[2] On 31 December 2020, Football Australia announced that the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) would be separated from the governing body.

APL will assume responsibility for operational, commercial, and marketing activities, while Football Australia will continue to manage disciplinary and integrity matters, as well as the registration of clubs, players and officials, transfers, and match scheduling.

[7][8][9] On 12 December 2022, the APL announced that the 2023, 2024 and 2025 grand finals would be hosted in Sydney,[10] as part of a A$15 million deal with Destination NSW.

[11][12] Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix both released a statement shortly after the announcement, saying that "they will always prefer to play any grand final that they earn the right to host, at their home ground".

[16] Adelaide United's chairman, Piet van der Pol commented that the club does not have a place on the APL's 7-person board, and thus was not a part of the decision making.

[28] a month later on 10 May, The Cove called off the boycott ahead of their semi-final match against Melbourne City, following the APL's announcement that all 13 clubs had committed to establishing a fan representative group.

[31][32][33] Two days later, APL CEO Danny Townsend left his role to take up a new job in the Middle East after two years in charge.

[34] On 16 January 2024, it was announced that a large amount of the Australian Professional Leagues' workforce had been made redundant, and were laid-off.

[35][36] On 3 July 2024, the money distributed to clubs for the 2024–25 A-League Men season was reduced from over $2,000,000 to $530,000,[37] due to the administration's overambitious spending.