A-Leagues: Elise Kellond-Knight retires from professional football

As a longtime teammate announced her retirement, a Melbourne Victory star has called for an “extremely important” change.

Melbourne Victory star Emily Gielnik has echoed calls for the A-League Women to become a fully professional competition to avoid a talent drain overseas.

Gielnik said it was “extremely important” that the competition could be improved to meet key standards outlined in an annual report released by Professional Footballers Australia this week.

The PFA report found 96 per cent of players wanted the A-League Women to be fully professional by the 2026-27 season, which will follow the women’s Asian Cup to be held in Australia.

It was recommended the league should aim for a “co-ordinated, professional relaunch” on the back of the tournament or risk a further “siphoning of its top-end talent”.

“There is a reason why a lot of us have gone overseas to develop our careers,” Gielnik said on Thursday.

Melbourne Victory star Emily Gielnik is hopeful of a return to the Matildas under interim coach Tom Sermanni. Picture: James Elsby / AAP

“We need to keep putting bums in seats, we need to close the salary gap, we need to keep growing this game.

“We’ve become (more) professional making it two full rounds for the women’s league starting almost in line with the men’s season … there is a lot of progress, but as we’ve seen in women’s football, it can quite easily go up and go down just as quick.

“It’s crucial that we all stick together … I’d really like to encourage all the fans back at home to keep supporting both the men’s and the women’s by going to the games and showing up.”

Gielnik said it would be a “strange feeling” to enter the new season without Victory teammate Elise Kellond-Knight, after the Matildas stalwart announced her retirement from professional football on Thursday.

The 34-year-old defender, who was named in back-to-back “All-Star Squads” at the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, was capped 113 times for the Matildas and played for Brisbane Roar, Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory in her club career.

Matildas stalwart and Melbourne Victory player Elise Kellond-Knight announced her retirement from professional football on Thursday. Picture: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

“(Kellond-Knight) is a good friend of ours, a great person, a great character, so I wish her all the best and I know she’ll go on to do bigger and better things,” Gielnik said.

“She’s played a massive part in this football journey, especially the growth of women’s football, so she definitely should get all the credit she deserves.”

Gielnik, 32, said she was excited for the season ahead after enduring a “rough run” with injury over the last 18 months, which included a torn calf suffered on the eve of the Olympics.

The creative forward was hopeful of a “full circle” recall to the Matildas under interim coach Tom Sermanni, who introduced her to the national side during his second tenure at the helm.

“He gave me my first opportunity, and he’s back again, and that’s not to say I’m going to get a free ride,” Gielnik said.

“No one gets a free ride, definitely not in national colours … but Matildas is back where I want to be, and I’m going to push for that.”