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.