World Cup win means it’s on for young and old

Australian football has gained something it craved. Relevancy. The Women’s World Cup win is also major ammunition.

Football Federation Australia chairman Chris Nikou cheers alongside officials and players as FIFA announce Australia as the host of the 2023 Women's World Cup. Picture: Getty Images

Anxiety. Adrenaline. Hope. Fear. Disbelief. Relief. Joy. Oh, the joy! In the young. The old. The professionals. The purists. Australian football had gained something it craved. Relevancy.

Matildas player Steph Catley trembled with enough emotion to check herself into hospital. Instead­, the exhilarated Matildas player visited a club full of collateral winners of the FIFA Women’s World Cup announcement … the junior players desperate to lace up a boot when community sport retur­ns in all its humble pomp and glory next week.

Catley watched the announcement of Australia and New Zealand earning the right to host the 2023 Cup in the early hours of ­Friday at the Football Federation Australia office in Sydney.

It’s heady stuff. Heady stuff for Australian sport, heady stuff for Australian football, heady stuff for women’s sport, heady stuff for women’s football. It promises a $500m economic boost. It will give the FFA ammunition to push for improved facilities and funding. It makes soccer relevant in this country. And it gives junior players proof that Australia is a major player in the most global of sports.

Matildas player Steph Catley with Leichhardt Tigers players, Seren Taylor, 8, Sienna Stokoe Fitzpatrick, 9, Isabella Mark, 8, Emilia Bivona, 8, and Allegra Bivona, 6, in Sydney on Friday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“For young boys and girls that get to watch the World Cup, it’s going to be so exciting. It’s going to change football in Australia forever­,” Catley said.

Community sport is slated to return on Wednesday. A three-year countdown has begun to the Women’s World Cup, the biggest sporting event in Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Last year’s tournament in France attracte­d more than a billion television viewers.

Australian football had suffered heartbreak after heartbreak until Friday. Devastating defeats for the Matildas and Socceroos in tournaments of importance. The failed bid to host the men’s World Cup. But as of shortly before 2am, when the trans-Tasman bid received­ the green light, Australian football no longer felt like a bit player.

The Matildas no longer had to chase the Cup overseas. The Cup was coming here after an announceme­nt that rivalled, “The winner is Sydney!” for an out­pouring of emotion and nationwide celebration.

“Honestly, I think I need to check into a hospital,” Catley said after watching FIFA’s Zoom call from Zurich.

“That process was just so stressful. All worth it. My gosh. I can’t believe it. It was so scary. Everyone in that room had worked so tirelessly on that bid. I was like, I can’t handle this. I can’t look these ­people in the eye if it goes the other way. Being able to scream and shout and hug them at the end, for a winning bid, it was just the best feeling in the world.”

Catley said of contesting a World Cup in her own backyard: “It gives me goosebumps just to think about it. The atmosphere. The crowds. The hype. Our home country. It’s everything. It’s sur­real. It’s incredible. We absolutely deserve this.”