Football Victoria has announced women’s football pioneer and former Matilda Andrea Martin into the FV Hall of Fame.
As a towering defender with a powerful shot, Martin was a crucial member of a dominant Greensborough team that won 10 consecutive Victorian Women’s Soccer Association (VWSA) League Championships. When women’s football first took to the field in an organised manner in 1974, she was one of the ground-breaking stars who quickly established herself at this time.
Her debut for Victoria in the inaugural Australian Women’s Soccer Association (AWSA) Championships kick-started an unparalleled 20-year representative career.
Playing for Greensborough at the heart of defence at the tender age of 15, she impressed enough to gain state honours and would represent Victoria at the AWSA National Championships at the conclusion of the League season.
A year later, she helped steer Greensborough to its maiden Championship (the first of 10 consecutive wins between 1975 and 1984) and was selected in the Australian All-Star team at the National Championships – an honour she would collect again in 1976 as Victoria finished runners-up in Melbourne for the first time. Martin missed the Nationals in 1980 due to injury but would appear in every other edition of the tournament throughout the 1980s.
Martin’s national highlights included the tour of Hawaii in March of 1983, with six matches played in just eight days and part of the squad that mustered up four wins and a draw against all opposition. She played every match of the 1986 Oceania Cup, scoring the only goal in the final against Taiwan. Her longevity in the game solidified her place in Football Australia’s team of the decade.
Football Victoria President Antonella Care celebrated Martin’s induction in a statement:
“Andrea Martin’s contribution to Victorian football is truly remarkable. She influenced and inspired countless women and girls throughout her illustrious career,” she said.
“To complement her many accolades, Martin is likely the most capped senior player, male or female, in Victorian representative history. It is an honour to induct her into the Football Victoria Hall of Fame.”
Football Victoria CEO Kimon Taliadoros added via press release:
“At club, national and state level, Andrea Martin had an enormous impact both on and off the field,” he said.
“She was a pioneer in every sense of the word. Martin and others like her played a vital role in shifting the mentality around female football in an era where it was often overlooked.”
A snapshot of Andrea Martin’s playing career
Playing record:
- 1974-84: Greensborough (over 150 league/cup appearances)
- 1985-87 – Nunawading City
- 1988 – Monash University
- 1989-90 – Box Hill
- 1991-94 – Heidelberg United
- 1995 – Doncaster Rovers
Representative record:
- Australia 1983-86: 10 appearances 1 goal
- Victoria 1974-94: 18 National Championships
- Northern Territory 1995-96: 2 National Championships
Personal honours:
- Australian All-Star team (1975, 76)
- Australian Sports Medal 2000
- VWSA League Champions x10 (1975, 76, 77, 78, 79, 1980, 81, 82, 83, 84)
- VWSA Cup Winners x8 (1975, 76, 78, 79, 1980, 81, 82, 83)
- VWSA inaugurated the Jones-Martin Award in 1990 for the most valuable Youth Team Member in honour of Theresa Jones (Deas) and Andrea Martin.
- Football Australia Team of the Decade (1979-89)
