World Cup to turbocharge participation in Queensland, as football pushes for places to play

Exactly a year out from hosting the world’s biggest female sporting event, football officials have amped up their campaign for a lasting Queensland legacy from next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup and, further ahead, the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

Speaking at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, which will host eight matches at the World Cup, Sarah Walsh, head of Women’s World Cup legacy at Football Australia, said a billion sets of eyes would be on Australia and New Zealand for next year’s tournament.

Sam Kerr’s Matildas will face Canada in September at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and the Sydney Football Stadium.Credit: Matt King/Getty

But turning that interest and revenue into funding for football was proving, as always, to be an uphill battle for the sport.

Brisbane City Council concept plans for an Olympic legacy inner-city sports precinct at the site of the Albion Park Raceway included a baseball diamond and extended seating at Queensland Cricket’s Allan Border Field. Baseball and cricket do not feature at the Olympics.

As part of that development, Brothers Rugby Club would gain an additional inner-city field. While rugby sevens has been on the Olympic roster for the past two Games, the 15-a-side game has not featured since Paris in 1924.

It was that imbalance, in both funding and facilities, that Football Australia hoped to to address by using next year’s Women’s World Cup — and the 2032 Olympics.

Queensland, Walsh said, had Australia’s second-highest participation rate for women and girls, having recently surpassed Victoria.

Ultimately, she said, Football Australia aimed to have half of all registered players in Australia to be female by 2027.

“For us, we need better community facilities infrastructure for our football clubs and we have to enhance the ones we have,” Walsh said.

“Sadly, only 35 per cent of our community facilities are considered female-friendly. That’s a challenge for us.

“If we want to get more girls and women playing the game, and to get to reach that [50/50] target, we’re going to need an extra 400,000 women and girls playing the game.”

Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Football Australia’s Sarah Walsh talking ‘legacy’ at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

Walsh conceded that was a “bold” aim, but the sport had a great vehicle in the Matildas to drive that growth.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles recognised that potential both for next year’s World Cup and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, at which the Matildas will automatically qualify as hosts.

“Seeing the Matildas play next year, there’ll be lots of young girls who can look at that and do the math and work out that they could play here in 2032,” he said.

“I’m sure that will drive lots, lots more women to get involved.”

Earlier this month, Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said the sport would make a concerted effort to ensure it benefitted long-term from major international football events, such as the World Cup and Olympics.

High on the list was a secondary rectangular stadium for Brisbane, with easy access to public transport. Every south-east Queensland train line goes through Bowen Hills station, opposite football’s spiritual home in the state, Perry Park.

The dilapidated inner-city stadium, which has not had a substantial upgrade since the 1970s, could host Olympic hockey in 2032 with a temporary synthetic field.

Olympic bid documents listed rugby union’s Ballymore as a potential hockey venue, despite the Queensland government’s own Stadiums Taskforce 2018 report finding it did “not meet contemporary standards for access”. But, earlier this month, Queensland Sports Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the bid documents were not final plans and were subject to change.

Standing behind a “#Legacy23” sign at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday, Miles, who has responsibility for 2032 Olympics infrastructure, said the World Cup would generate about $30 million of economic activity in the state.

It was left to be seen how much of that money the government would direct back into the game.

“We’re seeing such a surge of participation in football here in Queensland and we want to see that continue,” Miles said.

“In part, that’s been driven by a take-up of football by girls, and it’s a great sport for girls and young women and older women to play.

“We’ve been working with all of the codes, but particularly Football Queensland, to upgrade facilities, to make sure that they are appropriate for both men and women, boys and girls, and we’ll continue to do that.

“I think that will be a great legacy of having the Women’s World Cup here next year. We’ll see more players, more demand for those facilities will continue to invest in those facilities.”

The Matildas will play two friendly matches against Canada, at Suncorp Stadium on September 3, and at the newly rebuilt Sydney Football Stadium on September 6.

Brisbane will also host the Socceroos’ farewell match, against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium on September 22, before their Qatar World Cup campaign in November.

Walsh said about 20,000 tickets had been sold for the two Brisbane matches.