As the men’s national football side limped its way through World Cup qualification and into Russia 2018 last week, it was the women’s team that was promoting pride in Australian football.
Move over the Socceroos; there’s a much better product in town.
While the Socceroos have struggled against the international minnows of the Middle East and Asia, the Matildas won the Tournament of Nations in August, in the process taking down powerhouses Brazil and the United States. This is the equivalent of the Socceroos defeating any European nation during next year’s World Cup – and despite the Aussie grit and determination shown to bypass Syria and Honduras, I don’t like their chances.
Back in Australia the Matildas twice more accounted for the Brazilians, led by champion Marta, in front of packed houses of 16,000 and 15,000 in Penrith and Newcastle.
But we shouldn’t be surprised. Women have been saving the embarrassments of Australia’s male athletes for decades. Just think: where would have Australia finished in the last few Olympic Games without the performances of our female swimmers and rowers? We would have been down in the depths of the medal tally we as a nation don’t know exist!
Yet despite women’s success on the international stage, the best way to sell women’s sport has traditionally been to sexualise it. Males control sporting bodies and therefore control women’s sport. You can’t tell me people watch lingerie football for the sporting element.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
But now the Matildas have a product that can be sold to the world. It’s not 11 models in front of the camera anymore; their product is quality football, currently the best there is in the world.
The success of the Matildas and their subsequent exposure in 2017 has been unprecedented, and now it is time to bring this success all the way to the bank.
The first step for the Matildas would be to find a new primary sponsor. Westfield is part of the falling Lowy football empire, the Australian football dynasty that is on its knees as dissatisfied clubs and an impending FIFA intervention circle to bring widespread reform to the governance of Australian football.
Westfield’s sponsorship of the Matildas limits the exposure that the Australian women’s game can attract globally from their recent successes.
The Matildas are not playing in the same ballpark as the Socceroos. While the Socceroos’ relationships with Caltex and Qantas have helped both the team and brand dominate Asia, the Matildas have bigger fish to fry. Success against the USA and Brazil put them in the upper echelons of the women’s game, which must be capitalised on corporately.
As the Matildas fill AAMI Park and Kardinia Park this week against China, only Australians will recognise the Westfield signs and advertising surrounding the ground. Promoting the Matildas in a small and already overcrowded Australian football market doesn’t help the game, but if Qantas was the sponsor of the Matildas, such an internationally recognised company that would open new doors.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull).
And then there’s the Samantha Kerr factor. You couldn’t have imagined such a perfect athlete to be the face of Australian football. One of the best players in the world, Kerr is young, supremely talented and the hottest property in the women’s game. While the Socceroos continue to struggle to find ways to score without the intervention of Tim Cahill’s ageless forehead, the Matildas have a goal-scoring machine. And if it’s not Kerr putting the ball in the back of the net, it’s one of Lisa De Vanna, Kyah Simon or Caitlin Foord.
Kerr and cricket and football superstar Ellyse Perry are the new faces of women’s sport. Perry has led the revolution in women’s cricket, where now the Big Bash League and women’s Ashes receives significant coverage and following from the media and public alike. Kerr can do the same for the Matildas and the W-League but on a global scale.
Football has the highest participation of any sport in Australia at the grassroots level. This does not, however, indicate the strength of the sport. Even though it has unquestioned support at lower levels, its code competitors in the AFL and NRL generate significantly higher crowds, television audiences and media noise during their offseason than the A-League. That is a serious worry.
There is now a global market for women’s sport, and it is something that the Matildas must capitalise on. If David Gallop and the other bigwigs at Football Federation Australia are serious about being bigger than the AFL and NRL, they must use their largest competitive advantage: international footprint.
To gain international acceptance and interest in Australia has a football nation the Matildas are our best shot.
Brainstrust
Guest
I think its very misleading to call that tournament an alternative tournament to UEFA, its somewhat cringeworthy. There is talk for an alternative tournament for the Us mens because they didn;t qualify for the world cup. The USA has its own confederation championship which it has a perfect record in. The USA also has more world cups and Olympic medals than the whole of Europe combined in womens football Brazil has almost a perfect record in their confederation. This tournament was more important because it gives the US and Brazil better opposition than they get in their local confederation. It also gave Australia and Japan a chance to play the no 1 in the USA.
chris
Guest
No point in trying to correct the author as I doubt he really cares. The headline of the article suggested ways of cashing in on the Matildas popularity. What the article delivered was a bunch of false statements (out of ignorance) and yet another derogatory article by a non football supporter telling us how "sokkah is not that big".
Adam
Roar Guru
I have no idea why you think trashing the Socceroos brand would some how help the brand of the Matildas? They are the same product, national football teams. I for one want women's sport to continue to grow - but it doesn't have to be a zero sum affair. Women's and men's sport should be able to co-exist alongside each other. You do also realise the Westfield group is worth billions of dollars?
Betty B
Guest
Well thank you for writing about the women's game Tom, even though I have to agree with the other posters here, that your article is somewhat misguided. The Matildas are now preparing for the Asia Cup 2018, to be held in Jordan, which also serves as qualifiers for World Cup 2019, in France. So they're at a critical stage of development, to put the China matches coming up into a bit of perspective. The Matildas came to prominence with wins over USA, Brazil and Japan in the Tournament of Nations earlier this year, a friendly invitational tournament organised by the US for teams not competing in the Euro 2017 (European Cup). Two teams that rose to prominence in the Euros were the Netherlands and Denmark. Netherlands beat the highly fancied England 4-0 in the semi final, and Denmark 4-2 in the final. Netherlands and Denmark are ranked 7 and 12 respectively, in FIFA's rankings, both below Australia at 6. All three are rising, on recent results while the higher ranked USA (#1) Germany (2), England (3) and France (4) are rebuilding for 2019. So maybe the shape of women's football is changing at present, with the Matildas, Netherlands and Denmark pushing themselves up the rankings. China are no easy beats, having recently drawn with Brazil, and are ranked fourth in Asia behind Japan and Korea DPR, with Korea ROK in quick pursuit. Australia is #1 in Asia but has won the Asia Cup just once (2010), versus China's 8 times. and yes, they don't have to look sexy to play well.
Wayne
Roar Guru
Australia (Ranked 6) defeated Brazil (Ranked 9).
Brainstrust
Guest
What counts in Australia is whether you better than the opposition, if no one else plays the sport then your considered even better because your always the best at it and by a bigger margin. Women are only equivalent to men at 13 years old in the 100m so forget about being actually better than men they will struggle athletically against 14 year olds. Matildas became the clear no 1 womens team in the world in that tournament forget the rankings.. Womens game is not like the men, US womens team get paid for the national team and not their club teams, and all their big endorsements come from their national team and a home based tournament is a higher priority than club football. This wasn't an exhibition for highly paid overworked mens club players its the main game. Beating the no 1 team in the home country and thrashing two top 10 teams as well makes them the best. Samantha Kerr in the middle of the year transformed into a scoring machine the like that has never been seen before. She wasnt even a guaranteed starter in her US team before that, even the current season she was left on the bench at the start of it. There has never ever been a player that could play for a poorer team in the toughest league that could engineer come back from behind victories 11 vs 11 with multiple hatricks. The closest would be how Maradona helped Napoli before he turned to other indulgences. Maradona his workrate was never that good unlike Kerr and later in the career he worked even less. The rest of the team are competive with the best teams in the world, its only Kerr that makes them the best. We saw how Italy dealt with Maradona in 82 getting probably about 20 yellow card offences on him in the one match, Pele was hacked out of 66 world cup with the English and Germans conspiring together and with the referees to take him out. Kerr will have the biggest target on her. When its a world cup or an Olympic medal on the line in the womens they will do whatever it takes.
chris
Guest
Here we go again lol Can you write a story about the AFL draft instead of embarrassing yourself with this tripe.
chris
Guest
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
First of all, it's never a great idea to promote the women's team by trashing the men's team, it just makes you look petty and desperate. Second, Limped? We won 3-1
Jordan Beadell
Roar Rookie
You realize the trophy the won wasn't the Confederations Trophy.
Nemesis
Guest
Ridiculous opinion piece. Filled with Alt-Facts, conclusions based on false premises & overall absurd commentary.
Not so super
Guest
Probably one of the most delusional and incorrect articles I've read here Move over the Socceroos; there’s a much better product in town. That was the worst but the misguided and irrelevant comments about Westfield sponsorship weren't much better