Urban Reverie

I couldn’t be prouder of our #matildas right now.

Tonight’s result against Sweden was not the result we wanted. But just reflect on this - out of 195 countries on this planet, Australia came fourth in the global tournament of women’s football.

Australia - a country in which soccer is only the fourth or fifth most watched sport.

Australia - a country at the far end of the planet, incredibly remote from the truly competitive football confederations such as UEFA and their championships.

Australia - a country where women’s team sports are so often ridiculed and ignored.

The Matildas did so much not only to advance the cause of women’s sport but also the cause of LGBT folk - this magnificent team, half of whom are lesbian, did far more to teach the world about inclusion and tolerance than a thousand pride parades and a million FIFA-banned rainbow armbands.

The Tillies didn’t just come fourth in a World Cup - did any of you seriously expect in your lifetimes to be able to say with a straight face that Australia reached the final four in a football World Cup? - but they united an entire country behind them, twenty-six million hearts beating as one.

They smashed television viewership records. The first moon landing? Charles & Diana’s wedding? Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe at the Sydney Olympics? Elizabeth II’s funeral? All smashed.

Aug 19, 2023 at 10:46amWeb
Show threadUrban ReverieAug 19, 2023

They are now household names. Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and of course Mackenzie Arnold with her superhuman goalkeeping abilities.

The Tillies showed us the very best of Australia, they showed the world what we can be - diverse, inclusive, progressive, egalitarian, gutsy, determined.

Perhaps more importantly, they have raised the status not only of women’s soccer but of women’s sport. Nobody will laugh at NRLW or AFLW again. Nor should they. Why should women’s team sports be held in lesser regard just because of the gender of the players on the field? Why are they less deserving of us buying stadium tickets or watching them on telly than the men?

And now a generation of young girls who were enthralled watching the Matildas on TV screens across our country can now grow up and dream that maybe one day, with enough talent and hard work, they can have an entire country cheer them on too at a future World Cup.

#GoMatildas !!!