New W-League
offers hope
Aussie 2023 World Cup bid receives boost
A blue plaque was unveiled in a south
Sydney suburb in October, not far from
Botany Bay where Captain Cook made
landfall in 1770 and launched the first
European settlement of Australia. The
plaque, however, was to mark a less
remembered historical landmark: the
birth of the Matildas, Australia’s women’s
football team.
It was at Seymour Park, in October
1979, that Australia played their first
international, a 2-2 draw with New
Zealand. A smattering of spectators
watched the game and media coverage
was negligible.
Four decades on and the Matildas
are now a household brand, the team’s
star player Sam Kerr is a national icon
and Australia wants to host the 2023
Women’s World Cup.
It has been a long haul, with most of
it conducted in the shadows. For many
years the game was widely derided as
an immigrant sport by a public more
interested in cricket, rugby league and
Australian Rules football. The men’s
team reached the World Cup in 1974
and have been regulars in recent
editions, but despite high participation
levels, especially among children, the
A-League has struggled for coverage
in the traditional media.
In what used to be a very male-
orientated society the women’s team
was even less visible, but female sport
is now booming in Australia, with the
Matildas carving out their own niche in
this crowded sporting landscape. Their
World Cup appearance this summer was
closely followed and Kerr’s message to
the critics after they beat Brazil – “suck
on that one” – went viral.
Now significant change is underway,
with Football Federation Australia in the
process of handing over control of the
A-League and W-League to a new body
controlled by the clubs. There is also a
joint TV deal with the main terrestrial
channel, ABC, and ambitious plans to
grow the women’s game. These include
expanding the W-League in terms of
clubs, reach and fixtures, and enhancing
pay and conditions for the players, many
of whom either also have “normal” jobs
or have to fit the Australian season into
a peripatetic global career.
Quite how this will be paid for is
not clear, but the Matildas popularity is
helping attract sponsors and broadcasters
while the potential to improve female
public health has encouraged investment
from state and federal government.
An interesting development is the
appointment of Richard Scudamore,
a key figure in the growth of England’s
Premier League, as an adviser to thenew leagues body.
Hosting the World Cup would hugely
accelerate the game’s development by
attracting funding, inspiring youngsters
and penetrating deep into the national
consciousness. Australia has existing
facilities and infrastructure, a sporting
heritage and hosting expertise after a
successful men’s Asian Cup in 2015.
However, the time difference would be
unpopular with European and American
TV companies and there is competitionwithin the Asian confederation with rival
bids from Japan and South Korea. If
Australia are chosen as the Asian bid
they stand a strong chance as the
“safe” option – but that is a big “if”.
For the Matildas the next challenge
is the Olympics. The final stage of Asian
qualifying is in February and March, with
two going through to Tokyo from the
eight nations left. Ante Milicic, who
took over for the World Cup after the
sacking of Alen Stajcic (a decision so
controversial an independent inquiry
is underway with its report imminent),
will be in charge before moving to new
A-League club Macarthur FC for their
2020-21 debut season.
Milicic can call on a developing young
team who under-achieved in France but
are growing in experience. Kerr is one of
a dozen players featuring in America’s
NWSL, with half of those involved in
the four-club play-offs, while there
is a smattering of players in Europe.
Sixteen-year-old Mary Fowler, newly
recruited by Adelaide United, is one
of nine teenagers to be called up this
year by Milicic.
The W-League’s start was delayed to
14 November due to the late finish of the
NWSL following the World Cup, and the
November international break. Further
complications relating to the new TV
deal and administrative handover meant
fixtures were not released until a few
weeks before the season’s start.
The league, which began in 2008,
has nine clubs covering seven cities (two
apiece in Melbourne and Sydney). Eight
are affiliated with men’s A-League clubs,Glenn Moore
Women’s Football
Matildas...players
from the 1979 team
(front) pose with the
current squadTeen star...Mary
Fowler (right)Female sport is now booming in Australia,
with the Matildas carving out their own niche