On Australia Day 2012, football people across the land can take particular pride in our game's continuing contribution to Australian society in the new millennium.

Football is the sporting movement that truly reflects the 'face' of Australia in all its diversity. Our game, like no other, transcends all the apparent divides in the community; across gender, age, linguistic, political, ethnic, cultural and religious lines.

Football's greatest strength in the Australian context is its inclusive nature. We welcome people from all walks of life and all places on the globe, on and off the field.

This says much about the pure simplicity of the game. You don’t need much space, any specific equipment or understanding of complicated rules. A round ball and a joy for the simple skills is all it takes.

The sheer numbers of football participants in every town and city across the nation is an emphatic marker of the game's influence in society. More people play football than any other team sport and that inevitably means more football conversations around dinner tables.

The game gets people moving, talking, sharing and caring about each other, but the impact on so many lives is deeper than being a popular pastime.

On this day last year, Ali Abbas, born in Baghdad, now a midfielder for the Newcastle Jets, became an Australian citizen. Football is woven through his amazing story of seeking asylum in Australia while here the Iraqi Under-23 squad made global headlines.

Now, Ali is just one of dozens of players in the Hyundai A-League who provide a multicultural fabric to the competition.

Our A-League players are overwhelmingly Australian-born and bred and our game is now very much part of mainstream society.

However, like Australia itself, we can trace our heritage to the many communities that have provided the bedrock for the game; the British, Italian, Greek, the Balkan nations and so it goes.

In more recent times the trend has continued with Asian, South American and African influences. Stick a pin in an atlas and chances are you find a link to Australian football.

On Australia Day 2012, the Melbourne Victory will showcase football’s influence on society and its multicultural character with the U-NITE celebration.

The idea is to use football to bring together Melbourne’s richly diverse communities. I commend Melbourne Victory Chairman Anthony Di Pietro and his board and management for this initiative.

The Victory blockbuster against Sydney FC (4pm kick off) will have a number of U-NITE activities from 12noon.

If you are in Melbourne and wondering how to celebrate Australia Day, I can think of no better way than joining the U-NITE celebration, then catching a top-class game of A-League at AAMI Park.

What you’ll see is Australian society writ large in all its diversity, embracing the great game of football.