{"id":411806,"date":"2026-01-14T07:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411806\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T07:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T07:24:08","slug":"womens-football-in-australia-reaches-rubicon-moment-as-report-outlines-bold-vision-a-league-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411806\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s football in Australia reaches Rubicon moment as report outlines bold vision | A-League Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2015, Elise Kellond-Knight was part of the Matildas squad that took history-making strike action<\/a>, paving the way for a decade of increased investment that saw the team rise to prominence and Australia secure hosting rights for the 2023 Women\u2019s World Cup and this year\u2019s Women\u2019s Asian Cup. Now, with that continental showpiece less than two months away, the retired midfielder sees the women\u2019s game in Australia at another Rubicon moment, one requiring bold investment in the future of a fully professional A-League Women.<\/p>\n

The players\u2019 union, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), of which Kellond-Knight serves as deputy chair, launched its Ready for Takeoff document<\/a> on Wednesday, outlining a player-led vision for the future of the A-League Women. At its core is a repeat of the union\u2019s persistent call for the Asian Cup to serve as a springboard for the Australian women\u2019s top-flight to relaunch as a fully professional competition, accompanied by a series of recommendations for reforms. These stretch from the competition\u2019s governance, fan engagement strategies, integration with the global football economy, and matchday infrastructure to suit the A-League Women\u2019s needs, as well as the new breed of fan engaging with women\u2019s football and broader women\u2019s sport.<\/p>\n

Declaring that \u201cprogress is itself the product; the league will not win over a new women\u2019s football audience with slogans or marketing, but by embodying the advancement of women athletes\u201d, the report pulls no punches in cataloguing the strategic blunders of league administrators the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), nor the lack of regulatory teeth demonstrated by Football Australia. It also poses that the A-League Women<\/a> has failed to create a strategy for the unique landscape of women\u2019s football in part due to a men\u2019s football-focused decision-making process at the A-League, as well as a lack of investment in women\u2019s football leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery bold action is needed,\u201d Kellond-Knight said. \u201cOften, when key stakeholders are sitting in the chair, it\u2019s a big risk to take, they feel. But when we push them to the edge, and we show them the path, when we take that step together, it\u2019s when we achieve success, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re hoping to do through this.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis outlines opportunity. It\u2019s not doom and gloom. This is about taking an opportunity together. The players have done the work to develop this strategy, and now it\u2019s about taking that next step together with the APL to grow the women\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elise Kellond-Knight on Matildas duty during her playing days. Photograph: Steve Christo\/Corbis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Citing the success of England\u2019s WSL in professionalising for the 2018-19 season, the PFA\u2019s vision makes the case for the A-League Women to adopt the mindset of working backwards from an ideal outcome, rather than forwards from the current status quo. While it doesn\u2019t outright use the term itself, it raises the possibility of contraction in pursuit of this, as well as the abandonment of the current model that ties A-League Men and A-League Women clubs together. \u201cIf current dual-clubs are unable to meet the moment, the door should be opened for new entrants who can,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n

Reiterating the calls for an independent commission to run both men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions<\/a>, research has identified a disconnect and lack of awareness between the league and what is ostensibly its core fanbase. The vision calls for a player-, rather than club- or league-focused engagement model to tailor supporter engagement and matchday experiences around the needs and preferences of women\u2019s football fans. The repatriation of \u201cgolden generation\u201d Matildas coming to the end of their careers makes up part of this, but it is noted that continued semi-professionalism will damage these efforts.<\/p>\n

This is paired with calls for the urgent need for appropriately-sized stadia that feature the required amenities and access to service fans \u2013 several current A-League Women venues are re-purposed training venues \u2013 and an improved broadcast product featuring more cameras, on-site commentators and greater analysis, noting that unsuitable stadia and a pared-back broadcast feeds into a perception of the league being an afterthought lacking in quality. \u201cA new Matildas-activated audience will not be attracted by a league that compromises on the conditions and standards for women athletes,\u201d the vision states.<\/p>\n

On funding this, the vision is optimistic and of the view that a bold course of action would see the proposed reforms pay for itself \u201calmost immediately\u201d. Estimating that A-League Women clubs would need to invest an average of $1m each season to fully professionalise, the union\u2019s research posits that the league growing to make up 5% of the projected global transfer market would bring in $10m alone. This would be supplemented by the improved on-field product brought about by professionalism, increasing access to Asian and Fifa prize money and solidarity payments. Matchday and commercial revenue would accompany the conversion of fans of the Matildas to A-League Women fans at the same rate the WSL was able to accomplish with supporters of the Lionesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really encouraged by the business case,\u201d PFA chief executive Beau Busch said. \u201cWe believe it will require investment, but that investment will absolutely be rewarded, just as was the case in 2015 with the Matildas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2015, Elise Kellond-Knight was part of the Matildas squad that took history-making strike action, paving the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-411806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}