Jill Latimer’s first soccer game in Australia was with a high school team’ “Playing my first-ever game was so exciting, I did not sleep for a week, even taking my very first football boots to bed with me,” she said.
Growing up in Liverpool, Jill Latimer’s family, like thousands of other Brits, were football-mad and their beloved team was of course Liverpool.
Her skills and passion for the game were obvious, and she remembers as an 8-year-old old practicing kicking a ball against a wall “which drove everyone in the house mad.”
At age 10, the family emigrated to Australia, but playing soccer was still denied her. Neither country offered competitions for females.
“Regardless, I never gave up and continued to practice on my own or with my brothers, running rings around them both,” she says.
At high school a girls’ team was formed, finally. “Playing my first-ever game was so exciting, I did not sleep for a week, even taking my very first football boots to bed with me.”
In 1979 Latimer was picked for her first state team, representing SA in Darwin. “I almost burst with excitement,” she recalls.
But it was playing for Australia that really drove her. “I trained by myself every day (outside of club training) running 20km and using every lunch break to practice.”
Funding for the women’s national team was sparse and often participation in tournaments was cancelled as a result.
Her first tournament 1981 in NZ for the Trans-Tasman Cup was underwhelming in some ways: “Less than 50 people attended the tournament, there were no sponsors, no banners, corporate boxes, or grandstands, no dignitaries to address the small crowd, no national anthems were played, and the little publicity we got was usually a disrespectful line in the press like: “Gorgeous goal getters.”
After 1981, Latimer was chosen for Australia several more times but once again no trips were planned due to lack of funding.
But the breakthrough came in 1987 when she was chosen to represent Australia (Cap number 49) v Hong Kong in Chinese Taipei as a forerunner to playing in China at the 1988 Women’s World Invitational Tournament.
“This was the first time we had big crowds of around 20,000 people. Admittedly all the schools were let out to watch us, but it didn’t matter. The atmosphere was amazing, and it was so great to play against some of the best players in the world.”
Latimer also won the SAWSA Player of the Year and the Golden Boot Award in 1987, the B&F Player Award for the SA State team three times (1985, 86, 87) and the B&F Player Award at club level a telling 14 times.
As a coach she was involved with various clubs including the SA Women’s State Team, Elizabeth West HS, Dinamo WSC, Annesley College, Concordia College, & Adelaide Uni WSC.
Jill Latimer was inducted into the Football SA Hall of Fame as a member for Outstanding Performance.
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