I write this on the eve of my final days as your President of Football Queensland.  

It is with mixed emotion that I reflect on what has been an incredible journey of change, hope, adversity, and unquestionable success for our game here in Queensland and more broadly in Australia. 

Success being measured on almost every level of performance over the last eight years which I’ll talk to shortly. 

I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to join the Board back in 2015 as a 35-year-old English Australian with a passion for business, a love for the game and a belief that ‘anything is possible’. 

What I hadn’t anticipated was what I was walking into at the time, an archaic organisation, with individuals throughout the game trying to maintain fiefdoms of perceived power. 

Something needed to change… 

It took me some time to understand the various board dynamics, and to start to see the enormous opportunities more broadly for football in Queensland. 

The initial opportunity to effect change came with the recruitment of a marketing executive, a first for football in Queensland and an investment that the business hadn’t wanted to make at that time, but with pressure from the Board, it allowed me the opportunity to recruit someone who is still with the organisation today and who has done the most wonderful job in transforming the look and feel of football in Queensland both inside and out. 

Following the success of this recruitment process, the Board then supported me to undertake a ‘cultural review’ of the organisation that ultimately led to the recruitment of a new CEO in 2017. The then incoming CEO had an unenviable challenge of initiating a ‘cultural change’ program in what were incredibly difficult circumstances. 

Fast forward to February 2019, I was elected as Chair of the Board of Football Queensland by my fellow directors, becoming the fourth President within 12 months following a period of instability. 

This was both an honour and an incredible responsibility. I was excited yet apprehensive as I wanted to do my very best for the organisation and all its stakeholders, but more importantly to ensure we could provide better opportunities for all the boys and girls who were already involved within the game or were yet to fall in love with it as I once had. 

My role as President of Football Queensland has been one of the most challenging times of my life. I had to make many decisions for the ‘good of the game’ that were seen as unpopular by some but absolutely necessary to change an antiquated statewide model of governance and administration. 

In my first year as President, we developed a new strategic plan with a vision to unite football in Queensland. We recruited a new CEO, Robert Cavallucci, and embarked on a journey of change together to deliver upon the objectives set within the strategic plan. 

‘The Future of Football 2020+’ reform process was initiated and has achieved everything we had set out to achieve by ‘lowering the cost of the game’, ‘delivering better services’, ‘connecting competitions’, delivering ‘best practice governance’ and ‘one voice’ for football. 

The release of the 2023 – 2026 One Football Strategic Plan in November last year further reinforced FQ’s commitment to the national strategy, and I’m confident that over the next four years we as a state will continue to work collaboratively with Football Australia and fellow Member Federations to unlock the full potential of our game. 

For a number of years now, Football Queensland has stated our bold vision for the game; ‘Women and girls are the future’. 

Outlined in strategic documents and emblazoned on the walls of Football Queensland’s headquarters at Meakin Park, this statement has shaped much of our organisation’s work throughout the 2020 – 2022 strategic planning period, and is now an even bigger focus as we turn our attention to the next four years and strive to achieve the state and national target of 50/50 gender parity by 2027. 

The celebration of 100 years of women’s football in Australia, a hugely momentous occasion in 2021, allowed each of us to reflect on how far the women’s game has come and the pioneering role Queensland has played in its progress. 

With female participation across the state continuing to grow year on year and as Football Queensland continues to develop more accessible, flexible formats of the game designed specifically for women and girls, the opportunities and potential for female football in our state are endless. 

With the biggest global women’s sporting event coming to our shores in less than 70 days, it is vital that we continue to support the elevation of women and girls in roles across every part of our game, and I’m hopeful that we’ll see our vision for the game come to life as more female participants are welcomed into football in the months and years to come. 

To ensure a lasting legacy for football here in Queensland, however, and to provide the necessary opportunities for women and girls of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to join our game, there is significant work needed. 

The growth of the game has exploded; football by a long way is the highest participation sport in Queensland and yet we have a crisis of infrastructure, a crisis that has been coming for ten years. The game urgently needs investment in infrastructure today, not tomorrow.  

It is unacceptable that 45% of clubs across our state still do not have female-friendly change rooms or facilities in the wake of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, despite our continued efforts to collaborate and advocate for football and its critical infrastructure needs at all levels of government

As Queensland’s largest sport, football is yet to secure football appropriate infrastructure to deliver Football Queensland’s extensive content. As the popularity and success of FQ Grand Finals continues to grow each year, 2023 will see the NPL Queensland and FQPL 1 Grand Finals join the ranks of competitions held at Suncorp Stadium. We remain optimistic for future funding for football-specific enabling infrastructure projects including a Home of Football in Queensland to unlock the true potential of our game. 

Improving the football experience for every Queenslander has been a major focus in my time with Football Queensland as we’ve implemented strong referee recruitment and retention initiatives including the teal shirt, pink armband and Protect Our Game initiatives alongside significant investment in additional referee support and development roles in every region. The introduction of the FQ Referee Academy has also been a fantastic success, with three of its graduates just this week selected for the inaugural intake of the brand new Football Australia Referee Academy and Queenslanders representing 50% of officials selected. 

We’ve made strides in technical development, launching the FQ Academy in every region to provide a clear pathway from community football to Australia’s national teams which has already proven incredibly successful as our state teams dominated at the National Youth Championships in 2022 and our FQ Academy QAS program provided a launchpad for a number of young female players to make their national team debuts with the Junior and Young Matildas. Queensland still proudly boasts extremely strong representation at every level of national teams.  

Club development has also continued to be a major focus through my time as President, with the launch of the Club Support Hub providing a single destination for clubs to access an extensive range of valuable resources, templates, guides and webinars. 

I’m pleased to be leaving Football Queensland in a strong and robust financial position, with the organisation recording 253% growth in revenue over the last five years including a 239% increase in commercial revenue since 2018. FQ now boasts the largest commercial revenue of all Member Federations, with the 2022 income totalling $1,005,596. 

As an organisation we have continued to invest in the grassroots to provide more opportunities for football to thrive in every region, with $1.1 million invested in regional facilities last year alone. 

Investment in talent has also seen the Football Queensland staff base grow significantly since I joined the Board in 2015, with the strategic integration of team members both at FQ headquarters and in regional parts of the state ensuring we are well equipped to support a strong future for the game as a modern, fit-for-purpose 21st century sporting organisation. 

As I bid farewell to the game, I do so with absolute confidence, as I am immensely proud of the current Football Queensland Board of Directors having had the opportunity to work with you all. I know you will continue to support our CEO and the incredible team at Football Queensland that have done an amazing job advancing the game beyond expectations. 

The famous quote of, ‘try to leave the world a little better than you found it’, has always resonated with me and I believe that the world of football in Queensland and Australia is now better than I found it. 

I am grateful to every one of my fellow directors at Football Queensland and all those that have served before me. Every single one of you has made a significant contribution having given your time, expertise, effort, and energy for the ‘good of the game’. 

To be involved within a governance and administration role within the world of football can be a thankless, unforgiving and demanding task. I want to thank and acknowledge the thousands of volunteers who selflessly give themselves to our game, our members, our participants, coaches, managers, referees, grounds keepers and everyone else involved in our football community in Queensland. 

Finally, I want to thank my family who at times have endured the worst of me when football has taken the best. I reflect on this regularly and at times regrettably as a ‘love for the game’ can’t ever replace the love of those closest to you, your children, partner, family, and friends. 

With that in mind please be sure to take a moment right now, to stop, consider and appreciate your own loved ones. 

Wishing all of you the very best into the future, it’s been a privilege and an absolute honour to have served you. 

Ben Richardson
President
Football Queensland