Matildas Hope Women’s World Cup Can Change The Game In Australia

Australia’s national team players hope co-hosting the Women’s World Cup will create an impact on women’s soccer Down Under, the same way as it did in England after their team won the European Championship in front of their home support.

The Women’s Super League (WSL) in England saw an incredible rise in crowd attendance and fan interest after England won the Women’s Euros in front of a record crowd in the final at Wembley last year.

Average attendance in the WSL increased by 200%, while average attendance in the Women’s Championship went up by 85%, according to a report in the BBC.

The Euros also achieved a significant increase in the value of its media rights, while England’s title-winning players attracted sponsorships and brand deals as the team’s success changed the face of women’s soccer.

Matildas vice-captain Steph Catley, whose country Australia is co-hosting the World Cup with New Zealand, knows the hype a successful tournament can create, having played in England for Arsenal.

“If you think about that kind of hype, you can’t say it’s not true because if you look at what happened with England and the Euros. That’s proof. If you do well at a major tournament that you’re hosting, the effects and the ripple of that can be huge,” Catley said, according to an interview with the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.

“If you look at the WSL the crowd sizes, the investment… it’s gone through the roof since (the Euros) and grassroots is benefiting from that. There is that pressure and there is definitely an understanding that our success could have an incredibly big impact on women’s football in Australia and football in general in Australia.”

WINNING ON HOME SOIL

Co-hosts Australia are in Group B at the July 20-August 20 World Cup alongside Nigeria, Ireland and Olympic champions Canada. Their best performance has been a quarter-final finish, which they have achieved three times.

Can they go all the way this time around? Catley would like to hope so.

“You can almost say confidently that actually winning it created a buzz that is unlike anything else. For us, you see that and you go ‘100% I want to do that for our country’. Not trying to think too far ahead, one game at a time, but yeah, you couldn’t think of doing anything better for your country than winning a World Cup on home soil,” Catley added.

Catley’s Australia teammate and midfielder Katrina Gorry also believes that winning the World Cup on home soil can change the women’s game like no other.

“I can’t really put into words what it would do for us and for football in Australia. I definitely hope that it changes the game forever,” Gorry said, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Catley’s Arsenal teammate Caitlin Foord is cherishing the chance to play in front of their home support.

“Just to even have the opportunity to have a World Cup on home soil, not many players get to experience that,” Foord said. “To have it on what should feel like a peak for all of us and our best tournament yet is exciting.”