Australian football rebrands under gender-neutral A-Leagues banner

The leagues will now be known at A-League Men and A-League Women

Australia’s women’s football league will now be called A league women (Getty Images)

Australia’s men and women’s top flight football leagues have been rebranded under the same umbrella and they have made history in doing so.

The men’s A-League will now be known as A-League Men and the women’s W-League will be A-League Women. The Y-League is also changing and will be named A-League Youth. The change of name means the football top flight is the first male domestic sport competition to classify a men’s league.

It’s the first major move from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) who took control of the leagues in December 2020 from Football Australia.

The governing body said they spoke to fans, coaches and players about the change before approving it and that they would be releasing a new website and social media channels.

APL managing director Danny Townsend said: “The APL is all about football – it’s not men’s football or women’s football – it’s just football. Bringing the female game up onto a level playing field with the men was something we felt really strongly about.

“That means delivering a world-class experience on and off the pitch, and inspiring the next generation of A-Leagues superstars to fulfil their highest potential. This is just the beginning of our ambitious, long-term vision for the growth of football in Australia.”

This change is one that has been called for in different sports in the country as Australia cricket captain Meg Lanning called for the W in the WBBL to be dropped to follow the men’s Big Bash League.