Sutherland Shire Football Association players slam move to scrap top female teams for 2024

A group of leading players, coaches and supporters involved with the female representative soccer program at Sydney’s biggest association say they’ve “felt disempowered for years”, after their program was scrapped for 2024.

Sutherland Shire Football Association’s 2023 first grade and under 20s women’s squad.

A group of leading players, coaches and supporters involved with the female representative soccer program at Sydney’s biggest association has criticised the funding and support received, saying they have “felt disempowered for years”.

The joint statement, signed by 25 players, managers, coaches and allies of Sutherland Shire Football Association (SSFA) female programs, comes following a recent announcement the association would not compete in Football NSW’s (FNSW) women’s first grade, under 20s and girls youth league competitions for 2024.

The move leaves the region – which has the highest female football participation in Australia – without a female representative program.

SSFA CEO Jeff Stewart previously told this publication the decision was due to a “pay dispute” and ”the demands of players, coaches, and managers”.

However, in the joint statement, the group said these claims were “not true” and the decision to withdraw from the competitions felt like “bullying”.

Seymour Shaw – home to the Sutherland Sharks.

The female footballers say they “felt disempowered for years” due to a lack of funding and support, citing overheard comments by association executives about the Women’s Premier League (WPL) program being “a waste of time”.

The group said after “long-running attempts” to improve the women’s program, they requested the license be transferred to neighbouring club Sutherland Sharks. This was rejected by the SSFA. A joint petition supporting the move had been signed by more than 300 players, parents, coaches and managers.

Harrie Dening Football Centre where the SSFA women’s teams train.

The group said the SSFA’s statement created “fear and stress” for the 87 female representative players who were now in limbo and without a club for 2024, saying “it’s our opinion this was intentional”.

The group said the SSFA were holding power over the female players, by refusing to provide clarity on whether it will hand its WPL license back to FNSW, which meant “no other club can apply for it”.

A FNSW statement said it was aware of the matter and was working through the issue.

“All participants are a priority for FNSW, and it continues to commit to supporting female football pathways in all regions,” the statement said.

One of the current SSFA first-grade players said “we don’t want a significant budget, we just want to be funded properly”.

Harrie Dening Centre number 2 field.

“We want uniforms that fit and facilities and grounds that are of suitable standard. Even little things like having our names on our shirts was blocked [by SSFA],” the player said.

Another first-grade player said had been with the association for nearly a decade and felt there had been no attempt to “progress the women’s rep program”.

The group, in its joint statement, said they “wanted a high-quality program that supported their development” and in turn prevent “talented 11-15” year old girls leaving to other clubs in Sydney which happens “every year”. The region hasn’t produced a Matilda from its junior clubs since 2006.a

The group said after the World Cup, clubs should be aiming to capitalise on this “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to support women’s football and hoped “common sense would prevail” in FNSW ensuring the license was released from SSFA to a new club in the region.

Along with the Sharks, the group said other clubs in the region were interested in taking the license when available.

In response to the group statement, Mr Stewart said the SSFA had run women’s and girls representative programs for decades and it was never a waste of time.

He said the association’s statement was never meant to cause stress, instead outlining the process in making the “difficult decision” to withdraw.