In the aftermath of the heartbreak of the Matildas’ semi-final loss, captain Sam Kerr has used the spotlight to call for better funding for women’s football, especially at the grassroots.
“I can only speak for the Matildas [but], you know, we need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots. We need funding, you know, we need funding everywhere,” Kerr said after the match on Wednesday night.
“You know, comparison to other sports isn’t really good enough and hopefully this tournament kind of changes that because that’s the legacy you leave, not what you do on the pitch.
“The legacy is what you do off the pitch. Hopefully. I mean, it’s hard to talk about now, but hopefully that this is the start of something new.”
In a post-match press conference, coach Tony Gustavsson agreed with Kerr, and said the energy surrounding the Matildas now needs to translate into better outcomes for women’s football more generally.
“It’s more than 90 minutes football,” he said. “They [the Matildas] and the generations before worked hard to be in this moment. We’re very disappointed that we lost, but hopefully, we won something else. We won the heart and the passion for this game and this country.
“I agree with the players – this is not the end of something, this needs to be the start of something, and with that comes money as well.”
Matildas smash ratings records
The comments from Kerr and Gustavsson came before it was confirmed on Thursday morning that the semi-final broke another television ratings record, drawing a national average audience of 7.13 million. The match reached an unprecedented 11.15 million viewers in total. It was the most watched television program since the ratings system was established back in 2001.
According to OzTAM data, the national broadcast audience was 6.17 million for terrestrial television, and another 957,000 viewers tuned in on streaming service 7plus. These figures do not include those who watched the match on Optus or at live sites around the country.