Football Australia

History

In 1911 the Commonwealth Football Association was formed. This body was then superseded by the Australian Soccer Football Association, which was formed in 1921, with its headquarters in Sydney. The Australian Soccer Football Association operated for forty years, was given FIFA provisional membership in November 1954 and this was confirmed in June 1956. In 1960, the association disbanded after being suspended from FIFA for the poaching of players from overseas, and in 1961 the Australian Soccer Federation was formed as a potential successor governing body. This association was refused re-admittance to FIFA until outstanding fines had been paid, which was done in 1963, seeing the new national body admitted to FIFA.

Isolated from international football, Australia repeatedly applied to join the Asian Football Confederation in 1960, and in 1974 but were denied in all requests. Australia with New Zealand eventually formed the Oceania Football Federation (now Oceania Football Confederation) in 1966. Australia resigned as an OFC member in 1972 to pursue membership with the AFC, but they rejoined in 1978.

In 1995, the Australian Soccer Federation formally changed its name to Soccer Australia.

Soccer Australia had remained affiliated with the Football Association (FA) even after becoming a full member of FIFA. In 1997, Soccer Australia tried to nominate Australian head coach Terry Venables to replace former Victorian Soccer Federation chairman Sir David Hill-Wood as their representative on the FA Council, though this approach was rejected and Australian representation on the body was discontinued after his exit.

In 2003, following Australia's failure to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, allegations of fraud and mismanagement were levelled at Soccer Australia by elements within the Australian Press including the ABC. Soccer Australia commissioned an independent inquiry known as the Crawford Report as a result of the Australian Government's threat to withdraw funding to the sport. The Australian Government could not interfere as any political interference would have constituted a breach of FIFA Statutes. The findings of the report were critically analysed by the board of Soccer Australia who believed that the recommendations contained therein were not capable of being implemented. The report recommended, among other things, the reconstitution of the governing body with an interim board headed by prominent businessman Frank Lowy. Some three months after Lowy's appointment Soccer Australia was placed into liquidation and Australia Soccer Association (ASA) was created without encompassing the Crawford Report recommendations and effectively disenfranchising all parties who had an interest in Soccer Australia. The Australian Government provided approximately $15 million to the ASA.

On 1 January 2005, ASA renamed itself to Football Federation Australia (FFA), aligning with the general international usage of the word "football", in preference to "soccer", and to also distance itself from the failings of the old Soccer Australia. It coined the phrase "old soccer, new football" to emphasise this.

On 1 January 2006, Football Federation Australia moved from the OFC to the AFC. The move was unanimously endorsed by the AFC Executive Committee on 23 March 2005, and assented by the OFC on 17 April. The FIFA Executive Committee approved the move on 29 June, noting that "as all of the parties involved ... had agreed to the move, the case did not need to be discussed by the FIFA Congress", and was unanimously ratified by the AFC on 10 September. Football Australia hoped that the move would give Australia a fairer chance of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup and allow A-League clubs to compete in the AFC Champions League, thereby improving the standard of Australian football at both international and club levels with improved competition in the region.

In February 2008, the Football Federation Australia formally announced their intention to bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/world-cup-bid/2008/02/23/1203467459939.html?page=fullpage|title=Let's land the World Cup|date=24 February 2008|access-date=25 February 2008

On 27 August 2013, Australia was admitted as a full member to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), after they formally joined as an invite affiliation to the regional body in 2006. However, its men's national team has not played the ASEAN Championship as part of the initial agreement.

On 29 January 2015, after the defeat of Iraq and the United Arab Emirates during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, West Asian Football Federation members reportedly sought to remove Australia from the AFC primarily due to "Australia benefiting hugely from Asian involvement without giving much in return".

In November 2018 with numerous board positions coming to the end of their 3-year term, the bulk of the board of directors were replaced at an annual general meeting, as well as the departure of Steven Lowy as chair of the board, which he did in protest at major changes to the governance and voting structure in the overarching Football Australia Congress that elects the Board. His position was filled by Chris Nikou.

On 25 June 2020, Australia won the rights to co-host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup alongside New Zealand.

On 25 November 2020, the FFA Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held. The FFA voted to rename itself to Football Australia. The name change was seen as a way to unify the branding with the state member federations.

On 31 December 2020, it was announced that the A-League, W-League and Y-League would no longer be under the jurisdiction of Football Australia in an 'unbundling' process. The newly formed Australian Professional Leagues would take over the running of top-level football. As part of the unbundling, the Australian Professional Leagues would also obtain the exclusive right to use the intellectual property rights associated with the A-League brand. These competitions are now known as the A-League Men, A-League Women and A-League Youth.

On 15 May 2024, Australia won the rights to host the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup.https://www.espn.com/football/story/_/id/40151172/australia-wins-right-host-2026-women-asian-cup

On 11 February 2025, the second tier ‘Australian Championship’ was announced.

On 15 January 2026, Football Australia announced former Stan CEO Martin Kugeler as its new CEO, taking over from interim CEO Heather Garriock who took the role in May 2025, following the departure of James Johnson.

Administration

Soccer in Australia has used a federated model of national, states and territories governing bodies since the first state body was established in New South Wales in 1882. Local associations and regional zones were set up within the states and territories as soccer expanded and from time to time informal groups of clubs have augmented the formal structures. Today, there is one national governing body, nine state and territory member federations and over 100 district, regional and local zones and associations.

• Capital Football
• Northern NSW Football
• Football NSW
• Football Northern Territory
• Football Queensland
• Football South Australia
• Football Tasmania
• Football Victoria
• Football West

Corporate structure

Board of directors

Senior management team

Team staff

National Indigenous Advisory Group

In November 2021, Football Australia created the inaugural National Indigenous Advisory Group (NIAG), an advisory body NIAG is an advisory body for Football Australia, comprising 9 members of First Nations communities.

The inaugural members of the group are drawn from all levels of football as well as media, academia, and government: Frank Farina OAM, Karen Menzies (the first Indigenous Matilda), Tanya Oxtoby, Kyah Simon, Jade North (former Socceroos defender), Courtney Hagan, Kenny Bedford, Selina Holtze, Professor John Maynard, Narelda Jacobs, and Football Australia's Head of Women's Football, Sarah Walsh. North and Walsh are co-chairs of the group.

The initial focus of NIAG is on supporting and retaining First Nations players and other staff involved in the game, reviewing pathways and programs to football that impact social outcomes, fostering strategic partnerships, as well as developing employment strategies and the organisation's reconciliation action plan (RAP).

Competitions

Main article: Australian soccer league system

Football Australia organises several national competitions, with state-based competitions organised by the respective state governing soccer bodies.

• A-League Men (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2021)
• Australia Cup
• Australian Championship
• National Premier Leagues
• A-League Women, formerly W-League (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2019)
• Women's Australia Cup (a proposed competition due to start in 2024)
• A-League Youth, formerly Y-League (ceased ownership of the competition in July 2019)
• FFA State Institute Challenge
• F-League

References

References

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