North London united: Matildas trio could join Ange’s homecoming trip

Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur appear set to share the same stage as three of the Matildas’ biggest stars, with Arsenal in advanced discussions to bring their women’s team to Australia as part of a post-season double-header.

Sources familiar with the matter, who were unauthorised to speak publicly, say Arsenal are close to sealing an agreement to play against an A-League Women’s All Stars team at the MCG in May – possibly on the same evening as Spurs are slated to tackle the A-League Men’s All Stars.

Matildas and Arsenal stars Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord appear to be bound for Melbourne.Credit: Getty

The deal is contingent on the involvement of Matildas vice-captain Steph Catley, forward Caitlin Foord and midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross, who are playing a key role in Arsenal’s push for the FA Women’s Super League title this season.

The Australian Professional Leagues, the operators of the A-Leagues, declined to comment. The Victorian government and TEG were both approached for comment.

While an official announcement is some weeks away, the talks are further proof of how women’s football has skyrocketed in popularity since last year’s Women’s World Cup. Never has a state government or promoter seen fit to pay for a women’s club team to come out to Australia, nor have the long-held ambitions for a women’s All Stars match been realised by A-Leagues executives until now. The A-League Women’s competition is also enjoying an uptick across every metric, with memberships up 669 per cent and crowds 114 per cent, year-on-year.

Destination NSW made several strong bids to bring Arsenal to Sydney but were ultimately gazumped by Visit Victoria, sources say. Whether the match is played on the same night as Tottenham’s men – Wednesday, May 22 – or on another evening is one of the last remaining details left for the Victorian government and promoters TEG to iron out.

Ange Postecoglou could bring his Tottenham Hotspur men’s side to Australia.Credit: Getty

A later date could assuage any fears surrounding the potential injury implications for players stemming from another long-haul flight, with such travel believed to be a contributing factor towards ACL injuries.

“When you have players on different continents, the amount of travel they do – and you need to consider jet lag as well – is something we really need to talk about as well,” coach Tony Gustavsson said earlier this month, speaking publicly for the first time since Sam Kerr’s season-ending knee injury. “In terms of player wellbeing, in terms of how many days can they prepare to play a game and then travel back again?”

Arsenal will finish their WSL campaign on May 18, and if the game goes ahead, would fly out immediately to Melbourne for the exhibition match. Catley, Foord and Cooney-Cross would then join Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson and their teammates in a pre-Olympics camp a few days later – assuming Australia can seal qualification in their two-legged play-off with Uzbekistan, which begins next Saturday night.

Beyond the Aussies, Arsenal boast a star-studded squad which also includes England captain Leah Williamson, forwards Alessia Russo and Beth Mead and Irish skipper Katie McCabe. Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema could also make the trip if the Netherlands miss out on the Olympics, with their qualification hopes to be settled later this month.

This masthead previously revealed that Postecoglou’s Spurs were in line to face the A-League Men All Stars, who haven’t assembled since a highly successful clash with Barcelona in mid-2022 which attracted more than 70,000 fans to Sydney’s Accor Stadium.

Despite the MCG’s lack of suitability for rectangular sports, the involvement of Postecoglou and the trio of Matildas – beyond the existing widespread local support for the two north London clubs – will go close to selling out the 100,024-seat venue if the double-header concept goes ahead.