Football Victoria (FV) has welcomed an announcement today by the Andrews Government to extend the World Game Facilities Fund (WGFF) to $20m if it is re-elected at the forthcoming state election.
The announcement also involves an immediate funding boost of $200,000 for a business case to investigate and develop a State Football Centre in Victoria.
Football Victoria President Kimon Taliadoros described the funding boost as a “tremendous outcome for the game.”
“An extended World Game Facilities Fund would play an important role in enabling the improvement and addition of much-needed football facilities across the community, particularly as the game continues to experience strong growth at all levels and especially among women and girls,” he said.
“In addition, we’re pleased that we have the immediate financial support of the Andrews Government to fund the scoping of a proposed State Football Centre, which we also hope could become the home of the Matildas.”
Football Victoria recently released a State Facilities Strategy to 2026 that highlights a chronic funding shortage for critical infrastructure at the grassroots and elite levels across the state. The report found that the game needs 450 new playing grounds over the next five years to meet current levels of demand.
FV CEO, Peter Filopoulos, said the governing body was “grateful to the Andrews Government for what would be a significant boost to football.”
“We’re all in it together to ensure the funding is there to support the ongoing growth of one of the nation’s most popular participation sports. Football plays a critical role in bringing communities together and it’s vital that as a society we’re enabling a growing number of Victorians to play the game they love,” Mr Filopoulos said.
“The opportunity for football is so exciting and we’ll keep working with government at all levels so we can meet the burgeoning demand for the game across Victoria,” he said.
Today’s facilities funding pledge comes as the state governing body unveiled a new brand identity in line with football’s positioning nationally as the game for all Australians. The rebrand includes a name-change to Football Victoria.