Sam Kerr opens up on relationship with Nikki Stanton in Nike film
Matilda’s star Sam Kerr will finally get her moment to share her untold love story with long-term girlfriend Nikki Stanton in a short film for her major sponsor Nike.
It is the great untold love story of Australian sport that’s finally getting its moment.
Spurred by Australia’s resounding World Cup campaign, Matildas star Sam Kerr has begun opening up about her other big love outside of football — her long-term girlfriend Nikki Stanton.
A well-regarded footballer in her home country of the US, Stanton has been the constant in Kerr’s life since the pair met while playing for the same New Jersey league team — Sky Blue FC — back in 2014.
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Since then they have quietly managed to remain one of sport’s most rock-solid couples, despite contrasting playing schedules and injuries.
And now, in Paris with her whole country behind her, the Matildas captain is talking more openly about Stanton after a surprisingly low-key ‘coming out’ of sorts in April.
Filming a short film for her major sponsor Nike, Kerr talked glowingly of the woman she credits with helping her rebuild her life following an injury back in 2015.
“It was the first time publicly talking about it,” Kerr said in France on Saturday.
Stanton, a 28-year-old midfielder from the US who missed out on World Cup selection, has been a fixture within the Aussie camp in Paris where she has been cheering on Kerr.
She has even been sighted wearing an Aussie jersey.
While the pair have only just begun talking publicly about their relationship, their Instagram pages tell a more intimate story.
Kerr, who often refers lovingly to Stanton as “Darls”, has posted dozens of intimate tributes to Stanton over the years, while Stanton, too, has often posted of her deep love for the Aussie striker.
Kerr is one of a growing number of openly gay female athletes — a stark contrast to men’s professional sport where the topic remains taboo.
Kerr’s Matildas teammate Michelle Heyman was one of the first women footballers to come out, in 2016.
Since then the rise of the women’s AFL competition has seen a number of players following suit.
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