Matildas origins: The local clubs, upbringings of our Australian Women’s World Cup players
The Matildas will have the support of the entire nation as the World Cup kicks off on home soil. We’ve tracked the junior steps of all 23 squad members wearing the green and gold.
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For the next month the eyes of the footballing world will be on the Matildas as they look to build on incredible home support and win a historic World Cup on home soil.
And while we all know the Matildas as superstars playing under the bright lights against the world’s best, we’ve taken a look back at their humble origins and traced just how they’ve made it from backyards and suburban football pitches to competing on the greatest stage.
Goalkeepers
#18 Mackenzie Arnold
A leading candidate to line up in between the sticks for the Matildas this month, Arnold started her football journey on the Gold Coast with Burleigh Heads SC and Robina City FC.
Fraser Cuba was a former coach of Arnold who recalls how she always showed great ambition to succeed and better herself from a young age.
“She always showed a lot of dedication and hard work, which has paid off to where she is now,” Cuba said.
“It wasn’t just about what she was doing at training either, it was the work she did outside in her own time as well.
“She always showed she was capable of achieving her dreams, she gave it everything.”
Arnold, 29, made her Matildas debut in 2012 and has been largely a backup choice in her international career so far with 32 caps, but has been largely tipped to be the starting choice goalkeeper for the side in their upcoming campaign.
“It’s always a nice feeling seeing her playing on TV at such a high level,” Cuba said.
“I consider myself a bit lucky to have had the chance to work with young talent like herself.”
#12 Teagan Micah
Up-and-coming keeper Teagan Micah’s recent signing with Women’s Super League giants Liverpool is a massive leap from her humble beginnings in regional Victoria.
The 25-year-old spent her early years playing for Moe United before moving to Queensland, training with the Goalkeeping Australia Academy as well as playing for the Queensland Academy of Sport.
Micah was selected for the national team by coach Tony Gustavsson, making her debut against Sweden in 2021.
#1 Lydia Williams
With more than 100 caps to her name, the 35-year-old is one of Australia’s greatest ever goalkeepers with a career spanning nearly two decades and a remarkable five world cups.
While she has made a career out of saving penalties and blocking shots, Williams could well have been chasing a different kind of ball around as she grew up a keen Aussie rules fan in her hometown of Kalgoorlie.
Coming across football in school, she initially played in midfield before a big decision changed not only the direction of her life but also her football career.
At the age of 10, Williams moved with her family to Canberra. Because she signed up late with local club Tuggeranong United, Williams was faced with a big decision: she could either play fourth division as a midfielder or first division as a keeper.
With plenty of ambition and competitive juices, Williams took the latter and hasn’t looked back since, making her debut for the Matildas at 17 and going on to play professional for clubs in Australia, the US, France and England.
And with plenty of competition for the top goalkeeper’s spot, Williams will be hoping to play a role in what is remarkably her fifth World Cup.
Defenders
#21 Ellie Carpenter
One of the prized starlets of the Matildas who fans are over the moon to see back in the green and gold following her ACL injury.
You could forget Carpenter is just 23 years old, already with two UEFA Women’s Champions Leagues under her belt.
It wasn’t too long ago that Carpenter was playing juniors for Cowra and District Junior Soccer Club in Central West NSW, showing glimpses of star power from a young age.
Sean Leyland has been a president, secretary, coach and referee at the club and witnessed first hand the rise of Carpenter.
“She was a standout from the get go for lots of reasons,” Leyland said.
“The skill level was there, the will to win, the determination, she hated to get beaten and treated every game like it was a grand final.
“She was one of those kids that lived and breathed sports … she was a sprinter and a long jumper as well, just a really good athlete.
Like a lot of talented young players, Carpenter was found in all corners of the park, with Leyland thinking she might have turned into an attacking midfielder as she developed.
“She’s got that ability to play anywhere, you can see it in her role now as she gets up and down the park like modern fullbacks need to do.
“Cowra is a close-knit community, so we look back on her being at our club with pride.”
#3 Aivi Luik
Luik has been around the national team since making her debut in New Zealand in 2010 at the older-than-usual age of 24.
The 38-year-old has played domestically in 10 countries and hails from Estonian and Swedish parents, and currently plays for BK Häcken in Sweden.
She captained her college team, University of Nevada, Reno, to the 2006 NCAA College Cup for the first time in its history and has represented Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory and Melbourne City in the A-League Women’s.
#7 Steph Catley
Vice-captain for the Matildas Steph Catley played her first junior football at East Bentleigh FC in Melbourne before playing at Sandringham Soccer Club, which today has the biggest women’s program in Bayside.
Coaching at Sandringham at the time was Shaun Parton who recalled how after signing for Melbourne Victory, a teenage Catley came back for guest appearances in the senior women’s side and was a class above.
“She didn’t train with the side, she would just turn up and play, but no one cared because she was so outstanding,” Parton said.
“She had a monstrous impact whenever she played, so incredibly talented.
“A great left foot, brilliant crosser of the ball, you could tell from a young age she had that something special.”
Parton recalls how Catley was put at left-back where she plays her professional career today, but after scoring a hat-trick from there in one of her opening games, he moved her up into the front three.
“She was very well respected by her peers and the coaching group, always a great kid.
“No one at the club is surprised at how successful she has been.”
#15 Clare Hunt
Recent Matildas debutant Clare Hunt has had whirlwind path to the national team from her small town upbringing in the NSW country town of Grenfell.
Hunt spent most of her junior football career at the Canberra United Academy as well as travelling with the NSW Academy team before settling in Sydney to study and play with the University of Sydney.
Her A-Leagues Team of the Season honour for 2022-23 led to her Matildas call-up in February this year, and Hunt has since made six total appearances for the national team on her way to the World Cup.
#2 Courtney Nevin
Appearing in her first FIFA Women’s World Cup, Nevin is geographically not too far from home.
The 21-year-old started off her football career playing for the Oakville Ravens in Blacktown, before playing for Parklea and the Blacktown Spartans.
She was awarded the NPLW NSW Player of the Year award in 2011 for her superb run with Football NSW Institute, where she scored 11 goals in 25 games.
After featuring in the A-League Women’s for Western Sydney and Melbourne Victory, Nevin was picked up by Hammarby IF in 2022, before moving across to Leicester City from 2023.
#4 Clare Polkinghorne
Holding the record for the most ever Matildas caps with 156, Polkinghorne’s footballing journey began as an under-age five-year-old playing for her brother’s team at Brisbane’s Wynnum Wolves.
After several years being the only girl in her junior sides, Polkinghorne moved to the Capalaba Bulldogs, where Steve Geddes coached her in the girls’ under-15s competition.
“She stood by miles compared to any other person,” said Geddes.
“She could read the play really well. She wanted to play up front, but in the team we had she was better positioned at the back. She could read the game really well and dictated everything from there.”
In fact, with the 34-year-old making a stellar career for herself as a defender, Geddes could almost lay claim to sending Polkinghorne on the road to success.
“There was actually a small video that we did years ago and I actually asked her, ‘Was I the first to put you at the back?’ And she said yes,” he laughs.
“She never complained about the position at all. We won the league that year. She was a fantastic player and person.”
And while she was a cut above as a junior, did Geddes foresee that his star defender, who debuted for the national team way back in 2006, would go on to have such an illustrious career?
“Not at first, but she did have that extra talent and courage to be able to do that – she was outstanding.”
#22 Charlotte Grant
Proud South Australian Charli Grant started her footballing journey with Cumberland United Women’s Football Club and was quickly singled out as a hugely talented player.
She was invited to Football SA’s National Training Centre program where she won the Shirley Brown Medal, before making her A-League Women’s debut at just 17-years-old with her hometown club Adelaide United.
Grant was brought into the Matildas camp at just 19, replacing the injured Ellie Carpenter, after her impressive stint in the ALW and was subsequently picked up by Swedish club FC Rosengård alongside fellow Matilda Teagan Micah.
With 18 caps under her belt and one goal, Grant likely has many years ahead of her on the national stage.
#14 Alanna Kennedy
Matildas veteran Alanna Kennedy has been a staple of the national team since making her debut over a decade ago at age 17.
She was often the only girl on all-boys teams during her junior career, playing for Campbelltown Cobras and training with the Girls Skills Acquisition Program with the Macarthur Rams.
Her national career started in 2008 with the under-17s, moving up to the under-20 side three years later and making her Matildas debut in 2012.
Kennedy made her professional career in the A-League Women’s, playing for Sydney FC, Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney, Perth Glory and Melbourne City during her tenure before heading overseas.
Midfielders
#8 Alex Chidiac
Humble beginnings in North Adelaide for 24-year-old Alex Chidiac who has a plethora of experience under her belt already in her career.
Playing youth football at Croydon Kings alongside boys, she was not out of place.
Even before that she was the only girl playing football alongside the boys at North Adelaide Primary School, with her PE teacher Rosie Herrmann seeing her grow into an athlete for all her primary school journey.
“She was passionate about all sports but football was her calling,” Herrmann said.
“When she went home she would just kick the ball against the wall continually.
“Being an inner-city school we had no oval, only a small grass area.
“This helped her develop her skills as a midfielder, working in a small area on her footwork and ball skills.
“She’s a child who had great ambition, it’s a great look for all young girls that belief and opportunity can lead to great achievement.”
#19 Katrina Gorry
A Matildas veteran at 30 years old, Gorry learned her craft by coming through the ranks at Mt Gravatt Hawks FC in Brisbane.
Vince Sciacca was Gorry’s coach in 2008 when she was playing U13s with boys, recalling that she not only held her own, but excelled.
“We used to always joke about it, saying that she’d go on to become a Matilda,” Sciacca said.
“She was a real dynamo, a standout even at that age, always cementing a spot in midfield as she was always on the ball, tenacious and with great vision.
Sciacca recalled how he had to convince Gorry to go challenge herself in the Youth Women League the year after he had her in the U13s, recognising the quality Gorry had was a level above what she was playing.
“She just had so much natural ability,” Sciacca said.
“You could see the quality, you could see there was something special.
“She wasn’t a big kid, hence the nickname ‘Mini’, but she just made the game look so easy.
“I’m proud to have had her even for just a season.”
#10 Emily van Egmond
Another one of Australia’s stalwarts, van Egmond made her debut as a 16-year-old way back in 2010 and is the fifth-most capped Matilda of all time with 128 games in the green and gold.
Now known as a key central midfielder who pulls the strings from the middle of the park, the 30-year-old Novocastrian’s football journey started when she was five, when van Egmond took her twin brother’s place in a local team.
With her father Gary – a former Socceroo, premiership-winning A-League coach with the Newcastle Jets men’s team and the current boss of the Jets’ women’s team – offering plenty of advice and training, Emily was a star during her junior years playing for Dudley-Redhead, before she moved on to the Newcastle Jets’ academy and beyond during what has been a remarkable career.
“No doubt that’s had a big impact on her, having access to him for all the personal training over the years. That’s really helped Emily hone her skills and technique,” said Luke Casserly, who spent time with Emily in the national team set-up during his years as head of national performance at Football Australia.
“But she’s another one that can see the bigger pictures in the game and has a fantastic passing range. She sees and reads the game really well.”
#6 Clare Wheeler
While some are born into footballing families, others are pushed into the game by friends.
That was exactly the case for midfielder Clare Wheeler, who kicked off her journey at the age of 10 after a friend signed up to play for their local club in Newcastle.
Fortunately for the 25-year-old, that club was the famous Adamstown Rosebud FC, which between the junior and senior arms has produced a plethora of Australian internationals.
“I remember Clare very clearly. She was very focused. You don’t get a lot of kids at that age that are totally focused on football,” said Kerry Conquest, who in addition to holding a series of roles at Adamstown’s junior club, was a team manager of under-12 and under-13 Northern NSW rep sides that featured a young Wheeler at national carnivals.
“I remember commenting to the coach at the time that there were probably two kids in that camp that would make it as a footballer and Clare was one of them.”
And despite having only been playing for a couple of years, it was more than her attitude that caught Conquest’s eye.
“She was a very good midfielder. She was very positive, very confident, and at that stage she actually hadn’t been playing football for all that long.
“It’d only been a couple of years, because she only started when she was 10 or so, which is fairly late these days – they normally start around four or five.”
Conquest added: “She was very consistent, and had that great attitude where she’d actually come and ask what she could do to get better... which is probably why she is where she is now.”
#13 Tameka Yallop
One of a string of Matildas playing in a remarkable fourth World Cup, midfielder Tameka Yallop (nee Butt) is also a part of a host of players to come through the Queensland Academy of Sport.
Born in Orange but moving to the Gold Coast growing up, Yallop played junior football for Mudgeeraba as the only girl in a team of boys.
“You could always see that she had talent right from the beginning. And she was so committed,” says long-time Mudgeeraba club official De Miller.
However Miller notes that it wasn’t just her performances that made her stand out on the pitch.
“She had a long blonde plait, she always had it back like she wears it now,” she chuckles.
A star junior, Yallop soon started playing in open-age women’s competitions, and at 14 she joined the QAS, which has seen the likes of current squad members Clare Polkinghorne, Cortnee Vine, Hayley Raso and Teagan Micah pass through its ranks.
Now with 32-year-old earning more than 100 caps for the national team and about to take part in her fourth World Cup, is Miller surprised that her former charger has had such a wonderful career?
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” she said. “She was always so committed and we wish her all the best.”
Forwards
#23 Kyra Cooney-Cross
Another young Matilda with plenty of potential, having put balls in nets for fun in the U17s and U20s squads.
Born in Queensland but playing her junior football in Victoria with Ballarat City, Cooney-Cross was always punching above her weight with players older than her, according to an old coach at the club Tessa Curtain.
“She was 12 years old playing in the U16s and ended up their top goalscorer,” Curtain said.
“She was smaller than everyone around her, but that didn’t matter.
“She had the skill to run rings around everyone and could play forward or in midfield.”
Curtain highlights how the club looks back on Cooney-Cross fondly as a great success story for the area.
“In 2016 she came back and played against us while playing for Melbourne.
“It was great for the junior girls to see what they can achieve through the pathways systems at the club and in the area.
“She’s a real inspiration to them.”
#9 Caitlin Foord
Still just 28, Matildas attacker Caitlin Foord will remarkably play in her fourth World Cup. And while she’s known by football fans as an explosive attacking threat who plays for English giants Arsenal on the world stage, Foord’s footballing journey started as a shy kid running around for the Warilla Wanderers and Illawarra Sports High School.
“In year seven she was a really quiet, unassuming student. She was as quiet as a church mouse, didn’t say a word. Always happy but very, very shy,” said Darren Nunn, who was involved in the football program and coached Caitlin at ISHS.
“She was just a lovely kid, would get along with everybody, really unassuming. She would get really embarrassed whenever we spoke about her at assembly, which became increasingly frequent as her achievements piled up.”
But if Foord was quiet in the classrooms, she certainly didn’t go unnoticed on the pitch.
“It’s not as if it was white-line fever, but she attacked aggressively and was always looking for scoring opportunities. She was always very, very attacking,” said Nunn.
“She had crazy acceleration, lateral movement. She also played state-level touch football. It wouldn’t have mattered what she did, although soccer was obviously her top pick, she would have excelled in it – she was outstanding.”
Indeed, while it’s hard for Matildas fans to imagine the Illawarra star doing anything other than outing away and setting up goals, Dunn says she could well have donned the green and gold in another sport if the circumstances were different.
“A ridiculously good touch football player. I dare say she would have got to national level at touch football if she got the opportunity.”
#11 Mary Fowler
The exciting young forward who debuted for the Matildas at the age of 15, Fowler kicked off her football journey on the playground at Holy Cross Primary School in Cairns.
Marg Judd was her teacher in Year 6 and remains at the proud school to this day, recalling how Fowler impressed from an early age.
“She was someone who stood out to me in and out of the classroom,” Judd said.
“A really good work ethic and a great artistic ability.
“She was good at almost everything she did, but she was quite unassuming and incredibly humble.
“Being in a family of five Fowler kids, she learned to play together with others and understand teamwork, always being a team player and never hogging the spotlight.”
Judd highlighted how driven Fowler was from a young age, joining the school’s running club with the intention of it bettering her footballing ability.
Prior to her Matildas debut, Fowler played junior football at Bankstown City FC and the Illawarra Stingrays, today remaining one of the nation’s most promising players at the age of just 20.
“She’s a great inspiration for the kids at our school to look at and see what they can achieve,” Judd said.
“She never gave up, showing that mindset that if you set your mind to something you can achieve it.
“She’s ours and we’re super proud.”
#20 Sam Kerr
Matildas captain Sam Kerr has come a long way from her humble beginnings in East Fremantle.
Choosing to pursue soccer over Australian rules football at the age of 12 set her up for future stardom, and she was scouted by her local A-League Women’s team Perth Glory.
She made her ALW and international debuts at just 15-years-old and made 71 appearances for the Glory over two stints, racking up 57 goals.
Kerr then made her way over to the states, taking the NWSL by storm with Sky Blue FC and Chicago Red Stars.
Her current tenure with Chelsea in the Women’s Super League has gained her international notoriety, claiming countless awards on her way to representing Australia on home soil.
#16 Hayley Raso
With the steely determination to come back from a career-threatening injury before becoming the first Australian to sign for Spanish giants Real Madrid, Hayley Raso has one of the most inspiring stories in the Matildas’ squad.
Growing up on the Tweed Coast in northern NSW, Raso started playing football at local club Banora Point at the age of eight after being inspired by her older brother.
After moving onto Gold Coast club Palm Beach, Raso then joined the Matildas production line that is the QAS. She kept rising the ranks and in 2012 made her debut for the national team at just 17.
An aggressive forward with speed to burn and the ability to beat her opponents one-on-one, the 28-year-old also has bucket loads of resilience.
In 2018, while playing for club side Portland Thorns, Raso fractured three vertebrae in her back, leaving her unsure whether she would ever walk again. However after extensive rehabilitation, Raso returned just six months later and even scored for the Matildas in her return match against New Zealand in the 2019 Cup of Nations.
During rehab Raso was inspired by words her mother told her as a child – “Don’t look back, leave it all on the track” – which she has tattooed on her foot.
After signing with Real Madrid earlier this month, the formidable forward will be hoping to use a bit of Galáctico magic to help the Matildas to glory.
#17 Kyah Simon
Entering her fourth World Cup, few have the sporting pedigree of Kyah Simon, who famously became the first Indigenous Australian to score at a World Cup when she bagged a double in the Matildas’ 2-1 victory over Norway in 2011.
Born into a family of talented sportspeople that includes former NRL player Jamal Idris and Wallaby Kurtley Beale as cousins, Simon first played football for Quakers Hill Juniors in Sydney’s northwest, before moving on to play for the Hills Brumbies and Nepean.
The creative attacker remarkably made her Matildas debut as a 16-year-old back in 2007, and a few years later crossed paths with Luke Casserly, who was the head of national performance at Football Australia.
“It was one of the coaching staff that said to me: ‘Watch Kyah, she’s different. She’s got a few different things in her locker and up her sleeve that the other players don’t have,’” said Casserly.
Despite just coming back from injury, Casserly says that Simon’s qualities have her well placed to make an impact at the World Cup.
“The big thing for me is that Kyah has a real X-factor to her game. She has that ability to see passes and see things in the game that not many other players see,” he said. “She is one of the best that Australia has in being able to see those things a bit differently, open up the game and be a real threat.”
#5 Cortnee Vine
Part of the younger generation in the Matildas squad, the 25-year-old first kicked off her footballing journey at primary school in her home town of Shepparton in Victoria.
After the family moved to the northern outskirts of Brisbane, Vine signed up for the local club Deception Bay, where she stood out against the boys a couple of years above her age before moving on to nearby Peninsula Power.
It was here that club officials remember a fast, attacking player who stood out even more with a shock of bright red hair.
From here, Vine took the well-worn path through the QAS and then onto the Brisbane Roar, where she made her W-League debut at just 16.
After stints at Newcastle and Western Sydney, the attacker moved to her current club Sydney FC. With excellent performances under her belt, Vine then received a call-up to the Matildas squad and made her debut against the Philippines in January last year.
With plenty of creative spark, the 25-year-old will be hoping to play a role in the team’s run during the home world cup.
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