields on the weekend of the start of the season made the task of mowing grass, erecting posts, and changing from summer to winter sports, followed by another long period of rain towards the back end of the season made it difficult to catch up on matches.

It was a massive effort by the MWFA football community, which was led by the Club Presidents, Committees, and volunteers, who were understanding and supportive throughout the season.

Challenges and obstacles breed resilience and satisfaction, and the sight of Cromer Park full to the brim for three days of Grand Finals was a sight for sore and tired eyes. Bigger crowds than ever before for all three days were an illustration of the exclamation point a Grand Final puts on the story of a season. After three years it was wonderful to see young and old, men and women take out Grand Finals instead of calculations defining the winners and losers.

One of the success stories in 2022 was the MWFA breaking through the 35% mark for the percentage of female footballers. The MWFA now has four clubs that boast female numbers of 40% or higher and that figure is sure to continue to grow when Australia co-hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

It is no coincidence that female teams led the way in the Football NSW Champion of Champions tournament, which was held for the first time in three years. Four MWFA teams from four different clubs made the Grand Final with the Manly Allambie W12s, Pittwater RSL W15s, CC Strikers U18s and the Seaforth Women’s Premier League teams making it through to the big day.

The Manly Allambie W12s went down 1-0, the CC Strikers U18s lost 2-1 thanks to a goal with just two seconds left to play but the Pittwater RSL W15s and the Seaforth WPL team were declared NSW Champion of Champions. The Pittwater team dominated the final against Emu Plains, winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Chloe Currie (2) and Maya Atkinson.

Meanwhile, the Seaforth Women’s Premier League team completed a clean sweep of all four trophies in 2022 by defeating Coogee United 2-1 with goals to Sophie Tetley in the 2nd minute and Julia Murphy, who scored an extra time golden goal winner in the 110th minute. The Champion of Champions victory came after the Seaforth girls, led by coaches Chris Wood and Riley Kilpatrick, took out the MWFA Cup

(midweek knockout), the league championship and the grand final, capping off an almighty year for the girls.

The greatest recognition goes to the volunteers, Committee Members, Presidents, and delegates at the 17 Clubs and the MWFRA. A lot of people put in a lot of effort to be able to coordinate the MWFA Clubs and competition and ensure 19,500 people enjoy their weekend football matches each weekend.

Over the coming months, the association will once again host a ParaRoos international between Australia and the USA and then we will dive headlong into the MWFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, where we will be using the excitement around the FIFA’s international event to drive growth amongst young female, football players, coaches and referees.

NEPEAN FA

It was great to return to some form of normality in 2022, even if the weather still provided significant challenges.

Unfortunately, five clubs were so badly affected by the wet weather that they never made it onto their respective fields for a single match or training session in 2022. This made the timely delivery of the new synthetic surface facility at Jamison Park an even bigger

Another aspect of sport that NFA have evolved is in the delivery of the game and engagement with members through improved communication methods and its competition management platform. 2022 was the first year using the Dribl platform and, notwithstanding the expected teething problems of a new product, NFA are extremely happy with its performance, as were team and club administrators. Players also loved the real time and immediate fixture updates provided through the platform.

The NFA continues to enjoy a healthy financial position, which allows for some strong forward planning around the delivery of value-added enhancements to the game in the local district. Pleasingly, the Association has been able to assist some clubs with venue maintenance and facility development grants, and NFA will continue to offer this service to clubs.

NFA remains fortunate to benefit from services, at both Association and club level, of brilliant community volunteers, who are driven by equal parts of a love for their community, a love of the sport and a desire to make local spaces the most joyful place to be spending recreation hours.

The Association has taken a serious look at diversity & inclusion in the district, assessing ways in which it can ensure that policies address the key issues as well as looking at events that will send a clear message to the greater community; that football, and Nepean clubs are welcoming, inclusive and a place where all people can feel safe and valued. NFA also spent many meetings looking at how it engages with First Nations members of the community and how, as an organisation, we can show respect, support and a willingness to work harmoniously with First Nations community members moving forward. There is much work to be done in this area to correct the past.

The Wellness team has studied the many ways that wellness can be incorporated into programming and operations and have been particularly pro-active in making the region’s sidelines safe and enjoyable for all football members, including referees,

fellow spectators, club officials and players. Educational campaigns and resources have been developed to help in this area and, pleasingly, violence in sport has seen a significant decrease.

Across multiple areas, NFA has addressed gender equity in the sport. This was done by encouraging more clubs to offer female only teams to help build a strong and deep female player base. NFA leads by example in having females in leadership positions and have also allocated significant funds towards the development of female coaches and referees, ensuring that football has a robust gender balance in the coming years.

The NFA congratulates all clubs on the outstanding resilience shown during what has been one of the most difficult years to deliver grassroots football in a very long while. It has been heart-warming to see the level of concern and co-operation displayed by clubs towards each other and the free flow of support and assistance given when required. The demonstration by clubs, showing that they work not only for their communities but for football to prosper, has been the biggest sign of football’s maturity and of the giantsized heart of the Nepean district.

NORTH WEST SYDNEY FOOTBALL

After two years of COVID-19 there was a genuine excitement that there would be a ‘simple season’ featuring full rounds of football for all.

Sadly, another event out of the Association’s control, the weather, played havoc with competitions for 2022 resulting in cancellations, ground and time fixture changes, and a reduced final series.

Despite these challenges throughout the season, it was fantastic to be able to complete the Champion’s finals weekend resulting in both Premiers and Champions being crowned for each age group.

The availability of synthetic pitches within the Association enabled NWSF’s Walking Football to move to a new venue at North Epping Bowling Club which was well received by members, and the Masters’ Football on Friday nights also managed a full season.

Throughout the season, the football community was again hampered by the weather, and NWSF commend clubs who persisted with their community events (Female Football Week, School Holiday clinics and Gala events), albeit sometimes rescheduling more than once.

Two of NWSF’s strategic pillars; competitions and facilities tied nicely into the issues raised this season. These were a major a focus for NWSF in 2022 and will continue to be in 2023 and beyond. NWSF has finalised a facilities audit with local Councils and identified a priority list of fields for improvements, including drainage and lighting, which will be an immediate focus, especially considering weather experts claim La Nina will be around again next season.

Our FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ Working Party met several times throughout the year and ran some informative and well supported online forums, organising the largest contingent of supporters from one Association to attend the Matildas v USA game and the announcement of the NWSF’s first Women’s Premier League. They have some great ideas for the lead-in to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 which the Association looks forward to seeing come to life.

The technical teams worked extremely hard on integrating similar programs across the squads strengthening NWSF’s DNA framework. The common goal of the DNA framework is to develop ‘high-quality people who have the technical and decision-making

ability to play at their highest level in football and in life’. Special recognition goes to NWS Spirit FC Men’s senior team who displayed their best football season in many years. The team finished fourth in the regular League One Men’s competition, earning promotion to the NPL NSW Men’s, qualified for the round of 16 in the national Australia Cup and won the Waratah Cup, defeating Sydney United 58 in the final.

NWSF also launched the Association’s DNA website which has been developed as a comprehensive resource for clubs to provide their coaches a style of play, programs, and session plans for a whole season. This is a wonderful long-term initiative to support volunteer coaches as it will allow them access to valuable resources across all age groups.

NORTHERN SUBURBS FA

The 2022 football season started with renewed invigoration as Clubs, players and volunteers looked forward to the first full season since 2019.

Unfortunately, the weather Gods had other ideas with preseason and many competition weeks disrupted by the rain.

Nevertheless, the Northern Suburbs Football Association (NSFA) competitions department in the end managed to deliver a full, or near full, season to many of the 17,500 players for the first time in three years.

On the park, numbers decreased slightly after a record breaking 2021, however the Association saw pleasing growth across Girls and Womens football. Female participating Clubs launched their own Female Football Week celebrations in line with NSFA’s ‘What’s Best For Her’ Strategy and the first Diamond League launch event was conducted to showcase the opportunities available.

All teams were eager to get the season going with promotion and relegation back on the line as well as the coveted Champion of Champions (COC) spots up for grabs.

NSFA clubs proved competitive across junior and senior age groups, with a record 11 teams in the COC semi-finals, five in the finals and four teams taking out top honours.

The Northern Tigers First Grade Womens squad had another excellent season finishing in the top four and narrowly missing out in the Grand Final. With a series of local debutants throughout the season, the club is hopeful of

future success as the local pathway shows its strength. The Tigers First Grade Men narrowly missed out on promotion from Football NSW League One Men’s, finishing in fifth place.

In October, the long-awaited approval for the NTRA Development was received. After eight years of planning, the Development Application has been approved and the NSFA is looking forward to progressing the plans in 2023 to bring the vision to life. The NSFA would like to acknowledge and thank all the volunteers who have supported this journey. The Association’s innovation continues to push the boundary, this year servicing 3,500 players weekly through XLR8 Player Development programs, whilst at the same time launching the new INSPIRE FC platform.

INSPIRE FC has grown from a seedling into a maturing tree in 2022 as NSFA delivered a ‘Netflix-style’ platform free of charge to its members to support them in their coach education journey.

Great credit for this must be given to Ed Ferguson, who left the Association at the end of the season to take up a role with Football NSW. After three years as CEO, all three of them bringing unique challenges, Ed has done a brilliant job in taking the Association forward. Initially joining the NSFA as Community Football Manager, Ed built the XLR8 Player Development Programs, the INSPIRE coach development program and other community development initiatives including the Skellern Cup. The NSFA welcomes Kevin Johnson as the new CEO.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SFA

The winter football season, like most outdoor sports, was heavily affected by the significant rainfall in 2022.

While a lot of Council fields were not playable, Southern Districts Soccer Football Association (SDSFA) managed to get through the whole season by manipulating fixtures and using neutral grounds for those who couldn’t provide venues.

Some clubs were affected more than others depending on the field drainage and number of fields that they use and there were many midweek catch up rounds played to enable the Association to give the clubs and players the best possibility to play out their respective seasons.

Inadequate floodlighting of Liverpool grounds meant playing more midweek matches in the Fairfield LGA, also utilising synthetic playing surfaces, of which Liverpool has none suitable for football.

Despite the recent weather and COVID-19 complexities, SDSFA still managed to maintain and even slightly improve player numbers from the previous season. The Association almost returned to previous levels of participation, with just short of 9,000 participants across Association clubs.

It is pleasing to report the significant efforts that have been dedicated towards the women’s game, with female football back on the rise, representing almost 20% of player participants across the District. SDSFA would

like to thank all of the club volunteers within the 38 clubs for their persistence, tenacity and flexibility in getting through these challenging times.

SDSFA, unlike many others, managed to play out the whole season and after some ‘thinking outside the box’ completed all finals for the season as well as the 2022 Knock Out Competitions, thus giving all of the players the best opportunity to play their chosen sport.

SDSFA, in conjunction with Macarthur Association, ran a pilot program joining

some competitions to provide a competitive platform for some of our Association teams. The pilot was run successfully for the respective teams and both Associations, so much so that there will be an expansion of the joint structure for selected division one competitions in season 2023. This will provide these teams stronger competition and broaden their environment to enhance the teams’ playing experience.

Everyone at SDSFA are looking forward to a pandemic and El Niño free season in 2023; the sport deserves that.

SUTHERLAND SHIRE FA

After navigating through COVID-19 during the previous two seasons, thoughts were clearly focused on an uninterrupted 2022. No one would have thought the weather would have had such a massive impact.

Families have been victims to major flooding and devastation in Shire communities with sport being furthest from their minds. For others, the contrary is true.

In a year where we have seen two metres of water fall on local fields, constant closures, limited training, the Sutherland Shire Football Association (SSFA) community still managed to play thirteen rounds and a finals series, testament to the resolve of Clubs working closely with the Association.

The cooperation and support from the twenty-six member Clubs has been outstanding over what has been an exceedingly difficult three years. Around the country, Sporting Clubs have folded and will unlikely return to provide sport in their communities. The SSFA registration fee reduction to $1 this season went a long way to maintaining strong registrations.

A huge thank you goes to Sutherland Council for allowing the extension of the football season into the summer allocation. Their support over not just this year but numerous years has been invaluable in achieving the games played. To the SSFA sponsors, the value may be difficult to assess but the Association is very appreciative of the continued support from Sutherland Council, Tradies, Deploy, D.Velop.R, Green Options, Katrina Wright, Rylex and Southpest.

The work of many to establish the inaugural Shire Premier League this year has been a true credit. Thanks to the working Group, SSFA EC members, Presidents, coaches, managers, and active participants that have set the standard. Whilst it was certainly not perfect, the communication and cooperation will truly assist in growing the competition over the coming years.

The SSFA CEO Jeff Stewart has once again done an outstanding job in managing the operations throughout the year. His guidance of all staff within his control has delivered the best product available in a difficult environment.

The SSFA has invested money into MyCompApp this year. Finally, a web-based competition draw management system that will provide greater flexibility going forward. This has taken 10 years to source a provider that can assist field management operations. Over time, SSFA continues to face challenges. Volunteering is in major decline, and this affects the ability for Clubs to manage their operations. The sport is only as strong as its members, and it is vitally important that families all chip in to assist their Clubs in delivering a wonderful experience for the Under 6s, right through to the Over 45s.

The Executive Committee have once again worked tirelessly during these difficult years. Their support has been tremendous, and they deserve an immense thank you for all their diligence over the year. Finally, to all players across the community, SSFA thanks you for your understanding in such a difficult year. It is hoped that COVID-19 goes, rain stops and the sun shines for 26 weeks from March 2023.

REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Season 2022 has been a very successful year for the Albury Wodonga Football Association (AWFA) with player numbers very close to pre-pandemic levels and experiencing an increased number of senior ladies teams.

While there have been some struggles with numbers in a few grades, the overall participation rate has been the envy of many rival codes in the area. The challenge is to ensure players are retained and new players are attracted to the sport for the 2023 season.

To facilitate this, 2022 has seen the development of a new strategic plan to guide the development of football in the Albury-Wodonga region through the next five years.

A Female sub-committee has also been formed to ensure a plan for the retention of great female talent and to attract new players to the sport as the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ in Australia approaches. Next year will also see the 50th Anniversary of AWFA which will be celebrated with the local football community.

The season began with the postponed final of the 2021 AWFA FA Cup and then continued with a successful 2022 AWFA FA Cup played alongside the normal League competition.

The introduction of a points system for the Division 1 men’s teams has resulted in the closest competition ever with the League Champions being decided on the last weekend.

For the first time, the Grand Final matches were held at the recently renovated Lavington Sports Stadium. This major facility provided unprecedented conditions, including a major grandstand and unparalleled player facilities, providing a new spectacle for the final playing day of the season. This was a hugely successful day culminating in the Women’s and Men’s finals being extremely closely contested with a thrilling atmosphere created by some enthusiastic supporters.

The league has been able to take advantage of great local media coverage and has continued the association with live streaming partner, All In Sports, to broadcast the AWFA FA Cup Finals and Division 1 Men’s and Women’s League matches each week. This culminated with all Grand Final games on ground 1 being live streamed.

The running of this competition cannot be possible without an army of volunteers who give up their time so that the world game can be played every weekend. Many thanks go to every one of the volunteers who selflessly give their time so that as many people as possible can play this wonderful game.

In 2022, the football season was a busy and successful year for Football Wagga Wagga (FWW). All events in 2022 were met with great positivity and engagement from local players.

School visits were a key focus point with contact being made with 4742 students this year across more than 20 schools. The annual Mini Matildas and Socceroos gala days for stage 2 and 3 were also a major success for FWW with over 190 teams and 1650 students in attendance over four massive days of football.

The Association had a large focus on player engagement and retention rates within the female football space, especially in the junior girls’ competitions. FWW expanded to add a third all-juniors girls competition which was a great success and will be hoping to build on this in 2023 to create four all girls competitions.

A major contributing factor to the slow but gradual growth for our junior girls was the successful Female Football Festival that FWW held in the pre-season which saw over 110 girls running around for the afternoon playing small-sided games, receiving many giveaways and having a great time. These types of events will become a regular occurrence especially in 2023 with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ on home soil.

The FWW representative SAP and Academy programs had fantastic years with weekly training and attendance at Football NSW Gala days, Forbes Gala day and Kanga Cup to name a few. The Under 10s girls team had a very successful year winning both the Forbes and Kanga Cup tournaments with Issy Rodney taking out the Under 10s Most Valuable Player at Kanga Cup. In addition, Harper Alderson was named the Under 12 Girls Most Valuable Player at Kanga Cup. FWW’s two academy teams also had great years with both teams’ highlight being crowned runners up at the Merino Cup in Goulburn.

Another highlight for 2022 was the amount of local FWW players who represented NSW Country in both the boys and girls TSP tournaments throughout the year. Special mentions go to Vaughn Jenkins, Dipkar Rai, Hannah Ferguson, Perri Nash, Maddy Angel and Megan Castle, as well as former FWW players Samantha Emms, Allyana Levy and Alethea Levy, who were all selected to represent NSW Country at either NYC or NTC competitions. FWW also had Liam Dedini, Andrew Mason and Michael Babic attend the NYC as coaches.

Overall, 2022 was a successful year for the Association with a total of 2837 registered players. Of these players, 1,374 were aged 5-11 in the Miniroos age bracket, 743 were aged 12-18 in the junior age bracket and 720 players aged 19+ in the senior bracket. Participation numbers will be a big push for 2023 to ensure the continued growth of the game and offer a suitable program for every individual in the Association.

REGISTERED PLAYER COMPARISON

JUNIORS V SENIORS COMPARISON

*0.0274% selected “Non-Binary”, “Gender Fluid”or “Gender identity not sufficiently represented”

FEMALE PLAYER COMPARISON

MALE PLAYER COMPARISON

FUTSAL REGISTERED PLAYER COMPARISON

NUMBER OF CLUBS COMPARISON

Graham Crawhall Jim Auld

STATE AWARDS

Bankstown District Amateur Football Association

Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association Inc

Eastern Suburbs Football Association

Eurobodalla Football Association Inc.

Football South Coast

Football St George

Hills Football

Macarthur Football Association

Manly Warringah Football Association

Manly Warringah Football Association

Nepean Football Association Inc

Shoalhaven District Football Association Inc.

Southern Districts Soccer Football Association

Southern Tablelands Football Association Inc.

Sutherland Shire FA

Northern Suburbs Football Association

AWARD RECIPIENTS

Robert Mearns

Andrew McVeigh

Caroline Oakes-Ash

Murray Wignall

Phil Torpy

Peter Mallios

Anthony Torville

Colin Campbell

Annette Burgoyne

Peter Auld

Sharon Schaecken

Wendy Lymbery

Gino Marra

Graeme Eddy

Russell Marsden

Damian Miles

LIFE MEMBERS

Louie Apostolovski

Vince Balzan

Cec Barlow*

Ron Beaumont

Leonard Bolden OAM*

William Brackenbury*

Howard Bradley

Frank Broughton*

Aulden Brown*

Lionel Brown*

Andy Burton*

George Churchward*

Jack Cirjanic*

Robert Clark

Robert Colombo

John Constantine AM, OAM*

Lindsay Cosgrove

David Crampton

William Cullinan*

Kevin Darcy*

Harrie Dening OAM*

George Dick OAM*

Tom A. Doumanis OAM

Eric Drury*

Trevor Elliott*

Brian Emery

Les Fairclough*

Ken Ferguson*

William Ford*

Jim Forrest

Ron Garvin*

Keith Gilmour*

David Goodman

Peter Gray

John Hedison

Ian Holmes

Stan Jones MBE*

Ross Kelly

Steve Kenny

Rob Laws

Joe Leffley*

Peter McCann*

Douglas McCarron*

Bill McIlveen*

A. Raahauge*

Anthony Raciti

Doug Rennie OAM

Joan Robertson*

Jim Ronis

Laurie Simpson

Florence Stephenson

Arthur Sidney Tanner BEM*

Jack Thomas*

John Thomson OAM*

Peter Thorne

Jack Toole*

Ray Tweedie OAM

Charles Valentine*

Sam Vella OAM*

L. Williams*

Bill Wilson*

Frank Wilson*

Rod Woods*

CHARLES VALENTINE MEDAL

Graham Crawhall

FUTURE LEADERS AWARD

Matthew Staples

Theo Dracopoulos

David Neale

GEORGE CHURCHWARD MEDAL

Jim Auld FAIR PLAY AWARD

Goulburn Stags Under 11 Blue

HONOUR ROLL

FOOTBALL NSW COMPETITIONS

HONOUR ROLL

FOOTBALL NSW FUTSAL

FOOTBALL NSW CUPS & COMMUNITY FOOTBALL

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

Your directors present this report on the entity for the financial year ended 31 October, 2022

DIRECTORS

The names of each person who has been a director during the year and to the date of this report are:

Gilbert Lorquet

Fiona Lang

Louie Apostolovski (retired 31 December 2022)

Stephen Hayes (retired 31 December 2022)

Carlos Gonzalez

Morris Iemma

Stephanie Brantz

Brett Mitchell (appointed 1 November 2021)

Deborah Chapman (appointed 2 November 2021)

Directors have been in office since the start of the financial year to the date of this report unless otherwise stated.

PRINCIPAL ACTIVITIES

The principal activity of the entity during the financial year was the fostering of the game at all levels from the Premier Leagues to grassroots community football for its members. Its primary objectives are to grow participation and enjoyment across the Football NSW footprint and manage a Premier League and State league competition that drives the development of its players, coaches and referees for the longer term objectives of building a world class footballing nation. Its supplementary objectives are to promote the game, service its membership and act cohesively with Football Australia to provide a unity in purpose.

FINANCIALS

REVIEW OF OPERATIONS

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

Football NSW's short-term objectives are to: deliver financial and organisational sustainability through effective corporate gov ernance, ensure structural and philosophical alignment with the Football Australia, develop a strong customer service focus and service delivery ethos. Football NSW's long term objective is to grow, develop and promote the game by supporting our members, stakeholders and football family through effect ive governance, strong leadership, transparent communication, professional administration and clear strategic direction.

After two Covid impacted years, Football NSW saw a full season of football activity this year including hosting the NPL NSW M en’s Grand Final at the Commonwealth Bank Stadium, and the return of our annual dinners for players, coaches, referees and administrators.

The operating performance this year has improved marginally from previous year. Outdoor community player registrations decrea sed compared to the previous year by 11.9k community players with financial impact of $400k mainly due to the increase in 'omicron' wave case num bers in early 2022 impacting decisions to play sport, wet weather, and flooding over February. Despite the community player number decreasing in FY2022, capitation and insurance fees revenue shows an increase in comparison to FY2021 due to credit provided to associations and clubs in relation to shortened football season in FY2021 amounting to $1.6m.

Revenue and operating expenses have increased in line with increase in operating activities as football returned, and against the reduction in income from the $1.6m credits as mentioned above.

The financials reflect a decrease in asset value of the land on which Valentine Sports Park is built. The market value should simply be seen as a paper valuation of the underlying land asset base, should the park ever be sold for residential redevelopment. As in previous years , we have undertaken an independent land valuation at the end of the financial year. In the current financial year, a decrease in the land value has resulted in a devaluation of the asset due to current market conditions. The valuation is based on the estimate of the developable area and the number of pote ntial sites that could be accommodated within the developable area. The residential market is currently going through a period of volatility which has affected the value of the site.

Football NSW has this year aligned its insurance period with the insurance providers, to the Football NSW financial year (Nov 1 to Oct 31). This alignment will enable accurate pricing of insurance premium charges to the associations and clubs, and reporting of insurance charges i n the financial report. This has also resulted in a one-off additional insurance expense due to higher player personal accident claims in FY2022.

In 2022 Football NSW also engaged consulting firm BDO to undertake a ‘current state’ review to align our staff management pra ctices with long-term strategy, and the Board put the finishing touches on a new Strategic Plan for the period 2023 -2026. These two actions together will ensure that Football NSW refines its services to better meet its members’ needs, and that our people and our practices are aligned to ensure succe ssful delivery.

Football NSW had two of its directors, Stephen Hayes and Louie Apostolovski, resign as of 31 December 2022. Also, two new dir ectors, Deborah Chapman and Brett Mitchell, joined the Board as of November 2021.

Football NSW CEO, Stuart Hodge, resigned as at the end of 2022, with the new CEO, John Tsatsimas started in December 2022.

INFORMATION ON DIRECTORS

GILBERT LORQUET (elected 19 March 2021)

Chairman, Football NSW Limited

Chief Executive Officer, NORTH Foundation (philanthropic arm of Northern Sydney Local Health District)

Advisory Board Member, One Eighty (youth suicide prevention)

Former Director and Deputy Chairman, Canterbury District & Soccer Football Association

Life Membership Abbotsford Juniors Football Club

FIONA LANG (appointed 29 August 2018)

Deputy Chair, Football NSW Limited

General Manager/MD of BBC Studios, ANZ

INSEAD Business School Program

LOUIE APOSTOLOVSKI (elected 14 March 2014, appointed 11 May 2016, retired 31 December 2022)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Director, itravel

Life Member, Football NSW Limited

Foundation Life Member, Bankstown City Lions

STEPHEN HAYES (appointed 10 November 2010, elected 11 August 2011, appointed 11th May 2016, retired 31 December 2022)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Self Employed

George Churchward Medal Winner

Life Member, Riverina Branch, Boomers Football Club (Albury Wodonga), Albury Wodonga Football Association, Albury Wodonga Soccer Referees Association

CARLOS GONZALEZ (elected 31 March 2017)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Corporate Real Estate Professional

MORRIS IEMMA (elected 20 March 2020)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Chairman, Clean Energy Partnerships & Cancer Institute NSW

Director Ingham Medical Research Institute

Former Premier of New South Wales

STEPHANIE BRANTZ (Appointed Director from 14 January 2021, then was appointed to fill a casual vacancy from 4 May 2021)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Ambassador for 1 goal

Chair, DFAT Sports Diplomacy Advisory Council

Respected Australian freelance television sport presenter, reporter and commentator

BRETT MITCHELL (appointed 1 November 2021)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Member of Audit and Risk Committee, Football NSW

National Partner in Charge, KPMG Enterprise - Tax Advisory, Deals and Specialist Services

Board Member & Audit Committee Chair, KPMG Chartered Accountant, Registered Auditor, Registered Tax Agent Member, Australian Institute of Company Directors

DEBORAH CHAPMAN (appointed 2 November 2021)

Director, Football NSW Limited

Chair of Audit and Risk Committee, Football NSW

Chartered Accountant

Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Chief Financial Officer of New South Wales Treasury

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

MEETINGS OF DIRECTORS

During the financial year, 11 meetings of directors were held. Attendances by each director were as follows:

MEMBERS' GUARANTEE

The entity is incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 and is an entity limited by guarantee. If the entity is wound up, the constitution states that each member is required to contribute a maximum of $20 each towards meeting any outstanding obligations of the entity. At 31 October 2022, the total amount that members of the company are liable to contribute if the company is wound up is $1,160 (2021: $1,160).

INDEMNIFICATION OF AUDITORS

To the extent permitted by law, Football NSW has agreed to indemnify its auditors, Ernst & Young, as part of the terms of its audit engagement agreement against claims by third parties arising from the audit (for an unspecified amount). No payment has been made to indemnify Ernst & Young during the financial year or since the financial year end.

INDEMNIFICATION AND INSURANCE OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

During the financial year, the Company paid a premium in respect of a contract insuring the directors of the company, the company secretary and all executive officers to the extent permitted by the Corporations Act 2001. The contract of insurance prohibits disclosure of the nature of the liability and the amount of the premium.

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AFTER BALANCE DATE

Other than that disclosed in this report and to the knowledge of directors, there has been no other matter or circumstance that has arisen since the end of the financial year that has significantly affected, or may affect Football NSW's operations in future financial years, the results of those operations or Football NSW's state of affairs in future financial years.

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

Football NSW's operations are not subject to any particular or significant environmental regulation under a law of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory in Australia.

INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

FINANCIALS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 OCTOBER 2022

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 31 OCTOBER 2022

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

(

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

Reserves

(a) Capital Profits Reserve

The capital profits reserve records profits on sale of land.

(b) Asset Revaluation Reserve

The asset revaluation reserve records the revaluations of property, plant and equipment.

c ) Sinking / Capital Fund

The Sinking Fund identifies monies required for routine resurfacing of the 2 artificial fields which are to be completed in the next 12 months. After a review of the Capital Fund, the Board and Management of FNSW have come to the conclusion that the Capital Fund is no longer required as it did not have specific programs identified and hence there are no specific monies or bank accounts set aside for these funds. The Capital Fund amount has been reversed back to Retained Earnings.

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

The accompanying notes form part of these financial statements.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTE 1: STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial report of Football NSW Limited for the year ended 31 October 2022 was authorised for issue by the Directors on the 22nd of February 2023. The financial statements are for Football NSW Limited as an individual not for profit entity, incorporated and domiciled in Australia. Football NSW Limited is a company limited by guarantee.

Basis of Preparation

The financial report is presented in Australian dollars.

These general purpose financial statements have been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the Corporations Act 200 1 and Australian Accounting Standards – Simplified Disclosures. The Group is a for -profit entity for the purposes of preparing these financial st atements. AASB 1060.10, 11(a), 11(b). The Group has adopted AASB 1060 General Purpose Financial Statements – Simplified Disclosures for For-Profit and Not-forProfit Tier 2 Entities in the current year. Other than the change in disclosure requirements, the adoption of AASB 1060 has n o significant impact on the financial statements because the Group’s previous financial statements complied with Australian Accounting Standards – Reduced Disclosure Requirements.

Australian Accounting Standards set out accounting policies that the AASB has concluded would result in financial statements containing relevant and reliable information about transactions, events and conditions. Material accounting policies adopted in the preparation of t hese financial statements are presented below and have been consistently applied unless otherwise stated.

The financial statements have been prepared on an accruals basis and are based on historical costs, modified, where applicabl e, by the measurement at fair value of selected non-current assets, financial assets and financial liabilities.

The financial report has been prepared on a going concern basis which assumes continuity of normal business activities and re alisation of assets and settlement of liabilities in the ordinary course of business.

The directors evaluate estimates and judgments incorporated into the financial report based on historical knowledge and best available current information. Estimates assume a reasonable expectation of future events and are based on current trends and economic data, o btained both externally and within the company.

Accounting Policies

(a) Changes in Accounting Policy, Disclosures, Standards and Interpretations

The new and amended Australian Accounting Standards and Interpretations that apply for the first time in 2022 do not material ly impact the financial statements of the entity.

(b) Revenue and Other Income

Revenue from contracts with customers is recognised when control of the goods or services are transferred to the customer at an amount that reflects the consideration to which FNSW expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. FNSW has generally concluded that it is the principal in its revenue arrangements. The specific recognition criteria described below must also be met before revenue is recognised.

Revenue from the rendering of a service is recognised upon delivery of the service to the customers. Capitation and insurance fees are recognised as revenue based on actual number of player registrations. Membership fees are recognised as revenue based on actual number of associations and competitions registered. Revenue from Valentine Sports Park is recognised across the accommodation period or hire period.

Sales of goods is recognised as revenue at a point in time for each transaction.

Grant revenue is recognised in the income statement when the entity obtains control of the grant and it is probable that the economic benefits gained from the grant will flow to the entity and the amount of the grant can be measured reliably.

Interest revenue is recognised using the effective interest rate method, which for floating rate financial assets is the rate inherent in the instrument. Dividend revenue is recognised when the right to receive a dividend has been established.

In 2021, the NSW government introduced the JobSaver Payment scheme to support cashflow of businesses significantly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic to help keep more Australians in jobs. The Jobsaver Payment was available to assist businesses from July 18, 2021 onwards, with payment equivalent to 40% of weekly payroll, and changed to 30% of weekly payroll for eligible businesses after NSW reached 70% double-dose vaccination. Payment changed to 15% of weekly payroll after NSW reached 80% double-dose vaccination, that took effect from 24 October 2021. Eligible businesses used Job Saver to cover business costs incurred due to the impacts of public health order in NSW, costs included salaries and wages, utilities and rent, financial, legal or other advice, and other business costs.

The company has recognised a receivable and income when it has obtained control over the funding. Football NSW received the last Jobsaver payment on 17th December 2021.

FINANCIALS

(c) Property, Plant and Equipment

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

Each class of property, plant and equipment is carried at cost or fair values as indicated, less, where applicable, accumulat ed depreciation and impairment losses.

Freehold Property

Freehold land and buildings are shown at their fair value based on periodic, annual valuations by external independent valuer s.

Increases in the carrying amount arising on revaluation of land and buildings are recognised in other comprehensive income an d accumulated in the revaluation reserve in equity. Revaluation decrements that offset previous increases of the same class of assets shall be rec ognised in other comprehensive income under the heading of revaluation reserve. All other decreases are charged to the statement of comprehensive income.

As the revalued buildings are depreciated, the difference between depreciation recognised in the statement of comprehensive i ncome, which is based on the revalued carrying amount of the asset and the depreciation based on the asset’s original cost, is transferred from the revalu ation surplus to retained earnings.

Any accumulated depreciation at the date of the revaluation is eliminated against the gross carrying amount of the asset and the net amount is restated to the revalued amount of the asset.

Plant and equipment

Plant and equipment are measured on the cost basis less depreciation and impairment losses.

The carrying amount of plant and equipment is reviewed annually by the entity to ensure it is not in excess of the recoverabl e amount from these assets. The recoverable amount is assessed on the basis of expected net cash flows which will be received from the assets employment and subsequent disposal. The expected net cash flows have been discounted to their present values in determining recoverable amounts.

Depreciation

The depreciable amount of all fixed assets including capitalised lease assets, but excluding freehold land and buildings, is depreciated on a straight-line basis over the asset's useful life to the entity commencing from the time the asset is held ready for use. Buildings are depr eciated on a written-down value basis.

The depreciation rates used for each class of depreciable assets are:

The assets' residual values and useful lives are reviewed, and adjusted if appropriate, at the end of each reporting period.

Asset classes carrying amount are written down immediately to their recoverable amount if the asset's carrying amount is grea ter than its estimated recoverable amount.

Gains and losses on disposals are determined by comparing proceeds with the carrying amount. These gains or losses are inclu ded in the statement of comprehensive income.

(d) Leases

The Company applies the short-term lease recognition exemption to its short -term leases of machinery and equipment (i.e., those leases that have a lease term of 12 months or less from the commencement date and do not contain a purchase option). It also applies the lease of low -value assets recognition exemption to leases of office equipment that are considered to be low value. Lease payments on short -term leases and leases of low-value assets are recognised as expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

recognised as expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

(e) Financial Instruments

Initial recognition and measurement

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the entity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of th e instrument. For financial assets, this is equivalent to the date that the entity commits itself to either purchase or sell the asset (ie trade date accounting is adopted). Financial instruments are initially measured at fair value plus transaction costs except where the instrument is classified ‘at fair value through prof it or loss’ in which case transaction costs are expensed to profit or loss immediately.

Classification and subsequent measurement

Finance instruments are subsequently measured at either fair value or amortised cost using the effective interest rate method or cost. Fair value represents the amount for which an asset could be exchanged or a liability settled, between knowledgeable, willing parties. Where availa ble, quoted prices in an active market are used to determine fair value. In other circumstances, valuation techniques are adopted.

Amortised cost :

Amortised cost is calculated as the amount at which the financial asset or financial liability is measured at initial recogni tion; less principal repayments, plus or minus the cumulative amortization of the difference, if any, between the amount initially recognized and the maturity amou nt calculated using the effective interest method; and less and reduction for expected credit loss.

The effective interest method is used to allocate interest income or interest expense over the relevant period and is equival ent to the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash payments or receipts (including fees, transaction costs and other premiums or discounts) thro ugh the expected life (or when this cannot be reliably predicted, the contractual term) of the financial instrument to the net carrying amount of the financ ial asset or financial liability. Revisions to expected future net cash flows will necessitate an adjustment to the carrying value with a consequential recogni tion of an income or expense in profit or loss.

(i) Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss

Financial assets are classified at fair value when they are held for trading for the purpose of short-term profit taking, or where they are derivatives not held for hedging purposes, or when they are designated as such to avoid an accounting mismatch or to enable performance evaluation where a group of financial assets is managed by key management personnel on a fair value basis in accordance with a documented risk management or investment strategy Such assets are subsequently measured at fair value with changes in carrying value being included in profit or loss

(ii) Receivables

Receivables, previously classified as Loans and receivables under AASB 139 are now classified and measured as Financial assets at amortised cost under AASB 9 Financial Instruments Receivables are recognised initially at fair value and subsequently at amortised cost Normal terms of settlement vary from 30 days FNSW assesses expected credit losses upon initial recognition of the financial asset with a forward-looking expected credit loss (ECL) approach For trade and other receivables, FNSW applies the simplified approach permitted by the standard, which requires expected lifetime losses to be recognized from initial recognition of the receivables In prior periods, amounts not recoverable were assessed at each reporting date under AASB 139 Indicators that an amount was not recoverable include where there was objective evidence of significant financial difficulties, debtor bankruptcy, financial reorganisation or default in payment Any allowances for non-recoverable receivables were recognised in a separate allowance account Any bad debts which had previously been provided for were eliminated against the allowance account In all other cases bad debts were written off directly to the statement of profit or loss

(iii) Financial Liabilities

Non-derivative financial liabilities (excluding financial guarantees) are subsequently measured at amortised cost

Fair value

Fair value is determined based on current bid prices for all quoted investments Valuation techniques are applied to determine the fair value for all unlisted securities, including recent arm's length transactions, reference to similar instruments and option pricing models

Impairment

FNSW recognises an allowance for expected credit losses (ECLs) for all debt instruments not held at fair value through profit or loss ECLs are based on the difference between the contractual cash flows due in accordance with the contract and all the cash flows that FNSW expects to receive, discounted at an approximation of the original effective interest rate The expected cash flows will include cash flows from the sale of collateral held or other credit enhancements that are integral to the contractual terms

De-recognition

A financial liability is derecognised when the obligation under the liability is discharged or cancelled or expires When an existing financial liability is replaced by another from the same lender on substantially different terms, or the terms of an existing liability are substantially modified, such an exchange or modification is treated as the derecognition of the original liability and the recognition of a new liability The difference in the respective carrying amounts is recognised in the statement of profit or loss

(f) Impairment of Assets

At the end of each reporting period, the entity reviews the carrying values of its tangible and intangible assets to determin e whether there is any indication that those assets have been impaired. If such an indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset, being the higher of the asset’s fair value less costs to sell and value in use, is compared to the asset’s carrying value. Any excess of the asset’s carrying value over its recove rable amount is expensed to the statement of comprehensive income.

Where the future economic benefits of the asset are not primarily dependent upon the asset’s ability to generate net cash inf lows and when the entity would, if deprived of the asset, replace its remaining future economic benefits, value in use is determined as the depreciate d replacement cost of an asset. Where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of a class of assets, the entity estimates the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit to which the class of assets belong.

Where an impairment loss on a revalued asset is identified, this is debited against the revaluation surplus in respect of the same class of asset to the extent that the impairment loss does not exceed the amount in the revaluation surplus for that same class of asset.

FINANCIALS

(g) Employee Benefits

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

Provision is made for the entity’s liability for employee benefits arising from services rendered by employees to the end of the reporting period. Employee benefits that are expected to be settled within one year have been measured at the amounts expected to be paid when the liabi lity is settled.

Employee benefits payable later than one year have been measured at the present value of the estimated future cash outflows t o be made for those benefits. Contributions are made by the company to an employee superannuation fund and are charged as expenses when incurred.

(h) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, deposits held at -call with banks, other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. These are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value.

(i) Finance Costs

Finance costs are recognised as an expense in the period in which they are incurred.

(j) Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Revenues, expenses and assets are recognised net of the amount of GST, except where the amount of GST incurred is not recover able from the Australian Taxation Office. In these circumstances the GST is recognised as part of the cost of acquisition of the asset or as part of an item of the expense.

Receivables and payables in the statement of financial position are net of GST and the overall GST position is remitted to th e Australian Taxation Office and recognised as a separate balance

Cash flows are presented in the statement of cash flows on a gross basis, except for the GST component of investing and finan cing activities, which are disclosed as operating cash flows.

(k) Income Tax

No provision for income tax has been raised as the entity is exempt income tax under Division 50 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

(l) Provisions

Provisions are recognised when the entity has a legal or constructive obligation, as a result of past events, for which it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will result and that outflow can be reliably measured. Provisions recognised represent the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation at the end of the reporting period.

(m) Comparative Figures

Where required by Accounting Standards comparative figures have been adjusted to conform with changes in presentation for the current financial year.

(n) Trade and Other Payables

Trade and other payables represent the liability outstanding at the end of the reporting period for goods and services receiv ed by the company during the reporting period which remain unpaid. The balance is recognised as a current liability with the amounts normally paid within 30 days of recognition of the liability.

(o) Critical Accounting Estimates and Judgements

As at 31 October 2022, an independent valuation was performed on the freehold land and buildings at Valentine Sports Park. This valuation was conducted by Colliers International. The valuation was based on the fair value less cost to sell.

The key assumptions and estimates used in the valuation approach include:

- Comparable property market evidence

- Demand for land in the area

- Rate per square metre of developable site area

The potential effect of an increase or decrease in the rate per square metre of developable site area of $10 would have the e ffect of increasing or decreasing the fair value by $0.9 million respectively. The valuation has been prepared by an external valuer based on the information t hat is available at 31 October 2022.

(p) NAB Business Markets Loan Facility

The NAB Business Markets Loan facility has been extended to 30 May, 2026. The facility limit reduces by $500,000 on the 31st of October each year. The interest rate applicable on funds drawn on the loan is Floating Rate of 6.06% as at 31 October 2022.

The current facility limit is $6,500,000 as at 31 October 2022 and was unused in this financial year.

(q) Contingent Liability

From time to time Football NSW is subject to legal claims. At this point in time, management do not believe any exposure woul d be material and therefore no provision has been raised.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTE 2: REVENUE AND OTHER INCOME

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022 -

NOTE 3: EXPENSES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTE 4:

NOTE

NOTE

held-to-maturity and held-for-trading are held to generate income through the receipt of distributions and capital gains.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTE

The accounting policy for property plant and equipment is disclosed in Note 1(d)

Movement in the carrying amounts for each class of property, plant and equipment between the beginning and the end of the cur rent financial year.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

FINANCIALS

NOTE 11: PROVISIONS (CONTINUED)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

(a) The provision balance of $1,191,127 represents the total annual leave and long service leave employee entitlement payable.

(b) Provision for Long-term Employee Benefits

A provision has been recognised for employee benefits relating to long service leave. In calculating the present value of fut ure cash flows in respect of long service leave, the probability of long service leave being taken is based on historical data. The measurement and recognition criteria for employee benefits has been included in note 1(h).

NOTE 12: OTHER

NOTE 13: KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL COMPENSATION

Key management personnel are those persons having authority for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the entity, directly or indirectly, including any director of that entity. Short-term benefits include salary & fees, superannuation and non-cash benefits.

NOTE 14: RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Transactions between related parties are on normal commercial terms and conditions are no more favourable than those available to other parties unless otherwise stated. Stephen Hayes is providing coaching services to Talented Support Pathway and his remuneration is estimated to be no more than $1,500 for the season. This is no more than what any other coach is paid.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

NOTE 15: FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

The company's financial instruments consist mainly of cash and cash equivalents, short -term investments, trade and other receivables, trade and other payables and borrowings.

The totals for each category of financial instruments, measured in accordance with AASB 9 as detailed in the accounting polic ies to these financial statements, are as follows:

Fair values of held for trading listed investments are based on quoted market prices at the end of the reporting period.

The fair values of finance leases are determined using a discounted cash flow model incorporating current commercial borrowin g rates.

NOTE 16: COMMITMENT & CONTINGENCIES

There are capital commitments of nil as at 31 October 2022 (2021: nil).

There are contingent liabilities of nil as at 31 October 2022 (2021: nil)

NOTE 17: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Other than that disclosed in this report and to the knowledge of directors, there has been no other matter or circumstance th at has arisen since the end of the financial year that has significantly affected, or may affect Football NSW's operations in future financial years, the re sults of those operations or Football NSW's state of affairs in future financial years.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOVER 2022

The directors of the company declare that:

1.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2022

The financial statements and notes are in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001 and:

(a) comply with Australian Accounting Standards - Reduced Disclosure Requirements; and

(b) give a true and fair view of the financial position as at 31 October 2022 and of the performance for the year ended on that date of the entity.

2. In the directors’ opinion there are reasonable grounds to believe that the entity will be able to pay its debts as and when they become due and payable.

This declaration is made in accordance with a resolution of the Board of Directors.

GILBERT LORQUET DEBORAH CHAPMAN Director Director

Dated: 22 February 2023