Women's Football Summit unites football in shared vision
Before the 76,798 fans filled Accor Stadium for the CommBank Matildas鈥 electrifying 2-0 victory against China PR in their second game of the 鈥楾il it鈥檚 Done Farewell Series鈥, 西瓜影视, in collaboration with the Women鈥檚 Football Council, hosted the inaugural Women鈥檚 Football Summit.
The Summit welcomed over 130 attendees representing 西瓜影视, Member Federations, Australian Professional Leagues and Clubs, Professional Footballers Australia, Matildas Alumni, Football Coaches Australia and Women Onside. Participants united to discuss and promote a shared vision for the future of women鈥檚 football in Australia.
Collaboration was emphasised throughout the Summit, focusing on aligning and advancing priorities around commercial investment, community football, facilities, media and visibility, and government relations.
Attendees engaged in workshops and heard insights from guest speakers including Samantha Gash, Sarah Styles, and Kate Jenkins, the newly appointed Australian Sports Commission Chair. The sessions were dedicated to deliberating strategies to transform the vision of women鈥檚 football in Australia into actionable steps.
A panel discussion with key leaders highlighted the significance of collaborative efforts among stakeholders to sustain and build on this growth.
西瓜影视 CEO James Johnson expressed the importance of having diverse stakeholders working together in the same room, to share ideas and strategies to continue this growth of the women鈥檚 game.
鈥淭he top football nations around the world, they consider themselves as an ecosystem,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淭here are different parts of the game, but if they are working properly and collaboratively, they can feed off each other.鈥
Reflecting on the Legacy 鈥23 strategy, Johnson noted the successful increase in participation was a result of intentional strategic planning with Member Federations, creating a flywheel business model driven by national team brands and the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup 2023鈩.
Football NSW Chair Gilbert Lorquet supported this saying that, 鈥渢he demand for football in NSW has never been greater, we have seen 2024 female player registrations increase by 23% in comparison to last year鈥, resulting nationally in seeing the highest-ever number of women and girls playing football in Australia.
A-Leagues Commissioner Nick Garcia posed the question of how we can elevate the A-League Women鈥檚 competition and maintain that growth trajectory. The tournament further resulted in a 132% increase in attendance for the Liberty A-League Women鈥檚 2023/24 season, making the league the highest-attended Women鈥檚 League in Australia.
鈥淲e desperately want to get to 12-month player contracts, that's important for the league and to have full professionalisation. It鈥檚 important that we double down and think long-term as well, how can we lean on government funding, whether that鈥檚 through supporting the game, pathways or whether it's through infrastructure to create the best quality standards.鈥
Professional Football Association and Women鈥檚 Football Council member, Erin Clout, spoke about the importance of having something like the Women鈥檚 Football Summit to help collaboratively put words into action.
Reflecting on the Summit, Chair of the Women鈥檚 Football Council, Dr Deidre Anderson, noted that 鈥渢his was a key step forward in unifying to drive the future of women鈥檚 football, building on the momentum of the FIFA Women鈥檚 World Cup 2023鈩, and setting the stage for continued growth and success鈥.
Anderson noted that the Women鈥檚 Football Council will utilise the outputs of the Summit to drive the direction over the next three years, working collectively as a game to effectively leverage the AFC Women鈥檚 Asian Cup 2026鈩. The vision for women鈥檚 football, being an unstoppable force in women's sport that drives societal transformation.
