If your club has more teams than training slots, you're not alone. Football Victoria's Facilities Strategy 2025–2035 counts one pitch for every 7,000 people in Victoria, against a recommended level of one for every 5,000.
Level the Playing Field is Football Victoria's campaign to close that gap, timed for the state election on Saturday 28 November 2026. This post covers where things stand and what a club committee can do before polling day.
Where things stand
- The petition. A Legislative Assembly petition signed by 7,259 people was presented on 28 July 2026. It asks the government to commit new investment in football, including re-establishing a dedicated World Game Facilities Fund.
- The 2026 budget. The state budget included a combined $750,000 for two clubs: $500,000 for lighting at Avondale FC's Avenger Park and $250,000 for upgrades at Hume City FC's Nasiol Stadium.
- Election pledges. Football Victoria keeps a list of the facility pledges candidates have made. They range from electronic scoreboards to new pavilions and synthetic pitches, such as $1.2 million for a synthetic pitch at Upfield SC's Gibb Reserve. The list is being updated as more come in.
Key dates
- Tuesday 3 November, 8 pm: the electoral roll closes.
- Wednesday 18 November: early voting opens.
- Saturday 28 November: election day.
What your club can do
1. Do the survey
Football Victoria is collecting views on facilities to take to Parliament. It takes about three minutes and is open to players, parents, coaches, referees and volunteers, past and present. Share the link in your club's channels this week.
2. Know your numbers
A candidate or councillor hears "we need more pitches" every week. What moves them is evidence. Before you meet anyone, write down:
- How many players and teams you have, and how that's changed over the last three seasons.
- How many training hours your teams need each week, and how many your pitches can actually give.
- How many teams are training on half a pitch, or not at all, because there's no room.
- How many nights you lost to closed grounds last winter.
3. Invite your local candidates
Ask the candidates in your electorate to a training night before 28 November. Pick a busy night, so they see the queue for pitch space. Make the ask specific: lights on a second pitch, a synthetic surface, change rooms for your girls' teams.
4. Talk to your council
Councils own and allocate most community grounds, and they set their capital works budgets well in advance. Find out when your council takes budget submissions and get your numbers in, whoever wins in November.
Getting the numbers out of Sportdify
If your club plans training in Sportdify, the evidence is already there. Pitch use shows the hours booked against the hours open for each pitch, the busiest hours, the free evening slots left and the teams still without a pitch. Closures are recorded with their reason, so you can count the nights lost to wet weather.
See how venues and pitches work, or read how a busy club runs its week.
Sources
- Football Victoria: Level the Playing Field, including the survey and the election pledges
- Football Victoria: Facilities Strategy 2025–2035
- Parliament of Victoria: petition 202606
- Soccerscene: 2026 state budget facility funding
- Victorian Electoral Commission: 2026 state election
Sportdify doesn't support any party or candidate. This post is about helping clubs make their case to whoever is elected.