Come on Canberra

Victorian Government gives local football major boost

If the Victorian Government can increase their financial support for football in AFL mad Melbourne lets hope the ACT Government continue to increase their financial support for football both at Grassroots level and Elite level.

We don't want to fall further behind do we?

Football Federation Victoria Mark Rendell said today, "We outlined in our Strategic Plan earlier this year the need to generate additional revenue to invest in the growth of Victorian Football, and this falls into line with that.

"The commitment of $750,000 from the Victorian Government is a great start to what we are trying to achieve."

The new projects, which include the Victory Schools 5-a-side, a Volunteer Recognition Program, Grassroots Certificate Training and Small Sided Games Communication Strategy, have already received excellent feedback throughout Victoria.


Victorian Government gives local football major boost

A host of Melbourne Victory stars were on hand at Telstra Dome yesterday as Football Federation Australia, Football Federation Victoria and the Victorian Government, through its Department of Sport and Recreation, announced a commitment of $750,000 towards community football in Victoria.

Victorian Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs the Honourable James Merlino made the announcement alongside FFA Head of Game Development Matthew Bulkeley, FFV CEO Mark Rendell and Melbourne Victory CEO Geoff Miles.

The Honourable James Merlino said “this funding will help FFA deliver projects to encourage participation in football at a community level, particularly in schools, through FFV and Melbourne Victory FC. Currently, no other states are running similar initiatives.”

While not in attendance CEO of FFA, Ben Buckley, was keen to show his support of this funding and said that “the FFA was delighted to be partnering with the Victorian Government to deliver these innovative programs to support grassroots football.”

“Football is enjoyed by thousands of young children around Victoria, and supported by a small army of volunteer ‘mums and dads’ without whom we could not put games on the park every weekend.

It’s terrific for us to have the opportunity to pilot these innovative projects with the support of the Victorian Government and through Football Federation Victoria,” Mr Buckley said.

The funding has been allocated to initiatives and programs that will benefit Victoria’s football community, both in a club and school context, and has provided Melbourne Victory and FFV with a unique opportunity to conduct new and exciting projects.

"We believe the funding made available by the Victorian Government will have a direct impact on football in this state," Mr Rendell said.

"We outlined in our Strategic Plan earlier this year the need to generate additional revenue to invest in the growth of Victorian Football, and this falls into line with that.

"The commitment of $750,000 from the Victorian Government is a great start to what we are trying to achieve."

The new projects, which include the Victory Schools 5-a-side, a Volunteer Recognition Program, Grassroots Certificate Training and Small Sided Games Communication Strategy, have already received excellent feedback throughout Victoria.

FFV has been a major force behind the success of the projects, which also aim to strengthen the connection between Victory and Victoria’s football community and encourage participation in school football by teachers and students alike.


CEO of Melbourne Victory, Geoff Miles, said that “we as a club were excited about the opportunity to be involved in grassroots football through the Melbourne Victory Schools 5-a-side.

We look forward to the enthusiastic participation of boys and girls who will take part with their schools, and thank the Victorian Government for their great support of football development in Victoria through this initiative.

We are confident that this partnership between the Victorian Government, Football Federation Australia, Football Federation Victoria and Melbourne Victory will deliver enormous benefits for our sport at a time of great interest and growth in all levels of the game.”