After months of planning and negotiation with Moonee Valley City Council, Avondale FC boasts arguably the best female facilities in West Melbourne.

Football (soccer) is the fastest growing female sport in Australia and has been the most participated female team sport for the last 20 years.

With the success of the Matildas, women’s football has never been so popular, but unfortunately, the facilities in the west of Melbourne aren’t able to keep up with the demand. A shocking statistic from FFV saw that the Moonee Valley City Council had the worst male to female ratio of participation in all of Melbourne, 11 males to 1 female. To put into perspective the best municipality participation ratio was 2:1.

Avondale FC is determined to help the Moonee Valley with female participation in football and is putting the newly built Fairbairn Park facility to effective use in Season 2018. Female specific toilets, change rooms, football pitch, lighting and a social room is just some of the things the multi-million-dollar facility offers.

The club has been working hard behind the scenes with business partners to ensure players have every opportunity to participate in a sport that is so globally known and loved. This support has driven registration prices down to a fixed price of only $249, where some community clubs can charge upwards of $750-$1,000.

General Manager Jarrad Denham reflected on the successful application of the Fairbairn Park facility:

The facility and the work we had to do to secure it shows just how serious and committed Avondale FC are to developing women’s football. There were many people behind the scenes who have worked hard to submit the successful application. The new facility will give stability to current and prospective parents and families and we would like to thank Moonee Valley City Council. We look forward to having a strong positive relationship and working together to increase female participation in the municipality.

The age groups that will be participating in 2018 with the club include:

• U8
• U10
• U12
• U14

Over the coming weeks, there will be more exciting announcements regarding coaching appointments and an official launch for the club at the facility with some special guests.

For participation inquiries please contact our Girl’s Coordinator Rob Nedelkovski (robnedel@bigpond.com) or General Manager Jarrad Denham (jdenham@avondalefc.com.au)