This week on All The Best, a feature length audio-documentary about Matildas Mania.
Please note this story contains some swears!
The Matildas Express
The Matildas Express is a journey to the historic semi-final of the Women’s World Cup 2023, and how our women’s football team inspired the nation.
One year ago, on a cold winter night, Australian sports witnessed a historic moment. The Matildas, playing on home soil, defeated France in a nail-biting penalty shootout, earning their spot in the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup. This was not only Australia’s best run at any World Cup but also a defining moment for women’s football in the country. The nation erupted in joy, and the Matildas became national icons, capturing the hearts of millions and solidifying Australia’s passion for football.
It takes a team to play football, and it no doubt takes a team to create an audio documentary…
Produced by Kaspar Visser – @kaspar.visser
Audio Engineer Roy Hayoon – @iloveroyki
Supervising Producer – Shelby Traynor
With special thanks to Mel, Eric, David, Drew and Beattie Goad.
Featuring music by Blue Dot sessions and Podington Bear.
Image Credit: Kaspar Visser
This piece was recorded from Wurundjeri to Gadigal lands and pays respect to all the indigenous communities along the journey from Naarm to Warrane.
All The Best Credits
Executive Producer: Phoebe Adler-Ryan
Editorial Producer: Melanie Bakewell
Host: Madhuraa Prakash
Transcript-
Kaspar: One year ago, on a cold winter night, a historic moment took place in Australian sport. Playing on home soil, our Matildas beat France in a dramatic penalty shootout, booking a spot in the semi-final of the Women’s World Cup.
Sports Commentary: 21-year-old Cortnee Vine at her first World Cup. Cue the party!
Kaspar: They’d come so far. Making Australia’s best-ever run at any World Cup, and making us all so happy.
Sports Commentary: Engrave their name on it today, Friday. We haven’t even played the Palms yet, but we’ve won the Cup already.
Kaspar: In weeks, the players had become national icons, and women’s football had taken over. Australia was absolutely footballing mad.
As a long-time football fan, this was a fever dream. With a stupid sense of adventure, I told myself, whatever happens, I’m going to make a story. I’m going to find out who else has been captivated, and what it is about the Matildas that makes them special.
So, with just over 24 hours before the semi-final, I booked a ticket on the 13-hour overnight train from Melbourne to Sydney.
Train Announcement: Now arriving at Southern Cross.
Kaspar: Standing on the platform at Southern Cross, reality hit, and I became more and more nervous. Everyone waited heads down, and I wondered if anyone would actually talk to me. But then I spotted a green and gold scarf, and a woman watching the Spain Sweden semi-final on her phone.
Mel: Is that a Zoom? What is that?
Kaspar: Yeah, Zoom H5. What was your name, sorry?
Mel: Mel.
Kaspar: Kaspar.
Both: Nice to meet you.
Kaspar: Mel is an American film producer and she’s been a passionate women’s football fan for many years.
Let’s start off by asking, I mean, why are you going to Sydney?
Mel: Yeah, I’m going to Sydney to see the Matildas beat England.
Kaspar: Yeah, that’s the right answer.
Mel: I’ve followed soccer, played soccer, been to soccer games, been to World Cups, and I’ve been a Matildas fan for years as well. And so when, literally since they announced that, that New Zealand and Australia would be co-hosting. I’ve carved out my schedule. I’ve, you know, planned on, on doing this, and I’ve been able to make most of the, most of the Melbourne games.
Kaspar: Being a longtime fan, she has seen the evolution of women’s football in the US and in Australia. She knows the social impact of a tournament like this and has paid close attention to the way Australia is reacting.
Mel: Yeah, like, this team has done what they’ve done despite, a lot of the allocations team has done what they’ve done despite nobody watching them the past 20 years, or certainly, lots of people have been watching but nowhere near as many as they deserve.
And so now, it’s that old saying, like, be so good that they can’t ignore you. And they have been so good that they can’t be ignored.
Kaspar: Only ten years ago, our star left back, Ellie Carpenter, was watching the Matildas as a young girl. She remembers the crowds of only 300. While at this World Cup, the Matildas packed out stadiums with 80, 000 seats, months in advance.
There was no question what was happening all over the country.
Mel: And I think seeing kids so into the game, as well as their parents, like, watching people fall in love, literally. There’s a friend of mine who I sort of got into it at the beginning of the cup, and she’s, she’s full on obsessed. Bought her first scarf, and she’s like, Ooh, like messaging me questions about tactics, like really watching people fall in love in real time is lovely.
Kaspar: For Mel, there’s a reason why this team is so lovable.
Mel: This is a team that isn’t just doing incredible things on the field, but the things that they stand for off the field. And I think, I think sport and social change go hand in hand. And I think that you learn a lot of discipline, you learn a lot of things about relationships, and you learn a lot of things playing sport, but you watch a lot of these players and the things that they do push for.
I think that that’s also a good thing, and to raise that into social consciousness is awesome.
Kaspar: Back in 2015, the players themselves took the bold action to strike for two months. They demanded that Football Federation Australia pay at least minimum wage and improve working conditions in line with the men’s team.
The Matildas have for a long time set the standard when it comes to fighting for equality. And this attracts a certain type of positive fan culture.
Mel: Fans of women’s sport, uh, do take a lot more ownership in a good way of teams, and a lot more investment in terms of not just, uh, you know, I, this team, I deserve something from them, but also I want to support them and I want to give back to them and I want to put, uh, myself and my faith in them more than in a lot of ways men’s teams. And I think that’s for a lot of reasons, but I think that there is a lot of personal investment. You look at people who have sacrificed a lot to you know, support and follow the Matildas for years um, and seeing it paying off, which is amazing.
Kaspar: Yeah. I mean, you’re on a train. Yeah. Twelve hours. Yep. Oh, I gotta get your prediction, what do you think?
Mel: Uh, I think Sam Kerr is going to beat Mary Earps. Honestly, the matchup is Australia England. I think that’s the key. I think if she scores first we can break it wide open. I’m gonna go 4- 2. I think if we can beat Earps early, we can beat her often.
Kaspar: If we’re in for a 4 2 game, I’m saying this is the best money I’ve ever spent.
Mel made me see the bigger picture about The Matildas. I was excited.
So have you been watching?
Eric: Yes, I have.
Kaspar: This is Eric. He was travelling to Sydney to visit family. We get talking, and he keeps bringing up the number 7. He has this theory.
What’s the key, pardon me?
Eric: Seven letters.
Kaspar: Seven letters?
Eric: Everything big in this world, famous in this world, is seven letters.
Kasper: Although he claimed it wasn’t religious, Eric was very superstitious. And this extended to his views on Australian sport.
Eric: There’s three icons in Australia.
Kaspar: Yeah, and they are?
Eric: Sporting icons. Lindgren.
Kaspar: Yeah.
Eric: Brabant.
Kaspar: Yeah.
Eric: Farlow.
Kaspar: What about Freeman?
Eric: Well, there’s other, uh, athletes that have done just as good as her, if not better.
It’s all seven. Doesn’t matter.
Kaspar: Sam Kerr is seven letters if you put it together.
Eric: Yeah, it does go with one name first or last. But, you know, Sam could be. She might marry a man who’s seven letters.
Kaspar: Okay. Every time I hear this, I think, what were you thinking, Kasper? Sam Kerr is a queer sporting icon, and Eric’s comments massively undervalue her achievements.
I should have called out Eric here, but I let it get away. To be part of women’s sport means to protect it. So if you hear something like this, do better than me and call it out. Still, Eric and I do find some common ground.
Now, it is the Women’s World cup and you just made a comment about the women before.
Eric: That’s right, yeah.
Kaspar: What do you think of it all?
Eric: I think it’s great. I think women’s sport has come a long way.
Kaspar: Yeah.
Eric: Not necessarily in soccer, but golf, cricket, netball, tennis.
Kaspar: Eric might not agree, but I think women’s football has come a long way. He might be an outlier, but it’s almost impossible to ignore the fact that the Matildas are making history as we speak.
It was almost 1 am, and it was conflicting whether to try to get some sleep or to pull through the whole night.
Oh, do you guys have coffee? No, now’s not the time for a coffee. Um, can I please get a ginger beer?
Then I met David, the train instructor at the canteen.
David: Why are you doing it on the Matildas?
Kaspar: Well, I think it’s an amazing story. Amazing, I love football.
David: Well, I understand that, but there is a there’s a more amazing story coming up next month. If the Wallabies can get their shit together.
Kaspar: If the Wallabies can get their shit together?
David: But they can’t.
Kaspar: Maybe David was surprised, but I was even more shocked. How could he not think this was big?
David: For the last two months, I’ve been quizzing people on this train.
Kaspar: Yeah.
David: And you are probably the second person who knows who Sam Kerr is.
Kaspar: Really?
David: Really.
Kaspar: So you don’t think many people know?
I found this hard to believe. Sam Kerr, the 2018 Young Australian of the Year, and the 2022 PFA Player of the Year in the biggest women’s league in the world. Maybe David had just had bad luck.
But to me, she wasn’t some unknown gem before the tournament.
David: I think people have no clues and I think they are missing out because Sam is one of the best soccer players in the world, full stop.
Kaspar: Yeah.
David: She’s brilliant and the Aussie squad is brilliant.
Kaspar: Maybe, maybe he had a point. Maybe I was missing something.
Even though I still knew the tournament was big, it made me see that there are people out there that still don’t know about the World Cup.
Train Announcement: [inaudble] and The Rock, Wagga Wagga, Junee, Cootamundra, Hardin, Yass Junction, Goulburn, Mossvale, Campbelltown and Central Station, Sydney. Our Central Station, Sydney Terminal, is the final stop for this service.
Kaspar: After six hours on the train and hundreds of kilometres across the country, it was time for some rest. Using my jumper as a pillow, I spread out across two seats and tried to sleep. I’d met people with all different views on how big the Matildas were. I wanted to see for myself, and I was ready for some action.
Train Announcement: Ladies and gentlemen, the train arriving at Platform One Central Station, all doors in the direction of travel will be released to the platform.
Traveller: Thank you very much.
Platform Attendant: Pleasure.
Kaspar: Thank you.
Platform Attendant: Thank you, mate.
Kaspar: After 13 hours on the overnight train, I’d arrived. And as I went for a walk to move my legs, there were colourful signs and flags covering every building and shining in the sunlight. Sydney was engulfed in World Cup fever.
Okay, I’m sitting in the park opposite Central Station in the middle of Sydney, and all I’ve been doing for the last hour is just walking around the city and seeing little bits of green and gold popping up, coming out, and everyone is getting behind this team. When you see someone wearing a Matilda shirt, or even just a bit of colour, green and gold, on their, on their hair or something like that, your eyes light up and your eyes match and there’s a smile and an energy that comes out that’s just unmissable and unmistakable.
There’s so much positivity around this team that I just don’t know how to contain it. So, if this is at midday today, I don’t know what it’s going to be like at 8 pm tonight. I think I won’t be able to contain myself. Expect tears, expect emotions, it’s going to be an incredible experience. And I think that everyone else in this city has kind of realised that too.
On my walk around the city, one person stood out. What was your name?
Drew: Drew.
Kasper: Drew? Kaspar.
Drew: Hey Kaspar. Nice to meet you. The friendly ghost.
Kaspar: This is Drew. A big issue seller outside Wynyard Station.
Drew: Engrave their name on it today, Friday. We haven’t even played the Palms yet, but we’ve won the cup already. Engrave Matilda’s on that cup.
Kaspar: And you, you said they’re so?…
Drew: They’re so fucking good, mate. They are so fucking good. They’re extraordinary. The way they’ve played, they’ve amazed me. I, I kind of watched a few games, but I didn’t know the standard of women’s football had increased so crazily as it has done. They’re as good as men, and men have, men have been playing the game for like hundreds of years.
The women have only, well, women’s games have been going, but it’s kind of been unknown.
Kaspar: Drew makes an interesting point. Countless women have worked hard outside the limelight to get the team to where it is today.
Drew: There’s no better team in the world. That’s what I’m saying.
Kaspar: Don’t do it. It’s done.
Drew: It’s fucking done, man.
There’s not even any point in playing this, Sammy. Just put England on the boat right now. Send them back. Adios. We’ve got it. It’s in the bag.
Kaspar: Spurred by the sheer excitement and the passion of Drew, I was ready for the game. And on the way to the stadium, we passed the Matildas Active Squad, a group of diehard supporters.
They streamed through the train turnstiles, singing, dancing, and beating their drums. Everyone with huge smiles.
Lining the platforms in our Matildas shirts and scarves, we all jumped on the Matildas Express on the way to the game.
Sue! Hey Mel! Hey Mel!
These are some friends that I met on the train. I met Mel on the train.
With all of us jumping with joy, our nerves were building. As Stadium Australia filled and the match kicked off, my nerves only grew.
The stadium was packed with 70, 000 fans and we had to squeeze through to take our seats.
Crowd: Let’s go Mackenzie!
Kasper: It felt like every touch mattered.
Crowd: GO, GO, GO, GO, AW
Kaspar: By halftime, we were behind a goal. I ran around the stadium to meet my friend Ari, full of nervous energy. It’s a football cliche that teams play the occasion and not the game in big moments like these. With England leading 1 0, there was no doubt Australia needed something special. Every player in the Matildas is a star. From young names like Fowler and Vine to proven legends like Polkinghorne and Catley. But there’s one player who offers something that just can’t be matched. Mel, the first person I met on the train, puts it best. Sam Kerr changes everything.
Mel: When Australia played Denmark, which was the first game that Sam Kerr played, a friend of mine was actually at the game and sent me a photo and was like, Sam Kerr’s warming up, like five minutes before.
And suddenly, when the camera switched to her warming up, In Fed Square, and all it did was show her, like, jogging along the sidelines and then taking her pinny off. It went berserk. It went absolutely berserk. It shifted the entire energy in the whole stadium.
Kaspar: Sam Kerr is our ace card. Our star striker.
As the clock ticked into the 63rd minute, Sam Kerr received the ball from Mini Gorry all the way back in midfield. Charging forward at the England defenders, sprinting at their goal.
Sports Commentary: Here goes Sam Kerr! The crowd cheers as Kerr scores.
Kaspar: I still tear up when I hear this commentary.
Sports Commentary: The superwoman! The heroine!
Kaspar: It’s one of those moments everyone can tell you where they were when it happened. For me, standing in that stadium, with friends around me, I couldn’t believe what I’d just seen. I was so excited. I wasn’t even recording when it happened.
The goal was so good it was later nominated for the FIFA Puskas Goal of the Year award. Kerr got her moment and filled every Australian heart with pure over the top joy. Ari had called it destiny, but it was only when I saw scenes from FedSquare and from cities all across the country that I really understood the impact.
Crowd: Loud, passionate cheering.
Kaspar: 11. 15 million people across Australia watched that semi-final on TV, making it the most-watched Aussie TV program of any kind since ratings started being recorded. It knocked Cathy Freeman’s iconic gold medal race at the Sydney Olympics off first place, which everyone older than me remembers with such fondness.
That was their moment, and the semi-final was our moment. I’ve never seen so many people connected in Australia over one thing. We witnessed history, there was no doubt about it.
After Kerr’s moment, as the game went on, England got their goals. And as it went from 2- 1 to 3 -1, we all stood watching the final slowly slide away. Australia didn’t go on to win the game that day. Thinking back to my conversation with Mel, it struck me that winning the cup wasn’t the most important thing, and the Matildas has succeeded in other ways.
Mel: No matter what happens this game, I am so happy to have been able to be at most of these games for a cup, and I’m getting a World Cup commemorative tattoo on Sunday.
Kaspar: Really?
Mel: Yeah.
Kaspar: If we win it, I’ll do one with you.
Even though I didn’t end up with that tattoo on my body, the Matildas did in fact leave a permanent mark on me and everyone in Australia.
The joy of Sam Kerr’s goal and the positivity of the journey will live on in our lives for years to come. Australian football is infinitely better because of this tournament. After the game, as the stands cleared out, I stood in the friends and family section next to the pitch. As the players sat devastated and the fans called out for autographs, a woman pushed through and she stood right next to me, calling out one name.
The mum of Kyra Cooney Cross, our star midfielder, called out above the crowd and Kyra’s head turned immediately. Up on her feet in seconds, she walked over and the two of them embraced in a tight hug. Overwhelmed with tears streaming down my face, Kyra glanced up from her mum’s shoulder, and our eyes met.
Stone cold as she is, the calm and collected midfielder, she gave me a look, one that said, “Why the fuck are you crying? “
[ through tears] I’m so emotional. I don’t know, I’m just proud. I’m just proud. I was so fine until Cooney Cross was called over by her mum right in front of me. Just, she told her, get here, give me a hug.
Yeah, that really broke me. I think that all I can say is I’m fucking proud. They deserve everything that they’ve done, everything that they’ve done for the nation, and they’re the best that we will ever have. So, good on them.
Just like me, this team and this World Cup has brought so many people to tears and engulfed us emotionally.
With my own eyes I’ve seen so many young boys and so many young girls now say that Sam Kerr and Steph Catley are their biggest idols. For the next generation, they’ve been shown what positive sporting culture looks like. And there’s no turning back.
Mel: You know, my godkids are ten and fifteen and I never have to think twice about whether a women’s soccer match is a safe place to take them.
Kaspar: Women’s football has always been for everyone. New fans have been welcome since the start, but for that to stay, it needs to be protected.
This World Cup has exposed so many new people to women’s football. There’s that issue of like, will women’s football fan culture lose that positivity that’s run deep through it?
Mel: Yeah, And you’ve seen that in the dub as well, where some of the fans of teams from the men’s have come over to watch women’s games and have caused problems. But a couple of years ago at a Derby, fans threw glass bottles at the Keeper.
Kaspar: Oh shit.
Mel: And they were clearly men supporters, like wearing the insignia of standing in the group of like they had come over.
So that’s the only sort of worry that I do have about it becoming so, growing so big and so quickly is that fans of the game have spent decades building this thing that is incredibly safe and inclusive and, and so we wanna make sure that while we are welcoming everyone into the game, and I do, and I think the more people at games the better full stop.
I do think we need to make sure that it stays as accessible, that it stays as inclusive and that it stays as safe.
Kaspar: In the past year, the Matildas have continued to sell out stadiums across Australia. Their following has only grown. And a year on from that semi-final, there is no doubt that the Matildas fever is here to stay. It was only a matter of time before this happened.
Football connects us all. And the truth is that once the spotlight was on women’s football, it was always going to shine.