Paul Avery, Author at Balmain & District Football Club

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So far Paul Avery has created 3 blog entries.

BDFC Hosts AFC Grassroots Football Day and Receives National 3 Star Recognition

Balmain & District Football Club was proud to host the 2026 AFC Grassroots Football Day celebration in May, welcoming representatives from Football Australia, Football NSW, Football Canterbury, community football leaders and members of the local football community to Waterfront Drive at Callan Park.

The event celebrated the vital role grassroots football plays in communities across Australia and Asia — from first kicks in Tiny Tigers through to lifelong participation, volunteering, coaching and community connection.

As part of the evening, BDFC was officially presented with its 3 Star Club Changer status by Football Australia – one of only five clubs across all of NSW to receive the recognition so far.

BDFC Girls playing at the Grassroots Football Festival

A Recognition for the Whole Club

The Football Australia Club Changer program recognises clubs that demonstrate leadership in areas including:

Inclusion and welcoming culture
Women & Girls participation
Safeguarding and child safety
Volunteer development
Long-term sustainability and governance

For BDFC, the recognition reflects years of work by volunteers, coaches, managers, committee members and staff who continue to help build one of Australia’s leading community football clubs.

Today, BDFC has:

3,000 players
Over 230 teams
More than 500 volunteers
One of the strongest female participation rates in NSW
One of the largest community All Abilities football programs in the state

All Abilities Special Needs players enjoying football at BDFC festival in Callan Park

Football Lives in the Community

Speaking at the event, BDFC President Paul Avery said grassroots football was the foundation of the game.

“Being selected by Football Australia to host AFC Grassroots Football Day was an enormous honour for our club and our community. To also be presented with Football Australia’s 3 Star Club Changer status on the night made it even more special.

That recognition reflects the work of hundreds of volunteers and the culture we’ve worked hard to build at BDFC – one that is welcoming, inclusive, ambitious and community-driven.”

Drone photo of BDFC at Waterfront Callan Park — Photo: Nathanael Hughes

More Than a Football Club

The evening also highlighted the enormous growth of community football in the Inner West – particularly among girls and women – and the increasing importance of creating facilities and environments that allow grassroots sport to thrive.

“Football at the grassroots level has seen girls and women’s football continue to grow in recent years. More enjoyment, more participants, and an increased sense of community all brought together through grassroots football.”

– Trent Thomas (CEO, Football Canterbury Association) 

BDFC’s programs now span from Tiny Tigers and MiniRoos through to youth, senior, women’s, Over 55s and All Abilities football, alongside development programs, coach education, leadership initiatives and holiday clinics.

But with that growth comes increased responsibility.

Modern community football clubs are now expected to deliver far more than simply teams and competitions. Clubs must create safe environments, support volunteers, provide inclusive pathways, develop young leaders, advocate for accessible facilities, and build spaces where communities feel connected and welcome.

For BDFC, the Club Changer recognition reflects not only the strength of the club’s culture, but also the importance of continuing to invest in the future of grassroots football infrastructure and participation opportunities across the Inner West.

As participation continues to grow rapidly, particularly among girls and women, the need for high-quality, reliable and accessible community sporting facilities has never been greater.

BDFC’s long-term vision, Community Through Football, continues to guide the club’s focus on participation, enjoyment and development for players of all ages and abilities.

Thank You

BDFC would like to thank Football Australia, Football NSW, Football Canterbury, volunteers, players, coaches and families who helped make the evening such a success.

We also congratulate every volunteer and community football club across Australia, helping grow the world game at grassroots level every single week.

BDFC Girls in a huddle at Waterfront, Callan Park

BDFC women are leading the way as playes and coaches

A Home for our Club, a Hub for the Community: Works Finally Begin on Building 497

After almost a decade of advocacy, setbacks, planning, meetings, redesigns and persistence, Balmain & District Football Club can finally say the words our community has waited years to hear:

Works are officially underway on Building 497 – the BDFC Clubhouse!

For generations, BDFC has called Callan Park home. Thousands of local children have taken their first kick on the Waterfront fields. Volunteers have built teams, friendships and community spirit here season after season. But standing beside those fields for decades has been a building full of unrealised potential – boarded up, deteriorating, and disconnected from the life happening around it.

Now, that is changing.

Balmain District Football Club Building 497 media announcement

Building 497 is being transformed into a modern clubhouse and community facility that will support grassroots sport, local families and the wider Inner West community for generations to come.

This is far more than a construction project.

It is the restoration of a long-neglected heritage building.
It is the creation of a true community hub at the heart of Callan Park.
And for BDFC, it represents the culmination of years of work by volunteers, members, partners and supporters who refused to let the vision fade away.

The milestone was officially marked at Callan Park on Thursday 14 May 2026, alongside Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully, Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen, Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, representatives from Greater Sydney Parklands, project partners and members of the local community.

BDFC President, Paul Avery, said the moment was emotional for many people connected to the club..

“Balmain & District Football Club has called Callan Park home for generations, and this project reflects everything our club and community have worked towards.

After almost a decade of advocacy and partnership, we are so excited to finally see works get underway on Building 497. Transforming this important heritage building into a modern facility will serve thousands of local players and families for years to come.

Football continues to grow across the Inner West, particularly among girls and women, and we’re proud of the role our club has played in that growth. This clubhouse ensures Callan Park remains a place where people can come together, stay active, and support each other’s wellbeing.”

Activating Callan Park for Community Use

For many in the BDFC community, seeing the colourful new scrim go up, machinery arriving on site and works commencing will feel almost surreal.

Back in 2017, Building 497 was still sitting abandoned beside the Waterfront fields – closed off, deteriorating and largely forgotten. At the time, the idea that it could one day become a vibrant sporting and community facility seemed ambitious. But the volunteers at BDFC believed Callan Park deserved more.

That belief became a long-term campaign to activate the building for community use and ensure sport remained an integral part of the future of Callan Park.

As the official BDFC Clubhouse, the completed facility will include modern player amenities, changerooms, accessible toilets, meeting and community spaces, administration facilities, storage, café and social areas, and spaces designed to support both grassroots sport and broader community use.

A Bigger Vision for Callan Park

The activation of Building 497 is also deeply connected to the future of sport and recreation at Callan Park more broadly.

Alongside the proposed all-weather field project at Waterfront Drive, B497 forms part of a bigger vision: creating an active, accessible and sustainable community recreation precinct that can support the growing Inner West community year-round.

The two projects work hand in hand.

Reliable playing surfaces increase participation opportunities and reduce washouts. Building 497 provides the community infrastructure needed to support that activity – from changerooms and amenities, through to meeting spaces, canteen and social connection.

Together, they represent a future where Callan Park is more active, more welcoming and more connected to the community than ever before.

That vision has always been central to BDFC’s proposal for the site: activating Building 497 in a way that complements the Waterfront sporting grounds and creates lasting community benefit.

From Derelict Building to Community Asset

One of the most powerful parts of this story is the transformation itself.

Over the coming months, BDFC will continue sharing photos and milestones from the journey – from the boarded-up condition of the building nearly a decade ago, through to the restoration works now underway and the future BDFC Clubhouse and community facility taking shape beside the Waterfront fields.

For everyone who has supported the project along the way: this moment belongs to you too.

The future of community sport at Callan Park is finally taking shape.

Inside Building 497 in Callan Park - 2018

Room 15 inside Building 497 in Callan Park - 2018

Balmain Win Silver at 2026 Open Masters Games

While the rest of us were dusting off the boots and reconnecting with teammates for the forthcoming season, a band of BDFC’s finest were already representing the club on the world stage and bringing some silverware.

Under the Balmain sans Grandeur (BSG) banner, a group from our 55+ men’s cohort travelled to Abu Dhabi last month for the 2026 Open Masters Games.

The Open Masters Games is one of the world’s premier multi-sport events for veteran athletes, attracting competitors from across Europe, Asia and Australia. For Balmain & District Football Club, it represents the continuation of a proud tradition of international participation stretching back more than a decade.

A Truly International Balmain Team

With a squad drawn from players from South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong and Ukraine – reflecting the diverse BDFC community itself – Balmain sans Grandeur’s participation in the tournament continued the team’s long-standing tradition of following the globe-trotting Masters Games wherever they go.

Two solid wins and two unlucky losses (both by 1-2) were enough to bring home a silver medal in the 50+ age group at these International Masters Games.

Balmain sans Grandeur Masters football silver medal Abu Dhabi

Balmain DFC Masters team lining up ahead of kickoff in Abu Dhabi

BDFC Treasurer and Balmain sans Grandeur wrangler, Keith Irving, says that, as always, the real win was the experience, with new friendships made that will last well beyond the two-week tournament. “The Masters Games are all about bringing people together through sport, and they delivered that once again,” he says. “The boys even got the chance to meet a true great of the game, the Brazilian legend, Zico”.

From Nice to Mariupol to Sydney

The strongest demonstration that the Masters Games are about far more than sport is the deep connection forged between BDFC and Aleks Prykhno, from Ukraine.

Aleks first met the Balmain football community when his side faced BSG in the final of the 2015 European Masters Games in Nice. An accomplished goalkeeper, Aleks played for the Balmain team at the 2019 European Masters Games in Torino.

It wasn’t long after that that everything changed for Aleks and his hometown of Mariupol. “We lived 10km from the combat line and when the shelling began we learned about the beginning of the war,” he said. “The next day, residential areas were shelled and bombed”. Read Aleks’ full journey from Ukraine to the Inner West.

What’s Next for Balmain sans Grandeur?

BSG will be gearing up in November for the Pan Pacific Masters Games on the Gold Coast. After that, the focus will turn to the World Masters Games taking place in Kansai, Japan, in 2027 and the Open Masters Games returning in Lake Como, Italy. Balmain sans Grandeur will be assembling squads for both tournaments, with Aleks ready to make the journey from Europe to once again take his place in the truly international Balmain team!