They say a week is a long time in sport, so imagine all that can happen in 12 years.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 starting in just over a week, and being hosted by New Zealand and Australia, over the past weekend we pondered on what it was like in 2011 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany with some of those who were there.
If the Sydney 2000 Paralympics helped elevate this event to where it is today then many will argue that the 2011 World cup was the one that elevated the women’s game to a new level. The crowds in Germany were fantastic, and since that event have been matched wherever the World Cup has been hosted.
The game too has gone from strength to strength and as the level of play across all nations has improved so too has the pay for many of the players; and quite rightly so. With that improvement in play has understandably come more coverage and exposure, as covered in Managing Expectations some of this has been irresponsible fan-writing and propaganda which could potentially cause more harm than good.
The standard of many of the Women’s Leagues across the world has improved dramatically over the past 12 years. However, regrettably in some, as we see in the men’s game there are a handful of teams in some leagues that are realistically the most likely champions, due to their investment and the quality of the players at their disposal. While this may be fine at this point in time, one wonders what impact it could have if that is still the case in 10 years time.
Looking back on the Women’s World Cup in 2011 it is remarkable to see the coverage that the Matildas are receiving now. As stated perviously not all of it a credit to those producing it. Those of us who were there in 2011 can scarcely believe the change. In Germany Fiona Crawford and Ann Odong the latter who set up and represented The Women’s Game website were two of the key players driving coverage via social media and whatever means they could. Joseph Mayers was there taking some incredible photographs and to be honest that was just about it. The FFA, as they were then had one media manager attached the team, Mark Jensen, who again was doing all he could to send home written copy as well as video for the news outlets that had stayed at home.
Ann Odong now works for Football Australia, Fiona Crawford has authored two books on the Matildas, “The Matilda Effect” and “Never Say Die,” so they continue to be the standard bearers for the Australian Women’s team.
We were in Germany too giving daily updates to 990am Information Radio. However the main reason was after making our first documentary “Standing at the Touchlines” Tom Sermanni who was the coach of the Matildas had asked if I would ever consider making a film about the Matildas. I went away looked at the squad of players that he had and tried to find out more about each one to see if there were any other back stories that would be different from a fly-on-the-wall style film. The reason being that had already been done in the documentary “Never Say Day Matildas,” which covered the team’s coming of age at the 2007 World Cup. This was when the Matildas name became known in Australia.
At Australia’s first ever World Cup Finals appearance in men’s or women’s football back in 1974, Harry Williams became the first Indigenous Australian to play in a World Cup finals. In 1999 Bridgette Starr became the first Aboriginal woman to play at a World Cup Finals.
Following the Socceroos second appearance at a World Cup Finals in 2006 an AFC Cup qualifier against Kuwait at Allianz Stadium, was played on 16 August 2006. This is believed to be the first time two Aboriginal players had been on the field at the same time for the Socceroos, Jade North and Travis Dodd. The latter was making his international debut. It would be a night that he would never forget, because he scored the opening goal, and became the first indigenous male to score a goal for Australia.
To show just how far behind the women’s game was at that point in time, while Dodd was receiving the plaudits for his piece of history as the first Aboriginal player to score in an International many had forgotten that Bridgette Starr had been the first Aboriginal to score in a senior international for the Australian men’s or women’s teams. Starr scored her only international goal in the final of the 1998 Oceania Cup in Auckland. Over five years before Dodd scored his. She scored in a 3-1 victory over New Zealand that booked hers and Australia’s place at the 1999 World Cup Finals, their second finals where they picked up their first point thanks to a 1-1 draw with Ghana.
Dodd is frequently credited with being the first Indigenous player to score for Australia, but Bridgette Starr holds that honour; fort some reason this fact is often forgottten.
In 2011 back in Germany where Harry Williams became the first Aboriginal player to play in a World Cup Finals, with Kyah Simon and Lydia Williams in the Matildas squad this would be the first time that two Aboriginal players were in a World Cup squad. History was being made.
Their selection would come hot on the heels of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s National apology made on the 13th February 2008. This was a formal apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.
Kyah and Lydia’s stories were proof that Aboriginal people did not need to be taken from their families to succeed. That was the story we wanted to tell. That was also why the film was called “No Apologies.”
Once that decision was reached it was time to try and raise money to make it. We approached the Football Federation of Australia asking not for money, but for endorsement of the film; that endorsement would hopefully assist in fundraising. The response from the then head of Media was “we see no benefit in such a project.”
Looking at how today Kyah and Lydia are now front and centre of Football Australia’s inclusion and Indigenous messaging it is proof that times have changed and attitudes have shifted. There are still some who have questioned whether the extra coverage is in fact linked to Government funding and positive messaging to a watching world. Hopefully that is not the case.
The fact that the FFA were involved in funding a documentary on the Matildas leading into this World Cup is further proof that times have changed
Thanks to the following companies we managed to complete the film: Janssen & Maluga Legal, Glaxo Smith Kline, Geodrill, Barrick, Carbon Footie, Perth Mint and Xstrata Nickel. The film aired in a number of countries around the world and was selected for a number of Film Festivals where it received five awards, including Best Documentary and Best Editing in a documentary at the Southampton International Film Awards. FourFourTwo magazine in the UK listed it as one of the “Five football documentaries to see before you die”
The film is now free to watch on YouTube.
The 2011 Women’s FIFA World Cup saw an incredible group of women come together. They were the first Australian women’s team to win two games at a World Cup Finals. They bowed out in the quarter finals when many, including the players felt they could have gone further Whereas in 2007 that team had put the Matildas on the map, this group of players forced people to believe what was possible. That after having won the Asian Cup and this performance they could go on and win a World Title. The progress continued under Alen Stajcic, as he guided the Matildas to be ranked number 4 in the world.
The 2011 World Cup saw Lydia Williams become the first Aboriginal to play in goal at a World Cup Finals. It saw Kyah Simon become the first Aboriginal male or female to score at a World Cup Finals.
This tournament also saw the emergence of Caitlin Foord as a player to watch for the future. She would win the Best young Player award. Sam Kerr would make her World Cup debut when she came off the bench in the opening game against Brazil replacing Simon, and Elise Kellond-Knight made the FIFA All star team. She was only the second Australian player to be afforded such an honour after Lisa de Vanna in 2007.
In 2015 both of these players would make the All Star team, the first time two Australians were selected. They remain the only female players from Australia to have ever have been recognised in a such a way.
The 2011 FIFA World Cup was such a special event to be a part of. There was an honesty to the way all those involved with the team went about their business. The likes of Tom Sermanni, Spencer Prior and Paul Jones on the coaching staff and the small but hardworking support crew all of whom never sought the limelight or to push themselves ahead of the team. This was a collective effort, all for one, and one for all. It was so refreshing to witness at a time when in the men’s game it appeared to be more about individual interests than the team.
The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup was where this writer fell in love with football again. That was thanks to the way the women played. They played with passion, they had skill, they tackled hard but most important of all there was very little trying to con the referee, or rolling around injured. There was an honesty about the way the game was played. It was competitive, fiercely competitive, and when teams lost, won or were knocked out there was emotion. The crowds were incredible, and all were there to support their nation or simply women’s football. They were there because they were passionate. The corporates at that time had not yet jumped on board with women’s football and as witnessed in the men’s game stifled that atmosphere that true fans create.
The Women’s game has come a long way in 12 years. Most of that journey has resulted in positive outcomes, but hopefully those running the game will be wary moving forward and make the best decisions to ensure the next 10 years are as fruitful. Yet for everything that has transpired it was the refreshing honesty of those times that I shall remember most. Hopefully the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia will make others who have lost heart with the men’s game globally or here in Australia fall back in love with the game.
