‘That’s embarrassing’: Why top Matildas won’t be ending their careers in Australia

1 month ago 3

London: Though it feels like her blonde ponytail has been bouncing down the right touchline forever, Ellie Carpenter is still somehow only 25 years old, so she has an awful lot of football in front of her.

However, thoughts about the way she might finish up, when the time eventually comes, have been on her mind lately – sparked by a confronting report that suggests it won’t be on her terms.

Players such as Sam Kerr won’t retire at home unless something changes with the A-League Women, says Matildas and Chelsea teammate Ellie Carpenter.

In an ideal world, Carpenter would do as many of the Socceroos’ famed “golden generation” did – return home to play out their careers in the A-League, in front of family, friends and adoring local fans.

Some of Carpenter’s older teammates in the Matildas – such as Sam Kerr and Steph Catley, both 32 – are at the stage of their lives where they are starting to mentally map out what the end might look like.

Unfortunately for them – and for the rest of us – this is far from an ideal world.

The state of the A-League Women, where every Matildas player got their start, is so grim that what should be a rite of passage for Australian players who succeed abroad is just not feasible.

Ellie Carpenter joined Chelsea this season.

A 69-page report prepared by Professional Footballers Australia on the state of the domestic game, released earlier in January, finds that what was once considered a leading competition in the women’s game is now the least-preferred league globally among its own players.

Despite the phenomenal rise of the Matildas, the A-League Women remains mired in semi-professional stasis. Minimum salaries have been outstripped by all other codes, overseas leagues are leaving it for dead and discerning fans at home have noticed: average crowds have dropped to 1559, with the buzz from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup having well and truly worn off.

So as much as they’d like to play at home again, unless something significant changes – and soon – why would they, when they could keep playing in Europe or North America and continue earning good money?

“I am disappointed,” Carpenter said.

“The money’s growing in women’s football – it has been for years – and I feel like Australia’s just kind of standing still.”

Ellie Carpenter

“Especially after the 2023 World Cup. Surely that was a big enough of a statement to kind of push the league and make it fully professional and pay the players what they’re worth. They’re training every day so they should be paid [well]. To have the minimum salary the lowest in the whole of [women’s] sport in Australia ... that’s embarrassing, almost, to football in Australia.

“Us players over here, we find that we’re just disappointed. Some girls that are maybe older in their career or just about to finish, they probably don’t even want to go back and finish their careers in Australia because of where the game’s at there in the league. Hopefully, we can make changes because then we won’t see the likes of Sam and Steph ... maybe in a couple of years, they don’t want to go back and end their career in Australia because of how bad it is.

“I would love to go home and finish my career. Hopefully, by then, we can.”

Since leaving what was then known as the W-League in 2018, Carpenter has played for three clubs leading the way in women’s football: firstly Portland Thorns (one of the best-supported sides in the US National Women’s Soccer League); then Olympique Lyonnais (long regarded as the standard-bearers in Europe); and now at Chelsea (the reigning Women’s Super League champions), where she joined Kerr this season.

In contrast, her first two Australian teams are struggling in ways that are emblematic of the A-League Women’s overall malaise. Western Sydney Wanderers have played finals football in only one of their 13 seasons, while Canberra United have been searching for an owner to take them off the books of ACT federation Capital Football for several years, unsuccessfully.

The PFA’s vision document, titled “Ready for Takeoff”, proposes that if the A-League Women goes fully professional – estimating it would cost each club about $1 million more a season to do so – it would effectively pay for itself through increased transfer revenue, prizemoney through Asian Football Confederation and FIFA competitions, and match-day and commercial income.

It also encourages a shift away from the current “dual model” of the A-Leagues, in which most clubs have men’s and women’s programs.

“If current dual-clubs are unable to meet the moment, the door should be opened for new entrants who can,” the report says.

Carpenter supports anything that would bring her home country up to speed with what she’s experienced, and while she hopes the Women’s Asian Cup will be another “lightbulb moment”, she is realistic.

If a home World Cup didn’t do the trick, then a continental tournament – as good as it might be – probably won’t either.

“The women’s game’s is changing now. Like, you see overnight, there’s the first million-dollar-a-season player,” said Carpenter, referring to reports that United States superstar Trinity Rodman’s new three-year deal with the Washington Spirit makes her the highest-paid women’s footballer in the world.

“The money’s growing in women’s football – it has been for years – and I feel like Australia’s just kind of standing still. We’re not following the wave, and I think that’s the biggest problem.”

The Asian Cup kicks off on March 1, with the Matildas opening the tournament at Perth’s Optus Stadium against the Philippines. Carpenter recognises that it is probably the final realistic chance for the current generation of national team players to win a major trophy together.

“If there was a time to win it, it would be this one,” she said.

“Obviously, not winning the last two that I’ve been a part of was just disappointing. I feel like we do have the quality to win that Asian Cup. We’re all striving for that. We all want to lift the trophy. It’s time for some silverware for this team. I think it’s the perfect opportunity for some of the more experienced and older players to leave on a high.”