00:00 So in Australia we know the first ever documented game for women's football was actually played
00:06 in 1921 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
00:09 It was an exhibition match but essentially it took years and years and years for women
00:14 to actually demonstrate that there was a market and an audience for it.
00:17 Ten thousand people turned up to that first game so we know that people were interested
00:20 but the gatekeepers were not happy to throw open the doors to women's football at that
00:24 time.
00:25 Tell us about those early days of the Queensland Ladies Soccer Association, the first professional
00:31 football organisation for women.
00:34 What was the reaction, you talked about the gatekeepers, what was the reaction from the
00:38 sort of men's football world to these organisations starting?
00:43 They definitely saw it as a zero-sum game.
00:45 So instead of saying we could grow the piece of the pie or there's plenty for everyone,
00:50 they saw it as taking money and audience away from the men's game.
00:54 So yeah, they were very resistant to the game.
00:57 At best they kind of ignored women's football and at worst they tried to step in the way
01:00 of it and prevent women playing.
01:02 So we've come a long way since then obviously.
01:08 You know there's obviously hopes that this World Cup, hosted in Australia, where the
01:12 Matildas is maybe a lot of expectation around how they might sort of perform that might
01:17 help boost the sport more generally and boost women's participation in the sport.
01:21 Is there a history of these sorts of high profile events giving a boost to women's football?
01:28 We know in 1999 the US hosted it and I think this is probably, it's got the same vibe as
01:34 1999.
01:35 It was suddenly like the nation woke up to women's football and people were just 100%
01:40 on board.
01:41 And I know coming into Sydney today, I don't think you could be in Sydney and not know
01:44 that the Women's World Cup was kicking off.
01:46 There's a real energy behind it and yes, absolutely.
01:50 We've now finally got all the other pieces in place.
01:52 So you've got people who are funding the game, you're able to buy jerseys, which you never
01:57 used to be able to do.
01:59 You can actually see the games being played.
02:00 So yeah, it's going to kick it to a whole other level.
02:03 As we're talking we're seeing some live pictures from the stadium in Sydney where fans are
02:06 now really starting to turn up in significant numbers.
02:10 Football fans are obviously excited, that's a sellout crowd tonight.
02:14 Do you think the rest of the country, the sort of non-football obsessed, are they catching
02:18 World Cup fever?
02:19 They are.
02:20 Look, I've never had so many people I want to talk to about women's football.
02:23 For many, many years the players, and I moved through the world pretty anonymously, the
02:28 people who were fans were the hardcore fans.
02:30 Suddenly everyone's coming out of the woodwork and they not only know the players' name but
02:34 they actually know some of the stories behind the players.
02:36 And yeah, they're on board with it and they know who's playing, they know where the Matildas
02:41 are about to kick off.
02:42 So yeah, everyone's on board.
02:44 How much does it help to have a name like Sam Kerr, a phenomenal player that's becoming
02:51 a household name?
02:52 How much does that do for the sport as a whole?
02:56 Yeah, look, every win that she has is a win for women's football.
02:59 She has really kicked it to another level.
03:01 I don't think any of us could predict just how many awards she'd win.
03:04 I don't think any of us saw her getting her own Lego figurine.
03:08 But every time she achieves something like that it shows the rest of the world what's
03:13 possible and it means that other players might be able to follow in her footsteps.
03:17 We should let you get to the game at some point pretty soon, but before we do, you're
03:22 obviously following the World Cup closely.
03:24 How do you rate the chances of the Matildas both tonight and through the tournament?
03:30 Yeah, look, they're up for it.
03:32 They're really up for it.
03:33 They got a pep talk from Cathy Freeman the other night, so I don't think you can go wrong
03:36 with that.
03:37 If anyone understands the immense pressure that the Matildas are under as the home team,
03:41 it's her.
03:42 Yeah, look, anything can happen in a World Cup, but they're a top 10 team and they're
03:46 playing in top leagues around the world and they're ready for it.
03:48 I've heard that Cathy Freeman comparison made a few times this week.
03:54 Cathy Freeman obviously such a star from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
03:59 Matildas are now kicking off in Sydney.
04:02 I don't know if that's a comparison.
04:03 I don't know if that's putting more pressure on the team than perhaps they would like,
04:07 but it seems like a worthy one.
04:09 It is and they've kind of come full circle.
04:11 That race actually inspired many of the players to become elite footballers.
04:16 It inspired both Lydia Williams and Kaya Simon, who are the First Nations players in the team,
04:20 but also the rest of the team like Sam Kerr.
04:22 So I think it was a full circle moment to have their idol then come and give them a
04:25 bit of a pep talk.
04:26 And yeah, I think only good things can come from it.
04:29 All right.
04:30 We'll let you go in just a second.
04:34 I just wanted to ask you one last question, which was what do you hope comes out of this
04:38 event for the future?
04:40 You know, what are you hoping the legacy of this World Cup on home soil could be?
04:45 Yeah, anyone who's been in and around women's football are definitely looking at it as more
04:49 than a four week party.
04:50 There's been so little funding, so little attention.
04:53 It's been so hard to prove that there's an audience and a market for this.
04:56 So the fact that the jerseys have outsold, as you said, the soccer roos even before the
05:00 tournaments kicked off is really demonstrating to the people, to the decision makers that
05:05 this is something they should get behind and really, really start to throw some funding
05:08 towards.
05:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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