A good read, thanks Mike.
I sit back now in the afterglow, reliving the glorious moments of what I regard as the most successful World Cup for women, ever held.
There were so many for this football-loving geriatric. The brick wall that was called Macca who stood tall against a wave of French shots that a lesser person might not have kept out. A turn, a dip of a shoulder, a 40-yard pass to a running teammate, who incidentally, gave her the ball to start with, that in itself should earn Mary a starting spot at City, if they even bothered to watch it. Then of course that goal, OMG, but then again, it is what Sam does. If anyone hasn’t seen it yet there is another one similar when playing for Chelsea, where she traps it on her chest, turns and volley’s past the best Goalkeeper in the world, according to some. Only to win the League mind you, no pressure.
Most are not surprised by my bias towards the Matildas, after all, they are my team. But I was stunned to watch Brazil produce a bit of footballing magic in Adelaide, as only the Brazilians can do. Or watch Spain dance the ball around playing keepy-offs against every other team, except Japan, no sorry, they did try that, but Japan had the answer, not once but 4 times. If I was stunned, I wonder how the Spanish felt. I saw goalkeepers from Europe, from Africa, from the America’s and of course from our own region of Asia, defy gravity by sailing through the air and straining every muscle to tip a ball around a post or over the bar. What amazed me more than anything, most people didn’t see the splendour of what they did, but just saw it as ‘normal’.
I watch emerging nations and thought, hell, how good would these players be if they were given the same opportunities and treatment as their brothers?
But the best feeling of all was getting into the ground at Hindmarsh, and seeing the family groups, in their thousands, young girls asking their mum and dad the hard questions, “Why can’t we see the Matildas in Adelaide,” or watching in awe as a little 7 or 8 year old saying “Dad, I want to play soccer,”
OK, we didn’t get to see the Matildas play live, and until we have a suitably sized proper football stadium, we most likely never will. Despite what all the nay-sayers are saying, Hindmarsh isn’t big enough. Our Matildas sell out a 77k stadium, not once, not even twice but three times. So let the arguments and debating begin.
Now we wait, the ALW is around the corner as are the men. Who amongst us will dare to dream, dream that the girls will now need, through the sheer necessity of spectator numbers, for them to play in stadiums like our Hindmarsh Stadium? And who will applaud Courtney Vine when she steps out for Sydney City, this ALW player, who walked the long 50-yard walk up to a penalty spot, with 75k fans waiting with bated breath for her to take the 19th spot kick to send our girls through to a World Cup semi-final. I for one will stand and applaud and feel privileged to watch her play.

Would you believe that our Matildas has just reached the semi-final of a World Cup, that 42% of the population watched it on just FTA TV? If you believe that then we can do anything.

Thanks Grem, yes can not wait for it to come around. If you ever get to Hindmarsh, give me a heads up and I would be happy to shout you a beer.

I am now seeing the first signs of promotional material for the ALW, so good to see.

As a mature aged male, I have seen many things in my football life, some I wish to remember some I wish to forget.

When I sat in front of my TV during covid and heard them [FIFA] announce New Zealand and Australia were going to hold the World Cup, I was astonished, part of me said watch us do this then I asked myself, will we watch those games between two nations whom most Australians had never heard of.

I watched as supporters went online and vented when the Matildas did not live up to our lofty expectations, how nasty some people could be. I was apprehensive. I wasn’t filled with any sense of ‘it will be alright on the night’ type of feelings.

Now I sit here with a smug look on my face, seeing how the whole nation has embraced the sport. Seeing AFL games put on hold, albeit for 5 minutes, seeing AFL coaches hold up a press conference so they could watch the end of a Matilda’s game. Seeing the Boomers shifting their own match {thank you guys} so it didn’t clash with a Matlida’s game. Pinch me, is this for real, this wasn’t a dream was it?

Seeing numbers of people watching the game on TV, numbers I never thought, even in my wildest dreams were possible here in Australia. Seeing stadium after stadium breaking records for both male and female games. Seeing and hearing a roar when a true superstar took the field.

The feeling of the emptiness of falling at the second to last hurdle, almost crying. Waking up 12 hours later and feeling so proud of a bunch of young women representing me, my sport, making an old man so happy.

I regret my father wasn’t around to see this, he predicted that I would see it in my lifetime, there were times I wondered, we had a knack of shooting ourselves in the foot at times like this.

So like the author, I say Thank You, this has been the month of football I longed to see. My wife and I have sat through every match on Optus, screaming, and yelling at players most of whom we never knew of or may never see again. Marveling at the skills, sitting in awe of the talent on display.

We have been blessed at seeing Marta play live, experiencing the vibe that Brazil fans bring to a game.

Watching England play live, I never thought I would be privileged to see that. Not an exhibition game but a real-life do-or-die World Cup group match. I watch as a new superstar strutted her stuff, then have a brain fade and get sent off.

Making plans now to get to Perth later this year so we can watch the next phase of the Matilda’s journey.

I love my football, I can’t explain why, but seeing a keeper fly through the air and tip a ball over the bar, or watching Spain play through a static defence and ending up with a player just tapping the ball into the net, or watching Sam gather the ball in her own half, out sprint 2 English world-class players and then unleash a missile that had a South American commentator going mental in total joy. Seeing Mary Fowler win a ball, turn, look up and deliver a 40-yard defence-splitting pass into the path of Gorry who didn’t have to break stride to slip the ball under a keeper. Things I could only ever dream of doing.

These things will live with me forever. So Thank You once again. You girls are totally amazing.

Now wouldn’t that be special?

You can only share with us from your own perspective, I appreciate that. I disagree with some of your points, that’s all.

I can accept your POV of learning by looking back at the game in isolation, but I feel that is a tad unkind. I believe we have to look back at the last 3 years. See where we were and where we are now.

I am not sure why Kane Cornes was willing to compare our response to a Socceroo loss to this game. Was he suggesting (do you think) that because the Matildas have taken us on this incredible ride, we cut them more slack than we might have if they were men?

On a personal level, I am gutted when I lose, or the team I am supporting loses, be it on the biggest stage or watching Parklands football. Will these girls learn something from this loss, I hope so, and I expect so, being professional football players and having pride in their own performance they can only improve by striving to better their last performance.

With all due respect to Kane Cornes, I believe he is only capable of sharing with us his thoughts based on his experience, but being a sports journalist, I also believe he has to make some kind of statement that draws attention to his brand of journalism. In my mind, his opinion doesn’t hold much water.

Were we soft on the night, that comes down to each of us to consider? At times yes, other times no. Were we over-awed by the occasion, quite possibly, never having played in front of 75,000 people or in a World Cup semi-final I have absolutely no idea how these young ladies felt. Each will handle it differently.

Yes, let us analyze the whole tournament, not one game. What we did right and what we could have done better.

Were we the best prepared we could have been?

Do we need a central base for all our national squads to use?

Is the female sport funded well enough to ensure that this isn’t going to be just a one-off ‘event’?

Did we have the right coaching staff in place?

I don’t believe we can argue that England were hugely superior on the night without addressing my original POV.

But as my late father always told me, “The winners are grinners and the losers can please themselves”

This I do feel, the Matildas have given me a great lifelong memory, they have now set the bar so high, not only for us here in Australia but all future WWC. Women’s football around the world I don’t believe will be looked at the same way again.

Interesting take you have. Saying that, in essence, the Matildas were no chance and that England was hugely superior. I put it to you that another match official may have flashed 3 or 4 yellow cards in the first 10 minutes, to let the Lionesses know that their tactics of kicking anyone who moved, wasn’t going to be tolerated, may have changed the whole complexion of the game. Only she knows why she didn’t.

But looking backwards achieves nothing, the best team won on the night, the scoreboard says so.

Why just Sydney or Melbourne? This is a ‘NATIONAL’ thing. I suggest the South Australian government build it, build it to Football Australia requirements, and make Adelaide the home base for the Matildas. You guys on the East Coast can have the Socceroos.

When the author wrote, “England fans have been voicing their anger on social media that the Australians have infiltrated their area.” I scratched my head, I went searching for some evidence of it, still looking.

In truth, it is what we Aussies do.

Most definitely a fan thing, if you ask any professional sports person do they go harder at their job just because they are playing England, I’d be surprised if they said yes and meant it.

But ask any fan when it is a match, any match against the ‘olde enemy’, and we are into it.

I’m not so sure Buddy, it seems every time I speak with my cousins in London, it starts off very amicable and even lovingly, we talk about all things we shouldn’t, sex, politics, religion and we get along fine, then some stupid [normally me] brings up either cricket or netball, rugby or marbles and it is on. From the meek, mild, caring family we all go ape sh*t and get stuck in. Sport between England and Australia is a powder keg, and our ancestry roots are the Redheaded match just waiting to lite it up.

Regardless of gender and how often a particular sport plays against each other, the rivalry goes to another level when it comes to old mother England.

I went and watched ‘that’ Liverpool game there several years ago, I sat so far away from the action that to enjoy the game itself I had to watch the replay when I got home a few days later. BUT the atmosphere was unique.

You are right mate, even though I am not a conspiracy theorist, I strongly believe that there is an inbred fear the AFL have of our code of Football. They will do all that it takes, to keep the ‘beast’ asleep.

Don’t get me wrong here, I do enjoy a good game of footy, and if the boot was on the other foot, I would hope our FA would do the same thing to them.

I know there will be some suggesting I am paranoid and looking to start an argument, but in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The AFL will always put their interests first over any other sporting code; hence they have set up its code of football to reign supreme in Melbourne. The amount of money they have invested in the sport there is reflected by the way they treat every other club outside of Victoria/Melbourne.

An interesting article. When considering teams to play in the A-League, surely, their stadium would have to meet or better the current criteria. While I am certain APIA would love to entertain A-League fixtures in the inner west, realistically, the ground just doesn’t make the grade. They too would have to use either Homebush or Moore Park, whichever is the cheaper I suspect.

PnR is so far into the future that most of us won’t be alive to actually see it. I hold the firm belief that clubs must show more than just one successful season on the park in the 2nd tier. Most clubs will find the step up from semi-pro to fully professional to be a step to make. Talk is cheap when it comes to playing at the highest level, and most clubs get their ambitions and capabilities confused.

Not sure in what camp either of you two would put me in.

Either the overly optimistic or a true believer. Definitely not a bandwagoner or plastic supporter.

Looking at the squad, and apart from some personal preferences, TG has selected arguably the best available squad he can. He is gambling on a couple of injuries clearing up in time for the girls to make an impact. But that is why they have 23 players in there.

Speaking to some Canadian friends, they don’t fear anyone and see themselves topping the group, they even snigger at the thought that our girls can match them at any stage of the tournament. I am so looking forward to that third match in the group.

After the first stage, which I believe will see us top the group, with 2 wins and a draw. It does become dicey, but that is how it should be.

The round of 16 is a very winnable game be it whomever we end up meeting, the French look good but, and let’s be honest here shall we, anything can happen to them. Infighting is part of their culture. If it is the Lionesses, they too will be all too familiar with most of our girls, and to suggest that any one of them is any better than any of our girls is just not true. Plus, I think we are better equipped as a team to beat them but they don’t have the overall team performance to beat us.

The only team I have a question mark over beating is the USA.

One thing going in our favour is our grounds, the longer some of these countries go into the tournament the more soft tissue injuries become an issue for them, those players who are used to playing on soft European pitches come up against the hard, concrete-like grounds we seem to thrive on.

Can we go all the way, YES WE CAN!

Regardless of what happens, my family and I are going to enjoy our first-ever World Cup on home soil, something I never thought I would be alive to watch. We will enjoy every waking moment.

My wife and I will be attending all of the games played here in Adelaide. We won’t get to see the Tillies, but we are getting used to not being included when it comes to seeing our national teams play.

We will however see England take on China, which will I suspect be one of the matches of the tournament [wishful thinking on our part]. But we are grateful we will get to go to a FIFA World Cup here in Adelaide. In the year 2000, we were lucky enough to be involved with the Olympic Football Tournament here in Adelaide.

Genuinely getting overly excited about this now.

Thanks Cam, keep those stats coming.

Mid, that too has been running through my mind from when it was first made known.

It is all well and good the FA or FIFA or the APL or anyone else handing out a life ban, but when a person pops up to a ticket window on match day and asks for two tickets, who is to know if these tickets are not given to a person or persons who is currently banned? When those same two tickets are scanned at the turnstiles, who is asking if the holder is currently serving a ban of some description?

In truth no one, it is like having your driving license banned but you continue to drive, it is only a problem if you recommit an offence and you get caught. Further penalties then apply. I suspect.

A good read Mike, thank you. Only ever been to a few away games, it isn’t cheap to travel within Australia.

The one that stands out to me was an early one when as an AUFC fan I took my son to his first away game to visit Victory when they were playing in the parklands somewhere in Melbourne. Truly, that was a scary experience for an old fella like me, the number of times I could have gotten into a fight, I lost count, all because I was wearing an AUFC shirt. My son was visiting from the UK at the time and in his 30s he too was amazed by the vicious nature of the atmosphere. That left me knowing I would never visit them again, ever.

The tribalism of our sport is great and the best people to express that are our young testosterone-driven young men and women. Having stated that, their need to rebel and just strike out at authority, any authority, has to be curtailed as we teach them to direct it in a meaningful way. A way to help their sport not hinder it. Finding that way is the magic silver bullet the sport needs. The youth are our lifeblood and future, both males and females, how are we going to help them direct their energies in the right direction?

You are so right. Just listen to the few of us who in the past have pointed out the East Coast bias. Only to be told it must be an ‘Adelaide thing’ or something in the water over here.

All I really want is for the many NSW and Vic teams to endure for one or more seasons the absolute ‘shi*e’ we have to put up with, then get told we are just plain wrong. We know the truth even if those on the East Coast refuse to acknowledge it.

Yes, then you are right, the first season of the then new A League.

2006 we finished 2nd on the ladder behind Victory. 45pts – to our 33pts. In the GF that year they kicked our backsides 6-0.

In the first season 2005, we won the league but got knocked out in the Prelim by CCM who went on but got defeated by the Bling in the GF.

Gee thanks for bringing up such a nightmare for us.

But to be honest, Victory was the stand-out team that season. They finished top so should have hosted the GF which they did.

No arguments.

I have a feeling that, that GF has gone down in folklore and in 100 years time people will still bring it up, much like the 1923 ‘White Horse’ Cup Final at Wembley.

Yes 60 million, IMO is nowhere near enough for 3 years. Just because you are scratching for some dollars doesn’t mean you should sell yourself short. By selling off your biggest gem for chicken feed confirms what everybody else thinks, that you consider yourself worthless.

Yes, our owner did sign off at first and then ran away from it once the ‘excreta hit the oscillator’ and I have not read on any of the Adelaide fan sites where people have stated they were cancelling their club membership, or their Paramount subscription. [we paid for ours up front] so that is a pointless exercise by anyone to cancel. The clubs have our money. As far as sponsors go, some will run for the hills if it gets too noisy, but there may be some who see the fans as an important asset to be associated with. Give and take, or swings and roundabouts.

From memory, the head of Paramount did suggest to us all that she believed it would take 3 to 5 years to gain a foothold into the market. We are 18 months into that time frame so they are not expecting any great returns until after 5 years.

As for taking Government money, I am all for it, but I know when public funds are handed out they come with ‘strings’ attached. As none of us is aware of the details of the agreement it is us fans who are going to be expected to ‘bail’ the APL out come Grand-Final time. So the APL needs to know that we, the fans, or most of us, are far from happy and that this isn’t a good deal unless they got a truckload of money and not a piddling 15 or 20 million.

So, as you can tell from my ‘rant’ I support Mike’s opinion piece. We the fans need the APL to know how we are feeling, They appear to insulate themselves from us, so how else do we get their attention, how else do we say to them, “GUYS You F**Ked up” unless you got a mountain of money this is not a good deal. AND no 20 million isn’t even a small hill let alone a mountain.

But I appreciate your position Garry and respect it, but we will have to agree to disagree.

Garry,
I am an AUFC member and season ticket holder, if we finish top and make the GF I EXPECT it to be played in Adelaide. If the reason they sold the GFs to NSW was purely for the money, then they sold us short, three times that amount would be cheap, in my opinion.
As for walking out during a game, it is more of a visual statement than anything else, after all the tickets have been bought and paid for. The club won’t lose any finances. We the fans have no voice in the sport any longer, so the only way we can be ‘heard’ is by making a dramatic statement. Getting up and walking out at a specific point sends a clear message. I am all for it.
To even suggest that Mike is less than professional by sharing his opinions, is neither correct nor warranted.