Bentleigh Greens back women’s game with $2.4m pitch project

Bentleigh Greens are knocking connected the doorway of past erstwhile again. The club’s committee precocious announced with large fanfare a $2.4 cardinal concern to physique a brand-new delivery astatine the Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, dedicated wholly to the improvement of women’s football.

This isn’t conscionable different playing surface—it’s a symbol of equality, opportunity, and a brighter aboriginal for hundreds of girls and women dreaming of pulling connected the greenish jersey and chasing their ambitions. Backed by the national authorities and Kingston Council, this task is acceptable to supercharge football’s momentum successful our community.

Photo: Con Deves

The total backing comes successful astatine $2.4 million, with the lion’s share—$1.5 million—coming from the Australian government’s “Play Your Way” programme, a strategy aimed astatine boosting women’s sport. Kingston Council will spot successful a important sum, while Bentleigh Greens themselves are putting their wealth where their rima is, proving their committedness to increasing the game. Construction is slated to footwear disconnected successful 2026, and with a spot of luck, the delivery will beryllium acceptable for the 2027 season.

Neos Kosmos caught up with the club’s president, Abraham Gregoriou, to get the lowdown.

“The Play Your Way programme is each astir backing women’s sport, and it was a no-brainer for us to get involved. As a club, we ever want to bash the champion we tin for the sport we love,” Gregoriou said, beaming with pride.

“We’ve achieved some cracking things successful our women’s programme. A fewer seasons back, we joined forces with Bayside United, which was a belter of a determination and gave our girls elite pathways to progress.”

Photo: Bentleigh Greens

Indeed, that merger, green-lit by Football Victoria successful December 2023, created a caller entity with teams crossed each property groups, cementing the Greens’ beingness successful Melbourne’s southeast. Today, Bentleigh Greens boast implicit 700 players, with a strong absorption connected girls’ programmes from MiniRoos to elder levels—and that number’s lone growing. But space? That’s the sticking point.

“We’ve reached a constituent where the space we person conscionable isn’t enough, and we don’t want to turn girls away. This caller delivery will fto us support increasing and promote much girls to take up the sport,” Gregoriou added.

For the president, the way clubs tin assistance the crippled is crystal clear: physique facilities that conscionable players’ needs.

Photo: Con Deves

“You spot different clubs splashing currency connected grandstands and fancy setups, but that’s not the contented for us. It’s not astir showing off—it’s astir increasing the game. The lone way to bash that is to get kids playing, and that means harmless pitches and due facilities. If you don’t person a pitch,

what’s the point? I’d alternatively spend $2.4 cardinal connected a crushed for the kids than a grandstand that gets packed erstwhile oregon twice a year.”

Finally, we spoke with Gregoriou astir the men’s team’s monolithic success, clinching the VPL1 title and earning promotion to the NPL.

“Getting relegated to VPL1 was a acheronian infinitesimal for the club. We spent the past two years learning from our mistakes. We brought successful George Katsakis, upgraded the squad, and together we’ve enactment Bentleigh backmost where it belongs—in the top tier of Victorian football. We’ll bash everything successful our powerfulness to stay there.”