Outside toilets, overgrown showers: Soccer boom pushes Victorian facilities to breaking point

Half of Victoria’s soccer fields are in poor or moderate condition even as player numbers have surged by 43 per cent over three years, a period of unprecedented growth that has forced teams to use facilities and grounds that are falling apart.

Football Victoria will meet on Wednesday with most councils around the state as it launches a new facilities strategy to cater for the rising popularity of the world game at a local level, calling on governments to “level the playing field” with funding to address problems accessing fields and change rooms.

That strategy, which has been provided to The Age ahead of its public release, reveals an audit of 1000 soccer pitches around the state in 2024 found half of them were in moderate or poor condition.

Just 52 per cent of these pitches had lighting of 100 lux or more, the standard for grassroots matches, making it difficult to play at night.

About 69 per cent of change rooms were suitable for players of either gender, and 75 per cent for match officials. Women and girls now make up 26 per cent of all players in the state.

Since 2022, participation in introductory program MiniRoos and junior football surged by 15 per cent. There are more than 70,000 young players in the state, which Football Victoria’s report says is a “clear indicator of the sport’s accelerating grassroots momentum”.

There were also double-digit percentage increases in senior sides and over-35s football.

“Football participation rebounded following the COVID pandemic, with total participation growing from 81,097 in 2022 to 115,946 in 2024,” the facilities strategy says.

“The addition of 34,849 football participants statewide since 2022 has created immense pressure on the existing network of volunteers and facilities – with further growth in 2025 compounding this strain.”

“Football Victoria is committed to partnering with local and state government and other land managers to find infrastructure solutions that respond to the growth of football in a targeted, balanced and sustainable way.”

As Victoria’s population has grown, the need to provide facilities for the grassroots clubs has created significant challenges for councils, which are regularly pressured to find more training grounds and upgrade facilities.

East Malvern Junior Soccer Club president John Batistich said the poor condition of facilities was hurting the club.

“The park we’re playing on here isn’t up to scratch. With outside toilets and open showers, it’s pretty hard to attract any juniors to come and get involved,” he said.

Football Victoria chief executive Dan Birrell said the sport was booming in the state.

“Participation has exploded in recent years, and our facilities are struggling to keep up,” he said.

“We know how vital our clubs are in building strong communities and our game is uniquely positioned to welcome people from all cultures and walks of life. But while our clubs continue to do their best, our infrastructure is being pushed to its limits.

“The reality is clear. We are well below the recommended number of venues; and far too many of the facilities we do have simply aren’t up to standard.”

Some of the greatest challenges are in Melbourne’s fastest-growing areas. In the city’s north-west, nearly three-quarters of all pitches were found to be in poor or moderate condition and in the south-east just 37 per cent have standard lighting.

Football Victoria has identified three priority areas to keep up with the popularity of the sport.

At a local level, it is seeking $47 million to get three-quarters of pitches to good or excellent condition by 2035, with $100 million needed to provide this proportion of fields with floodlights of at least 100 lux over the same timeframe.

Another $107 million would ensure 85 per cent of player change rooms were gender accessible within the next 10 years.

Other priorities for Football Victoria include establishing nine football hubs in key regions around the state, providing locals in each region with access to top-class facilities, and stage 2 of Home of the Matildas development at Bundoora.

It is also seeking to revive the World Game Facilities Fund, first set up by the Victorian government in 2018, and wants a renewed commitment of up to $30 million.

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