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Football

Source: Football SA

Football Present Day

  • The history of Australian football is the history of our multicultural nation: the introduction of new cultures and communities, the rise and fall of structures and institutions, the coming together of scattered groups to achieve a common goal.
  • Reports state the highest paid Matilda, Sam Kerr, earned $3.34m from contracts and sponsorships in 2024.
  • The next highest earner was Ellie Carpenter on $1.26m.
  • The remainder of the Matildas’ players earned between $250,000 and $400,000 each.
  • The financial return to players had increased many times over since 2015, when it’s reported the Matildas’ each earned $750 for reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup.
  • However, the pay disparity between the men and women remains very significant.
  • FIFA has pledged to equalise World Cup prizemoney for the men’s and women’s competitions by the year 2027.
  • Australia’s matches at the World Cup in 2023 produced some of TV’s highest ratings since the Sydney 2000 Olympics, with the semi-final against England reaching 11.15 million people.
  • In their negotiations for improved contracts, the players are represented by the players’ union, the Professional Footballers’ Association. They now receive a percentage of revenue plus a base rate.
  • Other benefits for the Matildas’ include an expansion of the pregnancy and parental policy to allow accommodation for children up to the age of four, up from two.
Katrina Gory - Source: Football Australia
Mary Fowler - Source: Football Australia
Sam Kerr - Source: Football Australia
Source: Football Australia

RECORDS. MILESTONES. MOMENTS.

On 25 June 2020, the Australia-New Zealand bid won the hosting rights to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The bid won 22 votes to Columbia’s 13 in a vote of 35 eligible members of the FIFA Council.

75,784

The highest number of spectators for a Matildas’ match at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was 75,784.

Channel 7’s head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said the Matildas’ performance “captured the Australian spirit like nothing we have seen decades.”

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

Women’s early football team 1920s - Source: Football Australia

Pre-1970's

  • By the arrival of the 1900s, Australian women were playing football in social games – in what we might call “pick-up games” today.
  • But the first public match organised through association football was held in Brisbane – at the Gabba – in September 1921.
  • A month later, a crowd of 3,000 watched a match between North and South Brisbane.
  • That momentum was diminished not long after.
  • The English Football Association required clubs to refuse women the use of their grounds on the basis that “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.”
  • They have since apologised.
  • At the same time, an Australian committee also recommended that football was “medically inappropriate” for women, and encouraged females to participate in swimming, rowing, cycling and horseback riding.
  • While practice matches continued in Queensland, the momentum was waning, and women’s football would fall into relative obscurity for decades.

1970's

  • By the early 1970s, the increase in profile of the men’s national team – which included their first participation in the World Cup – overflowed into the women’s game.
  • Regular women’s teams and leagues were established and in 1974 the first national championships were held. SA not yet part of it – until 1978/79.
  • At the end of the 1978/79 championships, officials met to set up the Australian Women’s Soccer Association – to manage and develop the women’s game Australia wide.
  • The nationals were played every year until 1995, expanding to youth and junior divisions as well.
  • Ann Gibbons (nee Robins) played a Co-Founding role with her father, Bob Bush, in establishing the SA Women’s Soccer Association in 1978 after years of discussions with clubs and individuals throughout the 1970s. Bob Bush was elected president.
  • By 1979, the SAWSA had 19 clubs and 340 registered players.
  • After that SA sent its first representative State team to the Australian championships in 1979, finishing fourth.
  • The first State team featured players – Jenny Williams, Jill Kennare, Julie Nagy, and Karen Forde – all of whom also played at State level in cricket and lacrosse. Julie Nagy and Lyn Baker played basketball at State League level.
  • Three SA players were selected in the Australian team to play in the first Women’s International Soccer Test series against NZ in October 1979: Diana Hall, Carla Grims, Fiona McKenzie.
The first SA State team of 1979 - Source: Jenny Williams

1980's

  • In 1980, soon after being affiliated with the national association, SA hosted the Australian championships. SA finished third. Diana Hall and Jill Latimer were selected in the Australian team.
  • Through the 1980s, SA had various changes of State coach and players – and ranged from 6 th to equal first at the nationals.
  • Players – Lyn Baker, Jill Latimer, Arlene Moncrieff, Carla Grims, Sarah Barker, Tracey Jenkins, Moya Dodd, Sonia Gegenhuber, and Mariana Milanovic were included in national squads.
  • Players paid for flights and accommodation, but their Australian tracksuits were free.
  • As the women’s game continued to expand across many countries, demand for a FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament grew. FIFA organised a Women’s Invitational tournament in China in 1988 to test if a global women’s World Cup was feasible. 
  • Australia was one of the 12 nations involved, alongside Brazil (South America), Ivory Coast (Africa), United States and Canada (North America), China PR, Japan, and Thailand (Asia), and Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Czechoslovakia (Europe).
  • Locally, the SA competition was established in 1983, with teams being placed into eight zones, with the winners of each zone playing off for a grand final place.
Matildas team of 1989 - Source: Football Australia

1990's

  • After the let-down of not qualifying for the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup, Australia qualified for the 1995 WC by winning the 94 Oceania Cup for the first time.

  • Since 1995, Australia has qualified for every FIFA Women’s World Cup (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 (as hosts). 

  • 1995 was also the first tournament the team was referred to as the ‘Matildas’. The shortlist for the TV vote was: Socceroos, Lorikeets, Waratahs, Blue Flyers, & Matildas. 

  • After the end of the National Women’s Soccer Championships in 1995, a national league was established in 1996, called the Ansett Summer Series.

  • The initial league comprised six teams – SA being represented by the newly created SA Sports Institute (SASI).

  • SASI lost to Qld 1-2 in the final of the first NWSL 1996/97. Two of the leading goal scorers for the season were from SA: Kristy Moore (9) and Sharon Black (8). Black’s total included a hattrick against Vic. She was also equal top scorer in the 1997/98 season with 9 goals.

  • SASI/SASI Pirates had outstanding success during the 90s, winning the national league title in 1989/90, and finishing runners up three times in 96, 97 and 99.

  • A Federal Senate enquiry into Australian soccer recommended: “The only way to move women and girls forward in this game is for the Australian Soccer Federation to accept that responsibility that they claim they have for all of football in Australia and provide some assistance to women’s football in this emerging time.”

  • Wendy Carter was appointed as Executive Director of SA Women’s Soccer Association from 1998 to 2008.

  • Sharon Black, Moya Dodd and Sonia Gegenhuber were selected in the Football Federation of Australia’s Matildas’ Team of the Decade 1990s.

Matildas 1995 - Source: Football Australia

2000's

  • In 2003 the Australian Women’s Soccer Association – which had administered and developed the women’s game in Australia for almost 30 years – joined the Australian Soccer Association, which then became Football Federation Australia in 2004. 

  • The SA Women’s Soccer Association merged with the men’s administration to become Football SA in 2006.

  • The original WNSL competition disbanded at the end of the 2004 season, at the same times as the men’s NSL, and it was not for another four years that a national domestic league was established with the birth of the W-League.

  • Throughout 2000-2004, SA was represented in the WNSL by Adelaide Sensation. During that time, Sensation’s Jessica Halfpenny, Lia Augimeri, and Lisa De Vanna featured among the top goal scorers, with De Vanna also winning the 2002 Julie Dolan Medal (Player of the Year).

  • Known as the Westfield W-League from 2008-2021 due to commercial naming rights, a new national league was formed in 2008. As of 2021/22, the league became known as the A-League Women.

  • The inaugural teams were Adelaide United, Canberra United, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, Perth Glory, Queensland Roar, Sydney FC.

  • SA’s Di Alagich was named as Adelaide’s first captain. Her brother Richie Alagich was an assistant to coach Michael Barnett.

  • It wasn’t to be a happy next few years for Adelaide with losses outweighing the victories.

  • The Matildas appeared at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. It was the second only time women’s football was part of the Olympic schedule.

  • In front of huge crowds, Australia was drawn to play against world powerhouses – Brazil, Sweden and Germany, drawing 1-1 with Sweden and losing the other two games.

  • SA’s Di Alagich was named in the Football Australia’s Matildas Team of the
    Decade.

2010's

  • In 2014, and with the issuing of the Whole of Football Plan, FFA expressed an intention to bid for a FIFA Women’s World Cup as part of the women’s football 10- year strategy.

  • The 2016 season brought development in the elite state-based competitions for females – with the introduction of the Women’s National Premier League (WNPL) and the Women’s State League (WSL) in line with the men’s NPL and State Leagues.

  • The inaugural season of the Women’s State League consisted of eight teams:
    Adelaide City, Adelaide University, Cumberland United WFC, Fulham United, Metro United WFC, Para Hills Knights, Sturt Marion & West Adelaide.

  • In the A-League Women, Adelaide United WFC initially played their home games at Hindmarsh Stadium. Occasionally they would play in a double-header with the men’s game.

  • As of the 2017/18 season, they played their home games at Marden Sports Complex. In the 2016/17 season.

  • Football Federation SA had one referee, Paula Orlandi, selected by FFA to attend the national junior championships. As a result of an outstanding tournament, Paula Orlandi was ranked as the highest referee. Michelle Smith was appointed as an Instructor by Football Federation Australia.

  • South Australian, Michelle Smith a former FIFA Assistant Referee, was appointed as a Referees’ Instructor by the Football Federation Australia.

  • A multicultural women’s program at Thebarton Senior College hosted more than 30 young women from new arrival backgrounds playing football at the adult re-entry school.

  • By the end of the decade, three of the Football SA Board of Directors were women –Estelle Bowman (vice-president), Wendy Barry, and Jane Rathjen.

  • The 2019 WNPL season saw records broken by a dominant Adelaide City. Adelaide City became the first team in WNPL SA history to win all three titles – the Premiership, Championship and the Cup title. Also, the first team to score over 100 goals in a single season.

  • In November 2019, SA hosted the Matildas for the first time in 13 years. 10,340 spectators watched the Matildas play Chile.

2020's

  • On 25 June 2020, the Australia-New Zealand bid won the hosting rights to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The bid won 22 votes to Columbia’s 13 in a vote of 35 eligible members of the FIFA Council.

  • Adelaide was one of the 11 host cities that ranged from Perth and Launceston to Dunedin and Wellington. The final would be held in Sydney at Stadium Australia.

  • It felt as though the entire nation came together to watch the Matildas’ performances, triumphs and personalities throughout the World Cup.

  • The highest number of spectators for a Matildas’ match at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was 75,784.

  • Channel 7’s head of network sport, Lewis Martin, said the Matildas’ performance “captured the Australian spirit like nothing we have seen decades.” (The Guardian)

  • The global television reach across the tournament was close to 2 billion, courtesy of strong numbers in China, England, Colombia and Spain, among many other nations.

  • The numbers of young girls participating in football across Australia increased manifold.

  • Prior to the WC in 2020, the W-League changed its name to the A-League Women.

  • Adelaide United qualified for the finals’ series of the A-League Women for the first time in the 2021-22 season, ultimately losing the elimination final to Melbourne Victory and taking 3rd place.

  • Adelaide United’s best finish was 5th in the year prior.

  • An examination of SA women’s soccer in the 2020s observed the following:

    • Generally, clubs lack deep historical roots within the local communities (women’s football is a relatively young phenomenon).
    • They also lack significant community visibility, partly because of relative low membership levels and partly because women’s football remains a minority sport.
  • The State Centre for Football built at Gepps Cross was completed in mid-April 2022 and officially opened on 16 July 2022. It has a 7,000 capacity.
  • Football SA’s headquarters are based at the Gepps Cross venue.

  • Adelaide United Women’s team continues to play its games at the Marden Sports Complex with high quality support in terms of facilities, on-site commentators, and professional support around the teams e.g. physiotherapy, sports psychology, conditioning coaches, assistant coaches etc.

  • In season 2024/25, the women and men have an increased number of double headers (with the Adelaide United Men’s team) played at Coopers Stadium at Hindmarsh.

  • Paula Orlandi has been elevated to the match officials panel for A-League Women as an Assistant Referee. Isabella Blaess, a SA female referee, has also been elevated to the A-League Women elite list as a Referee.

  • The 2025 WNPL competition comprised the following teams: Adelaide City,
    Campbelltown City, Metro United, Adelaide Comets, Flinders United, Salisbury Inter, West Adelaide, Football SA, West Torrens Birkalls, Adelaide University.

  • There have been numerous changes to the league since its inception in 2016,

    indicating its success in fostering high quality competition.

Bibliography:

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Football Australia, History of the Matildas, <https://footballaustralia.com.au/history/matildas>

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Samantha Lewis, 19 June 2022, ‘A bunch of ratbag, lesbian feminists’: The coming-out story of the Adelaide Armpits, Australia’s first LGBTQIA+ football club, ABC News, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-19/adelaide-armpits-australias-first-lgbtqia-football-team/101126586>

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Micheal X. Savvas, 5 Dec 2023, Mannum’s Matilda: How Sonia Gegenhuber manifested her dream of playing for Australia, Murray Bridge News, <https://www.murraybridge.news/mannums-matilda-how-sonia-gegenhuber/>

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STORIES OF OUR PIONEERS

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Alison Peek

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Ann Gibbons

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Anna McVann

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Anna Pazera

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Anne Hatchard

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Anne Shanley (Cooper)

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Anne-Marie Knight

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Annie Fidge

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Barb Mattson

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Barbara Bawden

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Barbara Phillips

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Bec Goddard

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Belinda White

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Bobby Milburn

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Brenda Pearl

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Brooke Kruger-Billett

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Carla Boyd

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