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Football Federation Australia (FFA) has honoured the first ever women’s international match by congratulating that team alongside the current Westfield Matildas.
It’s been 40 years since the Matildas took part in their first full international, which was on October 6th 1979 at Seymour Shaw Park in Sydney, playing in a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
It paved the way for future women players to get involved, with the Matildas still going strong.
Both the past and present have come together at the same venue they started in a special occasion for women’s football.
It’s a time to thank the inaugural members of the Matildas for their contributions that helped encourage other women to get involved and sustain the Matildas side till now.
“These athletes started a movement, not just a team, which has now become one of the most powerful, popular and recognisable in Australia, said FFA chairman Chris Nikou.
“Many of these women worked full time, while playing for the national team and for many years, this continued to be the case.
“There have been 204 Matildas represent our country in ‘A’ internationals over the past 40 years and today we celebrate each of them and thank them for their contribution to our sport.
“Later this month Cheryl Salisbury will become the first female footballer to be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, which rightly recognises the sacrifices and efforts of our female footballers over this time.
“Today many of our Westfield Matildas are full time professional footballers, many playing around the world and when they represent their national team today on home soil, it is in front of big crowds.
“We recognise there is still work to do to ensure our female athletes have more opportunities on and off the park from the grassroots up to our national teams, but today we look back and celebrate the immense strides made.”
From humble beginnings, the Matildas have grown into one of the best women’s football sides in the world.
It goes to show the massive inroads that have been made in the last 40 years and which will continue to be made.
He’s one of the biggest names in Australian football right now. Ange Postecoglou is continuing to put the land down under on the footballing map internationally.
Fresh off guiding Celtic to the Scottish Premiership title, there are now recent talks of where Australia’s coaching darling will be headed next. Some are suggesting he should set his sights to the English Premier League.
This includes former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, who spoke on Optus Sport’s GegenPod Football Podcast.
“I don’t get the argument that he can’t manage in the Premier League,” he said.
“Look at his track record, it speaks for itself. I think people would have sat up and noticed the job he’s done at Celtic.”
Postecoglou has won over Scottish fans just as he did in Australia at club level, with South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar.
Closer to home, it’s not just fans he’s won over though. Very few involved in football have anything bad to say about the newly-crowned Celtic champion manager.
But much like the initial reception that Postecoglou found in Scotland, it wasn’t always this way, as outlined by Football Coaches Australia President, Phil Moss.
“I had a few friends, particularly Rangers fans, who were let’s just say encouraging me to reach out to Ange and warn him against taking the job, it was that strong a feeling from certain sections,” he told Soccerscene.
“I just smiled and waved really. As anyone who knows Ange – and I’m not professing to know him very closely – but I’ve had some dealings with him over the years, and it was always going to be successful.
“Ange eats that sort of pressure for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If he decided that was the job for him, then you knew he was going to turn into a success.”
Moss is optimistic that Postecoglou is paving the way for Australian coaches overseas. Having previously coached at the J-League’s Yokohama F. Marinos, the Celtic move was one of the biggest in the history of Australian coaching.
But alongside the likes of Kevin Muscat (Sint-Truiden and Yokohama), Harry Kewell in England, and Alen Stajcic (Philippines women’s national team), he’s overcoming the obstacles that get in the way of Australian coaches.
“The main obstacle is our lack of profile down here when it comes to European circles and competitions,” Moss continued.
“If you look at a Steven Gerrard for instance, Ange’s CV leaves his in coaching terms a long way behind. But Ange obviously doesn’t have the profile from his playing career.
“He’s formally in the A-League and NSL as well, but let’s not forget the success he had with South Melbourne in the National Soccer League.
“What its done is a couple of things. Initially when players first started going overseas from Australia it opens doors, and it sparks interest of people in positions of power over in Europe that Aussies know how to play.
“This will now certainly let people understand that we know how to coach.
“It opens doors and gives coaches in Australia the confidence to know that they can aspire to rise to a higher level, despite maybe not having a high profile European playing career.”
Despite Postecoglou and other international coaches’ successes, the FCA still faces challenges at home when it comes to their own coaches.
“Our role at FCA is to go on the journey with the coaches,” Moss said.
“A key part of our work at the moment is working towards aligning our AFC/FA coaching badges with UEFA. At the moment, if you go through the AFC/FA coaching licenses, that doesn’t align to Europe.
“For coaches like Ange and Kevin Muscat, they’ve all had to go through or are going through a process of aligning their qualifications.
“It’s a big issue because it basically means any coach going through the AFC coaching pathway at the moment is reassessing if that’s the right pathway for them at the moment.”
And although many Australian coaches are still facing issues reaching their potential in a position in a European league, Postecoglou is well and truly a trailblazer.
“We’ve got to put this into context, he took over what local pundits were saying was the worst Celtic squad in 30 years where they lost the last league title by 25 points,” Moss said.
“That is a massive turnaround, just to get even with Rangers, let alone beat them to the title this season. As Ange said the other night, to fit two seasons into one – with a rebuilding season and a season for the title – is a phenomenal effort.”
Social media platform TikTok has been announced as an official partner of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.
This year’s tournament will see TikTok utilised to amplify women’s football and to showcase some of the world’s best talents to the global football fanbase.
TikTok’s European General Manager, Rich Waterworth, had the following to say about the announcement:
“The move builds on the success of our partnership with UEFA for EURO 2020 and the incredible growth of women’s sport on TikTok,” he said.
“Alongside our landmark Title Sponsorship of the Women’s Six Nations rugby competition and unique partnership with Burnley FC Women who stream all their home games live on TikTok, we’ve seen everything from England’s Lionesses taking us behind-the-scenes, to Spain’s women’s Primera División sponsor Iberdrola showcasing the pride and passion of women’s football through #JueganComoChicas (#PlayLikeGirls), and football freestylers like Lia Lewis inspiring young women to get into the beautiful game.
“All this has led TikTok to become a cultural home for all sports fandom across Europe, with the hashtag #womeninsports racking up almost a billion views.
“With the tournament kicking off on 6 July across England, our community can get involved in a variety of creative ways, from using our innovative special effects and sounds in their videos, to joining in with TikTok LIVEs and EUROs-inspired hashtag challenges. Look out for an official UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 TikTok account ahead of the tournament, which aims to inspire and entertain the global football community with exclusive behind-the-scenes content, plus current and archival footage.”
Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of UEFA, added to the statement:
“We are thrilled to once again partner with TikTok, this time for the biggest UEFA Women’s EURO ever,” he said.
“With the TikTok football community ever-growing with teams, fans, creators and associations, we are looking forward to showcasing this summer’s premiere sporting event featuring some of the greatest women’s footballers in the world through unique, creative and engaging content. It’s an exciting time to be a football fan.
“Since our partnership with UEFA for EURO 2020, we have seen TikTok become the home of football fandom; with creators, players and nations alike coming together to share their passion for the beautiful game, in a uniquely TikTok way. We are delighted to continue this partnership as the Official Entertainment Platform of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, and to build on our joint efforts to promote equality and inclusion in football through TikTok’s #SwipeOutHate campaign and UEFA’s #EqualGame.
“We cannot wait to see our community show their support for the women’s game, as we make this year’s championship even more accessible to our global community.”
