Football Australia registration fees are set to rise – here's what you'll have to pay
The cost of playing football in this country is on the rise again, with Football Australia imposing a hike of up to 20 per cent for some players to its National Registration Fee.
The cost of playing football in this country is on the rise again, with Football Australia imposing a hike of up to 20 per cent for some players to its National Registration Fee.
Increases could result in Football Australia, which posted an $8 million loss last year, adding more than $2 million to its pockets.
Club youth and senior players have been hit with the highest fee increase of 20 per cent.
It comes as most state member federations keep fees frozen, cut costs or put in place minimal increases.
Football Australia has not issued a press release or publicly announced details on the fee structure for 2026 – but it is published on its website, if you know where to look.
Players taking the pitch for a club in the youth competitions will have to fork out an extra 20 per cent with fees increasing from $15 to $18. Club players aged 19 or over face the same increase with their fees going from $35 to $42.
Senior club football professional players’ have to fork out an extra 10 per cent with the fee increasing to $77.
It is the biggest increase since 2020. Fees had remained locked from 2020 to 2023 – rising by $1-$2 for the 2025 season.
An FA spokesman said the fees were not for profit and were reinvested into a range of programs including junior national teams, club development programs, costs of delivering national championships including Emerging Matildas and Emerging Socceroos and entry level coaching and referee accreditation and development.
“Like other sports in Australia Football Australia collects a modest National Registration Fee on registration which represents a small percentage of total fees,” the spokesman said.
“The fee is set by Football Australia and is reviewed periodically. The recent changes have been made by Football Australia after consultation and feedback from member federations.
“Between 2020 to 2023 there were no increases to the fees and the recent changes are publicly available well in advance of the community registrations which open on January 1, 2026 and the NPL registrations which open on December 1, 2025.”
The NRF fee is paid separately to the fees put in place by the member federations.
Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said member federations were not informed about the NRF increase until the figures were published on the FA website.
Cavallucci said he was proud Football Queensland was able to keep its fees frozen for a sixth year running, making them among the lowest in the country.
“Football Queensland undertook significant governance and administrative transformation to ensure the organisation was best placed to withstand cost pressures, the risks and the complex landscape currently being experienced and continuing to evolve over the next 10 years,” Cavallucci said.
“While some costs will always increase, we’ve been able to effectively navigate challenging external factors including COVID-19, a major flood and other significant weather events to progress our fiscal maturity and keep exposure to increases to a minimum while prioritising accessibility, support services and participation growth.”
So Football Queensland hasn’t increased its fees for six years running and it remains one of the cheapest states to play football in.
But even with their low fee of $50 for a season of miniroos – the NRF fee means it will actually cost parents $68.
Seniors in Queensland will have to pay a total of $172.
It costs $60 to register a Miniroos player with Football Victoria – $78 when the FA fee is included.
Football Victoria has introduced a registration fee for its NPL women’s competition of $200. This aligns it with the men’s competition. In a press release on the fee changes Football Victoria said it hoped this would offset issues with women and girls being allocated poorer facilities due to paying less. On average junior fees have been decreased.
Participation numbers for 2025 haven’t been released by Football Australia but if it carries on the growth trend and increases by another 10 per cent on 2024 it could be estimated to have hit close to 700,000.
If participation breakdowns stay similar to those reported in 2024, with approximately 75 per cent of the total number of registered players participating in miniroos or youth programs and 25 per cent in senior competitions Football Australia stands to pocket, on estimation, more than $2 million from the fee increases.
With the Asian Women’s Cup to be held in Australia next year Cavallucci is expecting another big growth year for the sport, similar to that seen post the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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“Football Queensland is continuing to record strong year-on-year growth in female participation across the state, which is only boosted by the hosting of major events like the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup on the Gold Coast,” he said.
“Like all major football events that come to our shores, we plan and prepare with strategically designed programs and events to ensure we convert the elevated levels of public awareness into active participation.
“To do so, each element of the game needs to be prepared and the football experience must be memorable.”
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