Susie O’Brien: It’s high time we had a public holiday for a women’s sporting event

If we can have a public holiday mourning Queen Elizabeth II, or for a horse race, or AFL grand final eve, then we should have one to celebrate the Matildas.

Victoria has a public holiday for a horse race that no longer stops a nation.

We’ve got one for a parade on the day before the AFL grand final, but not the actual game itself.

One for a royal birthday that isn’t even the monarch’s actual birthday.

And we’ve got one for a national day that’s become divisive rather than inclusive.

Matildas fans at Federation Square. Picture: Ian Currie

So why not celebrate a Matildas World Cup win with a day off?

The Matildas’ matches have been Australia’s biggest sporting event by far, on every measure from TV audiences to ticket sales to merchandise sold.

It’s also high time we had a public holiday for a women’s sporting event – this would be the first ever.

There is so much to celebrate about the Matildas, a team which has come so far in the past two decades.

The Matildas’ matches have been Australia’s biggest sporting event by far. Picture: Lachie Millard

This is a team that didn’t even attract one journalist to the press conference when launching their 2003 World Cup campaign. Not one.

Many of the players have had to battle to even play soccer, with a number playing in boys’ teams because there weren’t enough girls’ teams when they were young.

Star player Sam Kerr, along with Caitlin Foord, Katrina Gorry and Steph Catley were also members of the historic Matildas team in 2015 that went on strike to demand proper pay.

At that point they were paid just $750 for a top-eight World Cup match. Now they get 100 times that much.

There is so much to celebrate about the Matildas. Picture: Getty

The public holiday idea, floated on a whim by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is opposed by the small business lobby as a threat to productivity.

Perhaps we could substitute a one-off Matildas public holiday in 2023 for the King’s (non) birthday next year so small businesses are not worse off?

The Matildas public holiday could be state-specific and coincide with the team touring national capitals on a ticker-tape parade.

It would be a great way to bring people back into city centres, and would be a boon for struggling CBD businesses.

As the major events state that missed out on a Women’s World Cup final thanks to wrangling over stadiums, Victoria needs this more than most.

I urge the Premier to throw his support behind this idea.

We had a day off recently for a dead queen, so let’s do it again for these living legends.