The Coalition announced their funding arrangements for the Matildas project on the weekend, ahead of the Federal Election this Saturday, May 18.

FFA has approved Victoria to be Home of the Matildas, a facility servicing elite talent with a High-Performance Centre and a state of the art training base. 

As part of a broader women’s sports package, $15m was pledged to the Matildas project announced by the Coalition. 

“We’re now on the conveyor belt with that downpayment [$15m]," Filopoulos told FTBL.

“And we’ll continue to work with the government.

“It’s an ongoing strategy and this is where we need a national approach.

“And I’m keen to work with FFA.

“We need a national narrative, an overarching, umbrella approach encompassing all the federations... we’re a growing sport.

"And we have a lot of needs. And we need to unite that narrative to meet a lot of our objectives.”

 

 

Another question is matching commitments.

With the Matildas proving a vote winner, can the Federal ALP match the Coalition’s $15m commitment for a Home of the Matildas in Victoria?

Some in Canberra believe Labour could match or even exceed the $15m pledged by the Coalition.

Expect an announcement from the ALP this week as the election enters its final week.

Irrespective, Football Victoria will continue to work with the Federal and State Governments to help bring a Home of the Matildas to life.

The Matildas facility will provide a training venue for Australia’s elite female footballers – the Matildas, Young Matildas, Junior Matildas, the Emerging Matildas development program and also be capable of being used as a training venue for teams playing in major football events held in Victoria. 

However, facility experts have told Football Victoria that the total cost of the project will be in the order of $60-$80 million.

But Football Victoria is realistic enough to know it may take more than one approach to government to complete the required funding levels.

“I’m delighted with the commitment from the Coalition. And I’m hopeful in the coming days we’ll get a commitment from Labour.

“But we’ll continue working with the State Government in Victoria, which is a very progressive state as we know,” Filopoulos added.

A Project Control Group (PCG) with representatives of Sport and Recreation Victoria and Football Victoria has been established, and its work is underway to guide the progression of the business case.

The business case and feasibility study will be completed by June or July with a shortlist of sites around the state.

Construction won’t begin till around 2020.

Football Victoria has successfully partnered with the Andrews State Government over the last 12-15 months, unlocking around $118m (with all leverageable components) of funding.  

This includes the State Government’s $200,000 for development of a business case for the Matildas project.

“We’ve come from a chronic under-investment situation - partly because it’s our fault in that we haven’t built a compelling enough narrative.

“There’s a bit of work to do, but it [$15m] is a good downpayment on our aspirations. 

“And any investment in football for facilities and infrastructure is welcome.

“We’ve worked hard in the last 12 months building our policy platform, with data-driven policy to demonstrate why we need to boost infrastructure and facilities funding,” said Filopoulos.

“And we need to keep building on that.”