Elite Skills Arena (ESA) has created cutting edge technology that is revolutionising injury rehabilitation and player development in football.

ESA is a company that designs and provides advanced football training technology used by top clubs and academies around the world. 

Founded by Eddie Mitchell in 2014, ESA creates innovative tools that help coaches track performance and develop players more effectively.

By combining smart tech with insights from leading coaches, ESA delivers data-driven solutions that improve training and sharpen key skills on the pitch.

When the company first settled on the idea of a circular wall with moving targets, the plan was to create an indoor space where players could work on their technical skills.

What started as a simple concept quickly took shape—so much so that the very first prototype was built in a backyard just to see if it would work.

That early test led to the launch of the first product and the creation of the now-iconic arena that remains a core part of what ESA offers today.

Currently, ESA offers three main product lines: the ICON range, the Wall range, and the Wireless range.

Each one has seen great success with professional clubs, academies, major organisations for marketing and events, and advanced training centres around the world.

Today, ESA products are used on six continents, and they're getting close to a major milestone—1 million games played with their equipment.

But there's one product in particular, the Wireless Circuit, that's revolutionising injury rehab and player development in football.

Now ESA first tested the Circuit concept at Ipswich Town and Southampton Football Clubs in the UK.

But it was FC Barcelona who asked for a wireless version, eliminating the need for connecting cables.

The Wireless Circuit is made up of lightweight, cable-free modules — the Rebound, Pass-Through, and Gate — each featuring LED lights and vibration technology to give instant performance feedback.

Using motion sensors, the modules track passing, movement, and dribbling, while built-in modes recreate tactical game scenarios, making it a powerful tool for both training and recovery.

Since its introduction, the Wireless Circuit has been used extensively by Barcelona's medical team during pre-season and injury rehabilitation.

Stars like Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Agüero and Ronald Araújo have benefitted from its data-driven approach, which benchmarks fitness levels and reduces the risk of re-injury.

The club has used the Wireless Circuit for the later stages of rehabilitation which has allowed players to build up match sharpness without being exposed to the danger of full-contact training.

Following the success at FC Barcelona, the Wireless Circuit has been making waves in the global sports world, having been nominated for Best Technology for Injury Prevention or Rehabilitation at the prestigious Sports Technology Awards.

With more than 50 installations across the globe, it's quickly becoming a go-to choice for clubs and academies looking for reliable, cutting-edge solutions.

With injuries on the rise in elite football and top players spending more time on the sidelines, Premier League clubs are paying closer attention.

Leicester City FC, who’ve been interested in ESA technology for a while, recently added the Wireless Circuit to their sports science program to help monitor player fitness and support injury recovery.

After a successful demo in September 2023, they’ve started using the Rebound, Pass-Through, and Gate modules to help keep first-team players healthy and make rehab smoother and more effective.

Now the Wireless Circuit could offer substantial benefits to soccer clubs and organisations in Australia due to its unique combination of technology, portability, and proven performance outcomes.

Clubs from grassroots to A-League level can often face challenges in managing injuries, especially with limited access to advanced rehab facilities.

The Wireless Circuit enables low-risk, high-impact recovery by allowing players to rebuild match fitness through targeted, non-contact drills. This is particularly valuable in a sport where muscle and ligament injuries are common.

Also, with clubs becoming increasingly data-focused, the Wireless Circuit’s built-in motion sensors and instant feedback allow coaches to track a players movement, passing and dribbling

This gives coaches a more scientific, structured approach to player development, something especially useful in youth programs and academies.

So, as football continues to evolve, ESA’s Wireless Circuit stands at the forefront, offering a smarter, safer, and more effective way to train, recover, and develop the next generation of players.

The post ESA’s Game-Changing Technology for Injury Recovery and Player Growth appeared first on Soccerscene.

Brisbane Roar has announced a new partnership with ZECO, a leader in football sportswear, to support the club's National Premier League (NPL) program.

Through the collaboration, ZECO will become Roar's official grip sock and shin pad partner and will provide the club's NPL team with world class products to enhance player performance and comfort.

ZECO is an Australian owned and operated business, designing its own premium products like its famous mini shin pads favoured by players such as Nestroy Irankunda and Jaiden Kucharski.

ZECO is also the sister organisation of Joga, a world-renowned sportswear brand, known for sponsoring global superstars such as Jack Grealish, Harvey Elliott and Ansu Fati.

However, in addition to partnering with global players, ZECO has a history of supporting the A-Leagues, having previously worked with Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets.

ZECO Co-Founder, John Kimbell expressed his organisation's enthusiasm for the partnership with Brisbane Roar.

We’re incredibly proud to announce our partnership with yet another top-tier A-League team,” he said in a press release.

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone for us, as we continue to align ourselves with organisations that embody excellence, determination, and passion.”

“Brisbane Roar holds a legendary status in Australian football, with a rich history and a loyal fan base. It’s an honour to support such an iconic club.

"At the heart of our mission is a deep commitment to helping athletes reach and exceed their peak performance.

"That’s why we’re genuinely excited to see our products playing a role in the team’s preparation and performance on and off the field.

"We’re confident that our support will contribute to their success—not only in the upcoming season but for many seasons to come.”

Together, Brisbane Roar and ZECO will aim to strengthen player performance and development through providing the necessary resources to grow to players.

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Rezzil is a leading sports technology business paving the way for Virtual Reality integration into real-life professional football training.

Originally based in Manchester, England - Rezzil has since grown exponentially, partnering with multiple elite level football clubs, and expanding into new domains such as, American football, basketball and Formula 1.

The organisation has achieved such success through its innovative, unique and effective VR training programs and games, designed for businesses, clubs and everyday people.

Programs for Clubs

Rezzil offers a wealth of resources for clubs aiming to track and enhance player performance, chief among these is Rezzil Index.

Index is a VR program which tests players across a range of situations and drills to analyse their quick thinking, awareness, technical skill, and more. Through Index, clubs can use the information gained through tests to rapidly benchmark and track how their players improve or regress across time.

To make the technology truly applicable to clubs, Rezzil prides itself on how quickly Index can analyse a player. An Index run can be completed in 20 minutes, and the information is instantly sent to a secure database where it can be accessed in real time.

Data can be extracted raw, or it can be viewed as Rezzil's very own Index player report cards - displaying information across a series of simple metrics.

In addition to Index, Rezzil also operates exar.live - a post-match analysis tool which compiles data from optical tracking hardware such as Hawkeye, Second Spectrum and Tracab to create 3D or VR recreations of games. Since its creation, exar.live has found success through being adopted by EPL clubs like Manchester City and broadcasters such as Sky Sports.

Programs for Everyone 

Alongside its elite level programs, Rezzil has also entered the consumer market with a variety of unique VR programs.

Chief among Rezzil's offerings is Rezzil Player. Previously a club only program, Rezzil Player is an advanced training system with over 160 different repeatable training drills and situations designed to test reaction speed and player skills.

Through Rezzil Player, users can assess their performance via data sheets and track how they are improving as they play and repeat the drills.

However, Rezzil Player is not Rezzil's only consumer game. Launched late last year, Premier League Player is the EPL's first officially licensed VR game and transports users onto the pitches of their favourite teams.

Available on Meta Quest, users can create their own avatars, or step into the shoes of beloved premier league stars and replay through highlights of the 2023/24 season.

Furthermore, Rezzil has also developed the VR game Hexball for Meta Quest. Hexball is a fast-paced three player arena football game inspired by successful market leaders such as Rocket League. In Hexball, players compete against each other to score the most goals possible within tight environments.

Conclusion 

Rezzil has consistently demonstrated its tenacity and commitment to the cutting edge across all of its products, earning it a plethora of high-value partnerships across the world.

In the football world, Rezzil has fostered collaborations with globally renowned clubs such as Manchester City, Liverpool and Juventus, and with the English Premier League itself.

However, Rezzil has also made an impact across a range of other sports, garnering partnerships with the National Basketball Association, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Red Bull Racing and more.

Additionally, the organisation has expanded into the United States, establishing a new headquarters in the country.

In conclusion, Rezzil is a world leader in the application of VR in sport and has consistently shown its capacity to supply and support the most demanding of clients, highlighting the organisation's professionalism and aptitude.

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Football Victoria (FV) has rolled out an innovative bodycam pilot for referees in grassroots football, making it the first state or territory in Australia to participate in this initiative.

This trial is part of a global initiative approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to see if body-worn cameras can help reduce abuse, encourage better behaviour, and make referees feel safer.

Supported by Football Australia and in partnership with Reveal Media, the pilot builds on a successful 2023 trial.

In that earlier run, 66.1% of referees said player behaviour improved, and 57.1% felt the cameras helped cut down on abuse.

Notably, there were no reports of physical abuse during the trial, even though more than half of the referees had experienced it in the past.

Many also found that simply warning players they were about to activate the camera helped calm things down.

This is a tightly controlled trial under IFAB’s guidelines, meaning strict rules are in place.

Referees will only wear cameras in approved grassroots competitions, and they'll only turn them on in serious situations such as if there’s a threat to safety or major misconduct.

All video is owned by the national football association, kept encrypted, and deleted within 60 days. Referees receive training on how to use the cameras and must let players know before activating them.

Only authorised people can review the footage, and only in cases involving serious incidents. Around 100 grassroots referees across Victoria will take part in this first phase.

They'll be supported with training and resources, and if the trial goes well, the program could roll out to more adult grassroots leagues in 2025.

FV CEO Dan Birrell shared some details regarding the bodycams before their launch.

“We invest significantly in Referee Development and truly value the incredible work of our referees every week," he said in a press release

"The launch will coincide perfectly with the start of our community competition season, so we’re looking forward to seeing the cameras in action right away."

FV Head of Referees, Tony Peart shared his delight with the new initiative.

“I’m absolutely delighted our referees are the first in the country to trial bodycams and support this important national project," he said in the same press release

"This trial could be key to enhancing protection for officials and improving the environment in which they officiate."

Football Victoria will keep tracking and assessing the trial’s impact to strengthen its dedication to creating a safer and more respectful football community.

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In the world of modern football, data is king. And while professional clubs have long used GPS wearables to analyse every sprint and tactical movement, young players have often been left behind until now. The Apex Athlete Series by STATSports is changing the game, bringing elite-level tracking technology into the hands of aspiring footballers across Australia and beyond.

Already FIFA-approved for match use, the Apex wearable has become the most advanced and reliable performance tracker available to grassroots athletes. Whether you’re aiming for a professional career or simply looking to take your game to the next level, this is the kind of tool that bridges the gap between weekend warrior and world-class competitor.

A Wearable Built for Serious Footballers

The Apex Athlete Series isn’t just another piece of fitness tech. It’s the same technology trusted by clubs in the English Premier League and national teams around the globe, tailored for accessibility. Designed to capture every training session and match in detail, it gives players an unmatched level of insight into their performance.

From total distance covered and max speed to high-speed running and intensity levels, Apex provides a clear picture of how hard you're working and where you can improve. It’s football data — but for real people.

Real-Time Stats

One of Apex’s standout features is its ability to deliver real-time insights across 16 core metrics. That includes everything from sprint counts and heat maps to strain levels and positional data. The platform also benchmarks individual performance against standards seen at academy and professional levels, helping players understand what’s required to rise through the ranks.

And it doesn’t stop at the numbers. With a beautifully designed mobile app, players can view post-session breakdowns instantly and track progression over time. It’s intuitive, detailed and made to empower development from the ground up.

Introducing Pro Score – A New Way to Measure Your Game

Forget fantasy football ratings — Pro Score is a revolutionary new feature that distils all your data into one easy-to-understand performance rating. Each STATSports ambassador, including the likes of Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, has their own Pro Score, giving players real-world targets to chase.

As your fitness, workload and match intensity improve, so does your score. For younger athletes, it provides a motivational benchmark that tracks genuine, physical development — not opinion, not guesswork, just performance.

See the Bigger Picture with Performance Trends

The Apex app isn’t just about short-term wins. It’s built to help athletes and coaches see the bigger picture. With trend tracking over weeks, months and even seasons, players can monitor training loads, recovery, and intensity to ensure sustainable development.

Whether you're preparing for finals or managing your off-season, these insights help you train smarter and avoid the risk of overtraining or injury.

Compete Against the World

With global leaderboards built directly into the platform, Apex adds a competitive edge that few other wearables can offer. Players can compare their stats with others from around the world across categories like max speed, high-speed running and total distance.

And if your numbers are good enough, you might just find yourself ranked alongside some of the fittest players in the game. It’s a social, gamified layer of performance analysis — and it’s incredibly motivating.

Impressive study results

Recent studies have backed up Apex’s impact on performance. After just six weeks of using the device, players saw an average increase of 9.4% in max speed, 13.6% in high-speed running, and 12.3% in match intensity.

Those aren’t small gains. They’re game-changers for players looking to step up and stay ahead.

The Only Wearable with Flawless Live Data

Where most wearables lag or drop out during intense action, Apex delivers 100% identical live and post-session data quality. That level of precision allows coaches and players to make instant decisions with full confidence.

Multiple coaches can even monitor different players or full squads simultaneously, each with access to their own live dashboard. Whether you're coaching a junior academy or managing a senior side, the system scales to suit your needs.

Conclusion

The Apex Athlete Series by STATSports is more than just a wearable — it’s a complete performance ecosystem. By combining elite-grade data with real-world usability, it empowers the next generation of footballers to understand, monitor and improve their game like never before.

In an increasingly competitive sporting landscape, tools like Apex aren’t a luxury — they’re a necessity. For players, coaches and parents who are serious about long-term development, this is the future of football performance tracking.

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Football NSW has scored a major win with leading Australian football manufacturer Deploy committing to a fresh two-year deal as the Official Community and Tournament Ball provider for 2025 and 2026.

Deploy is an Australian based football brand specialising in football equipment and teamwear. It has been FIFA approved and supplies over 500+ clubs around the country and leagues.

These leagues other then NSW Football include Capital Football, Football Victoria, Football West and other associations based in NSW.

The partnership extension comes after Deploy demonstrated their dedication to quality improvement in 2023 when their Envision ball – the Official Match Ball of the Waratah Cup and Sapphire Cup.

The envision ball has also earned the prestigious FIFA Quality Pro Mark, the highest standard available for match balls following stringent testing procedures.

Football NSW CEO John Tsatsimas expressed his satisfaction with the renewed deal.

"It's great to have Deploy on board once again with Football NSW as our Official Community and Tournament ball for 2025 and 2026.”

“We understand the quality product Deploy continue to produce and know that our competitions will be benefiting from this in the next two years," explained Tsatsimas via Football NSW official press release.

Kurt Johnson, Deploy Sports CCO, shared his enthusiasm about continuing the partnership.

"At Deploy we are dedicated to developing and manufacturing football products tailored to specific programs as well as our clear focus of growing grass roots football.”

“This partnership underscores our shared commitment to supporting players and clubs at every level of the game," Johnson commented via FNSW official press release.

Under the renewed agreement, Deploy will maintain their support across numerous major competitions including the Waratah Cup, Sapphire Cup, Country Cup, JD Cup, State Cup Finals, Champion of Champions Finals, Summer Football, and Futsal Schools.

Football NSW participants can take advantage of this partnership by visiting Deploy's FNSW Hub. The clubs can also join Deploy's bulk pricing program for additional value across all products.

This is a key tool for the amateur teams that need good quality balls and equipment but don’t have the funds.

This renewal maintains the strong relationship between one of Australia’s strongest homegrown football brands and the largest of the football federations.

Its important that top quality equipment is used by the footballing community to help advance skills and playing quality.

This support of local businesses and the growth of local football is key to creating a solid Australian footballing culture.

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Sports Group Melbourne (SGM) has announced TX Football as its newest official partner with TX Football for the Junior Champions League (JCL) 2025 season.

Following the success of the 2023 and 2024 editions, the Junior Champions League (JCL) returns bigger than ever in 2025, with over 200 teams already registered across Victoria.

The competition continues its unique winter format, featuring monthly midweek matches under lights—replicating the prestige and structure of European football. Exclusively designed for Kangaroos-level teams, the JCL will showcase best-v-best matchups across the South, East, North, West, and Regional zones, hosted at top-tier local facilities.

TX Football, an Australian-owned and operated brand, takes full control of its manufacturing process to ensure premium quality and precision.

Renowned for delivering high-performance football products at accessible prices, TX Football’s match balls are designed with cutting-edge materials and a scientifically engineered 32-panel structure to enhance elite-level playability. Committed to innovation and excellence, the brand delivers professional-grade gear without the premium price tag.

As part of the collaboration, TX Football becomes the Official JCL Ball Partner, supplying custom match balls featuring the official JCL logo for all tournament matches. The brand also joins as the Official Apparel Partner, providing TX Football teamwear for all JCL off-field staff.

Additionally, TX Football takes on the role of Presenting Partner of JCL Live Streaming, supporting the broadcast of selected matches throughout the season.

TX Football will also be on-site for the JCL Finals round, presenting a bespoke MVP ball award to each Grand Final MVP winner in the tournament’s closing stages.

Commercial Manager at TX Football, Sarah Gharib, expressed her enthusiasm for the partnership and what it brings to young players.

"TX Football is excited to collaborate with the Junior Champions League, an elite competition that aligns with our vision of nurturing future stars," she said via press release.

"This tournament provides young players with invaluable experience, increased game time, and exposure that can help them transition to the professional stage.

"Throughout the tournament, the equipment—including the match balls—will be crafted to the highest quality, ensuring players experience the feel and touch of professional standards every time they step onto the pitch."

Stay tuned for an exclusive JCL discount, offering participating teams access to official merchandise and teamwear at special rates—more details to come.

This collaboration unites two organisations dedicated to executing access, innovation, and elite-level experiences in junior football.

For more information, click here.

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Mingle Sport is designed to take the hassle out of team management, providing grassroots clubs with the tools they need to operate seamlessly and efficiently.

With three features: Team Management, Performance Tracking, and Scorekeeping. Mingle Sport brings a professional-level experience to local teams. Here's a closer look at how each feature can enhance your club's operations.

1. Team Management:

Keeping a team well-organised requires more than just setting a match schedule. Mingle Sport helps coaches and managers save time, improve communication, and keep everything in one place.

Key Features:

Match & Training Scheduling – Plan all upcoming fixtures, training sessions, and team events in one place. Add locations, arrival times, and additional notes for complete clarity.

RSVP System – Know exactly who’s attending each session or match. No more last-minute confusion—ensure your squad is always prepared.

Transport Coordination – Arrange carpooling and ridesharing within the app, making sure no player is left without a lift.

Attendance Insights – Track attendance trends and understand why players miss sessions, helping coaches improve participation.

Team Chat & DMs – Keep all team communication within Mingle Sport. Share updates in the official team chat, send direct messages, or comment on specific training sessions.

Minutes Played Tracking – Keep a record of each player’s game time to ensure fair rotations and better performance assessment.

Automated Reminders – Reduce no-shows by sending automated RSVP reminders. If a player can't attend, they can provide a reason within the app.

Formation Builder – Create your ideal team lineup with a drag-and-drop formation builder, whether for an 11-a-side match or a five-a-side tournament.

For those who like a desktop-friendly experience, Mingle Sport Homebase acts as an advanced planning hub. It allows coaches to analyse trends in training attendance, track minutes played and manage lineups more efficiently.

2. Performance Tracking:

Statistics aren’t just for professionals—Mingle Sport brings the power of data-driven performance analysis to grassroots teams. By tracking key player and team stats, coaches and players alike can measure progress, compare results, and compete for top rankings.

Key Features:

Team & Player Stats – Keep track of match scores, goal differences, win ratios, and overall team performance.

Leaderboards – Rank players and teams based on their stats, fostering healthy competition.

Player Voting – After each match, vote for three key players:

MVP (Most Valuable Player) – The standout performer of the game.

Playmaker – The most creative and influential player.

Workhorse – The hardest-working player who put in the most effort.

Personalised Player Profiles – Each player gets a dedicated profile tracking goals, assists, match highlights, and past performances. Compare stats with previous seasons to track improvements over time.

Performance Metrics (Coming Soon) – Mingle Sport is working on exciting new features to measure shot quality, top speed, stamina, and other key performance indicators.

Attendance Tracking – Monitor individual player attendance across matches and training sessions, helping coaches manage commitment levels.

Goal Trends – Get insights into your team’s scoring patterns over the season.

Win Ratio Analysis – Identify trends in match results—does your team perform better at home or away? Against specific opponents? Use these insights to fine-tune strategies.

With all these features available in one platform, Mingle Sport makes it easier than ever to track, analyse, and improve player and team performance.

3. Scorekeeping:

Keeping track of match statistics shouldn’t be complicated. Mingle Sport’s scorekeeping tools allow teams to record match events in real time, track player contributions, and share updates with fans and followers.

Key Features:

Goals & Assists Tracking – Keep an accurate record of every goal and assist, with the data automatically updating leaderboards and season stats.

Cards & Substitutions – Log yellow cards, red cards, and player substitutions for a complete match report.

Minutes Played – Use the in-app match timer to track each player’s time on the pitch.

Live Scoring & Match Reports – Share real-time match updates within the app or online, allowing followers to keep up with the action.

Match Ratings & MVP Voting – After each game, players can rate the match from 1 to 5 stars and vote for standout performers.

Season Trends & Team Awards – Identify long-term trends in goal ratios, win percentages, and other crucial team statistics. Recognise top performers with awards like Top Scorer of the Month.

For deeper match analysis, Mingle Sport Homebase on desktop allows coaches to take a detailed look at season statistics, match ratings, and player performance trends.

Conclusion

Mingle Sport isn’t just another team management app—it’s a game-changer for grassroots football. With a focus on efficiency, engagement, and performance tracking, it provides local teams with the tools they need to operate like the pros.

From scheduling and communication to live scorekeeping and performance stats, Mingle Sport brings everything together in one powerful and easy-to-use platform. Whether you’re a coach, manager, or player, this app ensures your team runs smoothly—both on and off the pitch.

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German sportswear giant Adidas has once again returned to the Bundesliga, becoming the league's official football supplier from the 2026/27 season.

In a new deal with the German Football League (DFL), Adidas will supply both the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 with footballs across a four-year period, culminating in the 2029/30 season. Additionally, Adidas will provide balls in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup and relegation play-offs.

For Adidas, the partnership marks a return to German football after their previous deal with the DFL ended in the 2017/18 season, when the organisation had supplied the top flights of German football since the 2010/11 season.

DFL CEO Steffen Merkel expressed the league's positive outlook for the partnership with Adidas.

“The selection of the right official matchball is of particular relevance for the Bundesliga, given it is the highest-scoring top league in Europe. Adidas tabled a very strong offer, that was accepted by the DFL and the 36 clubs in all parameters," he said in a press release.

"We are very pleased about this return and the early planning security that comes with the co-operation. adidas is a company that is deeply rooted in Germany and at the same time has great global appeal. Together, we want to utilise this starting from the season after next.”

Managing Director for Central Europe at Adidas, Marina Moguš, detailed Adidas' pride to return to the Bundesliga.

“We are very excited about the new partnership with the DFL," she said via press release.

"The future cooperation once again strengthens our presence in the domestic market. After all these years, it was very important to us to once again provide the official match ball for the German Bundesliga."

"Now we can hardly wait to write a new chapter together with the DFL from the 2026/27 season.”

As a result of the DFL's return to Adidas supplied match balls, the current deal with DERBYSTAR will terminate at the end of the 2025/26 season.

The post Adidas-Bundesliga Deal Marks Exciting Comeback appeared first on Soccerscene.

Founded in 2016 in Paris by Emmanuelle Roger (CEO) and Stéphane Guerin (CTO), Immersiv.io has become a global leader in Augmented Reality (AR) sports technology.

With a vision to revolutionise fan engagement, the company combines computer vision, machine learning, and AR to create immersive, interactive experiences for sports audiences worldwide.

Now operating on an international scale, the company collaborates with major leagues and sports brands like the Bundesliga, redefining the way audiences interact with the game.

Immersiv.io Revolutionises Live Sports Viewing with AR Technology

A New Era of Sports entertainment

Immersiv.io is transforming how fans experience live sports, bringing a new level of interactivity through Spatial Computing and augmented reality (AR).

By integrating ultra-live data and immersive visuals, their AR-powered solution, Arise, enhances engagement and offers personalised experiences like never before.

Immersiv.io’s award-winning platform, Arise, is one of many new-age sports technologies that are destined to completely transform the viewing experience and shift away from the traditional TV viewing experience.

With a 75% engagement rate, Immersiv.io’s technology is redefining fan participation, letting audiences take control of the live action in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Interactive Sports Viewing with AR

The Arise system provides real-time insights and contextual overlays, ensuring fans are more connected to the game than ever before. Key features include:

• On-Top Video Insights – Interactive statistics and insights displayed directly on the live video feed.
• 3D Companion Experience – In-depth game analysis through a dynamic 3D representation of key plays.
• In-Arena Overlays – Real-time game data overlaid onto the actual pitch for an enhanced live stadium experience.

This innovative approach allows fans to access and interact with crucial match data in real-time, providing a more immersive and engaging experience whether watching at home, in a stadium, or on the go.

Proven Success Across Multiple Sports

Immersiv.io’s AR technology has already been deployed across various sporting leagues and competitions, enhancing the way fans consume live sports. Partnering with major AR tech providers, the system is compatible with leading devices, including Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest, Magic Leap, and Snapchat AR.

Industry Leaders Praise ARISE

Sports executives have recognised the impact of Immersiv.io’s technology:

“We want to give fans the possibility to gain knowledge and better experience the football game.”
— Andreas Heyden, ex-CEO DFL Digital Sports GmbH

“Our customers were impressed with the app—it gave them a new dimension and more engaging way to watch football. This data-driven viewing approach allows them to better understand the game than ever before.”
— Andy Kwong, VP Sports Content Dev, PCCW Media Limited

Maximising Digital ROI for Clubs & Broadcasters

Beyond fan engagement, Arise offers significant commercial benefits for teams, leagues, and broadcasters:

Strengthening Audience Growth – Boost sign-ups and subscriptions with personalised content and data-driven analytics.
Expanding Revenue Streams – Unlock new sponsorship and advertising opportunities with interactive brand placements.
White-Label Integration – Fully customisable to fit a brand’s identity, with seamless SDK-based integration into existing platforms or as a standalone app.

How this would transform Australian football viewing experiences

Immersiv.io’s AR technology could transform Australian football’s viewing experience, making matches more engaging and interactive.

At the moment on Paramount+, viewers are subject to a broadcast with very limited graphics, statistics and technology which can potentially lure in a more engaged audience.

This innovation could attract younger audiences, boost broadcast value, and create new revenue streams through sponsorships and premium fan experiences.

By modernising how football is consumed, AR technology could help grow the sport’s popularity and increase its commercial appeal in Australia.

Conclusion

As AR technology continues to evolve, Immersiv.io is at the forefront of revolutionising the way sports are watched, experienced, and monetised. By merging live data with immersive technology, they are paving the way for the next generation of sports entertainment.

The post Immersiv.io: Redefining Live Sports Viewing with AR appeared first on Soccerscene.

Sports Group Melbourne (SGM) has embraced TheCoachKart (TCK) as an Official Partner for 2025 in a bold new collaboration.

Through the new partnership TheCoachKart will become heavily involved in Sports Group Melbourne's elite competitions - the Youth Super Cup and Junior Champions League.

As part of the deal, TCK will gain sponsor naming rights for the key "YSC Pre-Season Coach of the Tournament" award, in addition to a comprehensive digital presence across the YSC media sphere. Furthermore, TCK will feature heavily across YSC events by presenting their products on gamedays and showcasing co-branded products with SGM. To further boost their appeal across the YSC, TCK will also launch branded activations such as pop-up displays across the tournament.

TheCoachKart kickstarted their partnership with Sports Group Melbourne yesterday at round 2 of the Youth Super Cup Pre-Season on Sunday 16 March, showcasing their products to onlookers and giving clubs the chance to order exciting custom-made clothing. TCK will return to the competition on Sunday March 23 for the YSC Pre-Season Finals Round, granting the organisation further experience with SGM's competitions and allowing event participants to become more familiar with a valuable supporter of youth sport in Victoria.

Representative of Mondo Sportivo Group, Chris Jackson expressed TCK's excitement for the collaboration with SGM.

"TheCoachKart is thrilled to partner with SGM, the premier organiser of junior sporting events in Victoria, combining forces to deliver great product to SGM events and participants," he said in a press release.

The partnership between the two organisations details their intertwined commitment to excellence and developing the world's game through supporting tomorrow's stars. To ensure progress is continual and efficient, TCK is dedicated to assisting coaches through granting them elite level products to thrive in the rigours of competition.

After the conclusion of the Youth Super Cup, TheCoachKart will continue to work with Sports Group Melbourne via the exciting Junior Champions League competition, beginning May 2025.

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Steadfast Group has enhanced its partnership with the Central Coast Mariners (CCM), becoming a Premier partner of the club.

First having collaborated with the club in 2019, Australasian insurance broker network Steadfast joined the Mariners as a supporter.  However, the new renewal will see Steadfast rewarded for its loyalty with key branding locations, most notably featuring on the back of the CCM Women’s kit.

Central Coast Mariners Head of Commercial Operations, Olivia Rebelo lauded Steadfast’s critical dedication to the club.

“Steadfast’s ongoing support shows their strong commitment to football on the Central Coast. Since 2019, they’ve played a key role in our journey, and as we begin this new chapter with the Women’s A-League team, their continued backing reflects the shared vision and ambition of our organisations,” she said via press release.

“We are thrilled to have Steadfast Group as a Premier partner, aligning with our A-League Women’s team. Their support highlights their dedication to empowering women in sport and making a meaningful difference within our community.”

Steadfast Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Robert B. Kelly AM signalled how his organisation wanted to help women’s sport thrive across the country.

“We endeavour to make positive contributions in our communities, and sports are an important facet of community for many Australians. We’ve seen the profile of women’s sports, including football, rise over the past few years and we want to see that continue,” he said in a press release.

“Steadfast is proud to support the Central Coast Mariners, a partnership we have had for the past seven years, and I wish the Women’s A-League team a great season of football.”

The updated partnership between Steadfast Group and the Central Coast Mariners, indicates a positive and bright future for woman’s sport along the Central Coast as both organisations work to increase female participation in sport.

The post Steadfast Supports CCM Women’s A-League Team appeared first on Soccerscene.

In the world of grassroots football, managing a club can be just as challenging as playing the game itself. From registrations and finances to scheduling and communication, the administrative workload can overwhelm even the most dedicated volunteers. That’s where Majestri comes in.

Founded by former TechnologyOne employees Mike Clahsen, Andrew Holman and John Kent, Majestri was born from a desire to simplify club operations by bringing enterprise-level software to the community sports space. What started as a solution for a single Brisbane football club has since expanded to 250 clubs nationwide across multiple sporting codes, helping streamline administration and improve efficiency.

In an exclusive interview with SoccerScene, Majestri’s Andrew Holman shares insights into the company’s journey, its deep-rooted connection to football, and its commitment to working closely with clubs to provide tailored solutions.

He also discusses the challenges of expansion, the growth of grassroots football, and the future of Majestri in Australia and beyond.

Theo Athans

Speaking on your specific journey, can you talk about the previous jobs or roles you had before the creation of Majestri?

Andrew Holman

In a previous life, the three of us that started Majestri worked for Australia's largest software company, TechnologyOne. That is where we each learnt what it takes to build and support enterprise-level software.

We saw an opportunity at the end of 2010 to go out on our own and try to bring some of those sensibilities from building software for the big end of town into the community sports world and that's ultimate how Majestri started.

T.A.

Can you discuss why the company chose to focus on the local football industry? Is it because you have a passion for the game?

A.H.

The real requirement came from Majestri co-founder, Mike Clahsen, who was the president at his local club was up here in Brisbane. That was where a lot of the early requirements for a club administration system stemmed from.

Personally I've played football for over 40 years now, from the age of 7. It's a fantastic game, it's the best game in the world, and we can see in every community just how important it is through the junior representation. Football is truly the world game and you can see that even in Australia where it isn't the national code.

I'm getting a bit old to keep playing regularly now even though I do have a run for 10 weeks in a social competition at the end of every year. I'm 5 years into my coaching journey now with my son’s team, which I'm finding is very fulfilling. There’s immense reward to working with talented kids at that younger, discovery age around 8-12 years.

I guess that's where the passion has come from, after playing for many years and now into coaching as a parent of a young player.

T.A.

The participation rates are growing every year and the numbers are huge for grassroots soccer so do you see a big potential for growth in this industry?

A.H.

I can tell you unequivocally because we see the numbers. Many clubs have been with us for over a decade now, and their player numbers have at least doubled in the last 10 years. This is even before you factor in the recent meteoric rise of female football on the back of the Matildas World Cup campaign. The demand is accelerating and clubs are at their respective limits in terms of trying to cater to that local demand.

T.A.

What was the inspiration or motivation behind starting Majestri and moving on from your previous job?

A.H.

TechnologyOne was a great place to work, and taught us so much of what we know about building product software, but there was always a latent desire to do our own thing.

Mike had retired from TechnologyOne by 2010 but was actively involved in football, and club administration in particular. When he described ‘Sign-On Day’ activities as having his room full of player registration sheets and sports bags full of cash that couldn’t be banked until the following Monday, we identified that there was potential for a software solution.

With a specialised skill set around financial software in particular, we decided to start with the Treasurer, and have been iterating on the software ever since to cater for other committee positions.

T.A.

How big is your current club portfolio?

A.H.

I would say we are at around 250 clubs around the country and not all of them are football but most of them are.

Although we started with football, we’ve since learned that there is a common set of problems for volunteers no matter what code of sport you play. Certainly, football is what we’re most familiar with, but it’s amazing what you learn about how the nuances of other codes work along the way.

T.A.

Speaking of ambition, do you see Majestri becoming mainstream with leagues and/or associations over the next few years?

A.H.

No, I don’t think our offering will ever been mainstream. The most surprising aspect of this whole journey is the near-uniform resistance of sporting associations at all levels to a club administration system like Majestri.

Despite repeated attempts to rectify this, we’ve accepted that our future lies in our past. This system got to where it is because of working directly with the magnificent volunteers on the ground that give up big parts of their lives to ensure kids get on the pitch, and that is where our success will continue to lay.

There is no shortcut to earning the trust of clubs and the volunteers, so at the moment we’ll continue to introduce them to Majestri one at a time and give them the personalised experience that demonstrates we know what they do.

Every club is unique and part of the overall ‘technology problem’ is this expectation that one solution to capture player registrations will be an immediate fit for all clubs. It’s nowhere near as simplistic as that. Club operations run a wide spectrum of complexity, which is calculated by factors such as how many players are at the club and the different licenses that may be held to field teams at a range of competitive levels. Combine this with a year-round expectation of additional programs such as holiday coaching clinics and skill development programs, and some clubs are serious operations. Others are more traditional where the Winter season is played and then there’s a marked off-season. We endeavour to cater for either end of that spectrum and all clubs in between.

T.A.

Thinking very long term here, do you see the company going international at any point or is the goal to stay in Australia and grow here?

A.H.

There’s always the possibility of overseas opportunities, but I think there are still plenty of problems left to solve in Australia. There are plenty of clubs that we haven’t spoken to yet, and there’s a chance our offering could really help.

Taking a product overseas necessarily introduces complexity to accompany the growth, and I think our prerogative is to build more features. Club operations aren’t static – the compliance and governance continues to grow with the expectation that volunteers will give up more time as a result. It’s just not sustainable without an industrial-strength system underpinning it all, and that’s where we want to focus.

T.A.

You started with the three co-founders but has the company grown in size with employees or any help to operate the 250 club portfolio?

A.H.

We have two active developers involved which is John and myself, two of the three co-founders. Mike has taken a step back from administration to devote significant time to a charity called BrAshA-T, which seeks to cure a particularly awful disease. We also have a gun administrator named Nicole who takes a lot of work off our hands four days a week.

We consider ourselves experts in business automation, and part of proving that is that we can streamline and automate our own business as well. We learnt how to do this by building product software for many years, which is a very difficult skill in our industry. The software we built for TechnologyOne was used by over 1,000 enterprise customers, so a lot of the learnings from our respective careers there have been refined and implemented in Majestri.

The post Andrew Holman on Majestri’s mission to revolutionise grassroots football appeared first on Soccerscene.

Soccerment is an Italian football technology startup founded in Milan in 2017.

The company's mission is to accelerate the adoption of data analytics in football. Soccerment develop innovative tools to better gather and analyse football performances.

Their main product, xvalue.ai was created in 2019 with the goal to 'make team sports more engaging, inclusive and meritocratic'.

Soccerment was also selected for the second edition of the MLS Innovation Lab where the league chooses cutting-edge startups to help with the league's continued growth.

So what is xavlue.ai and how does it work?

xvalue.ai is a technology product that is revolutionising Football with AI & Data Intelligence.

It does this by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and data intelligence solutions to enhance football performance and decision-making in multiple areas.

Designed For:

Match Analysts & Coaching Staff

Performance & Data Analysts

Scouts & Sporting Directors

Player Agents

Why Choose xvalue.ai?

Advanced Metrics

Our platform offers the most comprehensive range of advanced metrics, delivering in-depth insights into player and team performance.

Unmatched Data Quality

We provide the most reliable and high-quality data, offering a complete view of performance strengths and weaknesses.

Intuitive Data Visualisation

Our user-friendly charts and maps transform complex data into intuitive visuals, making it easier to understand key performance metrics.

AI-Powered Insights

As one of the few analytics platforms with an integrated AI assistant, xvalue.ai saves valuable time by generating detailed, text-based analysis in seconds.

Match Analysis & Reporting

Match Analysis

Reduce analysis time with automated, insightful match and team reports.

Match Preview

A one-page report providing predictive insights into upcoming matches, focusing on technical and tactical elements.

Match Report

A concise one-page report delivering key takeaways from past matches, highlighting technical and tactical aspects.

Advanced Match Report

A comprehensive 25+ page automated report on a single match, offering deep tactical insights and player performance evaluations.

Player Analysis & Evaluation

Player Performance Insights

Automate player analysis with instant performance insights.

Player Clustering

Their clustering model provides advanced metrics to uncover underlying patterns and roles on the pitch.

Smart Rankings

Compare and rank players based on performance and playing style, enabling more precise evaluations.

Advanced Player Report

A detailed 15+ page automated report assessing a player's seasonal performance through advanced metrics, heatmaps, and role effectiveness across attack and defence.

Team Analysis & Tactical Insights

Performance Trends & Comparisons

Analyse team performance over time, identify key trends, and benchmark against opponents.

Team Advanced Metrics

Gain deeper insights into tactical execution through tailored metrics for different phases of play.

Advanced Team Report

A comprehensive 60+ page automated report analysing team and opponent performance, covering offensive, defensive, and set-piece strategies, alongside individual player evaluations.

How xvalue.ai and Soccerment can benefit Australian football

Australia’s football landscape is rapidly moving towards playing youth and the A-League in particular is one of the top leagues in the world for under 21 minutes played.

Talent identification plays a crucial role in shaping the sport’s future in this country and xvalue.ai offers cutting-edge AI-driven analytics to help clubs, academies, and national teams uncover hidden talent, refine player development strategies, and make data-backed recruitment decisions.

By leveraging this technology, the professional clubs would benefit greatly just like the MLS have with their Soccerment partnership.

Conclusion

xvalue.ai is the ultimate AI-driven analytics platform, delivering actionable insights to elevate football performance at every level.

It's an extremely complex and useful technology that has now been proficiently use to develop and identify young North American talents like Cavan Sullivan and Obed Vargas amongst many others.

It provides Australia with another opportunity to innovate and proactively use data from these platforms to help try and bring back a golden generation of its own.

The post Soccerment’s ‘xvalue.ai’: Transforming football with AI & Data appeared first on Soccerscene.

Reigning Bundesliga champion Bayer 04 Leverkusen has welcomed US sports clothing company New Balance as its official kit sponsor for the 2025/26 season and beyond.

Through the collaboration, New Balance will supply new high-quality kits to all of Bayer 04 Leverkusen's teams, in turn providing New Balance with highly valuable marketing opportunities through one of Germany's most beloved teams.

Additionally, athletes from the Bayer 04 track and field department will also adorn New Balance clothing, as well as those competing for the club at the upcoming German Indoor Championships.

CEO of Bayer 04, Fernando Carro, expressed the excitement the club has for the burgeoning relationship with New Balance.

"Bayer 04 Leverkusen is delighted to enter into a long-term partnership with New Balance from the 2025/26 season," he said in a press release.

"This relationship is the first of its kind for New Balance in German professional football. We look forward to being a strategic partner in this important step into an exciting future."

Leverkusen's Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Markus Breglec explained why the partnership would be so influential for the club.

"New Balance, with its global presence, matches Bayer 04's international reach to jointly develop the men's, women's and youth teams and, with this very exciting collaboration, reaches even further into the wider Bayer sports family, as evidenced by the already activated cooperation with the Leverkusen track and field athletes," he said via press release.

"We are convinced and excited to have found a partner who will accompany Bayer 04 Leverkusen on an exciting path of growth on and off the pitch in the coming years. We will work together to fulfill the dreams of our fans - at all levels, together under the cross."

New Balance Global Director of Football Sports Marketing, Andrew McGarty explained the significance of the deal for the American organisation.

"New Balance is honored to enter into this groundbreaking partnership with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a club with an illustrious history and an exciting future at the pinnacle of world soccer," he said in a press release.

This relationship underscores our unwavering commitment to global soccer by joining forces with one of the most competitive and ambitious clubs in the world."

Bayer 04 Leverkusen and New Balance will kick off their new partnership this season, as the reigning German champions seek to defend their title.

The post Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcomes New Balance as new kit sponsor appeared first on Soccerscene.

Inter Miami CF names Más+ by Messi as its Official Hydration Partner in a new partnership, the alliance ensures hydration for all players, from the Academy to the First Team, while introducing Más+ by Messi to fans at Chase Stadium.

This partnership adds to Lionel Messi’s growing commercial ventures as Inter Miami’s captain and football legend. Founded by Messi, Más+ by Messi provides balanced hydration with electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals, serving both elite athletes and everyday consumers.

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF’s leadership underscored the partnership’s significance, emphasising its advantages for both players and fans. Messi shared his enthusiasm for the collaboration.

“It's a huge honour and joy that Más+ by Messi is becoming a partner of Inter Miami. When working on this drink, we aimed to provide hydration not only for elite athletes but also for amateurs and anyone looking to stay properly hydrated in their daily lives, while also benefiting from electrolytes and vitamins,” he said via press release.

Más+ by Messi's Executive Vice President, Rishi Daing highlighted the vital role of hydration for everyone.

“Players for Inter Miami understand how important hydration is to achieving their goals. Now everyone can benefit from the same hydration, whether they’re on the field, in the stands, or in everyday life. We’re proud to partner with Inter Miami to share the importance of everyday hydration,” he said via press release.

Más+ by Messi will be seamlessly integrated into Inter Miami’s matchday experience and training facilities:

• On-Field Presence: Branded coolers and towels will be used during training and matches.
• Academy Support: The brand will aid youth development, reflecting Messi’s dedication to nurturing young talent.
• Matchday Access: Fans at Chase Stadium can enjoy all Más+ by Messi flavours, including the city-inspired “Miami Punch.”
• Retail Expansion: Available at Publix, Inter Miami’s Official Grocery Partner.
• Stadium Branding: Visible throughout Chase Stadium, including press conferences and fan engagement areas.

This partnership extends beyond standard sponsorship, with Más+ by Messi actively engaging Inter Miami fans through activations and promotions at Chase Stadium. The brand’s presence in the Fan Zone and Northwest Club will further enhance the fan experience.

As Inter Miami CF expands its commercial ventures, this collaboration blends sports performance, business strategy, and the growing impact of Lionel Messi’s personal brand.

The post Inter Miami CF Welcomes Más+ by Messi as Hydration Partner appeared first on Soccerscene.

Player scouting is one of the most challenging and vitally important tasks a club has to manage, without fresh and skillful new players a club will struggle to compete with its peers.

However, scouting can take a significant amount of time, manpower and research, leaving clubs with less resources at a significant disadvantage.

Additionally, for young players aiming for a professional career in football it can be extremely difficult to get noticed, especially if they are unable to frequently travel to far away tryouts.

To bridge the gap, Japanese organisation Dreamstock aims to reshape traditional scouting procedures via technology.

Launched in 2017, Dreamstock operates one of the largest online player selection platforms in the world - DSFootball.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock strive to achieve three goals on the path to make football fairer for upcoming talents:

• Create connections between club and players.
• Generate opportunities through technology and innovation.
• Transform the scouting market with transparency

DSFootball Platform 

Available in two packages, DSFootball is a multifaceted platform designed to aid both clubs and players. The first package is designed for grassroots clubs and academy players, while the second is a premium version tailored for professional clubs and players.

Through the DSFootball app, players create a profile that details their physical attributes, location, position and footballing history. Additionally, they can upload video clips of their performances to entice clubs to contact them.

For clubs, the DSFootball platform allows them to search for the perfect players to fit their unique needs by filtering their searches.

The platform houses a vast and expansive youth database for players across the U13, U15, U17 and U20 age groups, presenting the aforementioned player profiles to clubs.

These profiles showcase the important player information scouts need to know, so they can determine if potential players are suitable for them or note. Most importantly, the profiles showcase valuable game footage and clips, allowing scouts and coaches to see the potential of players without travelling to see them in person.

Through the DSFootball platform, clubs can individually contact interesting players via their profiles, or they can launch scouting events and tryouts to assess players in person. Furthermore, DSFootball allows for direct contact to player representatives to foster important connections and conversations.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock provides a way for clubs to access and scout players they normally never would have been able to under traditional methods, as it drastically reducing barriers for upcoming young players.

In providing each of these services, DSFootball acts as a one-stop-shop for clubs, significantly reducing the amount of hassle they are subjected to.

Global Impact 

Developing from its two headquarters in Brazil and Japan, Dreamstock has achieved significant success in its short lifespan via the DSFootball platform. With the company and its platform having grown active in over 36 countries, encompassing more than 200 clubs and 50 leagues.

Through their work, Dreamstock has fostered key partnerships with premier competitions such as the Bundesliga, Serie A, Eredivisie and even Australia's very own A-League.

As a product, DSFootball has been revolutionary. With over one million registered players on DSFootball, Dreamstock has created a premier destination for clubs to select future stars from, connecting players to clubs at a faster and more expansive rate than ever before.

For players, DSFootball has proven to be an excellent way to develop personally and attract attention from clubs. Of the one million plus registered players on the DSFootball platform, more than 100,000 are active participants in selection.

There is no sign of Dreamstock slowing down either, attaining over two million website views each month, illustrating a continued desire for the platform.

For more information on Dreamstock and the DSFootball platform, click here.

The post Making Football Fairer: Dreamstock DSFootball Platform appeared first on Soccerscene.

CoachBetter is a company founded in 2018 in Switzerland with the primary goal to create an advanced coaching app intended to help teams at grassroots and professional level.

The CoachBetter app exists to revolutionise the way football coaches and clubs operate, offering a suite of tools designed to streamline processes, enhance player development, and simplify coaching tasks.

Let’s dive into the features that make CoachBetter the ultimate app for football coaches.

All-in-One Communication Hub

Effective communication is the backbone of any successful team. With CoachBetter’s Integrated App for Players, you can keep everyone on the same page.

Coaches can share training updates, match plans, and important announcements, ensuring that players have easy access to the information they need. This seamless communication fosters a sense of unity and ensures that no crucial detail is overlooked.

Task Management Made Simple

Managing a football team involves juggling multiple responsibilities, from training schedules to administrative tasks.

CoachBetter’s Task Manager serves as your personal coaching assistant, helping you organise, schedule, and prioritise tasks. By automating administrative duties, you can focus more on what matters most: coaching and developing your players.

Visual Learning Through Video Sharing

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video is worth even more.

CoachBetter enables you to share insightful video sequences with your players and staff. Whether you’re breaking down match footage or highlighting key tactical plays, this feature transforms your video library into an engaging visual playbook, making complex strategies easier to understand.

Build Your Team Philosophy

Every great team has a unique identity and culture. CoachBetter empowers you to spread your coaching philosophy, allowing you to shape a culture that reflects your vision and principles. By articulating your values and approach, you can inspire your players and create a cohesive, motivated squad.

Streamlined Team Management

Managing a team involves more than just strategy; it’s about ensuring smooth coordination across all aspects of the game. CoachBetter offers a range of features to simplify team management:

Training Session Planning: With over 700 pre-built activities, you can plan effective training sessions tailored to your team’s goals. You can also customize sessions to address specific needs.

Game Day Management: Optimize your match-day strategy by documenting games, evaluating performances, and making data-driven tactical adjustments.

Team Coordination: Effortlessly manage communication, schedules, and information sharing, making it easy to keep everyone aligned.

Enhance Performance with Video Analysis

CoachBetter’s Video Analysis tool takes performance reviews to the next level.

You can tag, cut, and share key moments from match footage, enabling players to visualise their strengths and areas for improvement. This feature not only aids individual growth but also strengthens team-wide understanding of tactics.

Prioritising Player Well-Being

Player health is a cornerstone of long-term success. The app’s Player Medical Records feature tracks injury histories, recovery timelines, and overall fitness levels. This ensures that your team is always in peak condition, ready to perform at their best.

Data-Driven Coaching

In today’s game, data is king. CoachBetter provides powerful tools to harness the power of analytics:

Data & Performance Insights: Track individual and team progress, identify trends, and make informed decisions to boost performance.

Player Performance Statistics: Dive deep into metrics that matter, enabling you to pinpoint areas for improvement and drive success.

Continuous Learning for Coaches

The journey to becoming a great coach never ends. CoachBetter offers Coaching Education, a treasure trove of expert articles covering topics like offensive strategies, defensive tactics, and team management. This resource ensures you’re always learning and adapting to the demands of modern football.

Premium Training Packages

For those looking to unlock their team’s full potential, CoachBetter offers Premium Training Packages. These elite programs are designed to ignite progress and push your team to new heights, ensuring you stay ahead of the competition.

Conclusion

CoachBetter isn’t just an app; it’s a game-changer for football coaches and clubs.

By combining cutting-edge technology with practical coaching tools, it simplifies the complexities of team management and empowers coaches to focus on what truly matters: developing their players and achieving success.

In an era where every decision counts, CoachBetter ensures you’re always ahead of the game.

The post CoachBetter: Revolutionising football coaching with cutting-edge tools and insights appeared first on Soccerscene.

Manchester United's season goes from bad to outright embarrassing as each week passes, and a new report suggests that their massive apparel deal with Adidas is under threat due to their on-field failures.

According to The Telegraph, Adidas holds the right to terminate the deal with a one-year notice period should the Red Devils face relegation to the Championship.

United’s Form Sparks Concerns Over Lucrative Partnership

Manchester United’s long-standing relationship with German sportswear giant Adidas is under serious threat as their poor form continues to raise relegation fears.

Adidas first supplied Manchester United's apparel in 1980 to 1992 before reuniting with the clu in 2015 following a 23-year gap.

The two parties recently inked a lucrative 10-year extension in June 2023, worth $1.8 billion AUD (£900 million). However, United's current Premier League struggles could jeopardise this deal.

Premier League Woes Could Prove Costly

Sitting in 13th place, Manchester United are only seven points above the relegation zone, with Ipswich Town breathing down their neck.

It comes after the club had the least amount of points after the halfway mark to a Premier League season in the club's history (22 pts), a record they seemingly find themselves breaking every year.

In the unlikely event that relegation does happen, the financial blows would be critical for the club.

Adidas’ Relegation Clause Explained

Adidas reportedly has a clause in the contract that allows them to reduce payments by 50% if Manchester United are not in the Premier League. Moreover, the club stands to lose an additional $20 million AUD (£10 million) annually if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

If United were relegated, their payout could shrink to a mere $70 million (£35 million)  next season—a massive drop from the initial agreement.

Relegation Battle Heats Up

United manager Ruben Amorim has acknowledged the reality of the relegation battle his side faces.

Even if the concept of a Red Devils relegation seems impossible, the mere discussion of it is an indictment on the club.

Conclusion

If Manchester United’s downward spiral continues, the club not only risks relegation but could face severe financial consequences.

Their lack of Champions League football and a potential season without European football as a whole would mark a historic low point for the club and bring significant commercial repercussions.

The post Adidas apparel deal under threat for Manchester United appeared first on Soccerscene.

Signality was founded in 2016 with a clear vision to transform sports data. The company was driven by the ambition to make sports data as efficient and autonomous as a self-driving car.

With a rise in AI technology, the Swedish-based company are changing the way sports data is captured, analysed and utilised.

Signality have focused heavily on using their technology to create an extensive and complex soccer data system thanks to their automated cloud-based platform.

This platform processes thousands of live soccer games every year, delivering unparalleled data insights. It can ingest feeds from a single panoramic camera to multiple cameras, with more inputs resulting in richer data.

As the company continues to grow, it is expanding in the sports media landscape, after recently being acquired by automated camera and video production company Spiideo, another Swedish sportstech brand.

Signality’s Soccer API

The company’s prized product is their Soccer API which comprehensively tracks data sets from all different angles of the sport to help clubs, leagues and athletes perform at their best.

This is how it works:

Revolutionising Soccer Analytics with Automated Tracking and Event Data

A cutting-edge Soccer API is transforming the way soccer data is collected and delivered. Through fully automated tracking and event data collection, the platform leverages static video camera streams to derive accurate positional and event data without the need for manual intervention.

Automated Data Collection and Low-Latency Delivery

By connecting video streams to the platform’s system, users can initiate an automated process that generates real-time data feeds. These feeds, accessible via an open and user-friendly API, ensure low-latency data delivery, providing crucial insights for analysts, coaches, and broadcasters.

Comprehensive Tracking Data

The platform provides detailed positional data for all players, including the ball and referee. This data forms the basis for numerous Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can be easily derived, such as:

• Total Running Distances
• Speed Zones
• Number of Sprints
• Player Separation Metrics
• And Many More

This positional data is presented with high accuracy and precision, allowing teams to analyse movement patterns and player performance comprehensively.

Rich Event Data

In addition to tracking data, the API delivers extensive event data, covering a broad range of on-field events. Each event is timestamped and linked to the respective team and player. The list of supported event types is continuously expanding and currently includes:

• Kick-Off
• Goals
• Passes
• Substitutions
• Red Cards
• Yellow Cards
• Corner Kicks
• Dangerous Free Kicks
• Penalties
• End of Phase

This comprehensive event data enables deeper tactical analysis and enhances the storytelling for media coverage.

Proven and Validated Technology

The quality of the platform’s services has been validated by Gothenburg University, ensuring reliability and accuracy. In addition, continuous in-house validation and collaboration with partners help maintain and improve the high standard of service. Interested users can request further details about the validation process.

How It Works

1. Connect Video Streams: Users can connect their respective video streams to the API and optionally provide additional match information, such as team lineups, home and away teams, and kick-off time.
2. Automated Processing: The platform’s AI models process the video streams, automatically extracting positional and event data.
3. Access Data via API: The processed data is made available through an easy-to-use open API, enabling seamless integration into existing systems.
4. Quality Assurance: Built-in QA services ensure data accuracy by continuously training and refining AI models based on feedback and new data.

Conclusion

Signality’s Soccer API offers a revolutionary solution for automated soccer analytics. By providing fast, accurate, and comprehensive data through a robust open API, it empowers teams, analysts, and broadcasters to gain unparalleled insights into the game. With proven technology and continuous improvement, this platform is set to become a key player in the future of soccer analytics.

The post Signality: Revolutionising Sports Data with AI Technology appeared first on Soccerscene.

The Premier League has unveiled its first official virtual reality (VR) game, Premier League Player, in partnership with sports technology firm Rezzil.

Available on Meta Quest VR headsets, the game immerses fans in the heart of the action, allowing them to recreate legendary goals and experience historic moments from a player’s perspective.

In March, the Premier League and Rezzil officially confirmed their four-year partnership, promising to make 'groundbreaking' developments in both the broadcasting and video game space.

In the press release they mentioned the video game being released late in 2024 purely for a new fan experience.

Fully Licensed Clubs and Stadiums

Premier League Player features all 20 clubs and stadiums, offering fans the chance to train, compete in multiplayer modes, and engage in free play. Players can create their own avatars, collect items, and even interact with the Premier League trophy.

Rezzil's Cutting-Edge VR Technology

Rezzil, a Manchester-based technology company known for its VR training tools, developed the game. Its software is widely used by professional athletes and Premier League clubs to enhance performance through training sessions and match analysis.

The platform also recreates an authentic stadium atmosphere, complete with crowd noise and in-game scenarios, further bridging the gap between fans and the on-field experience.

Rezzil’s innovations extend beyond gaming, offering professional-level platforms that use sensors and haptic feedback to replicate the sensation of kicking a ball.

These tools, previously reserved for elite training, are now accessible to fans through consumer-friendly devices like the Meta Quest.

Broadening the League's Digital Footprint

The Premier League’s partnership with Rezzil reflects its evolving approach to fan engagement and gaming. Alongside long-standing collaborations with EA Sports and Football Manager developer Sports Interactive, the league is embracing innovative technologies to reach a wider audience.

Conclusion

The launch of Premier League Player signals a step forward in merging cutting-edge technology with fan experiences.

By offering immersive and interactive opportunities, the game not only strengthens fan connections to their favourite teams but also showcases the potential of VR in sports.

Every stakeholder from fans to players and clubs is utilising this technology and it has very quickly entered the sports mainstream.

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Sports analysis is an ever-evolving process, with thousands of different organisations vying to be the best, each have to constantly improve, or face being left behind.

One company that has always been ahead of the curve is Dartfish.

Founded in 1998 as inMotion Technologies Ltd, Dartfish has driven the sports analysis space for over 20 years.

Created via the advent of the SimulCam in 1997, Dartfish has since launched revolutionary products and services such StroMotion, Dartfish TV, and several apps such as the MyDartfish Express Mobile App.

To maintain its position as a world leader, Dartfish is committed to providing leading services for its clients everywhere, featuring offices across the world, including in Australia.

In the world of football, Dartfish is celebrated for its world class video analysis.

Football Video Analysis 

Currently, Dartfish offers three tiers of video analysis for football, ranging from entry level solutions to club level packages.

Dartfish understands the uniqueness of each of its clients and thus all packages work on Windows, Android, IOS and Cloud. Additionally, all packages support 4K, Mpeg-4, and h.264 video file formats.

As a standard, Dartfish provides tagging tools in its packages, allowing coaches to bookmark key moments in game recordings to review later. This is bolstered by a range of annotation and compositing tools, and overlays to aid coaches in showcasing and detailing what is happening on the pitch.

Additionally, each analysis package provides video editing and publishing tools to create clips and videos to be shared.

Premium Video Analysis

Where Dartfish's technical capability absolutely stars is in its two highest tiered packages.

Expanding on the basic video tools in the first package, the MyDartfish Soccer and Dartfish ProS solutions both supply clients with multi-video analysis, 3D drawings and analysis, plus live feeds, video encoding and tagging tools.

Through multi-video analysis, coaches can combine different videos to review and edit, bestowing greater freedom in how to decipher game situations.

3D drawing and analysis provides an entirely new dimension to scrutinise. 3D drawing enables coaches to annotate crosses and high ball movement far more effectively than in 2D.

However, the inclusion of live feeds, video encoding and tagging tools may stand as some of the more genius, and actively decisive revelations across the packages. Live feeds and encoding mean active game vision can be livestreamed for others to watch, such as support coaches and staff.

Live tagging builds upon the previously available tagging tools through being actively usable during a game. This is an incredibly useful tool for coaches as it allows them to quickly tag a key moment in a game to review later, without distracting them from the action.

Dartfish ProS

However, Dartfish does not stop there.

The most premium of their packages - the Dartfish ProS - features the company's flagship products the SimulCam and StroMotion, plus Dartfish Live Collaboration.

SimulCam combines multiple videos of different actions to be combined into one, providing a direct comparison of how several athletes perform.

StroMotion captures footage of an event and showcases the evolution of how athletes move. Through these technologies, coaches can evaluate if athletes' techniques are correct or if they are moving to the right positions.

The final feature, Dartfish Live Collaboration, allows for multiple users to join a shared timeline during a game. In the timeline, users can share, edit and delete tags they have added to review and analyse how a team is playing.

Conclusion 

In addition to their work with clients, Dartfish has received acclaim from the Croatian and Swiss national teams, and successful clubs like BSC Young Boys.

As a long-time leader in the sport analysis space, Dartfish continues to elevate the market with its world class technological solutions.

For any club looking to improve, Dartfish's video analysis packages stand as an incredibly beneficial solution.

The post Dartfish: Continuing to drive the cutting edge of sports analysis appeared first on Soccerscene.

Football Victoria (FV) confirmed VETO Sports will become the Official Goal and Equipment Partner, a partnership set to elevate football facilities and equipment throughout Victoria.

Renowned for their dedication to innovation, quality, and exceptional service, VETO Sports is a leading provider of sports equipment.

Through this collaboration, they will supply premium goals and equipment to support our leagues, clubs, and football programs.

Also as part of this partnership, VETO Sports will sponsor the State League competitions, which will now be named the VETO Sports State League Men and VETO Sports State League Women.

FV Executive Manager for Commercial, Chris Speldewinde discussed the work VETO will do to improve football in the state.

“Our new partnership with VETO Sports will significantly enhance the experience for players, coaches, schools, and clubs across Victoria. Their dedication to providing high-quality sports equipment aligns perfectly with our commitment to excellence in football, ensuring everyone in the community benefits from this exciting new relationship," he said in a press release.

VETO Sports General Manager, Josh McKee, also shared his thoughts on the partnership.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Football Victoria to support all levels of football in all corners of the state. Our extensive range of goals and training equipment will provide a vast array of training and gameday solutions for technical directors, coaches and community volunteers," McKee stated in a press release.

"This partnership will not only provide access to the ranges, but value in the way of regular discounts for Football Victoria affiliated clubs and access to package bundles that provide substantial value when ordering.”

FV have been focused on developing grassroots facilities, equipment and the space in general over the recent months.

In September, they partnered with PILA to promote local football and help clubs with acquiring equipment that prioritises safety as well as launching their GO Family football program aimed at improving fitness and building stronger family connections.

This collaboration in particular highlights Football Victoria’s dedication to driving the growth and development of football across the state.

It hopes to deliver lasting benefits to the football community, enriching experiences both on and off the field.

The post Football Victoria teams up with VETO Sports to elevate equipment appeared first on Soccerscene.

FIFA and Hawk-Eye are working together again to create the 'Football Technology Centre', a joint venture that will create new and emerging football technology. 

The Sony-owned Hawk-Eye currently provides FIFA with football technology used in the men's and women's World Cups. The existing partnership has worked on implementing semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) and artificial intelligence (AI). 

Hawk-Eye has established itself as a pioneer in sports technology since 2001 and is trusted by major sporting events globally. Its takeover in sports technology has come from mission statements of creating officiating solutions, providing accurate results for referee decisions, enhancing sports safety for the players, and ultimately making their work digestible for fans to understand the game's decisions and nuances.  

The immediate technological focus areas cover performance enhancement of the already-in-place technology between the two organisations, officiating efficiency and on-pitch detection algorithms. 

With the commencement of the 'Football Technology Centre,' FIFA and Hawk-Eye will work towards improving officiating performance through automated offside technology that alerts match officials through a smartwatch, similar to the already-in-place goal-line technology.

These two organisations continuing this technological football advancement partnership makes a lot of sense, considering how the developed SAOT tracks skeletal and object movements of the game ball and all players on the pitch. The in-place system works hand-in-hand with the future objectives of both companies.

The technology will guide video match officials in receiving alerts through the SAOT. Once they review the footage, the on-field match officials will receive the alert.

Since its introduction, SOAT has beaten the VAR system by an average of 30 seconds per decision while providing better accuracy, visual validation, and enhanced clarity among officials and spectators. 

On the performance enhancement side of the 'Football Technology Centre', the match analytics data feeding and biomechanical data capture can provide FIFA clubs with insightful data on athletes and improve how we analyse football beyond what we see with the naked eye. Critical game situations can be recreated through AI in the metaverse for VR training.

The benefits of Hawk-Eye and FIFA from a fan perspective and engagement aspect are that a 3D virtual recreation of the SAOT decision, once video officials and match officials rule on offside calls, it will automatically be made and shared with the television broadcasting and stadium big-screen. 

Through a corporate lens, Sony's calculated acquisitions and investments in sports technology and biochemical data capture a clear vision for the tech giant to continue dominating the sports technology space.

Beyond Hawk-Eye, owning Pulselive (digital specialist), Beyond Sports (immersive data visualisation), and the new sports technology acquisition for Sony, KiniTrax (motion capture). Sony's sports division's focal point is improving digital solutions, broadcast technologies, and officiating solutions for all companies owned under their sports branch.   

As a leader in sports technology innovation, Hawk-Eye evolves broadcast and production potential through its work. It gives FIFA cutting-edge data analysis through its intricate AI software, which is then visualised and shared with the viewers.

Hawk-Eye is continuing to push the envelope with new software that enhances football in all facets is a remarkable achievement, especially in its success in revolutionising the game, particularly for referees.

Future implications from this joint venture include further technological integration between existing software through the FIFA and Hawk-Eye collaboration, more robust development opportunities for AI, and how it can help shape the future of football on an international scale, advanced training practices for players and enhancing officiating systems. 

The continued collaboration between FIFA and Hawk-Eye is a colossal step in football's technological advancement, shaping its evolution in the coming years. 

For more information on Hawk-Eye Innovations and how they are shaping the future of football, click here.

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Professional coaching has rapidly become increasingly intertwined with statistics to optimise maximum performance, driving the need for clubs to employ the latest data innovations to stay competitive.

Bepro is a football statistics and analysis company pushing the cutting edge of football technology, providing an all-in-one analytics platform for clubs across the world.

The company's headline product - the Cerberus - an AI powered camera, allows for an extraordinary level of football data analysis when combined with Bepro's software.

Founded in 2015, Bepro has a large reach across the world with offices in nine different countries and has served teams in the EPL, Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga, K-League, SPFL, and more.

Most recently, Bepro supported Spain's ascension to the 2024 European Championship.

However, Bepro also works with a range of amateur clubs, supporting over 2,400 teams across 50 nations.

The Cerberus Camera

The fundamental core of Bepro's philosophy is the use of video to provide context to statistics.

Bepro links all of its data work back to film recorded by either of its two FIFA grade cameras: the Fixed Camera System or the Cerberus.

Bepro's cameras utilise AI to power optical tracking technology, enabling the camera to follow the ball without a camera operator. This allows coaches to work with their team instead of being distracted by handling equipment.

Both camera systems feature real time processing, meaning coaches and analysts can instantly assess footage. To enhance this, Bepro cameras can be accessed from multiple devices, and via Bepro's mobile app.

Additionally, the cameras record in 4k panoramic video to capture more action in higher detail than regular cameras.

Bepro's video service also supplies a 3D video player, providing coaches a greater level of video analysis.

Although both camera systems incorporate many of the same features, the Cerberus has the key advantage of being portable.

While many would fear a portable camera could run out of charge, the Cerberus features batteries capable of four hours continuous filming. Batteries can then be swiftly changed to ensure clubs do not miss out on valuable footage.

Furthermore, the Cerberus is a resilient platform and can continue to film excellently in poor weather and lighting conditions.

Adding to the Cerberus' extremely versatility, it not only keenly tracks the ball, but can also film multiple perspectives at once. Through this, coaches can keep an eye on different angles of a training session or game.

Software and Data

Bepro offers three levels of software for clubs to use, ranging from a basic package for amateurs to highly sophisticated software for professionals.

When combined with Bepro's most expansive package, the Cerberus truly shines.

This package utilises the camera's optical tracking to gather extensive highly detailed positional and physical data of both teams, not always possible with GPS.

From 90 minutes of football, Bepro cameras can accumulate approximately three million data points, including statistics such as the distance ran, speed and sprint efforts of each individual player.

Through the package, clubs can create visualisations in their footage to showcase pressing patterns, passing triangles and more by spotlighting players or drawing lines and diagrams.

Coaches can then edit these video clips together and send them to players and staff to showcase areas for improvement or successful plays.

Conclusion

While new, the Cerberus has already made a significant impression on world football, becoming the first ever portable optical tracking camera to be certified by FIFA.

The camera passed its certification easily, illustrating its excellence by achieving "Well Above Industry Standard" in the majority of assessments, with no scores below "Above Industry Standard".

As Bepro continues to develop itself as one of the premiere football analysis organisations, revelations such as the Cerberus will drive the sport into the future.

The post Bepro Cerberus: Revolutionising football data with optical tracking appeared first on Soccerscene.

The 2024 Major League Soccer regular season was the most successful for the American-based football competition yet. The regular season wrapped up in October and shattered several records, proving that the competition is in a healthy state and set up for long-term success.

More fans are consuming the MLS product than ever before, and it is experiencing year-over-year growth. Growing soccer in America has proven to be challenging, but the record-setting attendance highlights the breakthrough MLS is achieving.

The attendance average for the MLS season was the highest in the league's history, at 23,234 fans per regular-season game, a +5.1% increase from the 2023 MLS regular season. In total, 11.4 million fans attended matches during the regular season, smashing the 2023 number of 10.9 million.

These figures will grow throughout the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, from October 24th to December 7th. Based on their regular season numbers, MLS has projected that they will be in the top three across all soccer leagues globally in terms of attendance average after the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, alongside the English Premier League and Bundesliga.

Due to the successful season, the league has experienced a 13% sponsorship revenue increase and a 13% club sponsorship revenue increase compared to the 2023 MLS season.

Ten out of the 29 clubs beat or tied their regular season attendance average, this statistic highlights communal growth beyond the Lionel Messi effect and keeps the league in a healthy spot going forward.

MLS social media grew faster in 2024 than the rival major men's North American sports leagues, which consist of the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League.

• MLS TikTok saw a 26% growth in followers
• MLS YouTube saw a 21% growth in subscribers
• MLS Instagram saw a 10% growth in followers

The MLS x Adidas Archive Collection was credited with huge financial success, and on July 16, 2024, the MLS retail store had its most successful day in history.

Beyond the American audience, MLS has been making waves in the European market. Attempts to expand the league overseas were pioneered by opening 800+ MLS retail stores across France, Spain, Germany, and other major European countries in partnership agreements with Primark and Bershka retail stores.

The broadcast deal between MLS and Apple TV, signed in 2022 for 10 years and worth 3.7 billion dollars, has injected valuable funds into the league to improve its overall product from broadcasting and on-field standpoints.

Apple TV, which broadcasts all MLS games, invites fans to easily access the league while airing MLS content beyond the live match broadcast. The investment has shown success since 2023, but fans have criticised the league for its match scheduling, Apple TV broadcasts in 100 countries, so the platform opportunity for MLS is substantial.

The mass financial figure has been credited with being a key reason why the league has been able to sign the likes of Lionel Messi, an 8-time winner of the Ballon d'Or and the captain of the 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning side Argentina.

The bigger picture for the MLS competition will be the continual rise of quality international players choosing to sign into the MLS and improving the match quality. The 2024 MLS season had a very successful summer transfer window, including star players Olivier Giroud, France's all-time leading goal scorer, and Borussia Dortmund and Germany international Marco Reus.

Common fan complaints have been centred around the season's kick-off in February and the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs finishing in December. The lengthy season means that the league is miserable to attend during winter from a fan's perspective, the freezing and windy weather hurts the product, while thunderstorm delays have been common for the league in these cold months.

MLS games being played in Canada and Northeast America during the winter months will continue to jeopardise the product and growth of the sport.

Additionally, the gripes come from the lack of pauses throughout the 10-month season, which leads to a mass exodus of players from MLS teams during the international break, again hurting the product.

Given that the competition has 29 teams, broadcasting the matches in the evening on Saturdays and Wednesdays, with rare occasions when matches are played in other time slots, has made it challenging for football enthusiasts to follow the league as a whole.

Hosting games in earlier windows invites a family aspect to the matches, with Saturday/Sunday afternoon games working for the Premier League.

A huge positive of the Apple TV broadcasting deal is MLS 360, which takes fans all around the league with live coverage of the matchday. MLS 360 showcases the best action of every game, from goals to saves, play-by-play and analyst breakdowns of teams.

The analyst and play-by-play team consists of 60 people broadcasting in English and Spanish. Key football minds hosting the MLS 360 are Kevin Egan, Sacha Klejstan, Kaylyn Kyle, and Bradley Wright-Phillips.

As the MLS prepares for the 2024 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, a recent change in playoff formatting kicked off in 2023 and proved to be a successful business model. The format was changed to include a best-of-three series with no ties and a mix of single individual knockout matches.

Also, allowing 19/29 MLS teams into the playoffs from a business standpoint meant more matches, more revenue, and more opportunities to grow the league as a whole.

Each MLS team has a fluid salary cap, this is to keep the league fair for all teams and give each team an equal opportunity to win on paper. There are 'designated players', such as Messi, who each team is allowed to sign even if it breaks the salary cap in an attempt to boost the league's big-name talent. 

The absence of a regulation/promotion system and a player draft awarding lower-ranked teams with better talent is a welcome site for struggling teams to rebuild faster. This system improves the quality of the MLS competition and is a tool to prevent lopsided affairs. 

Garber has credited MLS teams' business approach to investing in soccer-specific stadiums with the growth of team evaluations. Investing significant funding into building these stadiums for teams to risk relegating would harm the league and its revenue/team sponsorship. 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America is gearing up to be a potential takeover opportunity for American soccer. MLS is expecting mass residual effects from this, similar to Australia and New Zealand hosting the 2023 Women's FIFA World Cup.

The MLS' business-savvy approach to running the league and ability to adapt to the sporting landscape surrounding it in an oversaturated sports market has worked in favour of the league. There's a lot to be excited about looking at the future landscape for the MLS.

This league's continual growth and development have fans in the box seat to enjoy some of the best football action in the world.

The post MLS soccer wraps up record season appeared first on Soccerscene.

The 2024 Australia Sports Innovation Week (ASIW), the Southern Hemisphere's premier sports technology event, takes place in Melbourne from Tuesday, October 22 to Friday, October 25, 2024. Attendees can explore a variety of events to tailor their ideal Sports Innovation Week experience.

Some of the events that will be included in the week are the following:

Women-led Design

Presented by Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), this event showcases pioneering women founders who have transformed the industry with their innovative products and solutions in sports apparel, protective gear, health and fitness initiatives, and children's physical development.

Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these innovations, uncover the stories behind their success, gain valuable insights into their design philosophies, and learn how they are influencing the future of sports, participation, and sportstech.

This event is ideal for those interested in the convergence of sports, technology, and women-led innovation.

Click here to find out more information about this event.

Performance Workshop Series

The Performance Workshop Series is crafted to provide an overview and insights into three critical areas where cutting-edge sports psychology approaches can be applied to sports clubs, organisations, and athletes.

Over the course of three workshops, attendees will gain a foundational understanding of developing a performance psychology curriculum, creating high-performance environments, and implementing mental conditioning programs.

Participants have the option to attend individual workshops or all three sessions.

Click here to find out more information.

Sport Textiles Innovation Workshop

In recent years, sporting apparel has undergone significant innovation, driven by research into new materials, manufacturing techniques, seamless bonding technologies, and other advancements that are paving the way for new consumer and professional sportswear.

The RMIT textiles team will offer insights into recent industry collaborations and projects, along with a tour of their textiles research and testing lab, which is spearheading innovation in Melbourne.

Click here for more information about this workshop.

Industry professionals should attend these events at Sports Innovation Week to stay ahead of cutting-edge developments in sports technology, network with leaders and innovators, and gain valuable insights into the latest trends shaping the future of sports, performance, and athlete well-being.

These events provide opportunities to learn about groundbreaking advancements, from performance psychology to sports apparel, that can enhance their expertise and drive innovation in their own organisations.

Click here to learn more about the other events.

The post The upcoming Australia Sports Innovation Week in Melbourne appeared first on Soccerscene.

As the official goal post partner of Football Victoria and numerous other state football associations nationally, PILA is known for its support of football at all levels, PILA has previously worked with various venues, clubs, schools, and affiliates, ranging from community grassroots programs to professional settings.

The collaboration aims to promote the development of local football in Victoria through close collaboration between the two organisations.

PILA, a family-owned Australian company specialising in sports equipment and streetscape solutions, focuses primarily on flagpoles and goal posts.

The company has established a strong reputation across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region for delivering reliable products.

PILA’s goal posts meet FIFA, Football Australia, and Australian Standards, ensuring they adhere to the highest safety and performance requirements. This includes supplying FIFA-compliant goal posts to The Home of the Matildas.

Additionally, PILA utilises technology to enhance the durability and safety of their products, minimising the risk of injury.

Managing Director of PILA, Reece Wooldridge explained the importance of the collaboration and how the equipment enables player safety.

“Equipment safety is a paramount concern in football, and our goal posts are designed with this in mind. Enhancing safety standards, we utilise technology to produce goal posts that are not only durable but also reduce the risk of injury. Our partnership with Football Victoria provides local clubs and facilities with access to equipment that prioritises player safety, which is crucial for fostering a secure and enjoyable playing environment,” Wooldridge explained to Soccerscene.

“Our football goals are designed to suit both natural and synthetic turf soccer fields. We offer ground sleeve or portable bases with wheels, to make installation and off-season goal post removal and storage quick and affordable.

“We manufacture two goal post ranges; our PRO Range is suited to elite venues, and our economical CLUB Range is perfect for sports clubs, schools, and training fields. We have goal sizes to suit all levels of competition including 4-a-side, 5-a-side, 6-a-side, 7-a-side, 9-a-side, and 11-a side competition.”

Through this partnership with Football Victoria, local clubs and facilities will benefit from access to equipment that prioritises player safety, contributing to a secure and enjoyable environment for all participants. The collaboration not only enhances the quality of facilities but also promotes safer playing conditions, fostering the growth of football at all levels across Victoria.

The post PILA and Football Victoria aim to promote local football appeared first on Soccerscene.

MatchTracker is a performance analysis software designed to support teams with pre-match preparation, live match analysis, and post-match reviews.

The data software allows clubs to enhance their tactical approach with advanced visuals and simplify the way analysts assess the club's performance.

Catapult were shortlisted in the Best Tech for Data and Analytics category at the 2023 Sports Technology Awards.

The company were recognised for their product 'Vector' that integrates wearable technology with video to provide coaches with contextualised performance insights.

This release was an industry-defining moment, since for the first time athlete performance data from Catapult’s Vector wearable devices syncs with MatchTracker.

This is how the Catapult MatchTracker technology works:

Analyse the Competition

Gain insights into the tactical and technical performance of your opponents with real-time match analysis. Track in-game trends as well as patterns across previous matches to enhance performance analysis, pre-match strategies, and talent scouting.

No Limits

Clubs can import an unlimited number of videos from any source. Whether it's footage from IP cameras or OB truck feeds, any signal or camera can be integrated into the software and shared across all applications within the network.

Teams can combine video with data such as events, tags, player positioning, and biometrics for a comprehensive view during the match. Pre-recorded videos can also be easily synced with data after the match or session has ended.

Visualisation

MatchTracker’s modules cover opposition analysis, scouting, tactical and technical performance, tempo and pace tracking, and game trend reviews.

Each module offers visualisation tools and customisable dashboards, making it easier to create presentations for coaches and players, or quickly compare teams, matches, and individual performances in a clear and consistent format.

Find Key Game Moments

Customisable automatic alerts enable you to identify crucial moments in the game swiftly. These alerts also introduce new metrics to evaluate performance during post-match analysis.

Automatic Tagging

Create sophisticated templates to streamline the tagging process, with the option to integrate this live with Focus, The Hub, or third-party tagging software.

Share Instantly

Once the game is uploaded, it’s instantly available to all users. You can use the data from the match to build custom workbooks, playlists, and whiteboards, all of which can be easily shared with others on the platform. Additionally, images, videos, and data can be exported in seconds to share with staff, players, or fans.

Conclusion

According to Catapult, MatchTracker is trusted by 70% of Premier League clubs and is used by teams and federations in the top leagues across Europe.

None better than a recent partnership confirmed with Bundesliga Champions Bayer Leverkusen, who kicked off their UCL campaign with a stunning 4-0 victory vs Feyenoord.

Their first team will be using MatchTracker to seamlessly integrate physical performance data with tactical insights through video analysis, helping them elevate match preparation and optimise training programs.

Bayer Leverkusen, under manager Xabi Alonso, achieved the incredible feat of winning the Bundesliga without a loss with an exciting, fast style of football.

He was adamant from the get-go that a statistics-driven approach would be the most efficient way to implement his attacking style of football, and this partnership will utilise the features of MatchTracker to replicate last season's success.

This technology is the future of data analysis in football and its use by many top professional clubs in Europe in its early years suggests it will be a powerhouse technology for years to come.

As data becomes more and more important in the modern game, a system like this becomes almost essential for top clubs to use in order to succeed and the many case studies completed by these clubs in regards to MatchTracker are extremely positive.

The post Catapult MatchTracker: Redefining Football Performance Analysis appeared first on Soccerscene.

Valencia CF's new official collaboration agreement will be with AQUAME for the next three seasons to equip their men's and women's first teams, as well as the VCF Academy, with AQUAME smart water bottles and hydration solutions.

AQUAME is an Australian company that specialises in sports technology using data-based hydration monitoring to contribute to better performance, recovery, and well-being.

Hydration and recovery have become central to the development and success of professional athletes and a market where top European clubs are demanding the best data quality.

AQUAME on their website explains that for clubs and teams it can help tackle key issues.

“Helps tackle key issues of over and under-drinking, ensuring each athlete maintains optimal hydration levels. This proactive solution provides a deeper understanding of why dehydration occurs, enabling teams to prevent issues before they arise,” explained on AQUAME website. 

This deal also aligns with the club's push for environmental sustainability and healthy lifestyles with the AQUAME bottles kicking out regular single-use plastic bottles.

These AQUAME bottles can also be bought at the Valencia megastore for the fans to help support the collaboration and the club's sustainability goals, not to mention help fans with their hydration practices.

The main product is the VALENCIA CF x AQUAME 2.0 smart bottles, which are a testament to advanced hydration technology. With a 630 ml capacity and up to 24-hour temperature insulation, these bottles feature a digital touch screen that displays a digital clock and precise water intake information and includes a UV sanitization function to ensure the purity of the water.

With the bottle purchase, there is an accompanying Mobile App that enhances the user experience with real-time alerts and personalised recommendations. It tracks water intake, establishes average fluid consumption, and analyses hydration patterns to optimise pre and post-exercise hydration strategies.

AQUAME have made its name known in a niche but very important and growing part of the sporting tech world and is a great representative of Australian business impact in the footballing industry space.

The post AQUAME named Valencia CF’s official collaborator appeared first on Soccerscene.

For the 2024/25 Premier League season, Liverpool FC have made sure to hit the ground running under new manager Arne Slot by teaming up with Husqvarna in an official groundskeeping partnership.

The multi-year global agreement was struck in July, where Husqvarna - a market leader in innovative and high-quality products and services for shaping green spaces in parks, forests and gardens - is with one of the world’s most historic and famous football clubs in Liverpool FC.

By being the official groundskeeping partner of Liverpool FC, the Merseyside outfit will be treated to pristine playing conditions at training and gameday in a collaboration that is the first of its kind for both organisations.

Liverpool has already been using Husqvarna’s robotic mowers since 2021, maintaining high quality standards across the AXA Training Centre, and AXA Melwood Training Centre.

This partnership will see Husqvarna provide the very best state-of-the-art equipment and innovative solutions for the Ground Management team at Liverpool FC, to maintain elite playing surfaces and its upkeep for all men’s and women’s teams.

Yvette Henshall-Bell, President Europe, Forest & Garden Division at Husqvarna, has been one of the key people to orchestrate the deal.

From the conversations that were had between Husqvarna’s Head Office in Sweden and linking up with the team in the UK, it made a logical partnership become a reality.

“Through this partnership, Husqvarna’s state-of-the-art equipment and innovative solutions will be more deeply integrated into LFC’s groundskeeping teams’ daily routines and pitch upkeep, making it a key part of creating and maintaining optimal conditions for elite level playing and training,” Henshall-Bell told Soccerscene.

“In addition, with the collaboration, Husqvarna looks forward to learning from some of the best groundskeepers in the world – enhancing our offer even further.”

Liverpool FC fans attending home matches at Anfield are also given a glimpse of what they can expect to see when they host Brentford on Matchday 2 of the Premier League.

“LFC will help raise Husqvarna’s global profile through bespoke content and activations using its award-winning social platforms, which enjoy a combined global following of 186 million,” Spence said.

“Additionally, Husqvarna branding will also be featured on the digital LED boards during matches, reaching over 400 million TV viewers per season around the world, enhancing Husqvarna’s brand visibility and awareness on a truly global scale.”

[caption id="attachment_26400" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Yvette Henshall-Bell, President Europe, Forest & Garden Division at Husqvarna.[/caption]

As a global brand, Husqvarna products are sold in more than 100 countries around the world. This includes Australia, where Liverpool FC have tapped into an International Academy in the country.

“As the partnership has only just been announced, we are currently scoping out what our local Australian activation looks like,” Vienna Spence, Marketing Manager for Husqvarna’s Brand Division Australia said.

Visit Husqvarna’s Australian-based website for the latest products and offers by clicking the link here.

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Following a distinguished coaching career that included reaching the heights of the Premier League, Scott Miller is now embracing the next chapter of his professional journey.

No stranger to Australian football, Miller was Head Coach of the Newcastle Jets Men’s team and as an assistant coach for the Socceroos leading up to the 2014 World Cup. With extensive international experience from his time at Fulham FC, where he witnessed everything coaching had to offer, Miller decided in 2023 that a new direction was needed.

Now, as the Chief Commercial Officer at iReel, a Gen AI sports technology company, Miller combines his passion for coaching and sports technology to deliver valuable solutions to sporting organisations. iReel's vision is to become the leading provider of Gen AI in sport, and Miller is at the forefront of this innovative journey.

In this interview with Soccerscene, Miller reflects on his 17 years in coaching, the lessons he’s learned from working overseas compared to Australia, how iReel presented itself as an opportunity, and why sports technology is essential in today’s sporting landscape.

You’ve had experience from the Premier League to the A-League. How has your journey been so far?

Scott Miller: My background originally stems from playing in the Victorian Premier League. I signed with former NSL team the Gippsland Falcons as a youth and came through their youth system, but I didn’t make a senior appearance due to a serious leg injury. This injury gave me clarity about the longevity of a career in sport as an athlete, which led me to pursue a degree in exercise science at ACU in Melbourne.

During that time, my interest in physical performance and its alignment with football grew. I took the initiative to make as many contacts overseas as possible, which was quite a challenge pre-LinkedIn, relying on handwritten letters. I was fortunate to have family in London, which allowed me to explore opportunities there. I landed a role at Fulham FC, starting in their academy system and eventually working with the first team. Within six months, I was offered a full-time contract with the Premier League team, marking the beginning of an exciting 10-year journey.

My time at Fulham was filled with learning opportunities, including earning my UEFA A license and a degree in sports psychology. I worked with top-level managers like Chris Coleman, Roy Hodgson, Mark Hughes, Martin Jol, René Meulensteen, and Felix Magath. These experiences helped shape my career, leading to a role as an assistant coach, where we achieved multiple top-10 finishes and reached the 2010 Europa League final against Atletico Madrid—a highlight of my time at Fulham.

Were you always looking to get into coaching, or did your injury force your hand?

Scott Miller: Coaching wasn’t my initial plan, but it became a natural evolution for me. Roy Hodgson, in particular, inspired me with his methodology and the impact he had on players. With my background in high performance, football knowledge, and a passion for psychology, I naturally transitioned into coaching. By the age of 27, I was delivering sessions to Premier League players, covering various aspects of training outside of tactics.

My journey into coaching continued when Ange Postecoglou invited me to join him as an assistant with the Socceroos, which was a fantastic experience. Later, he recommended me for the head coaching role at Newcastle Jets at just 33 years old. My time working with some of the best players and coaches in the Premier League was invaluable in shaping my approach to coaching.

What insights can you share from your experiences in the UK?

Scott Miller: Football culture in the UK is deeply ingrained—it's more than just a sport; it’s a way of life. The Premier League is a global phenomenon, vastly larger in scale than the A-League, with financial and commercial resources that drive innovation and performance.

Another key difference is the highly competitive environment. The standards are ruthless, and if you’re not up to par, you’re quickly replaced. This applies to everyone, from coaches to players and support staff. I experienced this firsthand, often finding myself as the cultural link between outgoing and incoming managers due to my role as a central figure in the club's operations.

The financial resources available in the Premier League also allow for greater opportunities for coaches to build sustainable careers. The remuneration packages are significantly different compared to the A-League, providing a stable foundation for those working in football.

You are now the Chief Commercial Officer at iReel. How did that transition come about?

Scott Miller: Coaching has been a significant part of my life since I was 24, but after nearly two decades, I felt the need for a new challenge. I wanted to innovate, develop new skills, and contribute to a space that is pioneering and future-focused. The opportunity to join iReel came at the perfect time.

James Doyle, the founder of iReel, reached out to me, and knowing him for some time, I was excited to join the venture. iReel is at the forefront of Gen AI in sports, and the chance to build technology that can transform the sporting industry was too good to pass up. It’s a different kind of challenge but one that’s equally rewarding.

Why would you recommend a career in sports technology for post-playing careers?

Scott Miller: Sports technology offers a unique opportunity for players looking to transition after their playing careers. The skills developed in sports, such as communication, leadership, and performance, are highly transferable to the tech space.

The sports tech industry allows you to stay involved in the sport while also building its future. Unlike coaching or analysis roles that are often dependent on performance results, a career in sports tech lets you create something from the ground up. It's a powerful and fulfilling path that I highly recommend to anyone looking to stay connected to sports in a meaningful way.

For full information on iReel and to contact the team, you can do so here.

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The art of recovery has become an integral aspect for strength and conditioning coaches to manage, with clubs implementing different strategies when it comes to recovery sessions.

Whether that would include players completing a range of exercises or managing their workload after a long game, we have now seen technology such as HydroMassage and CryoLounge+ come into the fold to help athletes recover.

HydroMassage and CryoLounge+ are products of Tees Valley Innovation, a leading UK supplier of innovative fitness and wellness products and leisure consultancy.

They also work alongside WellnessSpace Brands to offer convenient, technology-based solutions for post-workout recovery.

HydroMassage is an innovative water massage lounge and bed for wellness and muscle recovery, utilising powerful waves of heated water massage to target specific body areas.

The personalised full-body heated massage has an interactive touchscreen that controls the speed and pressure of your massage, while also having the option to design your own massage.

Some of the benefits of HydroMassage include:

• Temporary relief from minor pains and aches
• Reduce stress and anxiety levels
• Reduce muscle soreness, stiffness and tension
• Increases circulation in local areas where massaged
• Enhances feelings of well-being and deep relaxation

CryoLounge+ is an advanced recovery chair with complimentary cold and heat zones. The cold zones can lie between -1°C to -3°C which targets soreness or minor aches and pains. Whereas, the heat zones can be between 35°C to 46°C and can be applied in other areas of the body to provide a comfortable and safe experience.

This advanced technology to improve cold and heat treatment also has an interactive touchscreen that controls many features such as temperature, leg compression heat and cold to different parts of the body, and the auxiliary pad.

CryoLounge+ offers convenient and accessible treatments that can be customised to the athlete's demands. They can select certain areas to ice while heat somewhere else on the body to reduce the discomfort often associated with targeted cold recovery.

These products have been used in places such as Leeds Beckett University for its students and community members who compete in sports or attend the gym and need a source of recovery. HydroMassage and CryoLounge+ can also be used at selected gyms and health and leisure centres that provide these products to their members.

Mark Dunstan, Interim Head of Sport and Active Lifestyles at Leeds Beckett University said about HydroMassage:

"We wanted to go a little bit beyond just putting another piece of fitness equipment," he said on the Tess Valley Innovation YouTube channel.

"We wanted to broaden the service offers that we've got and when we came across HydroMassage, it just seems something that would really tick a massive box in terms of student health and well-being rather than just their physical health.

"It can also look after mental health by providing relaxation massages and it's going to benefit students in many ways."

For decades, various forms of massage such as cold and hot treatment have been mainly labour-intensive and can prove to be somewhat difficult to provide to certain athletes and clubs each day. However, with the introduction of HydroMassage and CryoLounge+, they both share similarities in their functions.

Both don't need any specialist staff and it's time-efficient only requiring 10-15 minutes of the athlete's time. Therefore, a large number of athletes can access on-demand massages and cold or heat treatments whenever needed.

With the use of HydroMassage and CryoLounge+, sporting organisations and clubs can optimise the way they deal with recovery sessions. They won't have to rely mainly on staff to deliver their massages and with these products, more athletes can potentially improve their game on the pitch with the right resources at their disposal.

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Melbourne City FC confirm ALPHA Gear as the Club’s Official Football Sports Equipment Partner, renowned Australia's customised small sided-goals.

ALPHA Gear produces high quality full-sized and small sided goals, footballs and off field apparel amongst other products and has been supplying training equipment to City since 2017.

This new collaboration formalises the relationship between the two brands, with ALPHA Gear now extending its support to include the Club’s senior men’s and women’s teams, as well as City’s community initiatives.

ALPHA Gear will play a key role in programs such as City in the Community (CITC) and Macca’s City Clubs, with their logo featured on CITC Young Leaders’ uniforms and exciting product giveaways for Macca’s City Clubs.

Brisbane Roar in 2023 partnered with Alpha Group and the company is destined to continue to grow within Australian football as they continue to successfully supply their products.

ALPHA Gear Director, Robert Bonanno expressed his enthusiasm about finalising the partnership and joining forces with Melbourne City after many years of collaboration.

“Melbourne City’s focus on community engagement and youth development is really impressive, and at ALPHA Gear, we share those same values," Bonanno mentioned in a statement.

“Building strong on-field environments for footballers of all ages and abilities to develop is what we are all about, so we couldn’t be more excited to formally partner with City.”

Melbourne City FC CEO Brad Rowse spoke on the fantastic relationship both parties have built over time, sharing similar sentiments.

“We’ve been working with ALPHA Gear for several years already, and they have always ensured a seamless training experience, helping our teams perform at their best with top-quality equipment," Rowse said in a club statement.

“Trophies might be awarded in stadiums, but they are won on the training pitch. To train at the highest level, you need the highest quality equipment, which is exactly what we have with ALPHA.

“We’ve been working with ALPHA Gear for several years already, and it’s exciting to now have their support across all levels of the Club, including our community programs, which are at the heart of everything we do.”

The collaboration will end up benefitting the community and youth programs within the club whilst also upgrading the quality of their current training products.

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INTIX is quickly becoming one of the biggest event ticketing companies in the country, boasting many past sport partnerships with the likes of Melbourne Victory, AFL Victoria and the Tasmanian JackJumpers which lead to success. 

Since their inception in 2017, the company has expanded abroad with offices in London and New York, and the expert-run company is looking to solve all the frustrations that modern fans suffer with current ticketing services. 

In an interview with Soccerscene, INTIX founder Alex Grant discusses the company's journey from organising large-scale festivals to making a strategic shift during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company's point of difference in a competitive market and their ambitious goals to expand in the Australian sporting industry in the near future.

The company started in 2017 and has since expanded to the US and UK, why did you first start the company and how quick has the growth been since then? 

Alex Grant: INTIX was founded in 2017, but I also like to think that in 2022 we became what we are today. Obviously 2020 to 2022 was a bit of a nightmare for anyone working in Sports and Events but after that period we grew quickly.  

Prior to 2017 we were more in the festival space, so I'm talking the large scale events that aren't at venues, and then once COVID hit we had to revisit our business area, and in Australia where we had the majority of our business at that point, spectator sport was still allowed to happen.

That is when we reviewed our entire tech stack and rebuilt the system from the ground up between 2020 and 2023. We have an improvement based on client feedback rule where, if a client asks for an improvement that is going to benefit many clients, we build it right away, to make the best possible ticketing platform available.

About mid-way through 2022 things started ticking over again in Australia, so at the end of 2023 we decided to expand internationally, and now we've got an office in New York and one in London which happened only the last 5-6 months. 

Recently Ticketmaster and these other companies have left fans frustrated, what is INTIX's point of difference as a company?

Alex Grant: First point of difference is that all the data is owned by the organisation, meaning everything that occurs within our platform is the organisation's data, and not owned by any ticketing companies. 

With other ticketing companies, customer data, and the relationship with the customer doing that purchase, is all essentially held by the ticketing company. Organisations can get access to that data through various reporting systems, but it is not immediate or a given, and in most cases a lot of that consumer data is owned by the ticketing companies. That means that customer relationship is essentially non-existent between the club and the consumer which limits fan engagement opportunities.

The other part where we differentiate is with live fan engagement. With our system you can segment on different data points and then, for example, communicate to customers live in the venue. If I wanted to send an SMS or a push notification to everyone who was scanned into the venue because someone kicks a record goal in the A-League, that communication can happen live both from a commercial point of view and a fan experience point of view.

You've had a deal with Melbourne Victory and now you've got the Football Victoria partnership, Is there an ambition for the company to grow within Australian football?

Alex Grant: Our ambition is to be the number one sports ticketing company in Australia. We believe we have a product that can improve, not just the ticketing experience, but also streamline event management, game-day operations, the customer purchase process, fan engagement and commercial opportunities.

We are working with a number of large sporting organisations in Australia, including various football organisations, and are definitely looking to continue to grow in this space.

Proving what we can do is certainly part of the bigger picture to be a leader in the sports ticketing industry in Australia. 

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The Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has announced Mitre as the A-Leagues’ new Official Match Ball Partner for the next three seasons, switching over from Nike. 

Mitre, an English sports equipment manufacturer based in Wakefield, has a leading brand with a storied history dating back to 1817. With over 200 years of experience in the game, Mitre has continually delivered high-performance footballs to major leagues and tournaments around the world.

The brand has served as the official ball supplier for many competitions including the English Football Association, the FA Cup, the Australia Cup, and the Australia National Soccer League. 

The new partnership will see Mitre and the A-Leagues launch the official design of the match ball for the 2024/25 season, along with special edition match balls planned for the season. Also, there will be an A-League Final series match ball for both the A-League Men's and Women’s competitions.

For this upcoming season, Mitre will introduce the Ultimax Pro as the official match ball of the A-Leagues. The Ultimax Pro is an iconic and much-loved Mitre football, that utilises contemporary modern styling with cutting-edge football technology to deliver exceptional performance.

A-Leagues Chief Commercial Officer Ned Negus commented on Mitre being welcomed as Official Match Ball Partner:

“Mitre is such a historic brand with strong football credibility, so they’re the perfect partner to deliver our official Isuzu UTE A-League Men and Liberty A-League Women match balls,” he said in a media statement on the A-Leagues website. 

“At a time when A-Leagues is putting football and fans first, Mitre is best placed to deliver a uniquely designed range of Ultimax Pro official match balls and a broad retail range offering more fans the opportunity to engage with A-Leagues and football.”

Mitre Brand Director, Simon Rowe, expressed his excitement about the three-year partnership and Mitre’s contribution to the A-Leagues:

“We’re thrilled to kick off our partnership with the Australian Professional Leagues. Our top-level Mitre Ultimax Pro is the perfect ball for the A-League, built for elite players and delivering ultimate power, accuracy, and on-pitch performance,” he added via A-Leagues website. 

“Globally, Mitre continues to lead the way in ball development and technology. We are excited to partner with the pinnacle of professional football in Australia and New Zealand. Core to our brand values is providing balls for all levels of the game so we’re delighted to offer the supporting replica and training range so all fans and players can play like pros.” 

Mitre Australia’s Gerrard Woods, added about the new partnership:

“We are delighted to support the A-Leagues as they embark on their new season. Our footballs have been tested at the highest levels of the game, and we are confident that they will contribute to the dynamic and engaging football that the A-Leagues are known for,” he said in a statement via the A-Leagues website. 

Mitre will also offer four replica variations inspired by the Ultimax Pro, catering to different skill levels and price points, making footballs accessible for all.

These variations will be launched in late August and will be available at leading sporting retailers around Australia, which will enable fans and players to experience the look and feel of the new ball designs for this upcoming A-Leagues season.

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The Football Supporters Association Australia (FSAA) have confirmed an exciting new partnership with Strip Tees.

FSAA, established in 2023, advocates for football fans nationwide through democratic representation and football community engagement based on their three main pillars - Lead, Unite and Advocate. They focus on empowering fans to influence football's direction, improving communication between administrators and supporters, enhancing match-day experiences and fostering positive growth for all football supporters at all levels of the game.

Strip Tees, founded in 2018, specialises in high-quality, locally-printed football merchandise that celebrates Australian football culture. They are dedicated to supporting the Sokkah community and have collaborated with notable figures in the sport. Strip Tees is committed to ethical practices and has a history of supporting charitable causes including The Moriarty Foundation, The Reagan Milstein Foundation and DT38.

“This collaboration will assist hugely in solidifying our immediate future so we can continue to amplify the voices of Australian football supporters and enhance their experiences both in and out of the stands," FSAA Chair Will Thompson said via media release.

Through the partnership, all financial contributions to the FSAA will be met with a 5% discount on all Strip Tees merchandise, reinforcing the shared commitment to enriching football fandom.

To donate to the FSAA or to join as a member, visit the Official FSAA Website. 

To explore Strip Tees' unique range of merchandise, visit their website here.

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Melbourne Knights Football Club has confirmed a new partnership with leading football management software company, ProTrainUp.

This collaboration is set to enhance communication and streamline operations with the Club, marking a significant step forward in the commitment to excellence and growth.

Founded in 2013, ProTrainUp is a club management system fuelled by data driven technology, created by and for the football community. ProTrainUp combines quantitative and qualitative data to enhance club operations for both staff and participants, enabling the Club to:

1. Enhance communication between club staff and players with built-in public and private messaging services.
2. Simplify the organization and delivery of training sessions using plans and sessions provided by top international federations and clubs, available only through ProTrainUp.
3. Maintain an up-to-date calendar of training sessions and matches.
4. Gather data and statistics on players to create detailed reports on individual player development and overall team progress.

ProTrainUp is a system used by clubs around the world including European clubs such as Dinamo Zagreb FC and FC Porto, highlighting its importance in modern football.

The main objective of this partnership is to enhance communication among club staff, players, and parents.

ProTrainUp’s advanced software will deliver a centralised platform for efficient and effective communication, guaranteeing that all members of the Melbourne Knights community stay well-informed and engaged.

The system is accessible both online and through the app, allowing players and parents to enable push notifications so they never miss important Club updates.

The partnership will play a huge role in upskilling the juniors program in 2025, a huge focus that President Simon Pincic spoke about in length in his exclusive interview with Soccerscene.

The Knights will leverage ProTrainUp’s comprehensive tools for training management, performance tracking, and development planning to 'provide the juniors with the best possible environment to grow and succeed' as per their statement.

This will help more than just the junior players however with ProTrainUp, the coaches will benefit from this technology with seamless tracking of player progress, and enhanced training experiences, all contributing to the overall development of the junior players.

The club spoke about the future of their management through this advanced technology system.

"We look forward to a successful partnership and are excited about the positive impact it will have on our Club and community. Together with ProTrainUp, we are committed to building a stronger, more connected, and highly effective football club," Knights said in a club statement.

This is an excellent and innovative partnership by the Knights that sees them advance forward in the development of technology.

The Knights have been vocal about the importance of junior development and have historically been one of Australia's most successful clubs at creating stars from their system, with ProTrainUp only advancing that cause.

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Football fan behaviour can on occasion be detrimental in the progression of the sport across the globe.

Although a celebrated part of the game - when loyalty, passion and individual personalities are animated - the potential for something unsavoury to occur, becomes imminent.

Globally, a key element of the sport is its tribalistic nature. Football fans possess the tendencies of becoming relentless within their support for a club.

The comparison of two large contingents of football fans coming together, with their respective teams battling it out for supremacy, is reminiscent of a crusade.

In acknowledgement of fan behaviours, governing bodies must exercise adequate security throughout stadiums in order to prevent the slim although present opportunity for disorderly behaviour occurring.

Dallmeier

Dallmeier are a German based technology company in whom have become specialists in comprehensive security services.

Derived from the use of video technology the German entity have built quite the portfolio upon completion of football related security within the company’s tenure.

The company boast eight varying security solutions for stadiums. All crafted with the intention of making stadiums safer through the minimization of fan misconduct.

Since 1984, Dallmeier have been experts upon the field of video technology. Optimal within their services, the company provides security logistically and industrially.

Furthermore, their services extend to airports casinos cities, and finally stadiums.

Security Hardware Variety - Panomera Camera 

The use of Dallmeier’s most innovative and decorated product has primarily featured within football stadium security.

Panomera cameras are the combination of several megapixel cameras all forged into one efficient device.

Allowing users to capture larger areas and long distances of space. Providing what a series of cameras would reduce in one efficient device.

The Panomera Camera maintains the highest quality of imagery, allowing in the improved identification of potential perpetrators.

Stadium Security Measures - Dispatch Management 

Dispatch management and allows for the identification and background search of personnel who identify as a threat to the public, to be adequately dealt with by security or police officials.

Providing a real time understanding of the stadiums environment.

Capturing incident data in the form of videos, photos and witness statements all for those who commit an antisocial act at a football match.

Putting emphasis upon the punishment of perpetrators, with the video capturing evidence that can be guided into the hands of law enforcement.

Stadium Security Measures - Entrance Area 

The entrance area aspect of Dallmeiers stadium security allows for the identification of fans looking to cause issues prior to their entry into the stadium.

As a result of optimal security installation upon sport stadiums around the globe, the participation of football upon all aspects can flourish.

While the tribalism and passion all synonymous with football fans, it is an area of the sport that can have a ripple effect upon it causing disruptions to matches and detriment of fan involvement.

Additionally, anti-social fan misconduct can have a negative connotation upon a sport well-respected.

What impact it can have in Australia?

As a result, events can transpire culminating in what should be a celebrated aspect of the sport, becoming its kryptonite.

It was only 14 months ago where in our backyard, an unsavoury event transpired between rival crowds, leaving a stain upon football in Australia.

At the time, it had somewhat derailed a hype train football in Australia was experiencing. Given the Socceroo's had successfully qualified for the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup.

The aftermath of such a monumental achievement was tarnished due to fan misconduct.

Company’s in the same class as Dallmeier, allow for the sport to be participated while an emphasis can be put upon the players taking to the pitch.

It is imperative that fan safety is held at the highest responsibility. The raw element of fan behaviour should not be eradicated, but has all the potential to be mitigated, exposing the raw fan element in a positive light with the improved security and emphasis on safety.

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Orreco.AI is a new AI technology tool that aims to help advance athlete training, athlete performance and management of injuries in sport.

This innovation in data collecting technology has one goal - to give athletes the power to control and better their performance using a range of data points never seen before in the industry.

Led by CEO and Sports Scientist Dr Brian Moore, Orreco has had a plan since 2010 to innovate sport by leveraging technology to better athletes' performance and management.

Since its inception, Orreco has lead research findings and released new, updated technologies to fine tune the accuracy of the data they show to athletes.

They released the app '@thlete', which is a data and content platform for athletes that synthesises a range of data to help athletes better their sleep, wellness, preparation and recovery.

Orreco's Recovery Lab is the precursor to Orreco.AI, with it being a similar concept that integrates data and metrics to improve wellbeing.

Orreco also released a pioneering free app called FitrWoman which is a leader in supporting women athletes during their menstrual cycle by providing education, training and nutritional support.

Orreco is fast tracking the Orreco.AI technology that is the first of its kind. The technology gives teams player pages with basic statistics such as distance covered, top speed and performance stats but also is providing coaches with an in-depth analysis on their fitness by using blood biomarkers to accurately pick up the data.

Minute-by-minute post-game injury scores and injury signals that give coaches a head start on protecting and managing their players.

Orreco.AI aims to also improve efficiency for athlete performance coaches through voice and text prompt interactions.

Orreco have harnessed three pivotal waves of AI - advancements in computing, cloud storage, and generative AI.

Their objective is to provide differentiated, actionable data that can help athletes transform their game.

Orreco’s AI suite is at the forefront, complete high performance platform converting vast amounts of data into actionable insights. Here’s how:

AI Charting:

AI charting allows direct interaction with your data through intuitive voice commands. For example, you might ask, “Please show me Peter Brand’s inflammation levels as a line graph.” Instantly, crucial insights are displayed, enabling faster, more informed decisions to optimise athlete performance.

AI Action Models:

Our AI Action Models can provide comprehensive overviews of any dataset with simple voice commands. For instance, “Show me athletes of concern and why,”  immediate evidence based answers, securely delivered as your data never leaves the platform. This functionality ensures proactive management of player health and performance.

TRAIN:

The TRAIN module predicts training loads based on historical GPS data, creating sessions tailored to specific criteria — sets, reps, pitch size, and duration. Adjustments can be made in real-time, offering dynamic feedback. This efficiency not only saves time but also enhances training strategies.

AI Injury Risk Modelling:

Motion Signal delivers post-game injury risk scores by identifying deviations from normal movement patterns. This advanced warning system helps prevent injuries such as hamstring strains. As in-game data becomes available, real-time injury risk scoring will further enhance preventive measures.

Orreco's mission with this particular technology is to empower teams and players to reach its peak performance, maintain health and extend careers.

There has never been a higher demand for athletes than in the current sports landscape. More games being played, more minutes on the pitch, more travel, and an increase in high intensity training has led to the increase of a risk of injury, shortened careers and poorer performances on gameday.

This AI technology innovation highlights a shift in how professional sporting clubs and athletes are viewing the current situation and willing to do what they can to mitigate the potential soft-tissue injuries that arise.

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New Zealand Football has collaborated with sports video production company Sportway to broadcast an unprecedented amount of domestic football from the National League and cup competitions.

Through this partnership, New Zealand Football will broadcast over 200 games in 2024, providing live and free access to fans on FIFA+.

Sportway are an AI-automated sports video, data production and media rights acquisition company which provides end-to-end, fully automated video production of live sporting events, specializing in lower tier leagues and youth divisions.

With the implementation of a fixed AI-automated filming solution, 4K Sportway cameras have been strategically placed in stadiums across Aotearoa New Zealand, enabling the live broadcasting of National League games, complemented by match commentary from club commentators.

In 2023, New Zealand Football partnered with FIFA+ for their international men's and women's teams which includes an archive of former NZ Football's moments at major tournaments.

New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell explained how the exciting partnership would further grow football in New Zealand.

“We want to make football as accessible as possible, and our broadcast and content strategy is an important part of that," Pragnell said in a statement.

“To go from only broadcasting one domestic game per week a few years ago, behind a paywall, to delivering over 200 this year is an impressive change and will transform competitions like the National League which is now much easier for fans to discover and follow.

“Working with AI cameras is a new approach for us but broadcasting domestic games on this scale would not be possible with a traditional model, so we have been keen to adopt this technology and are excited for how it develops as the technology evolves.

“It is also great to provide opportunities for people who want to get involved in broadcasting with the chance for a new generation of commentators to experience working in live sport.”

This is a welcome change that completely changes viewership of the National League that was previously paywalled and extremely hard to access.

After an extremely successful co-hosting of the Women's World Cup, it is clear to see NZ Football are committing to growing the grassroots game and ensuring that they inspire more people to participate to create a good foundation for the future.

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Capital Football are continuing their long-established partnership with Capital Trophies & Sportswear to offer member clubs benefits from the sport trophy, awards and medal company.

After releasing a 2024 Request for Tender (RFT) regarding a trophy and award sponsor, Capital Trophies & Sportswear have stepped up to supply the federation's many leagues and participants with a quality product.

Capital Football have over 16,000 football players across different age levels and over 35,000 participants, highlighting the importance of securing this partnership at the start of the 2024 season.

As a result of the partnership, Capital Trophies & Sportswear will be offering all Capital Football affiliated organisations and clubs a 15% discount off Capital Trophies & Sportswear on all trophy and medal orders for the term of the agreement.

In addition, Capital Trophies & Sportswear will become naming rights holders for all Masters League competitions in the Capital Football competitions with the division being named the Capital Trophies Masters League.

Capital Trophies and Sportswear is a local business based in the ACT that has been running for over thirty years supplying high quality trophies, awards and medal designs for sporting clubs in the region.

Their commitment to excellence has been demonstrated through their involvement with Summernats, Cricket ACT, Hockey ACT, Basketball ACT, Capital Athletics as well as on a local level with Capital Football affiliated clubs such as Gungahlin United, Majura, O’Connor Knights, Belnorth and Belconnen United.

Capital Football CEO Samantha Farrow commented on the new partnership and what it means for the federation in the future.

“We are delighted to have secured this partnership with Capital Trophies & Sportswear,” she said in a statement.

“Like ourselves, Capital Trophies & Sportswear is well known locally and has been a supplier of trophies and awards to our organisation, and to Canberra United, for a number of years. Their products are top-class, and their service is unrivalled, and we are looking forward to working with them.”

Upholding the highest standards in craftsmanship, Capital Trophies & Sportswear are committed to delivering products that reflect prestige and durability.

This is fantastic news for Capital Football who add to their growing corporate partnership portfolio and do so with a trusted, local business that has had a successful history with Capital Football's affiliated clubs at other levels.

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Playermaker is the world’s only foot-worn data tracking device that allows coaches to gather real-time data from each individual player using the devices sensor strapped to their boot.

Playermaker is a sports technology company that was founded in 2017 by Guy Aharon & Yuval Odem who formerly served in the Israeli Defensive Forces.

Playermaker offers sports technology products that are designed to provide valuable data and insights to players, coaches, and teams.

It enables users of all skill levels to measure to seamlessly access a range of data points that can pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of their game.

Teams in particular can gain a deeper insight into the development of their players using the in-depth statistics that the Playermaker provides.

The company has partnered with hundreds of elite clubs and federations worldwide including a partnership with current Premier League champions Manchester City.

Playermaker is FIFA approved and is the first athlete performance monitoring system to successfully complete the challenge set by the FIFA Innovation Program, gaining the EPTS FIFA Quality certificate.

About CityPlay

Using their partnership with Manchester City, Playermaker also released 'CityPlay' that combines Playermaker technology with Manchester City's Player development methodology.

The app is designed to help your child develop and involves many interesting features that can keep parents or coaches on top of their performances like never before.

Measuring over 25 metrics, CityPlay provides the most relevant data for creating training programs, benchmarking performance and tracking progress. With the metrics that matter you can set goals, measure progress, analyse performance and improve easier and faster.

There is also an option to watch personalised in-app videos from Manchester City coaches and experts to help accelerate your child's progress.

How it works:

6-Axis Motion Smart Sensors

Built with a gyroscope and accelerometer that samples movement events at 1000 times/sec, which allows the measurement of every micro-movement, including impact with the ground, with the ball and the rotation of each foot.

Strong but seamless straps

Two waterproof sensors (L+R) located inside the durable silicone straps, suitable for all playing conditions. The straps comes in 2 sizes (M / L), to fit kids adults, women and men alike.

Training Highlights

Tracks 15+ football specific metrics including touches, total distance, kicking power, sprint distance and intense turns.

This helps users examine their training performance using the different metrics to help them improve for matchday.

Match Skill Scores with others worldwide

There are three Match Score Factors: Age, Gender and Position.

Scores range from 40-99 for each skill. A score of 99 indicates your performance placed in the top 5% of your segment, while a score of 40 indicates the same, but for the bottom 5%.

This allows players to compare their statistics and scores in each metric with others in the same category to suggest where the player needs the most improvement.

Proprietary Rating System

An objective skills rating system, that covers both physical and technical abilities, obtained during
real world scenarios of match play.

1. Objective, AI-based measurements of both physical and technical skills
2. During in-game situations, without interference
3. Developed using global age and gender benchmarks

Other Features

• Requires no infrastructure, Wi-Fi or GPS signal to collect data
• Bluetooth operated Device to sync the data
• Track your progress over time using trends of past stats that have been recorded

Sky is the limit for Playermaker's device, and the technology can certainly be adapted in other sports, however the company is currently focusing on maintaining its excellent growth in football.

As the company has expanded in the football industry, it is providing the world stage with incredible innovation that can help clubs of all levels with talent identification, analysis and tactical insights.

The company is yet to partner with an A-League club and there is a huge opportunity for a club in Australia to enhance their data tracking and analysis systems.

As the league starts to prioritise talent identification and player development over the influx of failed marquees, using this technology is a perfect way to improve in that aspect and delve deeper to potentially produce more talented Australian footballers.

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WOW HYDRATE launched its first-ever co-created ‘Red Cherry’ flavoured drink, working alongside one of the world’s biggest football clubs – demonstrating the shared mission of the two organisations that started with a multi-year global sponsorship from November last year.

WOW HYDRATE is a sports drink brand influencing the future of sports and fitness hydration, through its health benefits in the products.

Their range contains drinks with four essential electrolytes and vitamins B6, C & D – while also being sugar, fat and gluten free.

England and Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire is a brand ambassador for WOW HYDRATE, who also partner with world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, UK boxing promotion company BOXXER, West Ham United Women’s team, rugby club Castleford Tigers and Essex Cricket.

At the heart of these collaborations is WOW HYDRATE Managing Director Queenie Porter, who shared how the new ‘Red Cherry’ drink came about.

[caption id="attachment_23948" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Harry Maguire is an ambassador from Manchester United.[/caption]

“We had a board meeting last summer and we have some great individual ambassadors while also prominent in the world of boxing, so we asked how can we take the next step,” she told Soccerscene.

“We were wondering how we can resonate with the sport world and touch base with the consumer.

“When looking at football clubs, the number one priority was Manchester United because they are the biggest in the world.

“It was a mutual connection because they were looking for a hydration partner, and we were of course looking for a football club. The deal happened so quickly not in a rush, but because our values aligned so well – Manchester United are fan first, whereas we are consumer first.

“The way that Manchester United run their business is like one big family – from a receptionist all the way up to CEO.

“Both of us operate in the same manner and we just clicked as a result.”

While the sports drinks are prominent in UK-based Tesco stores, we will expect to see a greater expansion in the near future.

Porter shared what we can look forward to.

“We are planning to rollout WOW HYDRATE into 600 Woolworths stores in Australia from late April this year,” she said.

“It adds to our existing reach in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, while this year will also see the push into Europe including Spain and France – while we’ll also enter the United States towards the backend of 2024.

“We want to ensure that everything will be aligned and Manchester United will be a key part of that – whenever we venture somewhere new, the Club will be involved in the launch.”

[caption id="attachment_23949" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Porter on the touchline of Old Trafford with the 'Red Cherry' drink.[/caption]

In her role, Porter is passionate about getting the very best out of women’s sport.

Rather than competing, she sees it from a different lens when assessing fan demographics.

“Naturally I’m really passionate about women’s sport, particularly in football,” she said.

“What I want to use my platform for is to support the women’s game in its own identity.

“There’s a lot around people wanting to make the men’s and women’s game equal, but I just want to focus on making the women’s game the best it can be in its own standing.

“It brings in a much more family audience, so from a brand perspective you can tap into what you otherwise would not have before.

“Women have different needs to men such as in recovery, so I want to ensure that women have the support there.

“For example with ACL injuries, our protein drink is one of the best ways to recover white muscle tissues.”

[caption id="attachment_23950" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Porter with the Manchester United home shirt.[/caption]

A key orchestrator of the collaboration was Victoria Timpson, Manchester United’s CEO of Alliances and Partnerships.

The Red Devils will support WOW HYDRATE in promoting all the benefits they offer.

“We are very proud to have welcomed WOW HYDRATE as Manchester United’s official sports hydration partner and excited to work with the brand on educating our fans on the importance of hydration and the science behind its products,” she said exclusively to Soccerscene.

“WOW HYDRATE’s ability to work with the club to collaborate on the dual branded Red Cherry hydration drink and make it available to our fans within months of announcing the partnership, demonstrates its strong position within the global market. WOW HYDRATE has been well received by our fans and we look forward to building on this throughout the partnership.”

WOW HYDRATE’s health benefits in its drinks allow a club like Manchester United to rest and recover from strenuous schedules including the Premier League and European competition.

The household name that is Manchester United, coupled with international expansion, makes WOW HYDRATE a name that’s one to watch.

For full details and its products, you can view WOW HYDRATE’s website here.

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Mitre have extended their current deals with Football Victoria, Football West and Football NSW to continue providing their Ultimax Pro ball for competitions country wide.

Football Victoria announced that Mitre will continue as the exclusive NPL ball provider for the NPL and VPL competitions in 2024 with an option to extend into 2025.

In Football NSW, the sponsorship with Mitre will extend till the end of 2026. It will remain as the Official Match Ball of the National Premier Leagues NSW, Football NSW Leagues, Football NSW Youth Leagues, and Association Youth Leagues for a further three years.

Football West confirmed that Mitre will be the Official Ball Supplier for another three years, taking the partnership to a total of six years.

Trusted for over 200 years, Mitre footballs have been a foundation of the brand since the early 1900s. Since then, they have been the competition ball of choice for many football associations across the world.

In 2017, Mitre started inside the Australian footballing landscape when they were unveiled as the football partners of the then FFA Cup, now called the Australia Cup.

Since then, Mitre has expanded towards the state member federations to try and grow amongst the local community. They are the Official Match Ball of NPL NSW, NPL Victoria, NPL Queensland, Football West and NPL NNSW.

The Ultimax Pro is Mitre’s flagship Elite-Professional football that is used amongst state competitions and the Australia Cup. It features Hyperflow debossed grooves across the ball, for incredible flight consistency across all speeds. It is Engineered with Hyperfoam, a cushioned, high elastic foam, for maximum power when you strike.  It is also a FIFA Quality Pro approved football which proves that it maintains a top quality and standard.

Football Victoria Sponsorships and Events Manager, Paul Iliopoulos, outlined this is a ‘game changing partnership’ going into the 2024 season and beyond

“We are thrilled to announce a partnership between Football Victoria and MITRE as the official ball provider for our NPL and VPL competitions,” he said via FV.

“The MITRE ball is recognised for its superior quality and performance and this partnership reinforces Football Victoria's dedication to maintaining the utmost standards in our competitions.

“As we embark on this exciting journey with MITRE, we extend our gratitude to the football community for their continued support.”

Football West General Manager of Football Perry Ielati was excited to continue with the high-quality footballs through this partnership.

“Football West is delighted to continue our partnership with Mitre. Our clubs know they can trust the quality of footballs provided by Mitre and that is hugely important to us. We are excited to move forward together over the next three years.” Ielati stated via Football West.

Football NSW CEO John Tsatsimas was thrilled to see Mitre extend as well.

“We’re delighted to continue the partnership with Mitre. We are anticipating another season of unprecedented success, and we eagerly look forward to achieving it in partnership with Mitre who will provide a great level of professionalism through their product as they have done so in recent years.” Tsatsimas said via Football NSW statement.

Mitre's relationship with Football in Australia is fantastic for the game with the highest quality footballs being used at all different levels. Ball quality is an integral part of football and clubs from all federations will benefit from the discounted prices and free supplies that Mitre provide to improve the game.

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Brisbane Roar's deal with sports equipment provider Alpha Group is giving players and staff access to the latest range of football-specific tools.

Alpha Group is an Australian company that has risen to prominence for its state-of-the-art, football-specific equipment. In particular, the company provides a wide range of portable pop-up goals that facilitates various football training drills.

The company also provides a range of accessories such as target nets, tennis nets and rebounders, which serve as important tools for player skill-development.

With players and coaching staff accessing Alpha Group’s extensive range, Brisbane Roar believe it will improve its day-to-day training programs, whilst having a positive effect on the club’s on-field performance.

Roar Chief Operating Officer, Zac Anderson, spoke glowingly about the collaboration.

“The tools and equipment Alpha Group offers are unmatched in quality, and their reputation in the industry is exceptional,” Anderson said via Roar press release.

“This partnership will significantly enhance our training programs, ensuring our players and coaches are equipped to compete at the highest level.”

The deal also provides valuable exposure for an Australian brand in the football equipment market.

Alpha Group’s Director Robert Bonanno is thrilled for the company to be connected with an A-League club.

“It’s an honour to enter this partnership and be chosen as their trusted equipment provider, and we’re committed to ensuring that all team’s get the best training equipment available,” he added via media release.

Brisbane Roar will hope that the equipment deal brings further success to its A-League Men and Women teams and help to nurture its young talent as they rise through the club ranks.

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Before becoming Brand Director of Nike Pacific – an organisation he’s been part of since 2015 – Nick Atkinson knew very early on that he’d be working in football.

Growing up in Wales of the UK, he was brought up through the school, college and university system that paved the way for his passion to come to life.

From starting off with his first training session at Wick Dynamos in West Sussex, football has been a consistent part of his life.

In this interview with Soccerscene, Nick discusses his role of Brand Director in more detail, Nike’s involvement with the Matildas, working with Sam Kerr and giving back to the grassroots level.

As Brand Director, can you outline your role in helping promote football?

Nick Atkinson: I’ve been involved with Nike since 2015 and even before becoming part of the swoosh family, football has very much been something I am deeply passionate about.

I remember during the final round of my job interview for Nike, I was asked why I wanted to join the team. I didn’t give a great answer, but I had said that I wanted to work on a brand that propelled the game of football and had close ties to the World Cup. And I feel that my love for the game really shined in that moment.

Since taking up the role I’ve been fortunate to be part of so many firsts - seeing how football can uniquely unite and inspire people and nations.

With Nike’s level of global impact, I am aware of the responsibility and part I play in shaping how our athletes are seen, and leading this work on home soil has been a dream.

The Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for example, was a major project that I led. It was Nike Pacific’s most significant investment in a sporting moment yet – from unmissable out-of-home, a world-first tiktokumentory, football accelerator legacy programs to the first female football-led retail door – the Dream Arena.

I’m immensely proud of what we, as a team, achieved to build a better game for all. It makes all the work we do behind-the-scenes so satisfying when we know it means that the next-gen athletes will have new-found heroes to look up to.

On a local level, after personally playing eight to nine seasons in Victoria’s state and metro leagues, I knew I wanted to get Nike involved as there was so much potential for impact at that level.

Seeing so much success in the sport both at the domestic and international level is a true highlight.

Nike proudly sponsor the Matildas; how do you reflect on FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023?

Nick Atkinson: I’ve worked with both our national teams (Matildas and Socceroos) for many years and have had so many amazing moments - I even remember a free-kick competition with Brett Emerton and Mark Bresciano in 2016 on ANZ Stadium!

If you look at the Socceroos performance in 2022, you can say it’s the ‘greatest assist’ before the 2023 Women’s World Cup because they had set that benchmark for performance and awareness across the country and reignited football.

This year’s tournament has undeniably been a generational moment for sport and culture, having the global tournament on home soil and the home team of the Matildas was the moment to accelerate sport into the future – we know sport creates change, and this was the largest accelerator of women’s sport and culture for the next five years.

The Matildas post tournament are now household names and have shown the world the power of women’s sport. From record-breaking crowds, jersey sales and viewership – the Matildas continue to inspire us all with their captivating performances and genuine love for each other, their fellow athletes and the game.

It felt like it’s been a while coming, but we saw the nation finally galvanise and get behind our national teams – and without a doubt, we’ll look back on the 2020’s as the greatest decade of women’s sport.

Living and breathing football in both my professional and personal life, I can say that we’ve got such a unique Australian football identity. We’re in arguably the most dynamic period that Australian football has ever seen and we’ve opened the sport up to the most diverse audience, which is so exciting and refreshing.

What did you make of user/social media engagement throughout the World Cup - was there anything significant you or your team saw in relation to aspects like shirt sales?

Nick Atkinson: We started working on our plans almost the day after the bid win got announced, so we were 100% ready going into the Women’s World Cup.

We have so much equity and history to elevate women’s sport at Nike, so this wasn’t new for us and has been a journey we’ve been on for a very long time.

When you look at a Matildas match, it is so different compared to the Socceroos. For example, lots of school trips and big groups of young fans, so that is really amazing.

One of the things that we anticipated was going to happen, was the emergence of new voices wrapped around this game. We knew this moment would be successful because it opened opportunities to grow and nurture these new voices in the game. That was one of the rewarding elements, to see different sections of the media and social platforms emerging to give us a new and youthful perspective on the sport.

Our partnership with TikTok saw the creation of 1000 Victories – one of the most successful pieces of media that we worked on through the Women’s World Cup.

This was co-created with a young generation of fans who emerged with a point of view on football and women’s sport. That enriched the game and really took it to new heights, making it bigger and more diverse and gives people a bunch of ways to be involved.

Sam Kerr is hugely popular in Australia and overseas - what was it like building her brand campaign?

Nick Atkinson: It’s been amazing, this is something I’ve personally worked on for a really long time, I’ve enjoyed and am so proud of.

It’s not only Sam but the whole group that we’ve had a relationship with for so long now and that has allowed us to get to know who they are as individuals as well as athletes.

To build a brand plan, you do need to have that full understanding of a person or team to work out how to best approach it.

I placed Sam in her first brand campaign for Nike in 2017 for the launch of the Mercurial Superfly 360 boots. That was at a time where she had just came off winning a Golden Boot in the NWSL and we knew at that point, we had a superstar on the rise.

We featured her in the launch campaign for the boots using billboards and the like, as well as an athlete experience at Rebel. We had an incredible turnout, not only from supporters but across the entire community.

At that time, it was clear that Sam had that star power to take her even further which proved to be the case. Fast Forward and she’s shared a few Mercs with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe.

I’ve had the privilege to get to know Sam over the many years of collaboration and it has helped us build a strong, authentic platform and brand around her journey.

There’s nothing that we believe in more at Nike than listening to the voice of the athlete and doing work that resonates with them - such as their values and beliefs, and what they stand for. An example of this is something we’ve always told Sam, “We’ll get it right on the pitch first and then build from there.”.

The journey has been amazing and to be part of that is truly special. Our goal is to support Sam and build her brand while she’s delivering ground-breaking performances on the pitch and creating an unbreakable connection with fans.

More broadly, at Nike we believe that it’s not a one-person team with the Matildas by any stretch.

We have an incredible roster of athletes across the Matildas such as Elle Carpenter, Steph Catley, Kyah Simon, Alanna Kennedy, Mackenzie Arnold, Hayley Raso and more, and we’re focused on supporting and elevating the whole roster.

Our brand investment in the Women’s World Cup was the single biggest investment we’ve ever made in this country to elevate the team. We were prepared, we started early and I believe played a critical part in connecting the fans and the team.

Matildas brand stories:

All For Tomorrow

Sam Kerr – Flip The Game

Show the World Your Victory

You are also supporting Fitzroy Lions Soccer Club – what is it like switching back to the grassroots level and giving back?

Nick Atkinson: Football would not happen without volunteers at the grassroots level - it’s an area of the game that we really believe in and want to have a positive impact.

I shared my story coming through the UK, starting out in grassroots football, and being one of those kids that had to hustle for rides from other people’s parents, or ride my bike to games with my brother, and wear my boots until they fell apart, I know what a huge enabler it can be for kids.  Getting involved in Fitzroy Lions has been a real personal love of mine.

We’ve been partnered with Fitzroy Lions Soccer Club since 2018 – they are an incredible organisation where many of the kids come from refugee families and football plays a critical role in uniting that community. It’s where you really feel the power of the world game.

Our relationship started simply, going down to training sessions to meet the team and see what they’re about – they are a rare team in Australia that offers a route into structured league football for kids whose parents can’t quite afford it normally, in a sport that can be quite expensive to play. Through the time spent with them, I really got to know the kids and their families.

It was so enriching and an awesome experience where the club simply provides the opportunity for everyone and eliminates those barriers that people face when looking to play.

So many of us at Nike live and work around those communities so it’s a great opportunity to directly support people related to what we do. We’re proud to be part of something like this and seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces when they’re playing on the field is a real highlight in my career.

Excitingly, like many other grassroots clubs, they have seen a 200% increase in girls participating this season which is so encouraging.

In addition, we’re in the fifth year of naming rights for the Nike FC Cup and recently announced the Nike FC Accelerator Program. This is a four-year commitment with Football Victoria to drive gender equity in the sport by increasing the number of female coaches and giving better access to football at The Home of Matildas.

Overall, we want to provide equal opportunities and this is the legacy that Nike wants to leave in the long run to drive the sport forward.

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California’s SoFi Stadium has announced a new landmark deal with Uber Eats.

The deal will mean that Uber Eats will now provide an order-ahead service for fans to use before games.

It will allow fans to order food and drinks through the Uber Eats app that they will be able to pick up once they make it to the ground on match days.

This isn’t the first time Uber Eats has ventured into sports concessions, but it will be the largest implementation of its services in a stadium to date.

SoFi is one of the stadiums slotted to help host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and with two years left to go until kick-off services such as this are likely to expand if this venture proves successful.

The implementation of the program will be that at all concession stands around the 70,000-seat stadium there will be a dedicated line for those patrons that have pre-ordered. There will also during the early stages be multiple Uber Eats ambassadors stationed around the ground ready to assist.

Speaking on the impact to fans, SoFi stadium had this to say:

“The experience will help fans avoid lines and enable them to watch more of the action on the field, enhancing the overall guest experience.”

This is an exciting new venture both commercial and for fans.

As North American football prepares for the world game to be played on its shores, new initiatives such as this are sure to help ease the congestion that may be felt by fans as they attempt to get food and beverages during crucial World Cup matches.

It is exciting to see stadiums looking towards better ways to have fans remain more engaged in games and for ways to use evolving technology infrastructure for good.

Waiting in long queues for food and beverages at live sporting events has always been taken as a forgone conclusion, however with innovations such as this, those days may be numbered.

Hence, this deal makes a lot of sense and will hopefully ripple not only around stadiums in the USA but hopefully stadiums globally.

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PILA Goal Posts have confirmed two renewals, with Football NSW and Capital Football extending their long-standing goal post partnerships with the company.

PILA extend their relationship with Football NSW for a 16th year, continuing to have a profound impact on the quality of equipment used at football games of all levels.

PILA is Australia’s largest manufacturer of commercial sports field hardware and streetscape products, including goal posts and flag poles, with their high-quality Australian-made football goal posts built at their Sydney and Melbourne factories.

As a trusted brand with a 40-year manufacturing history, their goal posts stand in many locations, from The MCG and SCG to hundreds of local parks and school fields nationally.

Within the partnerships, PILA has introduced a Goal Post Subsidy Program to provide financial assistance towards the purchase of new, high-quality, compliant football goal posts for grassroots football.

With Capital Football they are using their program to benefit club affiliates involved with the league. Football NSW have also joined the program by allowing 15 clubs per year to receive a subsidy towards the purchase of brand-new football goal posts.

PILA’s Managing Director, Reece Wooldridge, says partnering up with Football NSW through the introduction of the Goal Post Subsidy Program is important in developing football in the state.

“Our annual Goal Post Subsidy Program offers Football NSW affiliates an affordable opportunity to upgrade to safe, compliant and Australian Standard goal posts," he stated via press release.

“We thank Football NSW for their long-term support of PILA and we looking forward to continuing to work with their team, clubs, schools and venues throughout the state.”

Football NSW CEO John Tsatsimas shared the same view on the positive impact it will have on football in NSW.

“Football NSW is proud to have PILA on board once more as a long-time supporter of our game,” he added via press release.

“The PILA Goal Post Subsidy Program is a great initiative and one that will continue to grow and assist with the grassroots football community in the years ahead.”

Football NSW and Capital Football have greatly benefitted from this long-standing partnership and the introduction of the Subsidy Program could help them push even further forward with the goal of creating affordable but quality equipment for grassroots clubs.

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Boob Armour is a revolutionary Australian business dedicated to women's safety and empowerment that has emerged as a beacon of hope in the field of breast protection.

Founded by Suzie Betts with a mission to support and educate females, Boob Armour is not just another company – it is a movement that embraces strength, resilience and empowerment.

Boob Armour has changed the way female’s approach safety during physical activities and sports. With their cutting-edge products and commitment to education, they are making a significant impact on female’s lives.

The inception of Boob Armour was inspired by the personal journey of Suzie finding lumps in her breast due to trauma she faced in her younger years that left her feeling vulnerable and unsupported. Determined to find a solution, she embarked on a mission to design innovative breast protection that would ensure both comfort and safety and create a positive change.

At the heart of Boob Armour's mission is empowerment. By providing specialised breast protection, Boob Armour enables females to participate in physical activities with confidence and without the fear of injury.

Their products are designed with the utmost care, prioritising both functionality and style, ensuring that females feel comfortable and empowered while wearing them.

Through workshops, online resources, and collaborations with medical professionals, Boob Armour ensures that females have access to the latest information and expert advice on breast injury prevention.

Boob Armour's dedication to education goes beyond individuals; they also collaborate with schools and sports organisations to implement breast injury prevention programs.

In an exclusive chat with Soccerscene, Suzie Betts shared some insights about the beginnings of the company, their involvement with the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the impact Boob Armour will have in the future of female sports.

Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind the creation of Boob Armour and how your personal health scare played a role in its development?

Suzie Betts: The inspiration from Boob Armour was obviously from a trauma that I received and presented itself later in life.

Having two daughters who played contact and impact sports, it became my mission to make sure that they, for one, were protected from any type of impact injury. It then progressed from there, as I became more and more aware of the research regarding breast trauma and it became my mission to protect all females playing sports right from grassroots to elite.

Young girls can experience a trauma that obviously hurts at the time, but also may present itself later in life with lumps that can be mistaken for breast cancer cells. We are wanting to create the habit of protection as soon as the girls start playing sports. So, they pack their bag for soccer, they pack their shin guards, their mouth guard, and they pack their Boob Armour - they're creating that habit.

Breast health is a significant concern for women. How does Boob Armour promote breast health and what measures do you take as a brand to promote this?

Suzie Betts: We are a breast health platform focused on opening up conversations about breast health, impact, and injury. We aim to address the unreported nature of breast injuries and promote discussions to make it a comfortable topic, similar to discussing injuries to other body parts. Professional athletes like Katrina Gorry from the Matildas support our cause and have worn our inserts to protect their milk supply while breastfeeding. Many other elite athletes in sports such as basketball, netball, Aussie rules football, and more are also recognising the importance of breast protection.

Can you explain how the design and materials of Boob Armour provide comprehensive protection and support to female players during the Women's FIFA World Cup?

Suzie Betts: Our product ensures a snug and comfortable fit for females with different breast sizes and shapes. It easily slips into their favourite crop top or sports bra, making it comfortable and easy to wear. The inserts are lightweight (15g each), thin (2mm), and breathable. We offer a range of sizes, and our website features a Fit Calculator to help find the perfect size. Made of polyethylene, our inserts absorb impact effectively, providing the best barrier between impact and the breast.

Well-fitted sports bras with proper breast protection, Boob Armour, helps ensure physical comfort, minimise the risk of breast-related injuries, and enhance body confidence. By providing the necessary support and safety, breast protection allows female players to focus on their performance with greater peace of mind, contributing to their overall well-being and self-assurance on the field during the Women's FIFA World Cup.

In what ways does Boob Armour contribute to the emotional well-being and self-confidence of female athletes competing in the Women's FIFA World Cup?

Suzie Betts: There still needs to be more education on the long-term effects so that females are aware of what an elbow to the breast in a soccer game really does. 

We now have medical evidence that a trauma can affect a woman’s breast feeding capabilities.  This is an emotional & stressful time for a new mother and if this can be avoided with adequate protection, it should be.

In soccer, player safety should be paramount and that includes recognising the sensitivity and vulnerability of the breast area.  An elbow to the breast should be recognised as a “strike attempt” just like any other contact that can cause pain and potential injury and therefore penalised.

If breast protection was mandated like shin guards & mouthguards that would empower current and future generations of female soccer players, sending a powerful message about inclusivity and the importance of respecting the female body in the game.

What are your plans for Boob Armour? Are there any new developments or improvements on the horizon?

Suzie Betts: As our global expansion continues, we are thrilled to see a surge in athletes from different regions, all recognising the crucial role of breast protection. The United Kingdom, Europe, and the USA have shown immense interest across a wide range of sports. Moreover, we have made strides in partnering with major teams, leagues, and colleges to integrate our innovative PPE strategy into their progression models. Our influence reaches even further, collaborating with Gaelic Sports teams in Ireland and making an impact in countries like India, where cricket and hockey enjoy immense popularity.

Together, we are championing the cause of safety and empowerment in sports.

For more information regarding Boob Armour and the impact they are having in the education of breast injuries visit: https://www.boobarmour.com.au/about-us/

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Balga Soccer Club of Western Australia's State League Two has put out a book in which the club's culturally diverse members, players, coaches, and other volunteers share their personal stories.

The book, written by Tom Jeffcote, features many inspiring stories, such as that of Grace Dawa and her three children, Curtis, Sean, and Zara, all of whom are South Sudanese refugees. Grace fled to Uganda with her family to escape the war and spent 11 years in a refugee camp before coming to Australia, where she has been made to feel very welcome at Balga.

Together also highlights the Fee-Free Football Programme, which they've put in place to get kids to play football without any financial barriers.

The post Balga SC release book called ‘Together’ appeared first on Soccerscene.

Mitre has become an exclusive match and training ball supplier for Northern NSW Football for three years.

The company is a prominent football brand, pushing the boundaries and aiming to improve sports resources. Two centuries later, the duplicate drive still applies until this day.

Mitre was established in Huddersfield, England in 1817 - with a primary focus on football, the biggest export for the British, they are also involved in other sports with the same focus and approach.

Northern NSW Football is the most recent organisation to join along with renowned partners involved with Mitre. Several of the world’s big football organisations and competitions put Mitre’s footballa to use, counting the English Football League, the Scottish Professional Football League, the FA Cup and Australia Cup in its portfolio.

Sportsmart Group Director Gerrard Woods said via press release:

“Northern NSW has a rich football heritage and Mitre is proud to partner with the member federation which will see the iconic Mitre Ultimax football return as the official match ball of NPL Northern NSW, featuring Mitre’s new HypersealTM technology, the Ultimax is Mitre’s most advanced and precise ball ever.”

Newly announced CEO Peter Haynes added via press release:

“Everyone in football knows and respects Mitre as a brand and we’re thrilled to join the Mitre family, the quality of Mitre footballs is second to none and it’s a relationship we’d love to see grow in the future.”

The perks of being a member club that is involved in NNSWF means they are able to access discounted ball purchases here.

As per an announcement, for the 2023 season and onwards, Mitre is the official competition ball of NNSW football leagues including NPL and the recommended training ball supplier for all clubs.

To find more information about Mitre and its products, click here.

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Preston Lions have launched a new third kit to add to their ever-growing range of apparel and merchandise.

The kit features a predominantly black design with the emersion of traditional red in the form of thin stripes and across the sleeve and collar - making it a striking look for those big night matches in particular.

It symbolises where the club is heading, and also represents their legacy, with the Lions’ logo firmly placed in gold on the right-hand side.

Preston Lions Branding Manager Adrian Giannarelli spoke to Soccerscene about the club’s merchandise, strategy and hints for upcoming plans.

Tell us a bit about the design and how it came about?

Adrian Giannarelli: The kit is heavily inspired by our supporters and the energy they bring on Friday nights; they are the ones who drive us week in week out. The admiration and connection that they share with our club is something special to witness, so in a sense they are the 12th man out there for our players.

This is a kit that further emphasises the Preston DNA and brings a sense of belonging.

With the fanbase you have, how have you seen the growth of merchandise?

Adrian Giannarelli: With a club like Preston, we are very fortunate that the support is rich in all facets, so the supporter base is already there in big numbers.

We try to create things that resonate with them the best from their experiences with the club, however with that in mind, we understand it's also being aware of the future generation and understanding what keeps them interested.

So, we like to continually draw inspiration from all sporting codes around the globe and what made those garments special - to spark emotional connection from the club to supporters.

You now have an extensive range of products, what or who was the inspiration behind it?

Adrian Giannarelli: The club itself is directly the inspiration, from the people to the actual DNA that makes the Preston Lions great.

There are so many factors involved in the products, that range from design right through to functionality of garments. Being considerate of when the actual products will be worn and throughout what seasons was something that became bottom line.

We want our supporters to be comfortable in any weather proudly wearing our merchandise. Highlighting the people and DNA that makes football clubs great and Preston is a prime example of that.

What are some of the strategies behind the merchandise (survey, market research, case studies elsewhere etc.?)

Adrian Giannarelli: In our mentality, it’s 'better is temporary', so we want to ensure that we are constantly evolving in what we do and search for things that have a great crossover between the club and the entire eco-system that surrounds it.

You don’t have to look at just the football landscape to create something - inspiration is everywhere from all different sporting codes and fashion for that matter.

We just try to be a sponge and absorb everything that can come to fruition. Sometimes it may not fit, however more often than not, we come across things that work for us and let nature play its course among our supporters, see how it can build a connection and take learnings away that we can develop on.

In a sense it's no different to how the Men and Women's playing group approach a game by being the best on the pitch, and with our brand, it's exactly that - being the best football club off the pitch is something we continually strive for and so far, I believe we have achieved that and our team is only scratching the surface to how far we can actually go.

Is there anything you can hint at with regards to what's up your sleeve in the coming months?

Adrian Giannarelli: We were really excited to get the third kit released and that was in our recent plans so it’s great to see it come to life. We do have a few other projects in the works, and it’s just about being open to anything that fits within the club’s brand so who knows what the future holds.

We will always continue to challenge ourselves and see what we can create that few are doing.

For Preston Lions’ full range and to pre-order the third kit, visit their shop here.

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Equipment provider Veto Sports has added Northern NSW Football and Football West to its portfolio in recent agreements with the state federations.

As the official goals and equipment supplier, Veto Sports will offer portable goals, agility gear, free kick men, cones, tactical boards and more.

These recent agreements follow on from the partnership struck between Veto Sports and Football Queensland in February of 2022.

Veto Sports is a leading apparel and equipment supplier in Australia With an extensive collection of apparel and equipment, Veto is a 'one stop shop'. Whether it be teamwear or training resources, Veto has it covered.

Northern NSW Football Interim CEO Peter Haynes said via press release:

“Many people in Australian football know and respect VETO as a brand and we’re thrilled to join the VETO family,” Haynes said.

“The quality and safety of VETO’s goals and equipment is second to none and it’s a relationship we’re looking forward to growing.”

Football West General Manager Perry Ielati added via press release:

“Football West is happy to be teaming up with VETO Sports as our preferred football equipment manufacturer.

“They are known for quality, safety and the wide range of goals and equipment they supply and we know they will meet all the needs of our clubs.”

Clubs and associations from both Northern NSW Football and Football West are getting a $250 voucher to use on aluminium goals with the partnerships launched.

To redeem the voucher, email Veto directly with your club’s name and goal requirements via admin@vetosports.com

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Puma has introduced an exciting innovation that goes towards their legendary King football boot.

Enhanced by new K-Better technology, the fresh designs will ensure exceptional performance while not using kangaroo leather.

The latest change to K-Better is a movement towards a completely non-animal based upper material. The upper contains at least 20% recycled material as a step toward a better future.

It marks the next stage of Puma King, having been worn by Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Eusébio, Lothar Matthäus and Pelé, who dominated international football for decades.

K-Better has been proven to outperform the previous King K-Leather in testing for touch, comfort, and durability. As a result, Puma is confident they can stop producing football boots with kangaroo leather altogether this year.

“The Puma King is Puma’s most iconic franchise in football and has always stood for using the best materials and the latest in innovation. Over the years we have seen the boot evolve and become ingrained in on pitch and off pitch football culture, from the pitches to the terraces.” Peter Stappen said via press release - the Lead Product Line Manager of Teamsport Footwear.

“The new KING takes the franchise to the next-level and offers a super-soft upper with optimal stretch resistance for ultimate touch and control benefits.”

Aside from the redesigned upper, The King also features a new lightweight outsole with an external heel counter, King stability spine and conical studs, so movements are controlled as much as when over the ball. The King includes a lightweight removable sockliner with NanoGrip technology to keep the foot locked in place to minimalise any loss of power when changing direction.

The King also follows on from the Future and Ultra with a custom women specific fit. The new King women’s combines the latest King technology with measurements such as volume and instep height engineered for a woman’s foot.

The new King will be supported by Granit Xhaka, Ingrid Engen, Nabil Fekir, Lena Lattwein and more who will wear them on matchday.

The new King debuts as part of the Supercharge edition, which has been on sale from March 2 via Puma.com, Puma stores and specialist football retailers.

About Puma:

PUMA is one of the world’s leading Sports Brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For 75 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf, and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs about 20,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany. https://about.puma.com/

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Founded from Genoa in 2004, Wyscout is an international platform based in Italy which specialises in football scouting, transfer dynamics, and match analysis - regarded as one of the most used technological services in football.

Matteo Campodonico, a co-founder of Wyscout, is a former amateur footballer in Italy and upon early retirement was inspired by his playing days and his coach's methodology. Along with Simone Falzetti, they brought Wyscout to life.

Initially, along with their colleague Piermaria, they started with filming and editing local matches - with the emergence of DVD softwares in 2004, they turned their hobby into an international business platform. Wyscout was started with the purpose to provide a set of innovative technological products for video data editing along with information on players, competition, matches, and plenty more. Through these products, football organisations are able to have an advanced view of athletes’ performances, trends of play, strategy, and more.

Since 2004, they have been pioneers in providing video analysis tools and digital databases for football operations and have aided coaches, teams, and players in their performance as well as in dealing with the football world.

Wyscout possesses one of the widest football video archives in the world, ensuring they have the most advanced information on football matches, players, teams, and competitions. This extends to major European leagues such as Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga, and Serie A, through to various youth competitions. Across the globe, more than 250 football completions are analysed. Over 200 football games are uploaded every week and Wyscout analysts segment the match data into thousands of short and easy-to-find video clips. Professional reports, rankings, searching tolls, and other advanced statistics enable football organisations to track and measure every detail.

Wyscout’s services include providing information, statistics needed to organise the day-to-day operations. Performance Analysts can measure and analyse players' development, while heads of scouting can build travel schedules for scouts across the globe with the help of Wyscout data. Football organisations can monitor and plan to optimise their performance.

Wyscout data enables clubs to analyse opponents and individual matchups along with, managing events and enhancing the capabilities of technical teams. Advanced search situated on Wyscout’s innovative database after analysing a large amount of data in a few quick seconds offers over 100 filters to find the right player.

Through Wyscout data, clubs can use this for websites and social media to create content based on stats of any player, team, and coach's performance. Integration of communication mechanisms, along with developing technical skills, is made easier by the constant update of data after every match. Coaches and video analysis teams are able to share videos, data, stats, etc with all technical staff within the football club ensuring, efficiency and alignment of the club’s vision for future outcomes. Adjusting and comparing numbers and videos at any time during the season ensures accurate analysis for any occasion to micro-manage players' performance and work with them to develop it.

Wyscout allows football clubs to process travel schedules, policies, agendas, medical exams, training, diet programs, etc and can be integrated into internal software to improve efficiency. Scouting networks have access to high-quality analysed data of over 450,000 football players and over 220,000 catalogued games. Wyscout’s range of products aids clubs and football federations to create one digital database for videos, stats, and player/competition/match information.

Federations and clubs in minor footballing countries can create private archives to store statistics and other data, ensuring the development of technical elements of any minor/youth tournament and league across the globe. This provides custom resources for referee federations to improve adaptability and preparedness to games along with promoting and managing player portfolios to push clubs and federations to build a good network list.

Wyscout’s talent centre products are designed to collect data of under 21 players who have played in the first team for at least 20% of total minutes in the current season. This provides clubs and organisations to scroll through lists of debutants and analyse reports from the best youth and be able to discover the best young talents in the world - along with browsing global talents by filtering values like geographical region, birth date, market value, minutes, and matches played and plenty more.

Overall Wyscout is intuitive, smart, easy, and has evolved since its inception in 2004 to enhance the performances of the teams, day by day. Wyscout has an established structure and stands on the pillars of innovation and technology.

Over its course, Wyscout has become the reference point of football professionals and emerged as an enormous digital footballing database that has contributed massively to the globalisation of football.

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Portuguese pay-TV network Sport TV have agreed a deal with the Saudi Pro League. Sport TV will now have the broadcast rights in Portugal to televise every Cristiano Ronaldo game with his new Riyadh-based team, Al Nassr.

Soon after Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival to Al Nassr (after having his contract mutually terminated with Manchester United) the Saudi Pro League agreed a deal with a large agency company, IMG. This deal with IMG was done to help the Saudi Pro League sell its broadcasting rights overseas.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most popular and marketable athletes in the world. This has led to broadcasting stations from a large number of countries to act swiftly and try to secure the rights to show Ronaldo’s club games in their respective countries.

In Cristiano Ronaldo’s homeland, Portugal, there is likely no-one that is not a fan of Ronaldo. This makes Sport TV’s deal with the Saudi Pro League a particularly lucrative and valuable one. Ronaldo’s matches with Al Nassr are likely going to encourage millions of Portuguese people to tune and watch. This will result in more people signing up and paying for a Sport TV subscription, thereby increasing more revenue for the network.

Sport TV was founded in 1998 and became the first Portuguese television channel exclusively dedicated to only broadcasting sports. The company are committed to innovation and the protection of the most important values in the sporting universe. In 25 years, Sport TV has grown rapidly and now has numerous different channels that show over 20 different sports for their viewers to enjoy at all times.

This deal will also undoubtedly benefit the Saudi Pro League and football in Saudi Arabia as a whole. Following Saudi Arabia’s victory over eventual winners, Argentina, at the 2022 Men’s FIFA World Cup, the world became aware that Saudi Arabia are improving as a football nation. The broadcasting deal with Sport TV and other networks across the world will expose more people to the advancements that have been made in Saudi Arabian football.

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Italian Serie A club Inter Milan, and global commerce company eBay, have signed a deal that serves the remainder of the 2022/23 Italian football season and will continue until the end of the following campaign.

The deal will see the creation of an exclusive Inter Milan store on the Italian eBay website for fans to enjoy. The partnership also allows fans to participate in a variety of marketing and communication activities this season and the next. Not only will Inter fans be able to purchase original merchandise from of their club, but they will also feel more connected to the club because of the opportunity to be involved in marketing and communication activities.

Inter Milan CEO, Alessandro Antonello, said in a media release:

"This agreement is of strategic importance for us because it allows us to broaden our fans’ online shopping experience thanks to a dedicated Inter Store on the marketplace,’’ he said.

The values in which Inter Milan conduct business are shared with eBay, making for a partnership with a shared vision. eBay pride themselves on creating the best possible ecommerce experiences for buyers, sellers, and developers. The company is widely known to be one of the most reliable and responsible businesses in the world. They focus on the values of connectivity and inclusivity, which is shared with Inter Milan. eBay has over 190 markets in the world and create buying and selling opportunities for everyone, no matter the economic situation.

‘’This partnership with Inter allows us to strengthen the close relationship we have with our community as we continue to support its interests. Throughout this agreement, we’ll consolidate our position in the world of football and further establish ourselves as a point of reference for the passions of Italians,’’ General Manager of eBay Italia, Alice Acciarri, added via press release.

Inter Milan is one of the biggest and well supported football clubs in the world. It is estimated that Inter Milan have roughly 3.9 million fans worldwide. The creation of this exclusive Inter store on the eBay website potentially gives eBay millions more customers to their already 135 million active users.

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From the 2023/24 season, Japanese company Mizuno will take over in producing the kits and training clothing for FC Augsburg’s men’s, women’s, and junior teams. The deal between the two parties has been signed for the next five years.

FC Augsburg will part ways with their current kit manufacturer, Nike, at the conclusion of the 2022/23 German Bundesliga season. For the last 8 years, Nike exclusively created and designed the kits of FC Augsburg.

Mizuno was created in 1904 by two brothers - Rihachi and Rizo Mizuno. The company produce a wide range of sportswear goods for a variety of different sports. Mizuno pride themselves on being able to produce the most beneficial and superior products compared to other sportswear manufacturing companies across the world.

Mizuno are a unique company as they aim to be carbon neutral by 2050. This plan has meant that Mizuno produce their products in the most sustainable way possible, with a big emphasis on environmental protection and nature conservation.

As well as producing football kits that are sustainable to the environment, Mizuno are known to create very attractive kits. Mizuno are also the kit manufacturer of Lazio in the Italian Serie A and fellow Bundesliga club, VfL Bochum.  Mizuno’s kit for VfL Bochum was voted the most beautiful jersey this season in the Bundesliga.

Mizuno adding FC Augsburg to their list of European football clubs, which they partner with, will only prove beneficial to the company. Creating environmentally-friendly football kits will attract further partnership opportunities for Mizuno, as football clubs are now more conscious of becoming carbon friendly. With the added fact that Mizuno are known to produce beautifully designed kits, expect Mizuno to partner with some of the biggest football clubs in Europe in the near future.

In a media statement, Mizuno Head of Global Marketing, Mark Kaiway, said:

‘’We are all excited about the partnership and we look forward to offering high quality, functional and stylish products from the Mizuno brand.’’

The deal between FC Augsburg and Mizuno is also exciting for fans of FC Augsburg, as Mizuno is open to collaborating with fans in the creation of the Club’s playing kit and training gear.  This is another reason why FC Augsburg were committed to signing with Mizuno. FC Augsburg Managing Director, Michael Stroll added via press release:

‘’For us, when selecting the new outfitter, the focus was not only on quality, but also on the design options for individual jerseys.’’

This will give fans a unique opportunity to add potential design ideas to their Club’s kits. The relationship Mizuno are willing to have with the fans is novel and uncommon among other football kit manufacturers.

This deal between FC Augsburg and Mizuno is a coming together of two companies with a shared vision, as Stroll added in a statement:

‘’With its high quality and product standard in individual designs and the focused commitment to sustainability, Mizuno fits perfectly with our orientation’’.

This partnership is an exciting deal for all parties involved, and they look forward to seeing the newly designed kits for next season.

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Melbourne City has announced a joint partnership with prominent elite sports performance company, eo, for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 A-League seasons.

Undertaking the ‘bi-lateral Innovation Development Partnership’ with eo differentiates from the other clubs in the league by showing they are raising the standards to ratify early technological advancement - to assist and support their player's performance, recovery, injury prevention and rehabilitation. Every product released is assessed against the four potential benefits to athletes and must meet at least one of them.

Also, eo SwimBETTER (pictured) and eo NuroCHEK add more strings to the bow of sports technology which are going through the development process, due for release across 2022 and 2023.

The science behind these products will undoubtedly revolutionise the sports industry, with the scientists working non-stop on new advancements that will impact the whole sporting landscape.

eo Chairman Jaimie Fuller said via press release:

“At eo, our goal is to build a team of partners who are all at the top of their respective sports and work together to change the landscape in Australian sport, as new technology emerges, the team at eo vow to be at the forefront of innovation and continue to push teams to join the change in defying limits and creating better athletes of the future.”

Head of Human Performance at Melbourne City, Andrew McKenzie, added via press release:

“I am proud to be a part of a club that puts their athletes first in monitoring health, recovery management and performance development, and gives them every opportunity to better themselves and improve on their athletic potential and sporting ability through world-class and ground-breaking technology, we believe in our players, and we are proving that in this partnership.”

eo also has partnerships with clubs and organisations in a variety of sports including rugby league, rugby union, AFL, netball, swimming and triathlon.

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Beginning in 2012, Deploy Football have emerged as a leading manufacturer of football products in Australia, with an intrinsic focus on supporting grassroots and community football.

Having built up an extensive network of partnerships with the likes Football NSW, Football Victoria, Brisbane City FC and the Macarthur Football Association among an array of others, Deploy have become a recognisable and reliable brand for footballs and football teamwear.

As opposed to being a sports manufacturer offering multiple product ranges from a variety of sports, Deploy is football-centric. With a staff of 10 committed football adherents Footballs and teamwear, and a locally-minded approach, the quality of Deploy’s products have led it to be one of the only Australian brands approved by a FIFA Pro Quality license.

In a chat with Soccerscene, Deploy Football Chief Commercial Officer Kurt Johnson spoke about the company’s grassroots focus, the importance of developing an array of program-specific products, and their belief in quality above all else.

What inspired the launch of Deploy Football?

Kurt Johnson: Deploy was started in 2012 because we saw a gap in the market for a high-quality, Australian-owned brand that really focused on designing and developing products for grassroots football in Australia.

We wanted to make sure that there was a brand that not only developed top-quality products but also really looked after grassroots clubs in terms of pricing and the customer service.

What separates Deploy Football’s products from other sports manufacturing brands?

Kurt Johnson: First and foremost, every single product we design and develop is tested rigorously before it goes on the market. We spend countless hours in factories globally – hand-selecting all of the materials and meticulously designing every single layer of every single football to ensure that it performs exactly as its intended to.

We have an array of program-specific products designed that suit our customer’s needs. For example, training footballs are designed specifically for the rigors of training, whereas match footballs are designed to perform for a matchday.

A key differentiator between us and the rest of the market is that we are an actual brand. We’re the developer and the manufacturer, we’re not a supplier. And the range has been designed for the development of footballers in the country, so, it’s a consistent range between training footballs and match footballs. It allows players to work on their touch knowing that they have the confidence that the ball is going to perform the way it’s meant to.

How did Deploy Football establish itself as a leading manufacturer of football products in Australia?

Kurt Johnson: We are known for having arguably the best quality footballs on the market. We have a 99% return rate of customers and a less than 1% return rate of faulty products. The community trusts us and we’ve built that over the past 10 years. Currently we have give or take 500 clubs that work with us right around the country.

It is evident that Deploy Football seeks to provide high quality products to ensure effective development and enjoyment for players. How important has Deploy’s partnerships with local associations been to supporting the football community in Australia?

Kurt Johnson: Firstly, we started our partnerships with associations – we partner currently with nine associations and they’re the backbone of our business. We love to partner up with associations because not only does it give us direct access to clubs but also, we love giving back to community football. And unfortunately, community football has traditionally never been looked after by corporate sponsors or big brands.

How significant is it for Deploy Football to provide quality products to local community football clubs and associations?

Kurt Johnson: Quality is our absolute number one goal. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and the quality of our service, and we pride ourselves on being the best value for money brand on the market. We do not accept inferior quality products.

When we do our testing, we generally test for a solid two seasons before we introduce any new balls to our range, and we’re also known as a football innovator. We’ve innovated three balls; our Rapido E Liso which is a ball designed for summer football; our Heading Pro which is designed for heading education and to reduce the impact of concussions in heading; and the third one we’ve designed is specifically for walking football. So, we like to provide products that are specifically fit for purpose.

We’re footballers at heart and our development team knows what it takes to build a ball. We know what goes into the construction, design and manufacture.

Leading into a massive year for Australian football, with the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar and 2023 Women’s World Cup on home soil, how exciting is the future for Deploy Football?

Kurt Johnson: The exciting thing for us is we’ve forged our business in Sydney metro and we’re proud to be arguably the largest brand in the Sydney metro market. The exciting thing for us as well is the opportunity to expand throughout the rest of the country. And the expansion will also come as participation increases off the back of the World Cups, especially in the female side, it’s exciting for us to be a part of that.

Players cherish their ball, when you were a kid and you got a brand-new one, some kids would sleep with it. We’re proud to know that there a kids who are now 15-years-old who have only ever used a Deploy football. The fact that we’re one of the only Australian brands to hold a FIFA Pro license is exciting for us to continue to be a world-innovator in football.

I spoke to Football Australia about a month ago and noted that the nation continues to produce some of the best players on earth in the men’s and women’s spaces; some of the best coaches on earth – why can’t we produce some of the best football innovators on earth?

The reality is we already do and already have. It’s now our job to tell the world just that.

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Tottenham Hotspur have named nutrition brand Science in Sport (SiS) as their first official performance solutions partner, signing a four-year deal.

The partnership will see SiS provide the Premier League outfit with products and a dedicated performance solutions framework, custom designed by the company to shape the team’s nutrition strategy.

Spurs will employ staff to work alongside SiS to help develop the programme, which will be led by the club’s lead nutritionist, Emma Tester.

“At Tottenham Hotspur we aspire to be the world’s best in performance nutrition. Since the start of pre-season, we have been working closely with James Morton and the team at SiS to get the products implemented across the squad and begin planning our wider nutritional strategy,” Tester said via Tottenham Hotspur.

“Having access and support from industry-leading experts is of huge benefit to us“We have had great feedback from the players on the range of products available to them and we look forward to developing bespoke products to truly personalise their nutrition programme.

In return, SiS will gain brand visibility on coolers and water bottles, as well as branding promotion at the club’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium home on matchdays and at the club’s training ground.

Spursplay, the club’s recently launched streaming platform, will offer feature SiS-branded content demonstrating how the brand’s products are being used.

Included on the Board is Prof. James Morton, Director of Performance Solutions at SiS, who said via Tottenham Hotspur:

“Science in Sport are committed to fuelling the world’s best athletes and sports teams with world leading science and innovation. With our Performance Solutions programme, we tailor our research, innovation, and world class knowledge to deliver a true competitive advantage. We are delighted to partner with Tottenham Hotspur, a sports team who share the same pioneering values and vision.”

Exclusive content about the partnership will be available on SPURSPLAY, the Club’s new home of live and on-demand video content, including interviews and behind the scenes access to the Performance Framework being implemented. SiS-branded coolers and bottles will also regularly be seen pitchside on matchdays and during training sessions.

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Global sports streaming platform DAZN has announced a multi-year, exclusive rights deal for its Canadian arm to stream the UEFA Nations League, European Qualifiers and International friendlies for the next six years.

The deal will come into effect from June 1 this year and runs until 2028, streaming the following competitions:

• UEFA Nations League 2022/23, 2024/25, and 2026/27 inc. UEFA Nations League Finals 2023, 2025 and 2027
• European Qualifiers to UEFA EURO 2024 and UEFA EURO 2028
• European Qualifiers to 2026 FIFA World Cup
• International Friendlies
• Finalissima Match in 2022 and 2024

DAZN Canada currently streams the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, Major League Soccer, and other sports including the United States' Major Football League and various combat sports.

The deal includes a minimum of 57 national team matches between now and 2028 for top European nations including England, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and France.

“We’re excited to bring more soccer to DAZN subscribers in Canada via another package of premium UEFA competitions,” Norm Lem, SVP, DAZN Canada told dazn.com.

“Alongside both UEFA Men’s and Women’s Champions League as well as UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, this multitude of UEFA National Team matches will give fans an even bigger library of live soccer to enjoy on DAZN in Canada.”

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SocaLoca co-founders Lionel Foy and Sayf Ismail are providing more opportunity for footballers across the world with their innovative platform.

The concept was born in 2016 when the two first met, and now the SocaLoca app is used by national federations in Belize and Cameroon for tournament organising.

There are two main goals of the platform. Equalising talent identification and becoming a hotspot for football tournaments and data.

Foy and Ismail recognised that the pathways for footballers in some countries weren't as equal as others. Smaller or less resourced countries and continents simply don't have the infrastructure that the big footballing powers do globally.

The app operates in a similar way to statistics platforms like FotMob or Transfermarkt, where player profiles and stats are collated for fans and other interested parties to view. However, there is also a self-management aspect to it.

Footballers can download the platform and build their own profile, showcasing their achievements, statistics, results and more for anyone to see. This goes from juniors all the way up to seniors.

This gives those players from lesser resourced regions the opportunity to be seen and scouted like any other player, from when they're first starting out to battling their way up through the footballing pyramid.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="578"] Co-founder Arif Sayuti.[/caption]

While there are concerns around the data-sharing implicit to the platform, measures have been put in place. Players aged between 7 and 12 must be registered by their guardians and have a limit on what information can be displayed on their public profiles.

The global interconnectedness that an app like SocaLoca offers is unlike anything seen in world football to date.

The other side of the platform is its use in tournament organisation. This links in with the player profiles, where players are registered within tournaments and competitions and have their results and statistics linked to their profiles.

SocaLoca's Competition Management Module has already seen successful use in Uganda, Belize and Cameroon, and can be used by anyone on the platform.

Football Federation Belize is now using the SocaLoca app to organise and run all regional competitions, while Cameroon's national football academy is now a partner of SocaLoca.

Results and statistics in countries all over the world are now available to recruiters and talent identifiers, making it easier for those who would be otherwise overlooked to get their chance.

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Australian sportswear company Benchwarmers are targeting the issue of soft tissue injuries through their innovative product.

The company estimates that hamstring strain injuries account for 12-16% of all injuries in English, Australian and New Zealand professional Football. A key component of this can come from a players' time on the bench.

Traditionally played as a winter sport, amateur soccer players are at risk of injury in cold conditions.

Speaking to product creator Andrew Lauder, the body length sportswear came about from noticing an increase in hamstring injuries at local level.

"We noticed kids and adults going out with hamstrings," Lauder told Soccerscne.

"They’re sitting on these cold benches that are on parks everywhere, and they don’t really warm up. They just go out on the field and then they’ve pulled up with a hamstring.

"Two and two doesn’t take rocket science to figure out - sitting and cooling those muscles down and then using them straight away is fraught with danger.”

[caption id="attachment_14814" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A custom designed Benchwarmer.[/caption]

Designed for local and amateur players, Lauder wants to mitigate the risk associated at those levels. While elite athletes have access to the best medical staff, he doesn't want to see younger players at risk.

“At amateur and junior level, we don’t have proper medical staff or people that understand body mechanisms, and they just send the kids or amateurs out," Lauder continued.

"That’s when it pulls them all out. Benchwarmers is more just to say, ‘hey keep them warm’. A lot of them throw a hoodie on, but the legs and everything are still exposed.

"The main things that they are using all the time are the calves, quads and the hamstrings. We found it to be a very important thing.

"In junior and amateur level, when some of these guys and girls get hurt, they go into shock. They put them on the bench and have one of the medical staff looking at them who’s not really experienced, they might be a parent who’s done a course."

Being custom-made, Benchwarmers offer a ultra-lightweight solution that includes insulated inside pockets, a hood, resistance to water and wind, and fully fleeced lining for extra warmth.

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Deltatre, the global leader in fan-first experience, has announced an evolution of its industry-leading OTT video player DIVA – as used by BT Sport, NFL Game Pass and other prominent streaming platforms – that allows for simpler integration with a client’s existing technology stack.

For close to 10 years, DIVA has been regarded as a market leading, interactive OTT video player for sport. DIVA empowers rights owners to spark new levels of engagement through an interactive OTT player which supports:

• Interactive timelines
• Synchronised data overlays
• Fan engagement features
• Monetisation support
• Multi-camera viewing
• 360-degree support

The new generation of the DIVA (5.0) player has been built to enable a simplified SDK integration, configuration, and set-up for clients across their apps. In essence, this new offering enables clients to integrate the best-in-class interactivity provided by the DIVA front-end with any existing video workflow.

Deltatre can now serve operators in the market that wish to adopt interactive front-end features whilst retaining their existing Online Video Platform (OVP) – greatly reducing effort-to-market and allowing clients to focus on servicing their users and providing an enjoyable viewing experience.

“Throughout Deltatre’s history we have always looked to evolve our offering in-step with changing consumer behaviour and client demand," President - Video Experiences, Gilles Mas said.

"Our latest offering helps clients that come to us with established video workflows, but also want the interactive, engaging features that DIVA brings. Together, we can ensure the end-user experiences their favourite sports in the way they want, with the fan fully in control of how they interact with a service.”

To learn more about the evolution of DIVA, click here.

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FIFA have announced the launch of FIFA+, a brand-new digital platform designed to bring football fans together across the globe through having access to the game they love, for free.

FIFA+ delivers live domestic league games from around the globe, match stats, the greatest archive in international football, premium original content, immersive global storytelling, and much more.

Over 29,000 men’s matches and over 11,000 women’s matches will be streamed on FIFA+ in 2022, totalling over 40,000 matches.

“FIFA+ represents the next step in our vision to make football truly global and inclusive, and it underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.

“This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023. It will accelerate the democratisation of football and we are delighted to share it with fans.”

FIFA+ offers live coverage from Europe’s top flight leagues to previously unserved competitions from around the world in men’s, women’s and youth football.  From launch, 1,400 matches will be live streamed monthly on FIFA+, and rising rapidly.

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, FIFA+ will be home to every FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup™ match ever recorded on camera, totalling more than 2,000 hours of archived content. For the first time ever, this entire archive will be available to fans.

Fans will have the ability to watch full-match replays, highlights, goals and magical moments all in one place. The FIFA+ Archive will launch with more than 2,500 videos dating back to the 1950s, with many more to come throughout the year.

The Match Centre will allow football fans to immerse themselves in rich football data across 400 men's competitions and 65 women's competitions. A daily feed of news from around the world of men’s and women’s football will also complement and offer additional updates. Throughout the year, fans will enjoy interactive games including votes, quizzes, fantasy games and predictors.

From launch, FIFA+ will bring the game to life through exclusive, world-class titles including:

• Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World - An exclusive, feature-length documentary offering extensive access to and never-seen-before archive of one of the most iconic players to have played the game.
• Captains: Season 1 - A ground-breaking 8-part series from Fulwell 73 (Sunderland ‘Til I Die, All or Nothing: Juventus) following six captains as they lead their countries through qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. The series, which will explore each individual’s leadership traits, features Luka Modrić (Croatia), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Brian Kaltak (Vanuatu), Andre Blake (Jamaica), Hassan Maatouk (Lebanon) and Thiago Silva (Brazil).
• Croatia: Defining a Nation - This original feature-length documentary tells the story of how football unites and binds this nation and a group of friends who reached global recognition against the backdrop of the most extreme adversity.
• Icons - A 5 x 26-minute docuseries showcasing five of the biggest game-changers of the women’s game: Wendie Renard, Lucy Bronze, Asisat Oshoala, Carli Lloyd and Sam Kerr telling their stories in their own words. Produced by Noah Media Group (14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, Finding Jack Charlton).
• Academies - The inside story of some of the greatest talent production lines in world football from Shoot the Company. Season 1 tells the story of RSC Anderlecht across 3 x 30-minute episodes.

FIFA+ will be available across all web and mobile devices, and across a range of connected devices soon. It will be available in five language editions (English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish), alongside an additional six languages to follow in June of 2022.

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Melbourne Victory dropped a bomb on the A-Leagues when it announced its new partnership with StatsBomb – a name that will be unfamiliar to most Australian football fans.

However, whilst the name might be new, the pursuit is not.

As the role of data analytics continues to rise in football, many clubs and organisations are still coming to grips with how to best process and present that data and how to use it to make tangible differences on gameday.

In StatsBomb, Melbourne Victory will certainly hope they have gained an advantage on the competition.

StatsBomb firmly believes it is up for the challenge – and why wouldn’t they?

Already trusted by the likes of Liverpool FC – a club now renowned for its use of data and analytics in improving on-field performance – StatsBomb is enjoying an increasingly growing reputation within the game.

Also counting AS Roma and the Belgian Football Association amongst their clients, StatsBomb international marketing coordinator Nick Dorrington sees an exciting opportunity for the company to enter a new market in Australia with Victory.

"We have customers in over 25 countries around the world but are still expanding our reach in terms of geography and language. It is exciting to get a foothold in a new territory, particularly in a region like Australasia and Asia where we see good opportunities for growth," Dorrington told Soccerscene.

"As an organisation, Melbourne Victory are determined to turn things around after finishing bottom of the league last season. They are keen to implement change and want to integrate data into all of their processes.

"They are looking for an objective way to track and measure things like performance and style of play, but they also see an opportunity to leverage the additional detail of StatsBomb data to gain an edge on other teams in player recruitment.

"StatsBomb data includes significant additional contextual information that allows for more effective analysis and scouting. Things like goalkeeper and defender positioning on shots, the height of the ball at the moment at which a shot is taken, pressure data at a team and player level and other variables like pass footedness, pass height and various others.

“That allows teams to get a much clearer idea of player behaviour in certain situations. For instance, if you were scouting an upcoming opponent you could look at what kind of passes their central defenders make when put under pressure and find a way of leveraging that information to your advantage.

"The integration of data will be a long-term process for Melbourne Victory, but one that the club should hopefully begin to see the fruit of relatively soon."

StatsBomb’s emergence in this market come from rather humble beginnings.

CEO Ted Knutson started the business as a blog about football analytics, before being hired to work within football himself.

Once he returned to the open market, he built a team that delivered consultancy services for clubs, where he discovered a constant issue with the limitations of the available event data from football games.

Whilst the use and analysis of data is nothing new in football, Dorrington explained the StatsBomb model differentiated itself because of its proprietary data set, which provides greater context for the numbers and more actionable insights.

"One of the things that our founders consistently came across when they were using the data of other providers was that it lacked important contextual information that experienced football people were easily able to pick holes in," Dorrington said.

"They would go to a coach with the results of an expected goals (xG) model and the coach would say: “But you don’t know where the goalkeeper is. This is worthless.” Obvious problems like that make it hard to get buy-in on the football side.

"StatsBomb data was created with that in mind. We collect over 3,400 events per match, more than double the amount of some of our competitors, and as I mentioned before our data set includes key additional contextual information that just isn’t found in the data of other companies in this space.

"Our goal has always been and continues to be to create the most football-applicable data set and associated statistical models. Just this year we have already launched StatsBomb 360, a revolutionary new product that provides a snapshot of player locations on each event we capture, and On-Ball Value (OBV), a model that seeks to measure the impact of each on-ball action in terms of its effect on the probability of a team scoring or conceding."

One particularly interesting aspect of the StatsBomb model is the measurement of pressure – a metric developed to try and help clubs better understand and quantify the events in a game that create pressure on an opponent.

"We record a pressure when a player moves to within a given range of the ball carrier in an attempt to close down the ball. There can be multiple players applying pressure in the same action," Dorrington said.

"The lack of pressure data was one of the key flaws in the existing datasets before the launch of StatsBomb data. It gives so much more information to work from when assessing defensive contribution.

"To give a widely understood example, if we wanted to analyse Roberto Firmino’s defensive contribution at Liverpool with the previously available event data, we’d only have around three tackles and interceptions to look at for every 90 minutes he’s on the pitch, around 90-100 per season.

"With pressure data, we have an additional 23 or so defensive actions per match, around 750 per season. That is a huge increase and one that allows us to get a much clearer picture of when and where he is involved defensively."

According to Dorrington, StatsBomb was continuously assessing its model to try and find new-and-improved insights it can provide clubs.

"While there are many clubs who have successfully integrated data into their decision-making processes and who are deriving real benefit from that, there are still many where there is a disconnect between the data people and those who are making decisions and where there isn’t enough of an understanding of how data can be used effectively," he said.

"Beyond that, there are many emerging markets in which data is barely being used to any meaningful degree. We are committed to providing models and analysis tools that are just as applicable at the top end of the game as in those lower-budget scenarios.

"The teams with the biggest budgets and most qualified personnel will continue to raise the ceiling of possibility but we hope to help democratise data so that teams with less resources still have an opportunity to compete."

Victory may well be the first cab off the rank in Australia, but they may not be the last.

"It is interesting that since announcing our partnership with Melbourne Victory, we’ve already had a couple of enquiries from other A-League teams," Dorrington added.

"We often find that’s how it works. You get an early mover in a given league or territory and then others follow."

You can find out more on StatsBomb and their features here.

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LaLiga's FC Barcelona and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Ownix have joined together to create unique digital assets through photos and videos, depicting iconic moments from the Club’s storied history.

With football clubs entering the world of NFTs at an increasing rate, FC Barcelona are looking to set a benchmark in the creation of these types of digital assets.

As part of this strategy, the Club has signed a new global partnership agreement with Ownix, a premium marketplace for NFTs based on the standards of the Ethereum blockchain – a platform for sharing data that cannot be manipulated or changed.

This alliance between FC Barcelona and Ownix will provide a new way for the Club to reach its followers from around the globe, as fans will now be able to acquire and own digital assets that will reproduce unforgettable moments throughout the Club’s almost 122-year history via various auctions taking place throughout the season.

The agreement between FC Barcelona and Ownix is part of the Club’s global expansion strategy and a further commitment to seek out new channels and formats to connect with new generations, while providing a different form of interaction with their fans around the world.

FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta:

"Barça has a very large fanbase around the world and is leading the way in the digital domain with over 400 million followers in social networks," he said.

"Given this scenario, the Club is constantly looking for new ways to connect with its fans, and we believe that creating these NFTs is a unique opportunity to continue growing and consolidating the Barça brand by bringing unique moments that have made Barça fans dream and FC Barcelona a well-known club on every level."

Ownix CEO Guy Elhanani:

"As NFTs surge, we thought it is important to give those collectors who are Barça fans an opportunity to own a piece of their Club’s history," he said.

"This new and exciting asset class allows collectors to own things that weren’t possible to own before, and we’re thrilled to offer sports fans an opportunity to spearhead the movement. Our Mission is to bring customers to purchase NFTs, not because they are marketable, but for the pleasure and pride of owning them."

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Donna Johnson started Zena Sport with the aim of protecting women athletes in high-impact sports. With the help of her husband, former AFL footballer and Western Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson, Zena Sport is changing the way female athletes look at injury prevention.

Their Female Impact protection garment, known as the Zena Z1 performance vest, offers support and impact protection, while also giving compression for enhanced post-game recovery.

The impact vest isn't visible under a jersey or shirt while being lightweight and breathable without restricting a player's movement, weighing only 160 grams.

Donna came up with the idea after after she watched a local women's AFL game, with plans to continue expanding the product line after their initial success.

“My wife Donna was at a local game with her best friend who had a couple of daughters playing, and one of them came off that game with a big knock to the breast,” Brad said.

“We thought is there anything to help these girls during that development phase of life? That's how the conversation started with us, and we continued to explore it.”

After discovering there wasn't a large body of research in the area of injuries specific to women's athletes, Zena Sport conducted their own.

“We worked with Deakin University in that process, and there were a lot of things to tick off,” Brad Johnson said.

“We went through their Centre of Sports Research, and the vest has been validated to show it absorbs a high level of contact.”

The AFLW embraced the impact vests, and now Zena Sport is expanding into other sports.

“The last 18 months we've been going flat out, AFLW was our first port of call but Melissa Barbieri jumped onboard quickly and she loves wearing it in goal,” Donna said.

“Soccer is one sport that the vest has been well received, and the feedback has been great so we want to push it even further and harder through the soccer world.”

Melissa Barbieri, a former Matilda's goalkeeper, had an early opportunity to test the vest out before launch.

“Once I tried it I felt that little more protected in collisions, and as a goalkeeper hitting the ground and the ball hitting your chest,” Barbieri said.

“I have some breast cancer in the family, so I wanted to protect myself as much as possible, so it was a welcome revelation.”

Barbieri, who played 86 times for Australia, values the product as perfect for women goalkeepers who need extra safety during games.

“First and foremost I feel it gives you compression, which is always good for recovery, but it also gives you an extra layer of protection from any hits you might have via the ground, opposition coming in or friendly fire,” she said.

“Certainly when you are in a one-on-one predicament in a game, coming out and spreading yourself with as much width as possible and not protecting yourself in the chest area, it's perfect for feeling that little bit of extra protection.”

Brad Johnson is the Western Bulldogs' all-time appearance holder in the AFL, and his own experiences in professional sports influenced the design of the vest.

“It was always wait until you are injured, and then protect it to return to play. In that regard, I wore a rib-guard in the final few years of playing, under my jumper without anyone knowing, and away I went,” he said.

“So from that I was keen to add that element to it which has become a really popular part of the vest.”

For Barbieri, the impact vest not only offers her safety and confidence on the field, but she also believes in the company behind the product.

“Supporting someone who is so passionate about female athletes is really great to see, and it's a homegrown family company, so I want to get behind them as much as much as possible,” she said.

Zena Sport is providing women and girls the opportunity to play contact sport to their full potential while raising awareness about the need to protect themselves from injury.

You can visit the Zena Sport website for more information, or view the ZENA Z1 Impact Protection Vest.

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Bundesliga International have agreed a partnership in the growing sector of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with successful digital company Sorare.

In an effort to take the marketing of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to new innovative heights, the subsidiary of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga will partner with the popular fantasy football game effective immediately until at least the 2022/23 season.

Sorare, founded in Paris in 2018, is the market leader for NFTs as part of a fantasy football game. NFTs are digital assets made unique with individual encryption using blockchain technology.

In Sorare’s case, for example, limited-edition NFTs featuring professional football players can be purchased in order to create virtual teams. Sales are set to start in October, with further details to be provided soon.

The official partnership centres on NFTs in the form of digital player items that can be played in the integrated fantasy football game and also collected, exchanged and traded on the Sorare platform. Next year, Sorare will also publish NFT-based videos from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, known as “Moments”, which can likewise be collected and played in the fantasy football game.

Robert Klein, CEO of DFL subsidiary Bundesliga International:

“We are delighted to be partners with such a dynamic and exciting company. NFTs are a digital technology of the future that should not be underestimated – especially in the sport sector.

“I am therefore convinced that this collaboration will give rise to further impulses. At the same time, Sorare will benefit from the appeal of one of the most popular sport brands.”

CEO and co-founder of Sorare, Nicolas Julia:

“Germany usually attracts the highest average attendance in football stadiums. It is football as it’s meant to be, where fans engage with their favourite players and club each weekend. We’re thrilled to allow Bundesliga fans in Germany and globally to come together online and to feel ownership of the sports they love.

“The Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world, home to some of the most exciting clubs and footballers on earth. We are very proud to partner with them to launch our first NFT Moments – we are building the future of fandom together.”

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10 ViacomCBS’ concerted efforts to aid in the revitalisation of Australian football over the last few months has stirred a largely positive response from the passionate Australian fanbase. The extensive coverage seen across Channel 10’s news networks and various social media channels speaks volumes of the broadcaster’s dedication to help football reach its lofty potential.

The clarity provided by a primary broadcaster who is aligned in its passion for the game, coupled with the governing bodies, is undeniably promising for football going forward.

Geoff Bullock has been a vital part of our collective matchday experience of Australian football since his beginnings at Fox Sports as a Producer for for football in 2006. Bullock has certainly ridden all of the highs and lows that have come with being an adherent of the game like the rest of us.

In a wide-ranging chat with Soccerscene, the current Executive Producer for football at ViacomCBS gave us insight into the strategic direction, plans and thinking behind the new broadcasting home.

What has it been like taking on this project of 10 ViacomCBS being the home of all things Australian football? Have you always had an interest in football?

Geoff Bullock: I’ve been involved in football since I was about four, playing for the Gosford City Dragons with my dad as the coach. So, it’s always been my number one sport for the past 15 years as I’ve been lucky enough to be working on the broadcast of Australian football. And now to get to do it at Channel 10 for a new era is really exciting.

It’s just good to be involved when there’s a fresh start for football on the horizon. And I’m just excited about the role that we can play to hopefully energise football in Australia.

How is the 10 ViacomCBS production team looking to differentiate how football will be presented in comparison to any previous broadcaster’s time in charge of Australian football?

Geoff Bullock: What we want to do is provide a fan-first approach to broadcasting football here. And with the two platforms in Channel 10 and Paramount+ it gives us – in addition to the live broadcast – the opportunity to offer replays on-demand, mini matches and highlights for A-League Men and Women’s. That includes the Socceroos and Matildas internationals, which we’ve been broadcasting on 10 and 10 Bold and putting mini-matches on 10 Play.

I think it allows viewers to digest football in different ways to what they maybe traditionally have. We’ll also preview and review all of the games with our team as well. Each game will have a preview and review show attached, which allows our experts to dive in and give viewers a deeper look. And we’ll do some magazine shows and podcasts through the week as well to provide extra content.

The other thing I’m excited about is that we’re looking to do a deeper stats dive than we’ve done before. So, there’ll be greater insights on potential players and matches that we’ll be able to get from the deeper stats dive.

Traditionally, for the domestic game whilst they have been comprehensive in terms of milestones and players, we’ve never really taken the leap to include expected goals, pass mapping and possession mapping. That’s the territory I’m hoping we can get into for the A-League which will take it to a new level.

Within the envisioned coverage, what areas of football are being focused on as its key points of difference in comparison to other sporting codes? How valuable do you believe embracing active support is?

Geoff Bullock: I think COVID-19 has shown how important it is to have fans at the game. Whether we’re in the stands or watching on TV, we know what we’re missing when the atmosphere isn’t there. It’s just a massive game-changer at the venue and on TV to have that buzz of the crowd at the games. I can’t wait to have that back.

And I think it’s even more important with football than other sports because of the unique nature of active support. It provides a soundtrack for the game that we’ve missed. The interesting contrast is probably the Euros where we finally got some crowds back at games and it was a massive lift.

That’s so important for us to take advantage of, that active support. We’re trying to provide a fan-friendly experience as well. We’ve worked hard with the APL to provide two fan-friendly Saturday 7:45pm timeslots, so that fans are able to get to more games that are on at a better time.

We’re looking forward to covering active support in the broadcast as well when we can. It’s no doubt been a while since we’ve seen a massive Wanderers march to the stadium which was always huge in the broadcast. Seeing that amount of people marching to the ground definitely provides a sense of occasion and anticipation before the game. It makes people want to stick around and watch.

We’ve seen football over the last few months covered extensively on Channel 10’s news and socials. What are some examples of the strategies being taken to entice younger social media savvy modern audiences?

Geoff Bullock: Quite a few strategies are in place, like our Saturday night coverage is going to be built around a multi-screen experience with those two simultaneous matches that I mentioned on Channel 10 and Paramount+. This is being done with the younger fans in mind.

Football fans, as we know, are accustomed to basically consuming their content on multiple devices. I believe a lot of people in that under-30 age bracket very rarely watch any kind of TV or stream without their phone in their hand.

So, we’re going to build the Saturday night around that multi-screen experience where you’ll be able to watch a game on 10 and on your device with Paramount+. It’ll be a chance for those fans to be across all the highlights and talking points from two games live as it happens.

We’re also exploring a few solutions that might allow us to scale up a separate coverage on a Saturday night that will deliver alternate commentary across the split-screen experience of those two games. That’s something that we’re going to work towards as the season unfolds, and also potentially a social media or influencer-driven commentary stream which we’ll look to do.

With the deep-dive stats that I mentioned earlier they’ll be going out on our social media platforms as well. That’s something that will allow those younger fans to engage in more analytical discussions around football. When you talk to young football fans, you find that there’s not much about the game that they aren’t across, and I think this will give them more of an opportunity to talk more in-depth about Australian football rather than the default of European football.

I think that’s one of our big challenges, to try and engage football fans in Australian football in the same way that they’re engaging with European football. And I’m hoping that if we can bring our level of detail up to the same sort of standards that fans are seeing overseas, then hopefully that will help them to switch on to the local game.

In terms of coverage beyond matchdays, are there plans to produce content that dives deeper into Australian football and its various stakeholders (clubs, fans, players)?

Geoff Bullock: Definitely. I think part of the strategy that we’ve been talking about is not taking Australian football fans for granted. Basically, bringing our coverage up to the standard that they’d expect. We want to give them the experience that they deserve based off their level of intellectual buy-in to the game.

Young fans here in Australia commit very heavily. You just look at the hours they have to stay up at night to watch these teams overseas. They’re committed to learning about these teams that aren’t even on their doorstep.

I think we need to match that in our level of commitment to them to be able to deliver that. With the APL we’ll be delivering features and exclusive content across broadcast, digital and social media platforms that will give them that detail of the local game – both the A-League Men’s and Women’s – that will allow them to basically have that same sort of intellectual connection that they should have. Because these are the clubs that are actually here and that means they can support them in the stands week-in week-out.

Fans here in Australia can get so much closer to the stars of these teams, like they’re far more accessible than they are in any other league. The access for these fans is so much different to what it is for some stars overseas and that’s what we want to encourage. We want fans to know that they’re amongst their heroes at these clubs.

Australian football has undoubtedly seen some rollercoaster times in recent years. Why do you believe now is a critical time for 10 Viacom CBS to get involved in football?

Geoff Bullock: It’s ridden a few waves that’s for sure. We all know it’s had its ups and downs based on national team performance and marquee players in the league, but it’s never really had a long-term sustained period of growth. Particularly over the last couple of years the popularity of the competitions has dropped off.

So, I think the timing of a longer-term broadcast deal with free-to-air exposure really couldn’t have come at a better time. And the fact that that deal has come along at the same time as the unbundling of the A-League from Football Australia (FA), it should provide clubs with a bit of confidence to invest further in the game and hopefully that’ll provide a better, more marketable product. Not only whistle-to-whistle but off the pitch as well.

I think there’s now an opportunity, like there never really has before, for the clubs to back themselves and have a crack. And maybe we’re starting to see that with Perth Glory getting Daniel Sturridge on board, which is a huge boost.

There’s always a bit of a knock-on effect when you’ve got these big stars signing for a club and suddenly there’s clubs looking over their shoulder not wanting to be left behind. The building blocks are there for a really exciting season, and with a number of clubs with spots to fill hopefully they follow the lead that the Glory have taken and they have a go.

How can 10 Viacom CBS help to capitalise on interest and grow women’s football leading into and following the 2023 Women’s World Cup?

Geoff Bullock: It’s exceptionally exciting. The World Cup is going to be massive here in Australia. But the one thing we always know in Australia about having a tournament on home soil is that people get behind it. We saw how Australia embraced the Asian Cup back in 2015. Particularly with a lot of Asian teams we don’t traditionally get behind. So with a World Cup it’s going to be even bigger.

The women’s game is really important to us. I think everybody is aware in Australia it is the fastest growing asset within football. And we’re going to treat A-League Women’s exactly the same as we treat the Men’s. The same sort of program will be structured around each game. Our best commentators and experts will work across both competitions, so you’ll hear Simon Hill calling A-League Women’s matches as well as A-League Men’s.

We’re massively excited about the Matildas returning to play some games on home soil in October. But we’ll also be tracking it because we’ve got the Women’s Asian Cup starting in January early next year. And we’ll have programming around those games and that competition which will be hosted in India, so the kick-off times will be pretty decent for an Australian audience. So, it might really work well with the A-League still going on here. In that period, it will be a frenzy of football which is pretty exciting.

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SkillCorner have revolutionised the football industry’s approach to data analytics in a world-leading and exciting fashion.

Established by then-university graduate in Applied Mathematics and Data Science Hugo Bordigoni and business executive Charles Montmaneix in 2015, SkillCorner extracts physical tracking data from broadcast footage and generates live match visualisations as a result.

By pairing AI data collection with broadcasting, SkillCorner allows fans to see real-time stats gathered from broadcast footage. Metrics such as Sprint Count, Acceleration and Deceleration Count, High-Speed Running Distance and Total Distance are measured via a combination of computer vision and machine learning technology that aids in multi-object tracking over the course of a match.

SkillCorner has since filled a gap in a sporting landscape which had not yet embraced artificial intelligence and had stuck largely to a manual process of collecting data.

In addition, SkillCorner has developed into one of the strongest tools for clubs in their approach to player recruitment. With an access to both a growing database of football tracking data and tracking data on matches that is received instantly, SkillCorner have proven to be a major advantage for some of the world’s biggest clubs.

Whilst SkillCorner’s early days saw their analytics acquired mostly by sportsbooks, their platform came to the attention of Liverpool’s head of research, Ian Graham, in what was a landmark moment for the data analysis tool.

At the time, Liverpool already had access to excellent tracking data for all English Premier League matches – first through ChyronHego and now with Second Spectrum – but it didn’t have anything comparable when considering moves in the transfer market.

In an interview last year with SportTechie, Bordigoni reflected on the manner in which SkillCorner filled a gap in Liverpool’s approach to the transfer market.

“When we started discussing with Liverpool, it was not the plan to go into the performance business. But Liverpool reached us and said, ‘If you're able to do it for the betting, it means you don't have some cameras inside [the venue], you're doing it from the broadcast and it interests us for player recruitment,” he said.

“When they want to scout players playing Bundesliga in French Ligue 1 or in La Liga, they cannot access the tracking data.”

Liverpool’s business last year saw the then reigning English Premier League champions spend $14 million for left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas, $24 million to acquire central midfielder Thiago Alcantara and $49 million for forward Diogo Jota.

Of its three new players, Liverpool had access to rich tracking data for only Jota, who competed in the same league. SkillCorner compiled data from 23 leagues for last year’s summer transfer window and expects to provide coverage of roughly 40 in the near future.

Liverpool and SkillCorner collaborated for a year to hone the accuracy of the algorithm before agreeing to a partnership.

Word then spread across Europe – prompting more inquiries – and since then SkillCorner has begun working with new clubs in the Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga (including 1.FC Köln and Bayer Leverkusen) and France’s Ligue 1 (including Olympique de Marseille and OGC Nice).

For SkillCorner, event and tracking data are critical to unlocking football performance and engaging with fans. But until now, tracking data has been expensive to collect, time intensive, and not available across different leagues and competitions.

SkillCorner is changing that by providing clubs, betting operators, and media access to exclusive player and ball tracking data without the usual restrictions.

Their fully automated system allows users to access dynamic and contextualised insights that can power a club’s recruitment process or deliver unique new insights to fans. Their Live Match Visualisation is an impressive alternative to live match streaming, with turnkey animation and immediate integration ensuring broadcasts are experienced to their full capacity.

SkillCorner’s recent growth has seen partnerships unfold that will further enhance the options available to football fans and the football industry.

A recently announced partnership with Twenty3 – creator of AI sports data tool Twenty3 Toolbox – will see physical data collected by SkillCorner added to the Toolbox. Twenty3 recently revealed a new partnership with MLS club Sporting Kansas City, giving the club access to Twenty3’s set of AI tools which now include SkillCorner player tracking.

SkillCorner are illustrative of the changing of the guard in the approach to data analytics. Whilst football has embraced data collection as a necessary facet of player, coaching and overall team improvement over time, SkillCorner have established an alternative forward-thinking method that is adaptable to its multitude of user types.

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The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the addition of two new Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS that will premiere as graphics during broadcasts and in the official Bundesliga app during the 2021-2022 season.

The two new Match Facts – Shot Efficiency and Passing Profile – will bring the total number of advanced statistics to eight, with each of them aiming to give fans deeper insights into the action on the pitch.

The first of the new advanced stats – Shot Efficiency – compares the number of goals that a player or team has scored with how many goals the player or team should have scored based on the quality of their chances.

The second – Passing Profile – provides deeper insights into the pass quality of a player or an entire team. Both of the stats are generated by gathering and analysing the match feeds from live games in real time as they are streamed into AWS.

Both new stats made their debut during Matchday 4 on the clash between German Champion FC Bayern München and the second-placed team of the previous season RB Leipzig.

The two new Match Facts will better showcase the action on the field – giving fans, coaches, players, and commentators visual support for analysing the decision-making of players and teams.

Andreas Heyden, Executive Vice President of Digital Innovations for DFL Group, was excited to further innovate the matchday experience for viewers based both domestically and internationally.

"Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS allows us to give fans more insight into the game of football, broadcasters more interesting stories to tell and coaches and teams, more data to excel at their game," he said.

“Last year, the reception for Bundesliga Match Facts around the world was very positive, and we expect through ML and AI to continue to innovate on these analytics to make them even better.

“These two new stats give fans a view into player efficiency that hasn't been achieved before, and we are just at the beginning of our relationship with AWS. I'm excited to see how technology will continue to evolve the fan experience and the game.”

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Capital Football have announced an exciting new apparel partnership with one of Australia’s leading sports clothing manufacturers ISC.

As a result of the partnership, W-League side Canberra United and all Capital Football teams and staff will be kitted out in some of the highest quality playing and merchandise range in the market.

This announcement marks the start of a partnership that will continue until 2025, thus solidifying ISC’s goal to support and grow Australian sport.

From grassroots players right through to professional athletes, ISC has been supporting Australian talent for decades, including an almost 20-year partnership with the Canberra Raiders.

The world game continues to be the biggest participation sport in Australia’s Capital Territory (ACT) and this partnership will further support development of the sport in the region and nationally.

Capital Football CEO Phil Brown was excited to see ISC join up with Capital Football in support of the ACT region going forward.

“It’s clear that ISC takes its sportswear seriously, not only with its quality apparel but with its long running partnership with other Canberra sporting organisations,” he said.

“This deal is a really exciting one for both Capital Football and Canberra United. We look forward to working with ISC for the next four years.”

The range of products developed for Capital Football and Canberra United teams will include both technical on field and high performance off field gear.

ISC CEO and Managing Director Jason Schulman welcomed the partnership with Capital Football and was excited to see the region benefit from their quality manufacturing.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Capital Football and Canberra United in such an expansive partnership in what is a strong growth region for Australian Football.

“We look forward to forming a strong relationship with all stakeholders and delivering fantastic playing, training and merchandise kit to the participants.”

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Currently residing in Western Australia, former Premier League footballer Aaron Tighe has recently launched the One2Pro app, providing footballers of all ages with an innovative skills-based program to challenge themselves.

Tighe had stints at Luton Town and Leicester City before his career ended through injury at the young age of 22, before eventually moving into coaching.

After coaching youth players in the UK, he moved to Australia and ultimately set up his own skills academy down under.

Tighe’s academy looked to improve the individual skills of players through a specialised program and after running it for around 20 years, he looked to technology to expand the program to a wider audience.

“About 4 years ago I was listening to an interview with Tony Robbins and he just mentioned if you are doing something really good and it’s offering some good support to people, think about how you can spread it to more people, to give more value,” Tighe told Soccerscene.

“That was when the idea came into my head to put the program, that I have been doing for 20 odd years, into a mobile phone app.”

The app provides users with 92 professional skills and techniques to master through 12 modules, with detailed video instructions provided.

What sets the app apart from others on the market however, is the specialised feedback you receive from professional coaches to help footballers improve their ability.

“The unique difference to the app is that you actually get to work with a physical coach,” Tighe said.

“On a lot of the apps out there, when you look at the reviews, they are very much - download the app, here’s the content, follow the instructions and off you go.

“I thought what would be different and unique would be for the user to watch the videos for the instructions of the skills, but then they upload their own video of them doing those skills and pass them on to an actual coach.

“The coach will then comment back, score your efforts through a medal system (bronze, silver and gold) and guide you through the program.

“It’s a very effective one-on-one coaching program.”

[caption id="attachment_10991" align="aligncenter" width="414"] Creator of One2Pro Aaron Tighe.[/caption]

Tighe, as a youngster, imagined developing his own skills with the close assistance from a professional player, and this became a major motivation in creating an app for the next generation.

“One of the reasons why I developed the app was I remember as a kid myself playing on the street with your mates and imagining a professional footballer or coach coming down to the local park or street to teach us some skills,” he said.

“I thought to myself It’s impossible to go physically everywhere, so the app would be the best thing.”

The One2Pro app has only been on the market since earlier this year, however, it has garnered a following from regions all across the world.

“We’ve had a lot of take up in the US, Australia, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Africa and even the Middle East,” Tighe said.

“It’s very exciting to see this thing hit different corners of the world and see players use it from all over the globe.”

Due to its popularity, Tighe has received constant feedback from users who continue to use the app to improve their skillsets.

“They’ve said It’s simple to use, they find the skills challenging and interesting to learn,” he said.

“A big one for me is they have improved their confidence. The players will turn around and say I got the feedback and it’s given me more confidence in my ability to master the skill.”

Although the app is relatively new, Tighe does have plans to expand it in the future and may look to use the established template for other sports.

“Ultimately what I’d love to do first is expand this out to schools and clubs where they can work with their own coaches if they want to,” he said.

“In the future I would also like to investigate whether I could use a similar formula for any sport or discipline, whether tennis or cricket.”

For more information and to download the One2Pro app, visit the company’s website here: https://www.one2pro.com

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English Premier League side Arsenal have partnered with sports blockchain provider Chiliz to launch the club’s custom fan tokens on Chiliz’s Socios.com app.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, sports clubs have had to look for other revenue streams to compensate for the lack of ticketing on game days. Arsenal joins a growing list of sports entities on the platform, including Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint Germain and AC Milan.

The platform enables fans to purchase club fan tokens, an area of the blockchain industry that generated over $200 million in revenue in the first half of 2021 alone. According to the Socios.com management team, the app has had almost 1.2 million downloads since its launch in 2019. Of those, almost 70% took place in 2021.

Fan tokens can be exchanged for rewards such as merchandise, the ability to participate in polls, access exclusive content, and play interactive games. They can also lead to experiences like meeting players or attending home games. The Arsenal-specific digital collectibles can be bought and sold through the marketplace as a cryptocurrency.

“We are committed to finding new and innovative ways for all our supporters - whether local or international - to get closer to the club,” Arsenal Commercial Director Peter Silverstone said.

Chiliz has allocated over $50 million to expand into the top sporting leagues in the United States, whilst also becoming an official sponsor of LaLiga football club Valencia CF. The sponsorship will showcase a token logo in the front of the players’ jerseys this coming season.

In addition, Chiliz is also sponsoring Argentina’s top football league, which will officially be called Torneo Socios.com for the 2021/2022 season.

As a club, Arsenal is not new to the blockchain space. The club has partnerships for three mainstream applications of blockchain in sports - Sorare for fantasy football, Fantastec for digital collectibles, and now Chiliz for fan tokens.

In 2018, Arsenal also signed a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency application CashBet. This deal was the first time a major global club has partnered with a cryptocurrency firm.

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OneFootball have announced a new deal with Liga MX which will see the world’s largest football media company stream live games and highlights from the Mexican top-flight, after inking an agreement with the league’s international sales partner - Spanish-based agency Mediapro Group.

With a platform used by 85 million monthly active users across the world, OneFootball will provide free-to-air coverage of between two and five live matches from teams such as Club América, Cruz Azul, Pumas, Toluca, FC Juárez, Necaxa and Tigres to the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, the football media platform will provide coverage of the summer Apertura 2021 tournament and the winter Clausura 2022 competition, featuring the league’s 18 teams.

The deal covers several regions where OneFootball currently operates, including France, Italy, Germany and the UK, along with Latin America, Africa and Asia.

OneFootball’s latest broadcasting agreement builds on a number of deals the firm has in place to air the German top-flight Bundesliga in Brazil and Latin America, the Japanese J League in Italy, and the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) in various international markets.

The new agreement with OneFootball, which adds to Mediapro Group’s extensive experience in the sale and distribution of audiovisual rights of global sports competitions, will extend the international broadcast reach of Liga MX to a vast userbase of young and highly engaged football enthusiasts around the globe.

The Mediapro Group is the global media rights sales agency of the Spanish LaLiga, the Chinese Super League and the Belgian Jupiler Pro League.

Earlier in March, OneFootball also struck a deal for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to become the first national federation to link up with the platform. The company has also acquired the rights to the Ligue 1 in Brazil, with the French top-tier also becoming the first professional football league to confirm an editorial collaboration with OneFootball.

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Australian company Benchwarmers have developed an innovative solution, through their functional sporting attire, to keep players warm when they are not on the field.

Their product, a body-length garment, is specifically designed to keep the most vulnerable parts of the body warm such as the upper legs, whilst keeping the arms free to allow players to regulate their own body temperature.

The item is ultra-lightweight and includes other features such as insulated inside pockets, a hood, a resistance to water and wind, as well as fully fleeced lining for extra warmth.

Creator of the product, Andrew Lauder, recently developed the Benchwarmer after his previous experiences as a coach on the sidelines.

“I identified that there was a problem years ago, he told Soccerscene.

“I was coaching young kids and was having to take down blankets and stuff to keep them warm on the benches.

“Some kids in football once they get a head knock or something, they go into a little bit of a shock and there was nothing to keep them warm on the bench apart from club hoodies or something along those lines, which was ridiculous.”

“Over the 2020 period I sort of started designing Benchwarmers, working out the features of how best to do it and have continued to go on from there.”

Lauder explained it was extremely necessary for grassroots players to keep their muscles warm on the bench before they came on, to avoid hamstring strains and other common soft tissue injuries.

“The main point is, especially with juniors and amateurs, they are sitting on the bench waiting for their time to come on and they don’t warm up like the professionals do,” he said.

“Professionals may say ‘let’s jump on the bike and get your legs moving’, but the kids and the amateurs they run on without properly warming up their body.”

[caption id="attachment_10788" align="aligncenter" width="605"] The design of the Benchwarmers product.[/caption]

Lauder has built up the product to a local and international audience and has found some success in doing so, despite it being a relatively new product.

“I put it out there to the kids, because that’s where I started it all,” he said.

“But at the moment it’s the amateurs in England who have started grabbing it and some clubs here.

“One thing that I get sometimes with the smaller clubs is they love it but they don’t want to pay for it. With junior clubs they are obviously volunteers and they are more hesitant to make the decision to spend the money. It’s crazy because you ask them every time, what do you have in the kitbag to keep the kids warm? They usually have nothing, just club jackets, which I don’t believe is sufficient.”

Lauder continues to invest his time into avenues which will grow the presence of his item, such as social media work, further marketing of Benchwarmers and listening to customer's feedback.

“My main thing at this point of time is that I’ve been doing a lot of direct email marketing which I’ve put out,” he said.

“I am also building the Instagram and Facebook pages to target clubs and people to sort of get them onto it and that has started to work in some cases.

“Some feedback I’ve received by one of the clubs, for example, showed me the benefits of how important it is to be a lightweight product. One club wanted ten of them and wanted his manager to be able to put them into the kit bag and carry them from job to job. They don’t take up too much space, their waterproof, their fully lined inside, they’ve been developed with 40cm pockets on the inside which are insulated - all these things help.”

The creator of Benchwarmers hopes the product will continue to have steady growth here in Australia and overseas in the long term.

“In the future I wish that the Benchwarmers brand is in a hell of a lot of clubs and people are wrapped they have them for their kids,” Lauder said.

“Basically, I want them to think to themselves, why didn’t we do this or buy this years ago?”

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Launched in 2020, Boob Armour (which is officially licensed by the AFL and AFLW) was founded by Suzie Betts with the sole ambition of giving more women and girls the confidence to play impact sports while protecting their breasts from injury.

A world-first for women’s sport, Boob Armour inserts are designed to provide breast support and to minimise unwanted movement during running, as well as absorb impact to alleviate injury to breast tissue.

The inserts are made from a soft but strong polyethylene that is just two millimetres thick. These inserts extend around the underarm for added protection, stabilising the breasts into position and are easily insertable into a sports bra.

Inspired by personal experience, Betts sought medical research for the need of protective inserts for women. What she found was an underwhelming lack of attention given to the issue, and furthermore, that the products designed to do the job were ill-suited to the vast majority of women.

To start off, what is Boob Armour?

Suzie Betts: So, Boob Armour is protective inserts for girls playing contact, impact and ball sport. They’re two-millimetre-thick polyethylene inserts that you slot into your sport bra or crop top pre-match. A lot of girls obviously don’t want to have anything heavy in any shape or form, and the inserts weigh about fifteen grams each.

Once they’re in, you’re basically invincible. You could get kicked; you could get punched – you won’t feel a thing. By absorbing the impact (which is what the polyethylene does) it actually alleviates any injuries.

What inspired you to initiate the Boob Armour project? How did it all come together?

Suzie Betts: In 2018, I found lumps in my breast. And the first thing my cancer surgeon asked me was whether I had received a trauma, which I found strange at the time. What I’ve since found out is trauma lumps, which present themselves later in life, can present themselves as breast cancer cells. Even through MRIs and ultrasounds can’t differentiate between them. So, you have to go down the path of what I did – biopsies and three lots of surgery to find out I didn’t have breast cancer (which I never thought I had) – to find out the lumps were a result of a trauma I received when I was younger.

So, with that in mind I had two girls who played AFLW and basketball and after asking them about their experiences they acknowledged that they’re hit in the boobs all the time whilst playing. From thereI began to look for research and found that basically, globally there’d been really nothing in terms of studies.

There’d been a study done in America in regard to football that had found out that out of 90 girls playing, 50% had reported sustaining a breast injury. And most of them hadn’t reported it to anyone. Part of the challenge would’ve been that most of the coaches were male at the time so it would’ve been difficult for the players to talk about and the guys aren’t going to ask about it. 12% of those girls actually said that the injury had affected their participation.

So, I went in search of what there was to protect girls’ boobs and really came across nothing except products that were unsuitable. So, we’ve made sure that our shells encapsulate the shape of the breasts and we’ve got seven sizes; so, there’s a size for everyone.

Originally, my background wasn’t in football it was in Aussie Rules. But as we’ve gone along, we’ve had a lot of interest from Europe and the United Kingdom in regards to football and rugby as well. And so, it dawned on me about how many girls were avoiding chest passing in football. [From there] what we’ve found is a lot of parents who previously avoided letting their kids play football, rugby or Aussie Rules are now letting them play.

Has it been a challenge to educate and get people on board with the product?

Suzie Betts: Absolutely it has been a challenge. Because even though we’re talking female sport and it has been around for years, it’s still run a lot by men. No one really has thought about those injuries and that’s why the research hasn’t been there.

Not until 2020 was anything done in regards to AFL injuries, which saw 207 girls who were playing AFL and rugby surveyed. About 60% of them said that they had had a breast injury and most of them have said they couldn’t play on because of it. The numbers are there when they do it but it’s been difficult to get any further research done other than what is available. Only through my own trauma do I know the next steps.

So, opening up the conversation with the male contingent has been the hardest bit and avoidance of talking about it [for years] hasn’t really helped.

Since the launch of Boob Armour, what has the response been like from the overall sporting community?

Suzie Betts: For women this is like the best thing they’ve ever seen. We’ve got some co-ed schools taking on board the point that girls need to be protected in the same way boys are in cricket for example.

And the response has been phenomenal. When the girls put it on the confidence they get for tackles, marking and chest passing is like a newfound confidence, because they know that they can just run through it or have the ability to mark or chest the ball without any injury.

So, it’s been phenomenal but the key is education. All of our medical research and promotion of that education is essential because we want it to be like the mouthguard of the future. We want it to be in every girl’s kit; if you’re getting ready of football you’ve got your shin guards, your mouthguard and your Boob Armour.

[And with it] all the girls play tougher. After every game they say with confidence that they went for it and previously it wasn’t like that without Boob Armour. And in addition, it works to minimise bounce. Another study we found discovered that a lot of teenage girls drop out of sport because they don’t have the right support. So, we don’t want that to be a reason why girls stop playing sport. We need everyone to stay in [sport] for as long as they can, so, if that tiny thing is keeping you away from sport, we’re here to alleviate that problem.

We’re really targeting the grassroots, which is why I am proud to see the young girls wearing it because they’re the ones we’ve got to educate to keep it. Some girls are only going to play for fun but they’ll be protected along the way and that’s the most important thing. It’s all about prevention.

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Burnley Football Club and TikTok have announced a partnership which will see the English Premier League club livestream every home match of Burnley FC Women’s 2021/22 season as part of a multi-year deal.

Burnley FC Women will become the first team to have their games streamed live on TikTok – which will also become the team’s sleeve sponsor – as it undergoes significant expansion as part of the club’s new women’s football strategy.

The Clarets will be looking to collaborate with football content creators as part of the partnership, a facet which will also help Burnley FC Women’s players with building their own profiles on the platform.

With the club announcing a long-term roadmap to professionalise the Women’s side in February, this partnership is a major step towards strengthening the club’s footprint in women’s football, particularly because this will mark the first season that Burnley FC Women’s games will be available to watch live.

The Clarets will also be further integrating the team with Burnley FC Women set to play under the same Burnley FC crest as the men for the first-time next season and no longer sit as a separate team within the club.

Burnley FC Chairman Alan Pace was delighted to link with TikTok ahead of the 2021/22 season.

“This is a hugely exciting partnership and another first for Burnley Football Club. Innovation is a key component to our plans at Burnley and this partnership with a fantastic, progressive brand like TikTok completely fits into our vision for the club’s future and embracing digital audiences," he said.

“Growing our presence in women’s football was an early goal when taking over the club and this is the latest step towards that. We hope this deal will bring our club and players to a new generation of fans and I’m delighted that from next season we’ll truly be one club for all – one team, under one crest.”

Strategic Partner Manager at Sport TikTok, Arthur Guisasola, echoed Pace’s sentiments.

“TikTok has become a vibrant hub of sports content in the last two years with football fans, teams and players alike coming to TikTok to share their passion, so we are thrilled to announce this unique partnership with Burnley FC Women," he said.

“This partnership with Burnley will give football fans access to the home matches and exclusive content from the Burnley FC Women's team; following their journey during what promises to be an exciting season.”

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Sports streaming platform DAZN have announced a new four-year global broadcasting partnership with YouTube which will see the UEFA Women’s Champions League taken to new heights from season 2021/22.

In a unique first for the competition, the deal will greatly increase exposure to women’s football as the UEFA Women’s Champions League introduces an inaugural 16-team group stage. For supporters, this will ensure unprecedented access to one of the fastest-growing football competitions around the world.

During the first two seasons (2021/22 and 2022/23), fans will be able to watch all 61 matches live and on demand from the group stage onward. This will be shown on DAZN, and free on their YouTube channel. For the following two seasons (2023/24 and 2024/25), all 61 matches will be shown live on DAZN, while 19 matches will be free to view on the YouTube channel.

The multi-year deal grants DAZN exclusive rights worldwide, with the exception of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – where rights include clips and highlights – as well as China.

The agreement signifies another game-changing move in UEFA’s and its partners’ global commitment to women’s sport. It is one of the largest broadcast deals in women’s club football history.

"Two years ago, when we launched UEFA's first ever women's football strategy, 'Time for Action', we promised action that will lead to a greater, more professional and more prosperous game by 2024. Several initiatives have since followed and this summer is a giant leap in that direction," UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said.

"We are delighted to announce the start of a four-year global partnership with DAZN and YouTube. For the first two seasons, fans around the world can access and watch for free all matches, enabling fans to follow the competition and the very best players in the world. There is no better way to inspire future generations of young girls and boys to play football. Women's football is here to stay and will only grow stronger."

The partnership follows UEFA's decision to create a new format for the Women's Champions League, with the new group stage accompanied by centralised media and sponsorship rights, which will lead to a significant increase of revenues. This has built the foundation for the recently announced pioneering financial distribution model, where $38.7m will be spread throughout women's football in Europe.

"This deal is a first for women's football as this partnership between UEFA and DAZN and YouTube will make sure that the UEFA Women's Champions League can be seen by the fans, by all the people who love this game, wherever they are on the globe," UEFA chief of women's football Nadine Kessler said.

"Such visibility changes everything, as the best female players and best women's teams in the world can inspire more young girls and boys to fall in love with this sport. Together, we are all bringing women’s football to the world and everyone who will tune in will truly make a difference to something bigger."

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Taka Grips is a high-performance grip socks company based in Sydney, with the overall aim of improving player performance and comfort on the field.

Liam McConaghy, the founder of the business, explained to Soccerscene that his own personal experiences of discomfort on the pitch inspired him to find a viable solution to issues affecting his game.

“It was actually November last year, so not that long ago, we started back at preseason - I play in NPL NSW and I was signed for St George at the time,” he said.

“What happened was we were training on an artificial turf on a Sunday and it was really hot (it was coming into summer) and my feet were just getting torn to shreds.

“There were just the worst blisters and I could feel the friction inside my boot - so I thought to myself I need to find a fix and investigated what all this grip sock business was about.”

He personally never had owned a pair of grip socks, but was left dismayed by the prices he saw online for the item, which prompted him to try and start his own business.

“I got online to buy some and they were $70 a pair,” McConaghy said.

“So, I guess I just had a thought to myself (about creating the business), it just sort of started off as one of those ideas.”

A PE and Design and Technology teacher by trade, McConaghy used his expertise in these areas to devise his product at a much more affordable price of $30.

“I have got a bit of experience and training with graphic design and that sort of thing, so I had a bit of a play around and contacted some suppliers and manufacturers and eventually, one thing led to another.”

The sock itself is made with durable and lightweight material, however its custom grip placement and advanced technology is specifically beneficial for players looking to improve their change of direction, speed, agility and enhance their comfort.

“The socks have got these little grip pads that are basically pressed into the socks through a high-heat glue gun,” McConaghy said.

“I’ve strategically placed them all over the bottom of the sock in places where you would have the most pressure inside your boot. So for example, around the ball of the foot and the back of the heel - I made sure mine came up the back of the foot, so you wouldn’t get that slippage in the back of your boot where a lot of the blisters happen.

“Essentially what happens is you don’t slide around in your boot, so without any friction in your boot you don’t get blisters and it’s better for your movement.”

[caption id="attachment_10609" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Taka Grip Socks - White[/caption]

Although only recently launching the business, the socks have gathered an immediate following and appreciation from professional football players in the A-League and around the world, in leagues such as the J-League.

“I’ve pretty much been playing NPL1 since I was 14 years old, I used to play with the likes of Massimo Luongo and Aaron Mooy,” McConaghy said.

“So, I’ve got old contacts through playing and reached out to a few people and asked if they’d like to wear them, which they were more than happy to and from there more doors have opened.”

Other professional players from different codes including NRL and AFL have also been using the product, with the socks now entering more sports department stores around Australia.

Social media, particularly the company’s Instagram page, has increased the profile of the grip socks to a wider audience, but possible future partnerships with football clubs and state federations across Australia is a logical next step, according to McConaghy.

“While I have thought about expanding into different clothing down the line, firstly it would be good to be able to get some clubs onboard with Taka Grips through a sponsorship, supplying the whole club from juniors through to first grade,” he said.

In the present however, McConaghy is proud of the work he has done so far and how quickly the product has already grown.

“I am very proud, because it sort of just started out of nowhere,” he said.

“I literally just thought let’s give it a crack, apart from some help from my girlfriend I’ve pretty much done it all myself.

“It makes me proud, especially when I look at the calibre of people who are wearing them.”

For more information on Taka Grips visit their website here: https://www.takagrips.com.au/

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Pixellot, the world’s leading provider of AI-Automated sports production solutions, in tandem with Pitchero, the online sports network, have announced a milestone partnership.

After carefully reviewing Pixellot’s end-to-end solutions, Pitchero will promote and integrate video into its all-encompassing platform for clubs, teams, leagues, and associations.

Pixellot offers players, supporters, club officials and scouts access to a fully automated, video capturing solution, that has rich features for engagement and coaching alike.

One of the main products which will help clubs is Pixellot Air, the portable solution that enables clubs to record their games and enjoy a high-quality video experience including an automated virtual camera operator and editing tools. In addition, coaches will enjoy a range of professional video analysis tools to improve team and player performance.

Pixellot CEO Alon Werber was delighted to secure a partnership with Pitchero, especially due to their significant contributions to sporting clubs.

“We were very impressed with the system that Pitchero developed for sport clubs,” he said.

“With the addition of Pixellot’s capabilities in video production and delivery, including streaming platforms and coaching tools, Pitchero will be able to offer a truly all-inclusive system for club management with all the bells and whistles.”

“Pixellot’s similar vision and end-to-end video solutions make it easy to integrate with Pitchero’s solution sets” said Mark Fletcher, CEO Pitchero. “Grassroots sport has room for a single winner. After carefully surveying the market, we feel that Pixellot, with their rich portfolio of products and immense global experience, is the right partner to move forward with.”

Pixellot’s vast experience in providing cost-efficient professional coverage for lower semi-pro and amateur leagues, youth, women’s and amateur sports has made it the solution of choice for thousands of sports organisations and governing bodies, teams and leagues around the world. It’s award-winning, AI-automated technology is installed in 15,000 thousand venues that stream over 80,000 games per month.

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Leading global sports video technology platform PlaySight have announced a new partnership with LIGR, who are a main provider of cloud broadcast graphics for sports leagues and broadcasters at all levels.

PlaySight’s live and on demand automated sports OTT platform will seamlessly integrate with LIGR’s best in-class live graphics software, ensuring a pro-level viewing experiencing for fans of sports leagues, teams and organisations from around the world.

LIGR’s technology streamlines in-game production costs and enables teams to integrate sponsors, generate reports and build their brand through the enhancement of their live and on demand video.

With this new partnership, LIGR is building a white label and customised solution for PlaySight and the thousands of sports courts, fields, rinks and facilities that its technology connects all across the sports world.

The two companies first reached an agreement back in 2019 in Belgium with the EuroMillions Basketball League, and have been working together across the sporting world ever since. This latest announcement is the culmination of years of work behind the scenes and will result in an easy-to-use interface for clients of both companies.

“We are thrilled today to officially announce our partnership and technology integration with PlaySight,” Luke McCoy, LIGR’s Co-Founder and CEO Luke McCoy said.

“Their live streaming and video platform is among the best in sports, and from listening to clients we know that there is a real need for the combined offering that we will be putting together with them.

“PlaySight’s platform has been proven out across the top sports all over the world, and we look forward to taking their video to the next level with our live sports broadcast graphics platform, and specifically a white label solution to create a one-stop shop for their clients across the sporting world.”

The integration will give clients of PlaySight a single workflow for all of their live broadcast needs, with specific graphics for each sport, and customisation options for brand enhancement, sponsor integration, new monetization opportunities and much more.

“Luke and the team at LIGR are the leaders in the automated live sports graphics market, and we cannot wait to bring this new technology platform to our customers,” PlaySight Co-Founder and CEO Chen Shachar said.

“While the core technologies may differ, we share a vision with the team at LIGR – to bring pro-level and sophisticated technology to all levels of sports, all over the world. The need from our customers, whether it is a league, college athletic department, high school team or high-performance academy is all the same: to find new, creative and exciting ways to engage with their communities and fans through live and on demand video content.”

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WSC Sports have this week announced that OneFootball, the world’s largest football media company, will be using WSC’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven sports video technology to enhance its short-form video content across its various platforms.

With the addition of WSC Sports’ AI and automation tools, OneFootball will be able to develop personalised, localised and unique content for its 85 million monthly active users whilst scaling video content creation and optimising time and resources.

The partnership will provide fans with innovative live, near-live, and post-game video content, with OneFootball incorporating WSC Sports’ automated technology across its OTT offering on its Website, App, OneFootball Player and Social Media.

Both parties will also collaborate going forward on further differentiating and enriching the OneFootball experience with short-form video content across its multitude of touchpoints with football fans.

Nick von Doetinchem - VP OTT Streaming & Media Rights at OneFootball:

“With this partnership we are redefining what fans should expect from their digital football experience, using innovation to create unique short-form content and bring them closer to the action."

“We are thrilled to be working with such a forward-looking brand that is as passionate as we are about reimagining the fan experience. We are excited about the roadmap ahead of us that caters to the changing consumption habits of a new generation of football fans.”

Itai Epstein - Head of Business Development, Central Eastern Europe, Russia & China, WSC Sports:

“OneFootball and WSC Sports are both focused on creating tools and technologies that can take fan experiences to the next level, making them as personalized and customizable as possible. We are excited about the prospect of a long-term relationship to create tools that engage fans even more."

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Since 2016, Australian company LIGR have provided a range of football organisations, and the production companies that aid them, with live graphics solutions and a broadcast management platform which is simple and efficient to use.

Luke McCoy, co-founder of LIGR, explained to Soccerscene that his previous experience of owning a live production business, which broadcasted lower-tier sporting matches, inspired him to establish LIGR LIVE due to a lack of sophisticated graphics he encountered at that level.

“Previously I founded a company called Virtual Performance Analysis that turned into VPA Productions. During that process we ended up with a contract to stream the Football NSW Grand Finals,” he said. 

“The problem with any of the live broadcasts in second-tier and grassroots competitions was always how to improve match data integration into broadcast graphics. What we found was once you can achieve that, the main question and opportunity was the ability to then attach sponsors into those broadcasts, so the sports organisations who own the rights to their content could have the chance to commercialise their audience with in-game sponsorship. 

“So around four years ago we began developing the product that is now LIGR Live; an operating and broadcast management platform for live sports broadcasts. I co-founded it with my friend Adam Burke (CTO of LIGR), and we found immediate success amongst the major sports in Australia across Rugby League, Football, Aussie Rules and Cricket. 

[caption id="attachment_10454" align="aligncenter" width="359"] Co-founders of LIGR - Adam Burke (left) and Luke McCoy[/caption]

“The big features of that system include graphics, automation, sponsorship, fixtures, live scoring and team collaboration workflows all built around helping sports organisations produce a professional live stream that can be commercialised through in-game sponsorship display and the analytics around that."

Since development, the company has now partnered with seven of the nine football member federations in Australia.

Most of the FFA Cup streams that happen around Australia use LIGR in some form, whether through a sports organisation account like Football NSW or a host of production companies who have a LIGR account and act independently servicing clubs directly.

LIGR play a pivotal role in a huge selection of State League, NPL and NPLW games across the country, including 550-600 games a season in Victoria, for example.

“We’re contracted to the member federations, from Football Victoria, Football NSW, Football West, Football SA etc…and it’s a combination, from their state league games up to their NPL competitions and obviously the women’s NPL as well,” McCoy said.

“LIGR Live connects external live data sources to live broadcasts including being a data supplier ourselves where external data does not exist. Most of the NPL matches have an external live data source available through Stats Perform, a global provider of live data to the sports industry, who we have a direct partnership with.

"We pull in the live data feed in real time and connect it automatically to LIGR Live and populate graphics templates that are then triggered based on real time events from the data, completely automatically removing any requirement for a graphics operator or data live scorer.”

For the NPL, LIGR have built a specific template which is only shown on broadcasts of that competition.

All of the member federations have access to this theme and the governing bodies can log in to LIGR’S cloud-based operating system and manually upload team logos, colours and ad sets, which they can flexibly incorporate at their will into their live streams.

[caption id="attachment_10476" align="aligncenter" width="406"] An example of LIGR's graphics in a Bulleen Lions match.[/caption]

This aspect of commercialising the live streams through integrated advertisement placements through graphics, has helped bodies like Football NSW generate additional revenue and sponsorship opportunities.

“The whole idea of streaming our competitions was to provide greater commercial opportunities for the league and our clubs,” Brian Meinrath, Head of Commercial at Football NSW, told the LIGR website.

“Using LIGR has helped us shape how we approach the market with our sponsorship offerings. To be able to work with a group that continually looks and asks how they can make their product better makes a big difference.”

Football NSW are not the only governing body to benefit commercially through the use of the LIGR service, as they, alongside Football West, Football SA, Football NT, Football Tasmania, Football Victoria and Football Queensland were the beneficiaries of a sponsorship deal with Pilot Health late last year.

Pilot Health, a male telehealth brand, purchased advertising space across all Men’s NPL live broadcasts for part of the 2020 season, in the listed state and territory federations.

"It is really exciting to be able to partner with the Australian Football Federations utilising LIGR Live’s platform to deliver this first of its kind advertising,” Pilot Health Co-Founder, Tim Doyle, said at the time of the deal.

“At Pilot we are always looking for new ways to reach our audience and the LIGR platform allows that, while also supporting the second tier of football across the country in a seamless, fast, aggregated process."

Through the use of LIGR Live’s platform to standardise the broadcast quality, the state federations sold specific percentages of advertising time through the course of a match, including particular events such as goals, cards and team lists.

McCoy believes deals such as this showcase the true worth of his company.

“It is maybe the most encouraging sign of LIGR’s value as a company moving forward, to be able to provide a distribution network for brands to access live grassroots sports,” he said at the announcement of the deal.

“It is naturally hard for brands to do multiple small deals across multiple sports organisations. Being able to have a single, white labelled platform that aggregates those opportunities simplifies the process for brands that show a keen interest in live amateur sport, but have no way to enter the playing field effectively. 

“Pilot’s interest in the Australian football’s audience has put money directly back into the member federations which is the ultimate goal of LIGR.”

LIGR do have an eye to the future, recently partnering with Pixellot - a leader in global AI camera technologies, understanding that broadcasts at some point are going to be completely automated productions.

[caption id="attachment_10469" align="aligncenter" width="380"] LIGR announced a deal with Pixellot earlier this month.[/caption]

Despite this global push, McCoy is proud of the strides LIGR has already made since its creation. 

“It’s been an exciting journey so far, particularly in football, which is where we started,” he said.

“We went from one game a week, a match of the round, to 30 games a week for Football NSW, and that  spread across the member federations to help maintain quality across a large scale of content and many production suppliers.

“Now, the amount of content they are producing would almost be the most in Australia for sports organisations, in regards to their live content.

“It’s been pretty cool to see within the past few years how quickly that’s changed, so it’s definitely rewarding and exciting.”

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LaLiga side Valencia CF have announced they will become the first team to display their own Fan Tokens on the front of the shirt after reaching an agreement with Chiliz - the creators of Fan Tokens and the Socios.com fan engagement platform, as the club’s Official Fan Token Partner.

Kicking off from the 2021/22 season, the partnership reflects Valencia CF’s dedication to using innovation and technology, exploring new trends and finding new ways of engaging with its local, national and international fan base.

Both Valencia CF and Chiliz strongly believe that football clubs need to add a new dimension of entertainment for fans.

Football must always remain exciting and attractive to all generations, and the club must meet the challenge of keeping the younger generations engaged. Thanks to this agreement, Valencia CF fans from across the world will be able to stay closely connected and interact with the Club in a powerful and innovative way, as they have never done before.

The Socios.com roster includes many other great clubs around the world including FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, AC Milan or Manchester City, but Valencia CF will be the pioneer to have them on the front of the jersey.

VCF and Chiliz will launch the $VCF Fan Token on Socios.com in the coming weeks.

Valencia CF President Anil Murthy:

“I believe that fans will always be at the heart of football and the use of innovation and technology is necessary to keep this tradition alive. Therefore, we are elated to have Chiliz as Official Fan Token Partner for season 21/22. With them, VCF will enter the next generation of fan engagement through their Socios.com platform which will revolutionize fan engagement through technology and innovation. The club’s priority is to keep innovating and exploring new trends so that we can continue to engage our fans in an ever-changing world. It is with this in mind that we are very happy to embark on a new way forward with Chiliz. This is only the beginning of a great relationship for our fans and for both entities."

Chiliz and Socios.com CEO Alexandre Dreyfus:

“When Valencia take to the pitch with their $VCF Fan Token proudly on display from the front of their shirt for the first time it will be the most visible milestone yet in our rapid evolution and further confirmation of the increasing influence Fan Tokens and the Socios.com platform are having across the global sports industry.

“This world-first partnership, our third with a major Spanish club and 38th overall, will bring incredible visibility to Fan Tokens and the Socios.com platform, accelerating our mission to shift passive fans into active contributors and create a brighter future for sport - where clubs and fans alike are able to enjoy the rewards created by unlocking the potential of global fan engagement.”

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LIGR, an innovative cloud-based live graphics platform for sports and Pixellot, the world’s leading provider of AI-Automated sports video and analytics solutions – have integrated a solution for live broadcasting and streaming, forming an agreed partnership.

The brand-new automated solution will provide a new level of graphic visualisations by engaging with live stats and promotional graphics.

LIGR’s platform focuses on powering TV-quality, data-rich and automated live sports graphics - a factor that was key to the partnership with Pixellot, who specialise in a market-leading AI-automated sports solutions.

LIGR specialises in professional-quality graphic overlays and templates that are integrated automatically into the game. It is made scalable and cost-effective by little need for customisation. Together with Pixellot’s production and multi-featured OTT distribution, leagues and clubs can now connect with fans better and monetise live streams at a whole new level.

“It is great to be able to partner with Pixellot to provide their customers with automated, TV-quality live graphics,” LIGR Co-Founder and CEO Luke McCoy said as part of the announcement.

“Progressive sports leagues and broadcasters who use Pixellot to automate their sports production like the Football Association of Ireland, The Israel Basketball Association, and others can now add automated live graphics, real-time data integrations and advertising to their sport broadcasts. Now more than ever, limited budgets can deliver a richer viewing experience for fans on par with traditional broadcasting solutions, and as a result, improve monetization opportunities.”

Pixellot technology solutions are serving a growing number of sports associations and leagues throughout the world including the FAI, the Scottish SPFL, the Korean, Mexican and Polish FA, as well as the IBBA. Other Pixellot-powered leagues in the US, Europe and Latin America are in negotiations to implement the new solution including the Football Association of Ireland.

“Pixellot is always raising the bar when it comes to fan engagement and bringing added value to clubs and teams and their fans,” Pixellot CRO Elad Manishviz said relating to the partnership.

“With the addition of automated high-level graphics and game info to our solution, the opportunities for greater commercialization can now be realized. Our goal is to provide a truly immersive experience that will make sponsorships and additional revenue streams more feasible than ever.”

Pixellot’s extensive experience in providing cost-efficient live coverage for professional and amateur sports has made it the solution of choice for thousands of teams and federations. Its end-to-end award-winning, AI-automated technology is installed in thousands of venues around the world that stream over 80,000 games per month, engaging fans and enriching their viewing experience with relevant and interesting statistics and beautiful graphics.

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Football NSW have named HG Turf Group as their Official Supplier of Hybrid Grass.

HG Turf Group are the market leader in Hybrid Grass solutions. Since 1999, their Hybrid Grass solutions have improved the quality of sport fields across Australia and New Zealand, with some of their most significant installations including: ANZ Stadium, Bankwest Stadium, Eden Park, the Gabba, MCG, Optus Stadium and Sky Stadium.

In addition, international sporting events such as the 2000 Olympic Games, 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2006 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2003, 2011 and 2019 Rugby World Cups have also used HGTG’s Hybrid Grass.

Over the years Football NSW and HG Turf Group have developed a strong relationship, with the latter building two FIFA certified synthetic turf pitches at Valentine Sports Park (VSP) in 2014. Since their establishment, these synthetic turf pitches have been heavily utilised and have increased the capacity of usage of the facility.

In an effort to improve the durability and performance of the natural grass pitches at VSP, HG Turf Group approached Football NSW with a Hybrid Grass solution – SISGrass®.

SISGrass uses needles to push artificial grass fibres into natural grass. The resulting mix of 95% natural grass and 5% artificial grass improves the stability and durability of natural grass, providing up to 3x more playing hours. It also improves the playability of the natural grass, with optimum ball roll and ball bounce, and ideal footing when turning and sliding.

Football NSW Chief Executive Officer Stuart Hodge welcomed the partnership with HG Turf Group.

“The SISGrass® hybrid solution synergises with the NSW Football Infrastructure Strategy and the key pillar, ‘improve existing venue capacity’. Maximising the carrying capacity and activation of existing Football pitches and venues is a key objective," he said.

“With the installation at Valentine Sports Park, Football NSW Associations and Clubs, as well as local Councils, can inspect our venue to see the SISGrass® technology and its benefits first hand. We look forward to working with HG Turf Group to introduce their products to the wider football community.”

HG Turf Group Owner and Director Hamish Sutherland expressed his appreciation of Football NSW for the opportunity.

“We are very fortunate to be partnering with Football NSW again. Football NSW advances football in so many ways, and the installation of SISGrass® at Valentine Sports Park has created a new standard for natural grass pitches," he said.

“By protecting the natural grass, SISGrass® delivers increased usage, durability, consistency, and better play, all year-round. Associations and Clubs can also enjoy the benefits of SISGrass®.”

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Thanks to the efforts of Football Queensland’s official match ball partner Ultra Football, thousands of Nike footballs have been distributed free of charge to Queensland clubs all throughout the state.

Ultra Football are an online sports retailer originating from Sydney who specialise in selling genuine brand boots and shirts, including Nike, adidas and Puma. Most notably, they have the largest physical football store in the world based in the suburb of Alexandria in Sydney.

Announced in December 2020, the ground-breaking partnership between FQ and Ultra Football has delivered tens of thousands of dollars of value to clubs across the state already.

FQ Chief Executive Officer Robert Cavallucci expressed his delight at the support that the partnership with Ultra Football has afforded clubs state-wide.

“This innovative Queensland-wide partnership has provided free balls to hundreds of clubs from Mt Isa to Mackay to Moreton Bay,” he said.

“Nike is the official competition ball for the National Premier Leagues Queensland and the Football Queensland Premier League in 2021, but this partnership also provides direct benefits to grassroots clubs.

“We consulted with clubs across the state and Nike was clearly the preferred ball, so it has been great to see so many clubs from all levels of the game receiving their Nike balls from Ultra Football.

“This is a great example of Football Queensland negotiating on behalf of the state to deliver a positive outcome for Queensland clubs.

“Football Queensland is delivering on its strategic objective to provide greater resources for our clubs and high-quality participation experiences for players no matter their level or geographic location.”

Matthew Adams, General Manager of Ultra Football, said he was proud to partner with FQ to provide footballs to clubs throughout the state.

“Over the past few months Ultra Football has dispatched hundreds of orders to clubs and the feedback so far has been terrific,” he said.

“We are proud to supply the official match balls for the NPL and FQPL competitions as well as to grassroots clubs across the state.”

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Supaturf is an Australian owned and operated company which plays an important role in the football community across the country.

The company, which was established in 1992, locally develops and distributes line marking machines, accessories and liquids for football fields across Australia.

Supaturf’s range of products, including their line marking and line removing liquids, are considered to be cost effective, easy to use and eco-friendly amongst other things.

[caption id="attachment_10089" align="aligncenter" width="305"] Supaturf's Redispray Line Marking Liquid.[/caption]

Their reliability and profile have led the company to partner with various organisations over the years, including state governing body’s such as Football Victoria.

Supaturf’s partnership with Football Victoria has spanned multiple years and continues to be mutually effective for both sides, according to Victorian Sales Representative for Supaturf, John Hansen.

"It’s the fifth or sixth year of the partnership, basically we supply all the line marking for all the clubs,” he said.

“That’s what we specialise in...it’s why Football Victoria continue to support us, because we don’t step onto anyone else’s toes. We just do line marking, we have the line marking system, we make the machines - sell the machines, we make the paint - sell the paint, we are the wholesaler.

“We have direct access to the 350+ clubs under the Football Victoria banner which is great and the federation is very organised through Anthony Grima (Head of Commercial at the governing body).

“For Football Victoria, it gives them continuity that they’ve got a supplier that is Australian made and Australian own…basically everything is done here in Australia.”

Through the partnership, clubs are offered incentives to use and purchase products provided by Supaturf.

“We generally put out flyers and so forth, but normally there’s a conference in February, however that didn’t happen this year because of COVID. All of the clubs usually come through there and we will sell our stuff at the conference, giving them various discounts and specials.”

Supaturf doesn’t have similar deals with other football governing bodies across Australia akin to the FV deal, however, Hansen explained it was not that necessary as the company already has access to clubs across the other states.

When questioned why the rest of the football community should continue to choose and use Supaturf’s products, Hansen claimed: “Because we’ve been around for 30 years, we are the biggest in Australia.

“We export all over the world, including across to England and Japan. We’re very big in New Zealand for example as well, but most importantly we are Australian made, Australian owned and environmentally friendly.”

Supaturf’s products have been used on most major sporting stadiums in Australia as well, including famous venues such as North Sydney Oval, which once hosted Northern Spirit games in the old National Soccer League.

“To maintain a prestigious sporting field such as North Sydney Oval to it’s premium capability, the ground requires the best products and service, and with Supaturf, we can achieve those results,” said David Somerville, Assistant Grounds Manager at North Sydney Oval.

“Supaturf has been part of our field marking programme for many years now due to its high-quality paints, serviceability to its units and above all else their reliance when required in both product distribution and cost effectiveness to other similar commodities.

“Presentation is the end result to any turf manager and Supaturf allows that to happen - they will be part of our oval for many years to come.”

If any football club in Australia is looking to purchase line-marking products, here are a few reasons why it is vital to do so, according to the Supaturf blog.

This is why line-marking in stadiums is so important:

• Directional signs on the roads alert traffic as to where to access the stadium.
• Carparks – both traffic direction and car spacing.
• Pathways direct spectators to entry and exit points of the stadium.
• Emergency exits.
• Staff entry.
• Numbered seating in the stadium.
• The sporting field itself.

There is a lot involved in ensuring a venue is spectator-friendly, with most of that coming down to the ease of access spectators have to the stadium and knowing where to go once they are inside.

It is crucial to understand the different responsibilities of stadiums, patrons, players and staff which is why when line-marking is applied, it needs to be reliable and durable. Supaturf’s extensive range of line-marking equipment offers options to cater to individual venues and their specific line marking needs.

For more information and product enquiries on Supaturf, visit their website here.

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Football West has announced an exciting new partnership with Veo Technologies - the ultimate camera for team sports.

The partnership reflects Football West’s commitment for innovation and with Veo on board, West Australian football clubs will benefit immensely.

Veo’s camera technology will make recording matches easier for WA-based clubs, with the new partnership offering an attractive discount to Football West affiliated teams, by allowing the recording of their games and training sessions more affordable.

Veo will now be the Official Autonomous Camera Provider for Football West and they will be able to supply clubs with a portable camera that can be used for matches and training sessions.

The portable camera is equipped with two 4K lenses and 180 degrees of capturing range, meaning the Veo camera will capture football at any location and is easily transferable from place to place.

Veo’s impact on the footballing world continues to grow and amass numerous users, and this partnership will allow Football West’s clubs to get ahead of the competition.

Football West’s Chief Football Officer Jamie Harnwell acknowledged the advantages that Veo’s technology will offer to West Australian clubs.

“Veo are a great resource for the game, and I am excited to see this partnership help Football West clubs and the wider football community," he said.

“With the game continually evolving, Veo provides an opportunity for clubs to increase the analytical side of the game to improve training and match play.”

Veo ANZ Market Manager Tom Pettigrew was delighted to have joined forces with Football West going forward.

“We are delighted to announce this exciting partnership with Football West and provide a great resource to Football West clubs and the Western Australian football community,” he said.

“The development of football in Western Australia has been exciting to watch from a far and we are excited for the Veo cameras to play a role in enhancing this.

“Veo sports cameras provide a great option for all clubs, coaches and participants who want to enhance their football experience and get the best out of each session.”

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US sports broadcaster ESPN have announced an expansive, long-term agreement that will make ESPN+ the new English and Spanish language home for LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank in the United States for the next eight seasons (through to season 2028-29).

The deal begins in August and will see coverage of hundreds of live matches across both leagues, available each year exclusively on ESPN+. ESPN is currently the home of the Spanish Copa del Rey, Copa de la Reina and Supercopa de España, along with the Bundesliga, MLS, England’s FA Cup, EFL & Carabao Cup, Dutch Eredivisie, Scottish Premiership, UEFA National Team Football, USL and much more.

The significance of the partnership means it will strengthen the link between American football fans and LaLiga, which houses many exceptional players of the modern era.

Burke Magnus, Executive Vice President, Programming & Original Content, ESPN:

“This agreement will bring the excitement, passion, iconic clubs and global superstars of LaLiga to U.S. sports fans with unprecedented access and coverage."

“As the sport of soccer continues its ascendance in the U.S. market, we are incredibly excited to work with LaLiga to establish a deeper connection to American fans through our company’s industry-leading streaming platforms, television networks, and digital and social media assets.”

LaLiga President Javier Tebas:

“We are absolutely thrilled to bring LaLiga to ESPN in the U.S.”

“This is an historic eight-season agreement in U.S. soccer broadcasting that speaks to the power of LaLiga and its clubs in the largest media market in the world and will bring the world’s best soccer league to American screens in a more comprehensive and modern way than ever before.”

Executive Vice President and GM at ESPN+, Russell Wolff:

“This agreement creates a true home for LaLiga in the U.S. for years to come and cements ESPN+ as the premier platform for soccer. We’re excited to showcase the brilliance of LaLiga in our English and Spanish coverage for the growing legion of soccer fans and ESPN+ subscribers.”

CEO of North America, LaLiga, Boris Gartner:

“Partnering with ESPN will allow us to have unique LaLiga programming across ESPN+ and ESPN’s network and digital platforms, super-serving existing fans and introducing new consumers to the drama and passion of LaLiga."

"The league, clubs, and players will be as close to the American fans as they’ve ever been at a time where soccer is growing leaps and bounds in the U.S.”

The deal also includes rights for Canada. TSN and RDS, Canada’s leading sports networks, will deliver comprehensive coverage of LaLiga matches, highlights, and news to Canadian viewers through multiple platforms.

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When speaking to brothers (and footballers) Jacob and Dominic Falla about Oxidate Performance, one begins to understand the true passion and insight behind their work. Oxidate Performance is Melbourne’s newest training centre dedicated to delivering football and performance coaching like never before.

Oxidate is much more than just activities and training drills, the performance centre was established by the pair in an effort to take athlete development and education, injury rehabilitation, recovery and football development to new heights. In addition, Oxidate currently have the lowest injury statistics across the state of Victoria.

Currently plying his trade with Heidelberg United in Victoria’s National Premier Leagues 1, Dominic previously spent five years in Europe learning from the elite schools of Spanish and English football. Jacob has had his own experiences in working with footballers across various levels, often with an eye on what could be done to provide athletes with the right tools to continue to evolve throughout the remainder of their career.

What is Oxidate?

Jacob: So, we’re a sports performance and coaching company who specialise specifically in the football development and physical development sectors. We tie a few pillars of performance together; including strength and conditioning, nutrition, skill development, massage therapy and myotherapy and physiotherapy. Working closely within the sports science realm and exercise science realms.

Undoubtedly there are a range of things on offer at Oxidate, how did it all come together though?

Jacob: Dom and I have been footballers for all our life, and we’ve figured out that there’s a good portion of development, help, education and training programs that have been missing. So, we thought, based on our experiences, our studies and our expertise that we’d develop the missing link, and provide the training content that is Oxidate Performance.

And now, the launch of our new performance centre in Coburg is very much that. It’s your one stop performance destination where football athletes, of all ages and skill levels, can come and receive the right types of help, training and guidance to enhance their opportunities overall.

How do you go about educating your clients?

Dominic: The big thing we think is missing is the educating of the parents. So, every single session when a client comes through, we spend time describing what the session is, what it entails, and what we’re looking for in terms of the performance and how we can maximise each session. It’s about giving them an education on what we’re actually doing in the session, rather than coming in and just running through training drills and skills.

So, giving the education to the player or the client, as well as the parent, is key to the overall experience so that they can learn in the short term and long term. They can then implement these things throughout the remainder of their career.

What are some of Oxidate’s other points of difference when compared with other football and performance coaching places?

Jacob: We pride ourselves on the physical development of our clients and the fact that we have the lowest injury statistics in Victoria. And we’ve held that statistic since 2016.

We track the metrics and the data of every club that we work with, from the grassroots level all the way through to the NPL. So, we’re recording these stats and each year we are progressing and developing by fine tuning our programs. Which in turn continues to provide these opportunities for athletes to develop and hopefully reduce that risk of injury as well.

How do you want Oxidate to impact the football industry?

Jacob: For us, it’s about bridging the gap between professional football and semi-professional football, or the elite to sub-elite. There’s a lot of areas that we can improve on, from the football fundamentals and the basics right through to athlete development.

We pride ourselves on the athlete development side of things more so, to us, this is what is currently lacking when comparing Australia to other nations. It’s the level of athleticism, and the ability to play the game at high tempo and speeds, or having the engine to cope with the physical demands of training two sessions per day, 6 days per week.

We’ve got an awesome gym setup here focusing on strength training not just in the off-season and pre-season, but in continuing the right types of training throughout the season. Because a child or athlete’s career should be seen from a progress standpoint, as every season they’re getting stronger, fitter and faster and developing their skills.

How similar is Oxidate’s coaching philosophy to your own personal coaching philosophies?

Dominic: Pretty much Oxidate, for Jacob and myself, is our baby. So, it is our own personal philosophies that we’ve built together through years of experience. I personally spent five years in Europe learning from different coaches, different teams and different types of football in Spain and England.

So, we’ve molded these experiences, including the missing links together to create our own version of football performance, now trademarked as the Oxidate philosophy. And that is what Oxidate performance is. We practice what we preach and teach. It is our mission to help improve the standards of Football in Australia.

What is the science behind Oxidate?

Jacob: We do a lot of performance analysis, and that may be viewing players on the pitch as we get a lot of parents request that we go and watch their child play, but also, we work in the sports science realm as well. That involves bringing players in, whether that be teams or individual clients, and testing them through a range of different things.

So, we do a full-body assessment and screening, where a physiotherapist assesses ankles, knees, hips, range of motion and the likelihood of where injuries could arise. And then we look at the performance testing as well with strength and power tests, and speed and agility tests. From there, what we do with those metrics is we build the training program specifically and then retest that client or athlete before the next training block. This is the pinnacle of individual performance.

We’re taking individual performance to the grand scale as well. We’re working with Heidelberg United, so what we’ve done is we’ve formed a collaboration with that club and launched an Athlete Development & High-Performance Program that includes working with over 100 athletes to provide these same opportunities. 

What does the week-to-week look like for Oxidate?

Jacob: We’re here seven days a week and our coaches and staff are available for a range of high-performance sessions, recovery or rehabilitation. We’re here to provide opportunities for everyone that would like to enhance their careers.

Obviously, we follow a set structure, we set up a weekly schedule for each of our clients and we give them our opinions based on when and how they should train, and we setup a weekly forecast for them. So, for example, it might look like a Monday day recovery where (tying back into that point of difference) a lot of footballers, coaches, teams and clubs are taking a recovery day as a lesser option where they’re not really doing too much. Whereas, recovery can be enhanced if you stick to the science and stick to a proper structure.

Recovery at Oxidate includes our recovery pools. Hot and cold contrast water therapy. We do a lot of active recovery style sessions and a lot of injury prevention stuff too, including strength training. So, that’s a huge point of difference here as our clients are always progressing, instead of plateauing due to doing nothing. Rest is not always the answer for recovery.

A midweek session on a Wednesday will be your heavy strength power sessions, and then we do a Friday session which is game day -1. And we do what’s called a neural priming session, which involves a lot of work on the nervous system, a lot of stimulation work, a lot of low volume work at a high intensity. We do some sprints and agility training as well. All of our systems and programs are designed purely to make sure our clients dominate on game day, week in, week out, all season long.

It sounds like there is a huge variety of coaching and treatment on offer, who are the type of coaches working with Oxidate?

Jacob: All of our coaches have exercise science and sports science-based backing. So, every coach has a university degree of either 3 or 5 years. But, they’re also more importantly either current football players or previous players, so they understand the demands of the sport. They’re not just gym-goers or lab-tech gurus, they know what it feels like to play and they know what the demands are of a coach or a club. So, I think it really gives us a unique backing which then ties into that unique experience that you get when you step into our doors and come train with us.

It sounds like you both have an in-depth knowledge about performance coaching, but what inspired the way you approach things? Was it a particular coach or club experience?

Dominic: For myself, I have had some really good football coaches throughout my footballing career. There’s one or two here in Australia, but over in Spain the standard of actual coaching over there is on another level. And I guess, throughout my 4-5 years over there in Spain and England, I was consistently speaking with Jacob and saying how crazy the coaching was and how different it was.

From that I think I learnt a lot. I don’t need to name drop anyone because they’re overseas, but there were a few coaches who really took the technical side of the game to another level. And I think it shows in the way, for example, the way international teams like Spain and England play when compared to Australia.

So, that experience of training 4-5 times a week in Spain compared to here where it’s 2-3 sessions in a club setting, that contact time in terms of football development, hours spent in terms of load and actually improving the physical aspects as well made a massive difference. For me, learning all that from those coaches and that experience is where I personally got all the knowledge, we have today that I have passed on to Jacob.

Jacob: It really just comes from trial and error. So, I like to call it being “in the trenches”, and I’ve sort of been in the trenches for the last 10-11 years in the industry. That has involved trialling, erroring, testing, reassessing and shaping this hybrid program, philosophy and format. So, my knowledge has come from years of working with 100s and 1000s of different athletes, trialling different areas and just tweaking and always improving them.

We’re very grateful Dom and I, that we’ve still got youth on our side. We’re still optimistic and open-minded, and we’re not too set in our ways. Which gives us that edge of adaptability and that’s probably a key word, ‘adaptability’, and that includes being adaptable to the client, situation, team or performance that’s needed.

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Football Australia has announced an extension and expansion of their partnership with Compeat Nutrition – an innovative company that is revolutionising nutrition centred healthcare in performance sports and the general population, through to August 2022.

The partnership supports Football Australia’s endeavours to provide world class environments and support to Australia’s national team players in order to help them cope with performance expectations and to improve holistically as athletes and people both during and after their careers.

Footballers in each of Australia’s women’s and men’s national football teams – from the Westfield Junior Matildas and Joeys to the Westfield Matildas and Socceroos – will have access to Compeat Nutrition’s digital platform, with scaled levels of support to athletes via virtual meetings and one-on-one consultations available also.

The platform – which has been developed to deliver scientific and proven dietetic advice in an environment that builds resilience, helps forge good habits and ensures a truly individualised solution – removes the barriers of geography and time to ensure that Australian football’s elite global player bases have real-time access to 24-7 nutritional support.

Andrew Clark, Football Australia’s High Performance Coordinator, explained that Compeat Nutrition has provided nutritional to the Westfield Matildas, Westfield Young Matildas and Future Matildas for the past two years. And now, following positive feedback and outcomes, the platform has been expanded to a larger pool of players across female and male programs.

“We’ve witnessed some encouraging results and received some positive feedback from our women’s national team players since the platform was introduced to them two years ago,” Clark explained. “In partnership with Compeat Nutrition, we’ve now taken the opportunity to extend the support to a larger pool of players based at clubs in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America, ensuring that they can access nutritional support regardless of what time zone they are in.”

“We’re always striving to find ways that we can support players while at their clubs, in preparation for their national team duties, and in international qualification and tournament mode. This service will assist many Australian footballers to develop healthy nutritional habits that they can use throughout their careers and in life after football.”

Compeat Nutrition co-founder and leading performance dietitian, Alicia Edge, said Football Australia’s digitally focused approach to supporting footballers based all over the globe was a progressive move that can lead to individual and team performance benefits.

“Football Australia is focused on delivering the best nutritional outcomes and support for their athletes,” Edge said.

“At Compeat Nutrition, we are deeply honoured to have the opportunity to partner with Football Australia in helping Australia’s best footballers at different stages in their careers to better train, compete and recover through their nutritional intake.

“It is so gratifying to build a supportive, mobile environment that Australia’s elite footballers can take with them no matter where they go in the world. By engaging with Compeat, athletes will receive comprehensive education and sustained awareness of the impact of nutrition and wellbeing on performance that is vital for individual and team success at international level.”

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The cleaning of boots has becoming something of a time-honoured tradition amongst seasoned professional football players.

For many who have scaled the heights of this great game, the memories of cleaning boots as a youngster was a humbling reminder of where they started, and considered an important lesson in the requirements of discipline and respect that grounded them on their way to the top.

In the modern day, it is not often you see elite youth players cleaning the boots of the professional peers, but former Socceroo and Melbourne Victory star Billy Celeski says cleaning their own boots is an important discipline for players who dream of playing professionally.

It was that thought process that saw Celeski identify a business opportunity and one that he has pounced on with the launch of his new boot-cleaning product, Bootlab 101.

“I wanted something that would teach kids about the importance of respecting the tools of their trade,” he told Soccerscene.

“And that’s what boots are. They are our tools, and as players we have to take care of them.”

The Bootlab 101 Boot Brush is a visually striking product.

It wouldn’t look out of place amongst the high-tech, high-design aesthetic of an Apple store.

But when it comes to Celeski’s Boot Brush, its ingenuity is in its simplicity.

A 300 ml bottle with a squeeze valve attached to a brush.

Simply fill the bottle with water, squeeze to release the water onto the boot and use the brushes to scrub them clean. Simple!

No more dragging muddy boots through the house to laundry and no more excuses from brining muddy boots into the clubhouse.

Celeski – who was a creative force on the field as a player – said however simple its application, the conception, design and manufacture of the brush was meticulously planned and carried out.

“Initially when we looked at what we could do, the research was based on looking at what kids get when they signup for a club or an academy,” he said.

“You get your kit, you get your drink bottle and maybe some merch, which is great, but what are we giving them to teach them about the importance of caring for the tools they use to play?

“I wanted to come up with a device or product that was going to trigger them to ensure they looked after those tools.

“At the end of the day, parents spend a lot of money on registration and boots and being able to take care of those boots is an important lesson for kids to learn about having respect for what their parents do for them, and a good discipline to get into when it comes to respecting themselves as well.”

Celeski employed the services of an industrial designer to bring his vision to life and said that with the product now on the market, the feedback has been great.

The brush is already in the hands of A-League and W-League stars and internationals like Jamie Maclaren and Melissa Barbieri, and Celeski said first impressions have been good.

“We gave a couple out to some professionals just to get some feedback and the flow on from that has been great,” he said.

“The feedback is good and we are getting professionals from overseas who are getting in touch with us and buying the product for themselves.

“Hopefully if we can show that it’s good enough for the professionals, then the clubs and academies and players will want it for themselves as well.”

Celeski said the Boot Lab 101 was working with a number of clubs to make the Boot Brush a part of the kit they provide players.

“We’re speaking to a couple of A-League clubs and there’s a lot of interest from NPL clubs as well, because they have players from under-7s right up to their seniors,” he said.

“We’ve cast the net far and wide and now that the product is out there and people are starting to get it in their hands and see how effective it is we’re getting good feedback.

“Players can clean their boots on the spot and leave all that mud and dirt on the ground where it’s meant to be and out of their clubrooms, their lawns or their laundry.”

With B2B a core focus of Boot Lab 101’s sales strategy, Celeski confirmed his company is looking at the best branding possibilities for the bottles, so that they can be branded with club logos and sponsors.

Boot Lab also offers wholesale pricing for clubs, academies and associations who place large orders.

“The brand is starting to get out there,” he said.

“I feel as it is early days, but the feedback is good and we believe we’ve delivered a quite innovative product that doesn’t really have much in the way of comparable products.

“Once we start announcing some of the clubs we’re working with, I’m confident we will see a domino effect and more will come as a result.”

You can purchase the Boot Lab 101 Boot Brush via the company’s online store. 

Clubs, academies, federations and interested stockists can learn more about wholesale pricing via the Boot Lab 101 website.

The post Billy Celeski’s BootLab getting off on the right foot appeared first on Soccerscene.

As football participation numbers continue to rise across Australia, so does the demand for appropriate community facilities for football clubs.

Modular buildings, which are built offsite in factories, have a range of benefits for clubs looking to address their facility challenges, including: Lower building costs, significant time savings when compared to conventional on the ground constructions, less disruptions to playing fields and less waste overall.

Ausco Modular is one of Australia’s largest providers of modular infrastructure solutions for temporary and permanent purposes throughout the sporting sector.

Ausco’s design teams have worked closely with national and state sporting codes to develop facilities that meet or exceed minimum standards across the board.

For example, the company have entered into an agreement with Football Queensland, acting as the governing body’s Official Modular Facilities Partner.

Through this partnership, Football Queensland released a Modular Sporting Facilities Guide with support from Ausco.

The guide looks to inform the local football community on viable solutions by providing a range of recommendations for clubs and councils at all levels, to install modular buildings which are the right fit for their situation.

“The Modular Sporting Facilities Guide provides clubs with everything they need to know to develop suitable change rooms or clubhouses, canteens and referee rooms,” FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci said.

“The guide outlines Football Queensland’s approved designs, which can assist Local Council Authorities, consultants, building designers and developers in constructing facilities for the state’s largest club-based participation sport.”

“We are proud to continue our support for the Queensland football community,” said Adrian Moffatt, Executive General Manager and General Counsel for Ausco Modular.

“Ausco Modular is known for producing state-of-the-art amenity buildings which are sustainable, delivered quickly and tailored specifically for football by our in-house design team.

“We are excited to continue to collaborate with clubs, zones and Football Queensland on improving football infrastructure throughout the state on an ongoing basis.”

A list of Ausco’s most popular modular solutions for football clubs are shown below:

Design 1 

2 Changerooms, 2 Amenities Rooms

[caption id="attachment_9334" align="aligncenter" width="312"] Design 1 Floor Plan[/caption]

Design 2 

4 Changerooms, 4 Amenities Rooms

[caption id="attachment_9338" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Design 2 Floor Plan[/caption]

Design 3 

2 Changerooms, 2 Amenities Rooms, 1 Referee Changeroom, 2 Storerooms, 1 Canteen

[caption id="attachment_9341" align="aligncenter" width="354"] Design 3 Floor Plan[/caption]

Design 4 

2 Changerooms, 2 Amenities Rooms, 1 Referee Changeroom, 2 Storerooms, 1 Canteen, 1 Unisex/Disabled Amenity

[caption id="attachment_9344" align="aligncenter" width="439"] Design 4 Floor Plan[/caption]

Design 5 

2 Changerooms, 2 Amenities Rooms, 1 Referee Changeroom, 2 Storerooms, 1 Canteen, 1 Unisex/Disabled Amenity, 1 Social/Function Room, 1 Cleaning Room, 1 Male/Female Amenity

[caption id="attachment_9346" align="aligncenter" width="850"] Design 5 Floor Plan[/caption]

All of Ausco facilities can be customised and reconfigured through the following options:

ACCESSIBILITY

• Disabled access toilet (with baby change table)
• Access ramp with landing and handrails

TRAINING & RECOVERY

• Change room netting
• Gym room 40m2
• Sherwood gym flooring, 15mm thick
• Ice bath including connections
• Ice machine including connections
• Lockers
• Strapping tables

SECURITY

• Window shutters
• Security system

COMFORT & AMENITY

• Additional aesthetic features
• Air-conditioning
• Bifold doors for social rooms
• Breezeway
• Canopy at entrance doors
• Cool room store
• Covered deck or veranda area
• External specification upgrade
• Skylights
• Steps, ramps and landings with handrails
• Solar panels

LANDSCAPING

• Retaining walls
• External lighting
• Terrace seating
• Signage

[caption id="attachment_9352" align="aligncenter" width="756"] A rendered image of a clubhouse to be built by Ausco for Virginia United Football Club[/caption]

Ausco’s wide range of solutions have fit the needs of many football clubs around Australia, including clubs such as The Wide Bay Buccaneers, who are based in Queensland.

Ausco Modular were contacted by the club’s local council, Fraser Coast Regional Council, to begin stage 1 of a $48 million master plan development.

The development included the implementation of a 44x14m football clubhouse for the Wide Bay Buccaneers.

Within 20 weeks, Ausco had manufactured, transported and installed the clubhouse at the Hervey Bay site.

The facility included multiple unisex compliant changerooms, meeting rooms, storage areas, public amenities, referee and first aid rooms, a kiosk and much more.

“The Buccaneers do a fantastic job and to be honest with you, with this Ausco build they have one of the best facilities going around,” former Football Queensland General Manager Brendan Boss said.

Andrew Treloar, Corporate Project and Deliver Coordinator at Fraser Coast Regional Council said of the execution of the project: “Ausco helped me by delivering a superior product to budget and on-time. Their modular format and in-house design team was instrumental in the delivery process allowing Fraser Coast Regional Council to achieve its delivery objectives.”

For more information about Ausco Modular visit https://ausco.com.au/sports-facilities.

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Sporting infrastructure continues to be an important topic to address amongst community football clubs across the country.

Felton Industries is one of Australia’s leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of quality outdoor furniture, specialising in premium seating solutions for sporting clubs and environments.

The company have recently entered into an agreement with Football Queensland, becoming the state governing body’s official Shelter and Grandstand partner, as well as being the preferred supplier to the Queensland football community.

Through this partnership, Football Queensland released a Shelter and Grandstand Facility Guide earlier this year with support from Felton.

The guide outlines information, recommendations and viable solutions for clubs and local councils to install shelters and suitable seating at football facilities.

“All sporting clubs in Queensland face sun safety and weather-related challenges at their venues,” Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said.

“FQ has addressed this through the Shelter & Grandstands Facility Guide, the newest inclusion among our suite of in-depth resources for clubs, sport and recreation consultants, and local councils.

“Together with Felton, we are supporting our community with improved access to high-quality, infrastructure that transforms both the spectator experience and the atmosphere at matches.”

The planning and implementation process of infrastructure upgrades are also detailed in the guide, alongside suitable grants and methods that may financially assist clubs with purchases.

“Felton are proud to be FQ Preferred Supplier for Shelter and Grandstands and to support the infrastructure needs of Queensland Football clubs and football communities Australia-wide," stated Gus White, National Sales Manager for Felton Industries.

"We work closely with clubs to deliver premium quality grandstands, bench and changing room seating. We are also thrilled to announce that we will be launching football dugouts at the end of this month."

A list of Felton’s most popular grandstand and shelter solutions for football clubs are shown below:

Sunsafe Select Grandstand 

Structurally engineered all-in-one unit that provides sheltered seating for up to 40 people.

$13,850.00 ex. GST

Technical specifications

• Seats up to 40 people
• Structurally engineered all-in-one roof
• Footrests & backrests with extra safety support bar
• Built to last durable fabricated aluminium frame
• Cyclone Rated Category C
• Coloured Safety End Caps available in red, blue, green, purple, yellow and orange
• 7-year warranty

Roof Coverage: 5150mm W x 3540mm D

Seating Plan: 2250mm D x 4000mm L x 900mm H (4th Tier)

Overall Plan: 5150mm L x 2400mmH (4 Tier) x 3540mm D

Select Grandstand 

Popular portable spectator seating that can be easily moved around venues and added to existing shade areas.

$6,180.00 – $9,270.00 ex. GST

Technical specifications

• Bolt down or move around as a portable spectator seating unit
• Available in 4m and 6m lengths.
• 4m fits up to 40 fans and 6m up to 60 fans in the stands for your next game
• Most popular grandstand 3 years running!
• Coloured Safety End Caps available in red, blue, green, purple, yellow and orange
• 7-year warranty

4m Overall Plan: 4000mm W x 1270mm H (900mm H 4th tier) x 2250mm D

6m Overall Plan: 6000mm W x 1270mm H (900mm H 4th tier) x 2250mm D

Eco-Trend Sheltered Park Setting

Sheltered seating perfect for canteen areas at football clubs.

$3,750.00 ex. GST

Technical specifications

• Seats up to 8
• Maximum weather protection with Colorbond Roof – Deep Ocean as Standard
• Powder-coated frames – APO Grey
• Seats up to 8 people comfortably
• Latest in sleek design
• Bolt down lugs for maximum stability and safety
• Choice of colours available
• Coloured Safety End Caps available in red, blue, green, purple, yellow and orange
• 7-year warranty

Table Top: 2020mm L x 765mm W x 747mm H

Overall Plan: 2215mm L x 1975mm W x 2570mm H

Double Plank Seating 

Double plank bench seating designed for changing rooms and high-use wet environments like pools and surf clubs.

$515.00 – $1,029.00 ex. GST

Technical specifications

• Fully aluminium – will not rust
• Bolt down or free-standing options
• Hose down for cleaning purposes
• Coloured Safety End Caps available in red, blue, green, purple, yellow and orange
• Choose from 2m, 3m, 4m or custom sizes available
• 7-year warranty

Overall Plan: 500mm W x 450mm H

Felton’s wide range of products have fit the needs of many football clubs in Queensland, but also all across Australia, including clubs such as Port Kembla FC, who are based in NSW.

Located eight kilometres south of the City of Wollongong, the grassroots club needed a seating solution for members to watch the team’s home games.

After they secured the appropriate funding through the grants processes available, the club can now seat up to 160 members after purchasing equipment off Felton.

“Our club recently purchased 4 shelter units to provide a protected environment for our spectators to watch our teams play football,” Anthony Timilero, president of Port Kembla Pumas Football Club, said.

“From our initial inquiry to installation, Felton Industries were always focused on delivering exceptional service.”

To learn more about Felton Industries visit https://felton.net.au.

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Co-founded in 2015 by Henrik Teisbæk, Veo is a sports technology company with one main aim, to record sporting matches automatically without the need for a camera operator.

To achieve this goal, the company has developed an AI-powered 180-degree camera with two 4K lenses, capturing every single moment of a match in high quality and at 30 frames a second.

Veo has specifically trained the AI to follow the ball during the course of a game, creating a broadcast-like experience for the matches recorded using the software.

The camera ships with a tripod selected by the customer, is able to record up to four hours of footage on a single charge, and weighs less than one kilo, making it a portable option for both home and away matches.

“Veo has been a great asset for us since we purchased it. It allows us to record every game which at this level is brilliant. All around it has been an excellent purchase and something we are really proud to be using,” former senior coach of Brunswick City (now on the Melbourne Victory coaching staff) Riccardo Marchioli said.

One of the important selling points of the product is the analysis work that can be conducted on Veo’s online subscription platform.

Users are offered a 12-month subscription to the platform (at no additional cost) with the purchase of a camera kit, which allows coaches, scouts, players and so forth to review and analyse match recordings using a variety of Veo’s implemented features.

These features include:

• The ability to consume automatically detected highlights in a match recording through Veo’s AI software, which pinpoints moments such as goals, kick-offs and half-time intervals
• The ability for coaches to draw on the screen to provide feedback to players through the use of lines, shapes and arrows
• Players can be tagged in highlights by the coach on Veo’s online platform
• Coaches can also take over the camera and create their own highlights to share with players in a group or individually
• Comments can be attached to every highlight, with a choice of which players can see the particular piece of advice or criticism

The online platform has been a successful system for various coaches around the world, including head of football at the City Of London School and U18 Head Coach of Independent Schools for England, Jono Santry.

“Veo has literally transformed our football programme,” he said.

“For years we have been searching for a solution to video matches, tag events, analyse the footage, and share with the staff and players. I had given up on finding a one fits all solution that was both affordable and not reliant upon having staff to film, edit and produce the footage. Veo literally is all this and more.

“We put the camera at the top of the tripod, press record and then plug it in when we return to the office. Veo’s “bots” do the rest and by the time the players wake up the next morning, they have tagged match footage that is excellent quality and follows play. All of this without a human having to control a camera or edit the footage.

“We are using it for other sports with the same precision which means more of our students are gaining the benefit that it clearly brings.”

To date, almost 5000 clubs use Veo in 79 countries across the world, with over 225,000 matches recorded using the product.

Professional clubs who use the service include Manchester City, As Roma, Chelsea, Leicester City FC, Everton FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Borussia Monchengladbach, Impact de Montréal, Inter Miami CF, Real Salt Lake, Club Brugge KV and many more.

However, professional clubs who have signed up to Veo only account for 10% of the Danish company’s customer base.

75% of Veo’s customers are either from grassroots or youth clubs across the globe, with schools making up the remainder of the base.

The basic camera setup costs under $2000AUD, with local A-League club Wellington Phoenix utilising Veo’s service, as well as ambitious NPL clubs such as Heidelberg United, who believe the investment is worthwhile to record and analyse their junior sides.

More information on Veo can be viewed here.

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Following the news of the AAFC’s plans for a national second division, Australian football seems to be moving into a new era, as the game manoeuvres around the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Alongside the national second tier, FFA CEO James Johnson continues his push towards adopting the global standards of football in this country, flagging an integrated transfer system as a priority in the coming months.

In what will be a critical development, clubs throughout all tiers will finally be appropriately rewarded for developing young players.

The local football economy will grow and should lift standards across the board, with ambitious NPL clubs provided with an extra incentive if they are able to be promoted to the A-League.

Clubs will look to invest in resources to improve their operations overall and give them an edge, on and off the field.

Global football resource InStat, currently partners with the FFA, A-League and W-League clubs, as well as a handful of NPL clubs, providing statistical breakdowns of matches for performance analysis.

This improves factors such as game day preparation and player development, through the use of on demand video review.

Australian Manager for InStat, Oliver Civil, claims the product is suitable for many clubs around the country.

“Our mission is to enhance performance, save time, money and resources for professional, amateur and collegiate teams around the globe," he said.

“Thanks to technology, there is no reason the ‘Moneyball’ concept of analysis, evidence-based scouting & on-field performance can’t also be applied to second division or semi-professional clubs.”

Football Tasmania Technical Director, Michael Edwards, believes platforms such as InStat are important if we want to lift coaching and player performance in Australia.

“I think if we are looking at more professional or high-performance type coaches to improve our leagues, we’ve got to actually support them with platforms, data and different learning opportunities," he said.

“Not just for the coaches but for the players as well.

“Quite often, you can communicate with a player verbally about what’s happening, but they go ‘oh no, that’s not me, I didn’t do that’, but then to be able to instantly see it on a video clip associated with it, it provides a different aspect to that player’s development."

Using another example, Edwards said: “You can look at an opposing team and make an analysis: Where are their goals coming from? Who’s the most influential player in their side? So those sort of insights into the way a football match actually pieces together, I think is really good.

“That’s where I see InStat’s value, the fact that it’s almost instantaneous, within a day you can have data available to you and your club, it just improves where we are heading as a sport.”

From a business standpoint, the company’s scouting platform provides users with the tools to support the buying and selling of football talent, a vital service if the game is to introduce an improved transfer system.

“Using our global database, we cover hundreds of leagues and 960,000 players,” Civil said.

“Via our video platform, using statistical analysis, we provide information on key skills, chemistry and characteristics of identified players.

“If your club would like our insight, we also offer current squad assessments, player recommendations and prospective newcomer analysis.

“We can also help support any football department with their scouting analysis & assessment of a player.”

Edwards explained there are a range of scouting options, depending on the outcomes the club using the service seeks to achieve.

“You can use a local only database if you like, or, if you’re at a club at a level that is looking for a quality international player to bring in, it’s there for you to assess in a worldwide database."

The information gathered by the service is also effective for managers and agents wanting to highlight their player’s abilities, for possible future transfers.

“I think even for the individual player, to have that (information) out there to showcase the player to different clubs at different times, helps the process,” Edwards stated.

When quizzed on the affordability of the service, the Football Tasmania Technical Director claimed he “had been really impressed with the platform and to see this on a regular basis and have it in your club, is just invaluable.

“I think if you value it enough and say we want to progress as a football club, the platform is definitely affordable.”

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Scottish champions Celtic have gained the support of Sunset+Vine, a production company who will deliver live match coverage.

As matches are set to be played behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, enhancing digital content is at the forefront for the Celtic. The Scottish powerhouse are aiming to deliver coverage of their home games to fans via an online pass.

Sunset+Vine work with UK broadcaster BT Sport to cover the UEFA Europa League and Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). The production company will provide staff and commentators to complement the current setup at Celtic TV.

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According to reports in Scotland, Johan Mjallby, John Hartson and Chris Sutton are all in the running to feature in the coverage.

Access to live match coverage both locally and internationally to fans is currently offered by Celtic and the addition of a production company will add extra benefits on top of post-match replays and extra programming.

Celtic's idea of adding a more club-focussed virtual season ticket is in relation to the SPFL and pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports agreeing to let teams air their home games for next season. It is hoped that this will allow clubs to source income from elsewhere.

Virtual season tickets will be sold by clubs who can decide on appropriate pricing models - and made available until fans are allowed to return to games.

“Clearly, current circumstances are totally out with our control, and while getting our supporters back to Celtic Park is our absolute priority, until this is the case, through our season ticket, we aim to give our fans the best access we can to SPFL matches at Celtic Park,” said a club spokesperson.

“We will be making a significant investment in this project, partnering with one of the best production companies around and will deliver an experience, with top expertise and contributors, which will put our fans at the heart of the action from Celtic Park."

The 2019/20 SPFL season finished up prematurely in May due to the coronavirus pandemic, where Celtic were crowned champions for the ninth season in a row. Attention now focuses to the next campaign which is due to begin in early August.

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Founded in 2009, Eleven Sports Media continues to have a huge impact on the world of sport, particularly football.

The UK company provides a range of in-stadium products, that give fans a better engagement experience at the stadium.

The company’s development team built both its StadiumTV and StatTV platforms, which are a big part of the match day experience for over 500,000 fans in the UK.

The StadiumTV platform has over 1,800 screens and is now showcased at over 50 sporting venues, making Eleven the biggest media network in UK sport.

Its StatTV and StatTracker channel brings live stats to stadiums and official club social media platforms.

While their products continue to garner widespread attention, brands associated with the company are allowed to engage with these huge audiences across the football landscape.

Eleven have provided various partners with comprehensive activations, including PR support, detailed campaign reports, social media amplification and organised marketing opportunities.

The company has had critical success with its Partner Programmes setup, with their model recognised as the best in the Football Business Awards.

Eleven have a partnership with the London Stadium as well as clubs such as Newcastle United, Rangers Football Club and Leeds United.

The company believes the expertise and knowledge they have is a huge asset in a commercial partnership programme.

“We realised that many brands failed to have a predefined activation plan when they were partnering with clubs,” CEO of Eleven Sports Media, Matt Cairns, told fcbusiness.

“They were spending money on acquiring rights but then didn’t have a plan in place to fully activate that sponsorship and make it work.”

Eleven identified that there was little structure to most commercial partner programmes, therefore they implemented an organised tiered structure.

The use of segmented LED with their proprietary inventory, as well as a strong focus on applying activation strategies, help brands pinpoint the commercial opportunities they can capitalise on.

“We’ve sold or facilitated over 300 partnerships in the last 12 months and everyone has had built in activation which has been delivered by Eleven.

"We advise each partner on the exposure to be gained from the media buy, but also ensure that their campaign is amplified by helping the partner celebrate the partnership and ultimately raise the profile of the brand by taking their association with the club beyond traditional football audiences.”

Many start-ups lack the resources to take advantage of commercial benefits in a partnership, so Eleven has tried to address this.

By arranging an end-to-end solution, Eleven takes accountability to ensure partnerships are fully activated.

“For a partner programme to have true commercial success, it goes well beyond having the correct list of assets.

"There are dozens of variables which will result in success or failure, at Eleven we believe that it is that attention to detail which sets us apart from anyone else in the industry,” added Cairns.

Eleven gives clubs access to in-depth insights, campaign analysis and sales training to improve aspects of each partnership.

The use of Eleven’s Insights department has already given clubs the opportunity to achieve their highest commercial numbers in a partnership.

“Although clubs have commercial teams, many don’t have that dedicated resource around insight that we have where they can really delve into that next level of commercial insight,” added Eleven’s commercial manager, Jordan Wilson.

“We found that we were delivering it so successfully for ourselves it made sense that clubs should get this too and they’re finding it really valuable.

"It also gives us that next level of insight when creating new partnerships, ones that are meaningful and built on something.”

Cairns adds: “When a company is investing in a high-level sponsorship it can achieve certain goals by a standard associated set of rights, but it won’t achieve the true value unless it is harnessed and leveraged by the brand to the point it becomes ingrained in every part of the organisation.

"We understand that and have got a proven track record in delivering this service.”

With over ten significant UK Clubs already using the model, the Eleven Partner Programme is looking to explore its possibilities in Europe and other areas.

Is this a viable proposition to those in Australian football circles?

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While financial figures and an exact figure haven't been revealed in a disclosed deal, it is described by the club as a deal which is ‘the biggest kit sponsorship ever to be announced across Scottish sport’.

The news confirms an end to the Bhoys’ deal with New Balance, which was signed back in 2015 and reportedly worth as much as UK£30 million (AU$60.1 million). Before that, Celtic had held a technical deal with Nike.

“This is a hugely significant new partnership for Celtic and our supporters and allows us to look to the future with confidence," said Peter Lawwell, Celtic’s chief executive.

"To be able to create this fantastic new relationship demonstrates the strength and stability of the club and the power of our enduring story.”

The partnership adds to Celtic's remarkable championship record, winning titles every year since the merger of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League in 2013.

‘Celtic’s successful football history and future ambition make us hugely excited to be working together to create a new chapter with one of the most famous football clubs in the world,' said Adidas in a statement.

‘We are obsessed with helping athletes improve their game, life and world, and as such we look forward to supporting Celtic’s players on the pitch as they continue to create new levels of success, and we are confident their legendary fanbase will love our designs.’

On the pitch, Celtic are 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a game in hand on Rangers and remain on course for their ninth consecutive domestic league title.

However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, all league fixtures have been postponed until further notice as confirmed by the SPFL, with all domestic and grassroots matches put on hold to try and control the spread of the virus.

It is yet to be known if Celtic will officially be awarded their title with circumstances as they are.

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The worst keep secret in broadcasting is the slow and inevitable decline of Foxtel. With money being lost hand over foot and parent body News Corp bankrolling the media giant to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, the changing manner in which people consume entertainment appears to have Foxtel's days numbered.

In the first quarter of the 2019/20 financial year, Foxtel cited a A$306 million loss and the sporting arm of the business, Fox Sports, was the first to feel the weight of budget cuts and restructuring. So called 'non-marquee' content was cut or put on hold, staff were shred and the future of football and rugby union on the cable network beyond their current broadcast deals was thrown into serious question.

Bookies will be offering short odds that Australian football will have a new broadcasting home in the near future, despite the potential for FFA, the A and W-Leagues and Foxtel to be able to extend their relationship should the deal be mutually satisfying.

High hopes were held for Optus Sport's foray into football when it acquired the Premier League rights in 2015 from Foxtel for a princely sum of A$200 million. With a World Cup taking place in Russia during the Australian winter of 2018, Optus stood to impress all and sundry with their state of the art coverage and well functioning app.

Sadly, it was an unmitigated disaster that led to SBS saving the day at the eleventh hour, after thousands of Australian customers went to bed bitterly disappointed in the early days of the tournament. Thankfully, things have improved markedly, Optus have extended their Premier League deal until the completion of the 2021/22 season and recently expanded their coverage into the Asian market by adding the J-League to their platform.

It appears to be the future of media consumption with consumers able to streamline their experience by using only the apps that appeal to them. No longer is there a need to purchase an expensive and cumbersome all-encompassing cable television package that provides some desired content and a vast amount in which the customer has very little interest.

Generally, Australian consumers appear pleased with the simplicity and reliability of the Optus service. Recently, CEO of Football Victoria Peter Filopoulos announced that the governing body were in talks with Optus and Kayo Sports in regards to a potential arrangement that would see expanded streaming of Victorian NPL matches.

Both Facebook and Youtube have recorded impressive figures over the past twelve months whilst streaming NPL content. Early figures from NPL rounds in Victoria appear to indicate a continued interest and there was much online interaction during the first round of New South Wales' NPL season across the weekend just passed.

With the demise of Foxtel's subscription service imminent and their Kayo brand appearing to be the way of the future, Australian football would do well to think long and hard about where to hitch it's wagon in the short to medium term. With car manufacturer Hyundai's role in the future of the domestic game and a restructuring of their current A$6 million per annum deal with the A-League likely when it expires this June, it is a nervous time for the domestic game.

Without a host broadcaster and major sponsor for the elite competition, things could turn very grim, very quickly. However, with near two million Australians using the Optus service to engage with Premier League content and thousands of Australians using Kayo, Foxtel and Facebook to satisfy their thirst for the beautiful game, the answer might be staring the powers at be right in the face.

A dedicated Australian football app that covers A-League, W-League and NPL play across the country should be a number one priority for the game moving forward. For a flat monthly subscription fee, fans of the Australian game would have access to every match and for the first time in Australia's history, the entire population would be exposed to the country's top tier and not the minority of Australian's who hold Foxtel subscriptions.

Whether FFA, the A-League owners and sponsors could go it alone and finance such a project is unknown. Perhaps Optus or Kayo would be interested in filling some sort of parent role in the deal; taking a small wedge of the pie created by subscriptions.

Either way, the future of Australian football appears likely to look like the service currently offered by Optus Sport. The time is nigh to strike and concede defeat when it comes to subscription services being able to promote the A-League. By moving now, the increasing popularity of the NPL across the nation will also be dragged along for the ride.

There is still a place in the Australian football market for free-to-air content and after weak recent attempts, it might be time for a return to the spiritual home of SBS; if recent budget cuts allow it to happen.

Football in Australia looks a little 'Brave New World' right now. Let's leave the dinosaurs behind and take the leap of faith required. It will be the best thing for the game in the long term.

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Created in 2010, ‘Monumental Icons’ was the idea of entrepreneur Garry McBride.

A business model that was very much centred around people, places and products, McBride expanded his vision a year later with the introduction of ‘Sporting Icon’.

The sub-division focused on sport, in particular football, with the aim of immortalising footballing figures in statue form.

However, there’s more to Sporting Icon than just creating statues.

These structures can be the centrepiece of a place and reflect its community, as well as being a visitor destination with its own range of merchandise and memorabilia.

Garry explained to fcbusiness: “We believe what separates our work from that of our competitors, is a combination of highly-detailed artworks and an ability to link people with prominent places. Ensuring both the statue and the destination become immortalised forever.”

Sporting Icon realises that football clubs may face financial challenges if they want to celebrate a hero or special moment in their history.

To address this, Sporting Icon takes a partnership approach with some projects and finds innovative and commercial ways to help raise the funds.

This approach often leads to increased supporter or sponsorship engagement and involvement.

The business uses the finest materials, principles of care and attention to detail, according to McBride.

“In this way, our creations endure themselves through time, showing high levels of detail, which can be viewed from many different angles and in a variety of sources – the result, we deliver emotive power every piece of work.”

Lead sculptor for Sporting Icon Andy Edwards, has celebrated various footballing legends through his work.

This includes Gordan Banks, Pele, Sir Stanley Matthews and the famous 1966 English World Cup winning side.

Last year, Sporting Icon commemorated the life of former chairman of Leicester City Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. He tragically died in a helicopter crash at the King Power Stadium in late 2018. Those that knew Vichai, claimed the piece was so detailed “it feels like he is right here in the room”.

Garry explained: “The process that we undertake to achieve such accuracy in our work, is perfectly illustrated through a commission received recently from Northampton Town Football Club.”

“Having met with club officials, it was agreed we would create a bust and plaque to honour former player and manager, Dave Bowen.

“To start the process, we obtained as much information as we could along with photographs of Dave from various angles and at different ages through his career. The time we invest in research is very much the cornerstone of how we achieve such amazing likenesses of the people we are seeking to represent.

“Gaining information from those that knew a person provides invaluable insight and that really does help make a difference. This could include anything from how they were as a person to the little things that made their life unique – perfectly illustrated by the fountain pen that appears in the top pocket of Peter Taylor’s jacket on the Clough Taylor monument in Derby, apparently always ready to sign next player.

“We also met with Dave Bowen’s son, Barry on several occasions to agree which photograph should be used to inspire the bust. During one such meeting Barry happened to mention that his father was a very happy guy and would always wear a smile on his face.

“So right there and then we adjusted Dave Bowen’s clay bust to reflect exactly the expression that his son so fondly remembered,” commented Garry.

One of Sporting Icon’s first pieces can be found in Derby, outside Pride Park Stadium.

Every time fans attend home matches, they see sculptures of two famous footballing figures, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.

Garry concluded: “Our work ensures people, places and memories are immortalised forever, which is why our pieces aren’t to be looked at once. They have been with such care they can to be enjoyed and over again, often forming open spaces where visitors can spend time, reflect on and celebrate life.”

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Spanish footballing giants FC Barcelona have agreed a multi-year deal with Chinese insurance provider Taiping Life.

The partnership will run until the 2022/2023 and it will grant Taiping Life access to the many LED boards that run around the Nou Camp during fixtures.

Some of the most notable matches include an upcoming showdown against La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in late April and the 'Derbi Barceloni' against Espanyol in May.

However, these matches pale in comparison to some of the UEFA Champions League fixtures that will potentially take place over the coming months.

Barcelona are scheduled to face Italian side Napoli at the Nou Camp on the 19th of March and assuming Barcelona win the two-leg tie, more matches will be held at the near 100,000 capacity behemoth of a stadium.

https://twitter.com/Me_Granturco/status/1231329778805956609

Barcelona are no strangers to the Chinese market. As a matter of fact, they are currently leading the way for clubs across the globes when it comes to China.

As reported in January of this year, Barcelona are in fact the most popular side in the Chinese online market.

Barcelona’s Asia-Pacific Director Toni Claveria had this to say, “China is an important market for Barcelona.'

'The cooperation with Taiping Life Insurance further strengthened our commitment to the Chinese market and will also help the club strengthen its connection with Chinese fans and further expand the number of fans.”

Cheng Yonghong, CEO of Taiping Life also said this, “Barça and Taiping both have a rich brand history, and Barça is one of the most successful and popular football clubs worldwide. Barça’s brand promotion successfully reaches every corner around the globe and has a huge fanbase in China.'

'This partnership will further enhance Taiping’s brand awareness internationally and ability to deliver unique customer service experience.”

Taiping Life customers will be offered the opportunity to visit the Nou Camp, meet former players as well as many other benefits.

Barcelona's ability to connect with fans across the globe has always been one of their strongest assets off the field. Both the Catalan giants and fierce Spanish rivals Real Madrid have dominated La Liga for what seems like an eternity, as well as the UEFA Champions League.

There is certainly a lot of coverage out here in Australia and it should come as no surprise that there is a lot of coverage in China as well.

The Chinese league has grown exponentially in the last few years, with more and more superstars moving out there to play for clubs such as Guangzhou Evergrande and Beijing Sinobo Guoan F.C.

Some of the biggest players in the Chinese Super League include former Chelsea star Oscar, former Barcelona midfielder Paulinho, Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic who only recently moved to China from English giants West Ham United, Italian winger Stephan El Shaarawy, former Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik and former Manchester United player Marouane Fellaini.

Many of these players move East in the latter stages of their careers. Fellaini, Hamsik and Paulinho are all examples of that.

However, there are some who, put simply, chase the money and sacrifice the chance to play in Europe in the hopes of setting themselves and their families up after they retire well down the line.

Regardless, it's a smart move on Barcelona's behalf to make this deal, which will improve their standing and continuous development in China.

The club arguably needed to make some more positive waves after the debacle that has been the signing of Danish striker Martin Braithwaite.

Braithwaite was only signed as injury cover for French attacker Ousmane Dembele. La Liga granted the Catalans the ability to sign someone, an agreement which didn't go down well with many fans, despite the club being restricted to signing someone from the domestic league only.

Braithwaite was signed from cellar dwellers Leganes, who as a result of Braithwaite departing, will probably end up in the Second Division for the first time since the 2015/16 season.

So this Taiping Life deal has come at just the right time for Barcelona.

It's a win-win deal and one can only assume that the game of soccer will only grow from here in China. This is something that all fans can agree on. So hopefully for the Spanish powerhouse, the news of this deal with Taiping Life will get them back in the good books of some.

What are your thoughts on this deal between Barcelona and Taiping Life? Let us know on Twitter @Soccersceneau and get involved in the discussion. Also, feel free to subscribe to our weekly newsletter for more news just like this.

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The office, situated in London’s King’s Cross district, will act as a regional hub for forging and maintaining relationships with stakeholders in the local market and will work to promote clubs across the top two tiers of Spanish soccer.

It will be spearheaded by Keegan Pierce and Javier del Rio, who already serve as ambassadors for La Liga in the UK and Ireland as part of the La Liga Global Network, which is composed of 46 ‘delegates’ based in 43 countries around the world.

"The UK is one of the most important strategic markets for both La Liga and its clubs,” said League President Javier Tebas (pictured).

“From a business perspective, London is home to the world's leading media outlets, broadcasters and sponsors.

“We look forward to building on the already strong reputation that Spanish football has in the country where the game was born.”

The new UK operation becomes La Liga’s 11th international office, joining existing locations in the United States, Mexico, Belgium, Nigeria, South Africa, the UAE, India, Singapore and China, where it operates two hubs.

The new office opening comes after the recent launch of LaLigaTV in the UK and Ireland. The linear TV channel, managed in partnership with local broadcast partner Premier Sports, went live on Sky and Virgin Media platforms last month. The package is priced at UK£5.99 (AU$11.53) per month in the UK and at €5.99 per month in Ireland.

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Adidas have taken another step forward in sustainability with the completion of a football field made entirely out of plastic bottles.

The global brand has taken 1.8 plastic bottles and made a special football field for Miami Edison High School.

A typical football pitch uses a large amount of virgin plastics and re-ground rubber. However, the completion of this field goes to show the importance of reusing and recycling, as bottles that could easily have found their way into the ocean have been used effectively in a new resource.

James Carney, vice president of global brand strategy for Adidas, told CNN that the sustainable field was made from plastic bottles sourced from remote islands, beaches, coastal communities and shorelines.

The reused plastics would then be washed and cleaned before being transformed into infill, the key component that created the artificial field.

The infill appears as pellets, and is crucial to the overall function of the field. They mainly influence the playability, performance and safety of the conditions of the field. It is responsible for the traction of the players, and it also serves as a cushion for players when they slide, dive or fall. It has the capability to stand up to the rigours of the game and proves just as effective as a standard synthetic pitch.

"We believe that through sport we have the power to change lives, and this field is a demonstration of our taking action on that belief," Cameron Collins, the North America director of football at Adidas, said in a statement.

"More than a place for these young athletes to play, it's a reminder of our collective responsibility to end plastic waste."

Adidas donated the field made from the large amount of plastic waste to Miami Edison High School, which is a short drive away from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, the home of Super Bowl LIV between San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Adidas is well-known for innovating with the reuse and recycling of polluting plastics and developing new sportswear and sporting goods from them - the new field is just another positive advancement from the apparel company.

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