During the 2024 winter season, Football NSW reported 260,000 registered players, with 68,000 of them being women, which equated to a 17 per cent increase in female participation.

As a result of football continuing to grow and become the No.1 option for parents right around the country, the demand for spaces to actually play the game has hit an all-time high.

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Population growth and every expanding communities on the fringes of Sydney have maintained construction booms that only need to be seen to be believed when one travels around the city. Last week I needed to travel to a new suburb, around an hour of freeway driving from the CBD.

House after house was under construction in the area just short of Richmond in the greater west and around 60km from the Harbour Bridge on the north side of Sydney.

Sadly, hardly a tree remained in the area being developed; something common across much of northern Sydney as cookie cutter homes continue to rise, and the question of exactly where kids will be able to play both formally and informally becomes even more concerning.

Football NSW is targeting a 50/50 participation rate between the genders in ten years’ time. By my calculations, that would bring another 124,000 women into the game based on the current numbers.

Whilst reginal centres like Newcastle, Wollongong and the Central and North Coast will do doubt have challenges to face in an effort to maintain the quality and amount of infrastructure available to our most important players, the biggest issues will occur in Sydney.

In essence, developers seem to run the joint and a rather backwards approach to building communities continues.

There are housing developments in the north-west without gutters, shopping centres, parks, schools and day-care centres to cater for the influx of residents.

All become afterthoughts and follow a few years after the residential developments that, quite frankly, often look like slums. Such is the way of the developers and the local councils that allow the pattern to continue, with no real secret as to the motivator behind their actions.

Unless addressed, the situation presents a somewhat problematic future for football and the kids who deserve to play the game on good, well-lit and gender friendly football grounds.

Football NSW CEO, John Tsatsimas called for action in the lead-up to the recent local council elections.

“Football is more than just a game – it is a vehicle for health, wellbeing, and community connection. Football promotes physical activity, teamwork, and social cohesion,” he said.

“To sustain our growth, we must ensure that our communities are equipped with the necessary infrastructure.”

Whilst the number of fields available for use is an obvious problem, it becomes further complicated by wet weather. Many weekends were complete write-offs in Sydney during the season just passed.

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Football NSW’s data shows that over 50 per cent of the state’s 2344 football pitches do not have drainage infrastructure and 28 per cent have no lighting. Playing catch-up games mid-week became almost farcical at times, with just 26 per cent of the fields possessing lighting above 100 lux; the minimum standard required for night time play.

Many a local candidate included sports infrastructure as part of their platform heading into the election. Football NSW has called openly for new Mayors and councillors to prioritise the building and upgrading of facilities, as population and football participation continues to surge at a rate higher than the spaces being provided for players.

Changing facilities for female players is a fundamental concern for the game and will be for those charged with providing local communities with fields that allow dignity and comfort for all those playing the game.

The key avenue to improvement is engagement between elected officials and local clubs and associations, with an honest appraisal of the situation the first port of call. Once that is established, a plan of action where infrastructure development matches the burgeoning suburbs and populations can be put in place.

Unfortunately, we all know that costs money and plenty of it. Football needs people with vision to see the decline in other sports and just where the world game could be in another 20 or 30 years.

That vision has been few and far between in the past. Let’s hope some is found quick smart, as football is desperately in need of infrastructure improvement.