I’ve never written about women’s football. The odd match report aside, I’ve never really written about what women’s football means.
I have never written about where it stands in the Australian landscape, its flaws, its beauty.
It’s the harsh reality of 21st century media. The images on your TV screen, the sound in your podcast and the words in your newspaper are dictated by you. You like it, we’ll write it. You click on it, we’ll write more of it. You comment on it, by golly, you can have the spare key to our apartment.
There is no denying the women’s side of the game in Australia is but a mere showroom. We pass through for a look every time a major tournament rolls around. We like what we see, but we were only ever here for a quick glance. A nice place, but it’s more a house for the Kerrigans.
Each time we go back, though, we’re given every reason to stick around. The Matildas are bloody good.
For those not keeping tabs, five consecutive World Cup appearances (quarter-final finishes at the last two), three-time OFC champions back in the Oceania days and a 2010 Asian Cup title to boot.
Perception perhaps remains the elephant in the room. For those who give women’s football a chance, though, that seems a load of bollocks.
A few weeks back I was at Cromer Park as NSW NPL Womens 1 Premiers Macarthur Rams visited Manly United. It snuck into the list of the top five games I’ve watched live this year – around 30 in total – including the A-League grand final and an FFA Cup match.
I had the benefit of not being plagued by low expectations. I knew what to expect, and it delivered.
Although women’s football sits at the bar talking to futsal while the men’s game tears up the dance floor with Delta Goodrem-esque moves, it had its moment in the spotlight on Monday.
FIFA has pledged funding of more than half a million dollars over the next two years to contribute to developing the game at all levels.
Let’s not kid ourselves, it isn’t exactly a windfall – just 2.5 times what each Socceroo made for appearing at the 2014 World Cup – but it’s a pretty big deal.
A tip of the hat to FIFA Executive Committee Member Moya Dodd, who has spent her time on the board of football’s governing body doing something that would be as foreign as her accent to them – instigating real change.
While the overriding ambition is for the Matildas to set up camp among the international powerhouses, with World Cup glory a decade ago according to expectations, the funds will be used to nurture the grassroots game.
The National Women and Girls Football Development program will be kick started by nationwide development officers and a Coaches Mentor Program to focus on improving the standard of girls football and establishing clearer pathways to the top.
FFA Board Member Dodd provided a stark realisation of just how far the game has already come over the last two decades.
“When I was a kid playing football you were like a circus freak, playing a boys game. These days it’s normal to go out and see a whole lot of girls playing every weekend and it’s fantastic the growth the game has seen,” she said.
The long term goal remains to model a system akin to that of Japan, who are perked up at third of the women’s world rankings. Women’s football has always had the dedicated personnel with a desire to initiate a top-down structure, but has been given pocket change to do so.
Hence the significance of FIFA’s cash offering, which provides the chance to prove what can yet be achieved. Sure, this is just the start line with a marathon ahead, but the race is the fun part.
The A-League season is 51 days away. The W-League season kicks off in just 24. Give it a squiz, because the game that keeps on giving surely deserves something in return.
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The Matilda scored the first two of her team's goals in the 4-0 win.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
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