Women’s football 2025 in NSW : what we know

The final round of the 2024 Football NSW Leagues regular season is upon us and for all but the top four teams in each league; that signals the official beginning of the player and coach merry-go-round as clubs search for the right blend to take them forward next season. But what does the 2025 season look like? As parents gather to share their understanding for one final weekend, speculating on what lies ahead for their daughters, and as eager players put in their hopeful Expressions Of Interest at clubs that have already assembled their squads ahead of time, let’s take a moment to contemplate what we know and what we don’t know going into this treacherous period.

FACT : We now have Under 18s in the second tier
The second tier of NPL youth, colloquially known as NPL2, but officially known as the Girls Youth League Two, welcomes an Under 18s division to offer the graduating Under 16s a more viable pathway into senior football. The simple equation is that 14 clubs will have at least 16 new positions to offer, and that’s a minimum of 224 players who will be retained in the highest level of organised football in the region. Given the enormous success of the Matildas in their home World Cup in 2023 and the fervour it created, this is perhaps a year late, but it is a welcome addition for those players who have promise but are not quite ready for the top level yet.

Of course, this brings challenges. There are 14 new coaches and managers to find, and on any given weekend, there are 7 additional games to squeeze into an already busy weekend timetable. Given the cited 89% referee coverage in the second tier over the last season, we will either see less experienced referees given the opportunity to come through, or we will see an increase in games that are not covered by an official Football NSW referee. It is a challenge recognised by Football NSW.

Check out the comprehensive Football NSW document titled “2025-26 Competition and Technical Changes – Girls and Women” here.

FACT : Reserves (NPL1) and Under 20s (NPL2) are aligned as Under 23s leagues
This one was a surprise. Again citing the same document, the emphasis has shifted to youth, and the reserve grade is becoming the Under 23s. The argument that bringing in Under 18s in NPL2 bridges the gap to senior football is therefore blown away, with Under 18s now having a five-year jump to Under 23s with no option in between. Of course, with the average age of players in Reserves and Under 20s between 18 and 20 already, this change should have little impact on the composition of the second teams of most clubs in each of the two divisions.

But what happens to those clubs who have strong Reserve grades right now? With only four over-age players permitted in the Under 23s, the pathway suddenly stops at the age of 23 for a large number of players, and there will either be a spill over from NPL1 into NPL2, or we will see a strengthening of club football at grassroots level.

FACT : The Football NSW Institute program has ended
This one was a surprise to many too. The Institute players had been expecting a change coming in 2026, but when they were informed in July via email that the program was being discontinued at the end of the 2024 season, and told to go back to their previous clubs or find a new club, it came as a rude shock. The Institute program has selected the best of the best over the years, just think of players like Ellie Carpenter and Holly McNamara, and families have made sacrifices of travelling long distances to be part of a pathway to success. The Institute teams would play a year above their age group, and were always competitive and feared opponents.

Whether or not the removal of the program has any adverse affect on the development of our recognised talented players will only be known over time.

RUMOUR : Western Sydney Wanderers have taken the NSW Institute licence
Everyone is thinking it. The Wanderers have announced that they will have an NPL licence next year, which brings them into the top level of women’s football in the region along with Central Coast Mariners, Newcastle Jets and Macarthur FC (who are formerly Northbridge Bulls and still play in Northbridge). Logically, with the Mariners still unable to make their way out of NPL2, the Wanderers would start off life in the second tier and make their way up to the top. The spare spot in NPL1 would be taken either by the bottom ranked in the club championship in 2024, Blacktown Spartans, or by the second team in the NPL2 club championship, SD Raiders. Both have earned that spot in their own way.

But football in Australia is anything but logical. Just look at how the A-League expands over time with brand new franchise clubs, while the stuttering National Second Tier has a wealth of established clubs that could have easily become part of the top level instead. The rumour mill is rotating almost out of control as news of the level of coaches joining the Wanderers academy circulates. This doesn’t look like a club that will be taking up a spot in the anything other than the top tier of women’s football. Watch this space.

FACT : The Future Sapphires program has arrived
With the Institute no longer running, a 40-week Future Sapphires program will be running in 2025 to maintain an elite group of players in a pathway to success. This will involve around 22 players in Under 15s, Under 16s and Under 18s, with sessions twice a week, with the clubs expected to release their players where training nights clash. With the Wanderers (and others) attracting established coaches who have been involved in the Institute program, it will be interesting to see how the coaching is structured for the Future Sapphires program. Will there be anyone left?

This means the Sydney FC Female Development Squad will have competition, although the two programs will run at different times of the year. Could a player be part of the Sydney FC program AND the Future Sapphires?

RUMOUR : Sydney FC are applying for an NPL licence for 2026
Who loves a juicy rumour? Well, in the absence of any insider help in compiling this piece, the rumour mill is the only place to pick up anything, just like any parent or player when they chat to their teammates at training and games. With the other NSW-based A-League clubs joining or already established in the NPL women’s, there is surely merit in Sydney FC joining too. This could be a very interesting scenario though, given then next rumour that is going around.

RUMOUR : No relegation or promotion in 2025
This one has been heard in more than one conversation and seems unlikely until you read further into it. We have seen this before in previous restructures. Football NSW are now locking in clubs for Girls Youth League for two-year licence periods. The criteria for relegation and promotion will no longer be solely on performance on the field, but will consist of a club championship and a series of other performance indicators over the course of two years. You can read all about it here in a very detailed document published on the Football NSW website, and it is eye-opening.

There is a ‘decoupling’ of the senior teams and the youth teams from 2025, meaning that promotion and relegation is not done on a “whole club” basis, and we could find the senior teams relegated to NPL2 based on performance, while the youth teams continue in NPL1 based upon Key Performance Indicators. This is in line with the boys’ competitions and throws up challenges where Under 18s players are required to help out Under 23s or first grade – they could be playing at completely different locations against different opposition. That’s something that the women’s teams have never had to deal with.

The criteria for performance of a club’s youth set-up span a wide range, from retention rates to number of international players, to squad size, not employing external coaches or running mandatory paid sessions (how does that get monitored?) and progression of talented players into older age groups, higher leagues or to A-League clubs. The document is a fascinating read, and the main question is how it will be assessed. The feeling is that there is not enough manpower to undertake such a task, and it will become simply a box-ticking exercise or self-assessment process. Let’s face it, who is keeping an eye on clubs completing their trials ahead of the official trial period this year? Read the document and you will get a feeling for the complexity of what is being asked.

FACT : GSAP is no more.
This may be simply a rebranding, or it may be a complete re-invention. It is not clear what the difference is, but the GSAP teams will now fall under the umbrella of the Junior Development Leagues. The tried and tested skills-based program involving four session types on rotation (striking the ball, one-on-ones, first touch, running with the ball) has been the staple for junior coaches and players for years; there is no suggestion that will change, and there is nothing to say that additional qualifications will be required of coaches. As of 2025 though, and during the trial period for 2024, the term GSAP will be defunct, and we will refer to the younger age groups between 9 and 13 as Junior Development League, or JDL. The end of an era.

Stand by for Thursday 26th September
There has been no input from anyone official at Football NSW into this article and everything you read is based upon conversations with football people – parents, coaches, players, some of whom will know more than others. Rumours are rumours and all will be revealed on Thursday 26th September when the Declaration of Leagues confirms which teams are in which leagues within both the men’s and women’s football programs. The majority of the content is derived from consuming the official publications on the Football NSW website – there are no secrets there – but the method of implementing some of the changes is going to be a very interesting spectacle that will play out in the next few months.

These changes to the structure of the women’s game in New South Wales are clearly aimed at improving standards and growing participation, fulfilling a number of the pillars of the Legacy 23 report. The Matildas effect is having a positive impact on our leagues, giving young females more opportunity to play organised high-performance football, and allowing talent a pathway to the pinnacle of football in Australia. That’s a good thing. The devil, though, is in the change management detail.