Nick Garcia no longer A-League commissioner

The Australian Professional Leagues board has turned to former senator Stephen Conroy to rescue the A-League.

Nick Garcia has gone from his role as A-League commissioner, with former senator Stephen Conroy set to take charge of the men’s and women’s national competitions as executive chairman of the Australian Professional Leagues.

Garcia had been in his role since 2023. It was announced on Thursday that APL chairman Conroy was asked by his board to take on an “executive role to lead the final phase of this transformation”.

“As executive chairman, Conroy will oversee the optimisation of APL’s operations,” an APL statement said.

“Once this process is complete, he will return to his non-executive role.”

APL Board Announces Stephen Conroy as Executive Chair 📰 https://t.co/GwDaNnFmy7pic.twitter.com/AnbWTu32CX

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) February 20, 2025

The APL claimed “significant progress” had been made both on and off the field, and that Conroy would “oversee the optimisation of APL’s operations”.

The APL’s financial problems, which were largely inherited by Garcia, have been well-documented, with private equity firm Silver Lake’s $140 million investment in the A-League seemingly all spent.

It led to several APL staff members losing their jobs, and a massive reduction in club distribution fees from $2 million to $530,000.

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Originally published as Nick Garcia no longer A-League commissioner