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Wollongong Wolves are going national. There’s just one problem - they have nowhere to play
By Sacha Pisani28 August 2026
Wollongong Wolves are preparing to represent the Illawarra on the national stage again but less than two months out from the Australian Championship, the NPL NSW outfit still do not know where they will play their home games.
The two-time National Soccer League champions are racing to secure a venue ahead of the competition’s October 16 kick-off after missing Football Australia’s initial August 17 deadline to nominate a home ground.
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Wollongong - one of eight foundation Australian Championship participants heading into this year’s second edition - have since been granted an extension.
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At the centre of the situation is WIN Stadium, the Illawarra’s premier sporting venue and the Wolves’ recognised NPL NSW home ground. But the historic Australian club believe the cost of playing there is once again proving prohibitive, with talks between Wollongong and Venues NSW continuing.
It is not the first time the issue has followed the Wolves onto the national stage. The club played their 2025 Australian Championship home matches at Collegians Sports Centre after WIN Stadium was deemed financially unviable.
Now, with another Australian Championship campaign approaching, Wollongong are again searching for somewhere to call home.
Head coach and Socceroos great Luke Wilkshire said via the Illawarra Mercury: "It's unacceptable that we're even having to consider leaving the region to play our Australian Championship games.
“WIN Stadium is a white elephant. The ground hardly gets used. There's got to be some way they can help a national team play on the best stadium in the region.
“I've learned through my experiences in life not to take common sense for granted. Because it would be common sense that there's some form of support.”
"We've got such an iconic stadium that sits there and does absolutely nothing for 95% of the year. It's there for the people of the region. And for them to price out this sort of opportunity for the people of the region and a club of the region is nothing short of disgraceful, simple as that.
"I'm dumbfounded and disgusted that we would have to contemplate taking national games, broadcast all over Australia, outside of our region, to get a good stadium and pitch and facility to play on.
"They're talking about doing upgrades and spending X amount of millions of dollars on a stadium that does not get used and is not fit for purpose for the people of this region.
“So what for? It's disgusting. We've struggled with training facilities, playing facilities, everything in this region. But now we are competing on the national stage, and there is a stadium there that's been used, what, five times a year.”
“They've got full-time staff. Full-time groundsman to do what? Manicure the back garden that doesn't get used. It's disgusting. The players, the club, and the people of the region deserve to be able to have access to this stadium at a reasonable cost.
"We're not saying give it to us for free. We're saying give this to us at a reasonable cost and allow people to enjoy the game and the iconic stadium that is here for the region's use."
