Former Football Wagga president Erwin Budde was a figurehead of change after taking on the role in 2013 and laying a platform for growth.

It was a reign that opened with a bang - slashing junior registration fees, and expanding the Pascoe Cup - and continued to fire, with the formation of academy and skills programs as well as establishing Wagga City Wanderers as a state league club.

"It was an extremely challenging time for me and for many in the football community. The pace of change we went through was very rapid, the agenda we had was very ambitious," Budde said.

"But I do look back on it as a very rewarding time, for me personally. And it's fantastic to see that some of the things we did have led to some extremely positive outcomes for the sport. Extremely rewarding."

Budde stepped down as president two years ago but, until this week, had remained at Football Wagga as strategy planning officer and academy manager.

Since 2014, Football Wagga's registration numbers have climbed from around 2000 to 3100 this year.

He believes the current board, led by president Tony Dobbin, can take the game to great heights.

"Absolutely. They're fantastic people who are in there at the moment. They've got a massive amount of energy as you can see and they're continuing to take the sport further to where it is today," he said.

"They're very capable people and the sport's lucky to have them, really."

Budde was also the Wanderers' youth manager last year. It gave him a hands-on role as the club he helped found took a great leap forward when it moved into Canberra's National Premier League, complete with junior teams.

The Wanderers program is underpinned by the growth in participation. In the 5-11 years age group, Football Wagga's participation levels have climbed from under 900 five years ago to 1500 now, after the bold opening gambit.

"We did what most people never do - lower your fees. I still think it was one of the best things we did. It just made the sport more accessible and created a massive positive environment and atmosphere around the sport, which helped with momentum for change," he said.

Budde, who has also been a vice-president and president at Lake Albert in his time in Wagga, said change is what he's most proud of.

"One of the things that I can look back on with pride and also look forward with enthusiasm is the mentality change," he said.

"Not just at elite level but at local level, there's not as much anxiety around change and a bit more grasping of opportunities.

"We can see that already today with the stuff that's happening with Rawlings Park and the Sydney FC opportunities the city's had.

"I suppose it was a paradigm shift in the way of thinking within the sport which hopefully will leave a great legacy for future administrators and future participators to build upon, and continue that momentum we put in place about four or five years ago."

Budde and his family are moving to Brisbane as he pursues his career. He said the achievements at Football Wagga have hit close to home too, through his children Sebastian and Cassie's love of the game.

"I've been very lucky that both of my kids have been able to take advantage of some of the great work that the team did, in both setting the SAP and academy programs up and then obviously the NPL programs for the boys and the girls," he said.

"My kids have enjoyed being part of that, and they've been very lucky to have been able to do that."

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