Football Victoria (FV) launched its Level the Playing Field campaign in a bid to entice the Legislative Assembly to commit to the allocation of funds as part of its 2026 Club Administrator Conference.
Alongside this push, FV unveiled its Facilities Strategy from 2025 to 2035 as part of a blueprint to improve regional football hubs and local grassroots facilities through modern and resilient grounds, lighting, amenities and female-friendly changerooms.
Parliamentary Friends of Football members Anthony Cianflone MP and John Pesutto MP are among the political voices backing the call.
FV has revealed that participation in the sport has increased by 57 per cent since 2022, while women’s football has experienced a jump of 120 per cent since 2019.
Some 400,000 participants are estimated to have taken part in games in the past four years across Victoria, with approximately 22,500 expected to follow suit in the upcoming decade.
Now, Corbo has expressed his desire to see the campaign gain momentum as he called for funds to be committed to the sport’s development over the next 10 years.
He estimates that the number of participants at his club has doubled over the last few years, meaning that investment in infrastructure has now become a necessity.
“We’ve had a little over 200 [players] since COVID - we’ve doubled in the last three or four years,” he said.
In terms of the women’s game, Tatura has gone from having no team in 2017 to boasting two Under-10 teams, alongside Under-12s, Under-14s, Under 16s and Seniors sides in less than a decade.
With only one floodlit facility, Tatura SC chiefs are looking to secure funding to ensure that infrastructure is in place so they are not forced to eventually turn people away who are looking to play.
“Our club at the moment has one soccer ground that’s lit - we’ve got a second ground with no lights - and we’ve put in a council budget submission but we won’t find out [the decision] until May,” Corbo said.
“At the moment, we’re doing trials with portable lighting towers but we’re at a point where we’re telling people they can’t play anymore.
“We’re going to get through this year but if it increases again, we’re done - there’s only so much traffic our oval can handle.
Corbo explained that Tatura coaches and organisers are now facing a situation where they might not be able to take on board any more players next year.
“If we don’t get the grant from the budget submission, we’re really under pressure.
“We won’t be able to develop [new players] - we’d have to start turning people away.
“We never turn people away, we try and accommodate people at Tatura.
“We take everybody and it’s a community competition.”
At the time of writing, the petition has already gained more than 5,600 signatures, with organisers calling for government support for Football Victoria to deliver its ‘strategic priorities’ as well as requesting the re-establishment a World Game Facilities Fund.
FV Head of Government Relations & Strategy Lachlan Cole explained that the launching of the Level the Playing Field parliamentary petition had been essential to starting the conversation over funding at state government level.
“We can guarantee that the needs of football is heard in state government every sitting day,” he said.
Moreover, FV chief executive Dan Birrell urged everyone including coaches, players, officials, volunteers and parents to sign the petition.
“This is our opportunity to unlock the funding we need to ensure the sport continues to grow for generations to come,” he said.
You can sign the Petition for Funding for Football Victoria (Legislative Assembly Petition no. 202606) on the Parliament of Victoria website.
