A-League: Unite Round not part of 2025-26 season
It's understood that the Australian Professional Leagues' contract with the NSW government for Unite Round has not been renewed.
The deal, which was worth $12m, initially was for Sydney to have hosting rights to the A-League men's and women's grand finals for three years.
However, outrage over that decision led to a change after just one season of both grand finals being played in Sydney.
The deal was revamped for its remaining two years, with NSW instead being awarded rights to the newly conceived Unite Round, a concept similar to the NRL's Magic Round and the AFL's Gather Round
An entire round of men's and women's A-League matches were played in Sydney, with the venues used across the two stagings of Unite Round being Allianz Stadium, CommBank Stadium, Leichhardt Oval and Jubilee Stadium.
However, when the draw for the new A-League's men's and women's seasons is released in the coming weeks, it won't include Unite Round.
Unite Round won't be part of the new A-League men's and women's seasons. Picture:The men's season – which will kick off on October 17 following Football Australia's confirmation of the 2025-26 domestic match calendar on Friday – will again consist of 29 rounds, with each team to play 26 regular season games.
The six-team finals series will run under the same format; however, the grand final has been scheduled for the weekend of May 23-24 – a week earlier than last season – due to players needing to be released from clubs for FIFA World Cup duty the following month.
Venues for some matches still need to confirmed due to issues with staging games at Allianz Stadium and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
The A-League women's season will start October 31, with the grand final to be played on the weekend of May 16-17.
FA is yet to confirm a date for this year's Australia Cup final, while the newly formed Australian Championship, a second-tier competition involving 16 NPL clubs from around the country, will start on October 10 and end with the final on the weekend of December 7-8.
'The introduction of the Australian Championship will deliver more football, better football, and create new national opportunities for clubs and players – enhancing the football experience for all,' FA interim chief executive officer Heather Garriock said.
'The 2025-26 domestic match calendar is a product of genuine collaboration across the football ecosystem – from the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) and APL to our member federations and NPL clubs – and reflects our shared commitment to unity, alignment and excellence.'
Marco Monteverde
Sports reporter
Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world.
@marcothejourno
Marco Monteverde
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
17 minutes ago
- ABC News
Sports boss Peter V'landys leverages powerful connections to resurrect Tropfest
Tropfest, once one of Australia's most beloved artistic institutions, is set to be revived by an unlikely alliance involving Racing NSW boss Peter V'Landys and a member of the Murdoch family. Its origins lie in a Darlinghurst cafe in inner-city Sydney, where young actor John Polson put on a special screening for 200 people in 1993. Over the following two decades, the annual Tropfest event rose in prominence, at its peak drawing crowds of almost 200,000 at its venue before abruptly ending in 2019 under a cloud of financial mismanagement. Now it's being relaunched, with the Tropfest Foundation quietly registered as a company on July 2; its principal place of business listed as Mr V'landys's Racing NSW headquarters. Mr V'landys is a director, and the other three directors named in the company extract reveal his web of high-profile connections across media, finance and film. The ABC can reveal that philanthropist Sarah Murdoch, real estate investor Richard Weinberg and actor Bryan Brown are also directors of the Tropfest Foundation. Brown has had a storied acting career and last year won a Logie for best supporting actor for his performance in the Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe. Ms Murdoch is a philanthropist and global ambassador for the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Mr V'landys is the CEO of Racing NSW and Chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission. He is linked to Ms Murdoch's husband, Lachlan Murdoch. Mr Murdoch is the chair of News Corp, which is the majority shareholder of the Brisbane Broncos, the NRL's richest team. Mr V'landys met with Mr Murdoch in the US a fortnight ago seeking to expand the NRL's global footprint and heaped praise on the media mogul, telling News Corp he is "such a nice person" who has "gone to another level in management worldwide". He described Mr Murdoch's influence at FOX as a "massive help" with the free-to-air US broadcaster airing the NRL's Las Vegas 2025 matches. Mr Murdoch holds the key to the NRL breaking into the US market. The Murdochs were seen alongside Mr V'landys at the NRL's inaugural 2024 Las Vegas venture last year. Ms Murdoch was recently pictured with another director of the Tropfest Foundation, Mr Weinberg. Both were involved in the Sydney screening of a documentary titled October 8 — Globalise the Intifada, which examines what filmmakers say was the "explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, online, and in the streets of America" in the wake of Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. If you have any information about a story, contact Amy Greenbank. Mr Weinberg is the CEO of Terrace Tower Group and is married to the billionaire heiress of the late Westfield co-founder John Saunders. He is also an entrepreneur who co-founded TV production company KarlinBerg Entertainment in 2020 with TV host Karl Stefanovic, who works for Nine Entertainment, which holds the broadcast rights to the NRL. Stefanovic and Mr Weinberg had reportedly planned to shoot a behind-the-scenes documentary on the State of Origin, an idea backed by Mr V'landys, but it did not eventuate. Late last year, Mr V'landys flagged his intention to re-introduce a film festival in Sydney. "There was a short film festival called Tropfest, and it used to give young artists an opportunity to show what they could do … so I thought I'd revive that and do a short film festival, but I want to call it The Airfryers," he said. It does not appear the name has stuck. All Tropfest Foundation directors were contacted for comment. A spokesperson for Tropfest said: "There are a lot of exciting things happening behind the scenes, and all will be revealed soon. "The next generation of this country's best and brightest screen talent should get ready. A new chapter is about to begin." An official announcement is expected within weeks.
ABC News
17 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia's Steph Kyriacou hits hole-in-one at Women's Open as Japan's Miyu Yamashita takes halfway lead
Australia's Steph Kyriacou provided the early fireworks on the second day of the British Women's Open with a rollercoaster round that included a spectacular hole-in-one at the eighth. She had only one par on the back nine at Royal Porthcawl, in Wales, making two birdies, five bogeys and a chip-in eagle at the 18th to make the cut at golf's last major of the year. But everyone wanted to talk about her slam dunk hole-in-one at the eighth. "I don't know — I'm not tall enough to see over the wall," she laughed. "Yeah, a pretty good shot. I didn't see it go in, which sucked, but the crowd went nuts, and I heard the flag. Didn't damage the hole, which was surprising, so it was quite clean. But my first official hole-in-one with no asterisk. Pretty excited. "I didn't want to celebrate if it didn't go in the hole. I thought maybe it hit the flag and just went somewhere, so the reaction is probably pretty cool for a hole-in-one. I just gave a running high five when we got to the green," she added. Asked about the "asterisk", Kyriacou explained: "I had a hole-in-one in a practice round for a prequel. There was witnesses, first ball, but it's not really the real deal, is it?" Conditions in Wales were tricky, she added. "That stretch at the end is really difficult, especially with how much it's blowing now. It's kind of a bit of a blow. It doesn't feel like I made four bogeys on those holes. Honestly, if you play those four holes at one-over, you're doing pretty well. "I had a good line in the bunker (at the 18th), which is pretty lucky because you can get actually creamed in these bunkers. I had a good lie into the wind. It was uphill. Pretty easy shot from the bunker for sure." Meanwhile, her team were looking forward to celebrating that hole-in-one. "I think everyone is going to use it as an excuse to get drunk on my team. I'm happy to do that for them (laughter)." Leaderboard (36 holes) Japan's Miyu Yamashita took advantage of calmer conditions to surge into the lead with a superb second round 7-under 65. She finished 11-under, with compatriot and joint overnight leader Rio Takeda three shots adrift. England's Lottie Woad, the bookmakers' favourite, mounted a charge, but a triple-bogey at the 16th meant she carded a 2-under 70 to be nine shots adrift at halfway. Difficult afternoon conditions meant the cut came at 2-over par, with only Kyriacou, Grace Kim (2-over) and Minjee Lee (2-over) making it to the weekend. Gabriela Ruffels (3-over), Hira Naveed (5-over), Cassie Porter (8-over), Karis Davidson (9-over), Hannah Green (12-over) and Kirsten Rudgeley (13-over) all missed out. Reigning champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand just made the cut after a disappointing round of 73 left her 2-over. Definitely missing the weekend is 2023 winner Lilia Vu, who finished at 7-over-par. World number one Nelly Korda struggled with her putting in an even-par 72 round that left her level with Woad. American Lindy Duncan shot a 70 to be 4-under along with Swiss player Chiara Tamburlini (69), Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn (69) and Germany's Laura Fuenfstueck (71). Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom was a further stroke back in a group on 3-under after a 69 fired her up the leaderboard. Wires/ABC
News.com.au
17 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Lachlan Galvin will have backing of entire Bulldogs squad as the youngster faces his toughest challenge yet in the blue and white
The Tigers might be out for blue blood this weekend, especially with extra motivation by the name of Lachlan Galvin, but one Bulldogs great says the youngster has nothing to fear. 'There's a simple way to put it. There's no doubt that a lot of focus will be on Lachlan Galvin this weekend,' Fox League's Michael Ennis told 'There'll be high emotion, that's obviously been built up … and on Sunday, it all comes to a head. And so no doubt, he'll be nervous. 'For Lachie, the one thing that I know from Canterbury is once you pull on that jumper, you're all one. Tigers vs. Bulldogs is LIVE and Exclusive with no ad-breaks during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. 'It's obviously really important that when Lachie comes into the sheds on Sunday that he knows he's got his teammates and his senior players standing right beside him and he will. That's one thing that Canterbury do well.' Galvin has been at the centre of many a headline this NRL season after his controversial exit from the Tigers. Earlier in the year the club announced well in advance that the youngster wouldn't be at the club beyond the 2026 season after multiple failed attempts to re-sign him on a club record deal for a teenager. Whispers swirled of a dossier of grievances against coach Benji Marshall and a lack of love for the playing group, including premiership winner Jarome Luai, with Galvin's agent Isaac Moses agitating an early release that saw him land in Belmore. Luai, who came from Penrith this season to help Marshall lift his side, became embroiled in the drama after posting to his Instagram story during the saga taken to be a swipe at Galvin. Luai later clarified it was more a directive of his own 'team first' mentality. Luai has also come out this week and declared himself a Tiger 'for life' as he prepares for the much-awaited matchup. Meanwhile in Belmore, after being eased in over a handful of rounds the highly touted five-eighth has now taken over the halfback reigns from Toby Sexton for his new title-contending side midway through a defining part of their season, and handled the task well. But his biggest challenge now lies in the shape of his former team come Sunday when the Dogs and the Tigers meet for the first time since his departure. 'They had an elite kid coming through this system that they'd brought through and debuted. Then obviously with what Jarome's been able to do for Penrith, you thought, well, this could be a really good combination,' Ennis said. 'Didn't work out that way. 'There's no doubt Jarome is an enormous part of the Tigers, and I thought he handed himself really professionally this week when he was asked questions around it. 'While there will be high emotions, I don't think there'll be any dramas. Another unlikely halfback named is Canterbury's 18th man, Mitchell Woods. The highly touted future halfback has risen through the ranks in Belmore and impressed the club throughout his stints in Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup, earning his place in the squad. Where his place is in the squad given Matt Burton and Galvin's form is too soon to tell, but former Dogs hooker Ennis believes his being around the squad from now gives the youngster a perfect early taste of what could come in 2026 and beyond. 'When you've got someone of that quality and you see such potential in, it's a really good opportunity to be able to take them along for the journey,' Ennis said. 'There's a lot of things that go into it, from your diet, to your recovery, to your training while you're away, all those little things. So it's a great experience 'Clearly they think he's getting close and getting ready.'
