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 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.