Opinion
It’s what you don’t know about the Matildas that makes them miraculous
Lucy Zelic
Sports presenter and journalistIf you’ve managed to collect your breath after the Matildas’ blockbuster against France, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was all just a dream. With almost every match, the team has created history, elevated its status on the world stage, smashed broadcasting records and romanced Australians beyond all reason and rhyme.
Saturday’s penalty shootout spectacular was the most-watched sporting moment in two decades, aired at multiple fan sites across the country. Even football’s arch nemesis, the AFL, showed it at the MCG.
The Matildas were watched by millions on Saturday night.Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
The vision of fans flocking to the stadium concourse to continue watching the unmissable fixture, coupled with the viral footage from onboard a flight where almost every single seat-back screen was tuned to Cortnee Vine’s winning kick was proof that women’s football is living out its fairytale, on the ground, in the sky, everywhere ...
What’s clear is that the fascination with this enchanting squad has transcended football entirely. The sudden obsession has been years in the making. The domestic game has doggedly attempted to attract attention for years. Now the international team’s success is a culmination of everything the brand represents: a symbol of hope for children, an adored global icon, the Australian mentality of “never say die” and a truly winning culture, underpinned by a group of inspiring women.
Who can we credit for this success? Look no further than the players. At every obstacle, they have rallied, fought and pursued their dreams with the kind of vigour reserved only for the truly extraordinary – and perhaps even a little crazy.
Since the team’s inception in 1974, the Matildas’ past has been chequered with missteps and injustices that make its success even more meritorious. What we’re witnessing now is a culmination of the efforts of both past and present players who never took no for an answer and dreamed of creating opportunities for the next generation.
From playing in empty stadiums to controversial calendar shoots, player strikes and a courtroom showdown, its history has been confronting at times.
Over the course of my career, I’ve been lucky enough to see behind the scenes and get to know the women donning the green and gold. Never-say-die women like former Matildas star Joey Peters, who earned 110 caps between 1996 and 2009 and wore hand-me-downs from the Socceroos, paid for her own flights to compete in tournaments and received as little as $40 for her efforts.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and although former Matildas midfielder Tracie McGovern says she has “no regrets” over the nude calendar shoot sold to generate funding for the team, many of her teammates do, and believe they should have never been put in that position.
Tracie McGovern says she has no regrets about the nude calendar.Credit: Reuters
Speaking to W-League players in 2016, I was shocked to learn that many of them were paying their own medical expenses and getting changed in car parks due to a lack of facilities.
“I don’t get paid at all from the club. I have never received any form of payment for playing,” one player told me.
“My season salary equated to approximately $6 per hour,” said another.
The truly defining moment, however, came after the Matildas’ historic run at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals and were ultimately knocked out by Japan.
There was jubilation surrounding the team’s success but much of it was confined to the Australian football fraternity. There was no broadcast ratings blitz. Matildas’ mania didn’t captivate the country.
Less than two months later, a group of Matildas players announced they were going on strike and abandoning their trip to America to take on the United States in a series of friendlies, citing terrible pay and conditions.
I remember interviewing 2014 Asian Player of the Year and Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry, her eyes welling with tears as she spoke: “I just wish that they could spend a year in our shoes. The commitments that we have, and the sacrifices we have to make. I am considering retiring in the next few years purely because I can’t afford it. I want to move out, I want to do those things.”
Through shared strength and solidarity, they achieved equal pay with their Socceroos counterparts, a maternity leave policy, sold-out stadiums, and contracts with the best teams in the world. But most importantly, sustainable careers were within reach.
Yes, it’s taken success for the team to receive the recognition it deserves, and for the fair-weather fans to see the sunshine it brings. But it has cleverly used it as leverage to ensure that whatever happens from here on, its dreams will become reality long after this tournament is over.
Little boys are wearing Sam Kerr jerseys. Fairytales do come true, it’s just a football boot rather than a glass slipper, and these Cinderella stories didn’t need a prince to put it on – they did it all themselves.
Lucy Zelic is a television sports presenter and journalist.