“Is the W-League a world-leading development pathway designed to catapult our most talented players into the international market? Or is there an opportunity for the W-League and NWSL to work collaboratively to provide a calendar year of football and a partnership that serves both our international and domestic game?”
It’s the “either/or” question that will determine the future of Australian women’s football. For former Matilda Kate Gill, who began her tenure as co-chief executive of the players’ union last week, the W-League sits at a fork in the road. The longer its decision makers wait to choose a path, the further it will fall behind other nations.
Gill’s questions preface the PFA’s annual W-League Report – the fourth in as many seasons and the most comprehensive to date – and is the first piece of work published in her new role.
Combining statistical data with individual feedback, the report surveyed 130 of the 197 players who participated in the 2019-20 W-League season. They were asked about various aspects of their footballing lives including work and study, club culture, broadcasting, stadium and pitch quality, development pathways and the league’s position in the broader landscape.
Some of the report’s outcomes are positive, building on the momentum of previous seasons. For example, there was a 13 per cent increase to average club spending on player payments, while minimum wages rose by 33 per cent to $16,344 in accordance with the W-League CBA.
Although international players often stole the show, the league was primarily driven by Australian players, who made up 80 per cent of the 2019-20 cohort. Building on this local theme, there was an over-representation of Australian players from regional areas with three per cent of the league coming from outside major city/metro zones, suggesting the growing strength of regional grassroots pathways.
Further, there was more game time afforded to younger players – particularly those under 17, who doubled the match minutes they received compared with the same age bracket last season. And on average, over half of the league had fewer than four seasons’ worth of W-League experience, adding weight to the argument that the league is an important developmental platform for emerging Australian talent.
However, there are a number of emerging trends that concern the PFA, too.
Average match attendance has fallen for the second consecutive season, though the report acknowledges that Covid-19’s impact on the finals series likely affected this. Forty-four per cent of players were “not at all satisfied” by their club’s integration of W-League and A-League teams – up by 16 per cent from the previous season – with Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Perth Glory the worst performers. This dissatisfaction could be further exacerbated by the A-League’s proposed shift to winter, meaning teams would rarely meet and socialise in club environments due to their differing seasons.
In addition, the gaps between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is widening, which can be seen by the fact clubs which finished outside the top four lost three-and-a-half times more combined games (37) than clubs that made finals (11). There’s also a concern that over-reliance on NWSL-based players will lead to a sudden drop-off when the US league eventually expands, making player loans to the W-League increasingly difficult.
But the most revealing finding concerns how players feel about the W-League’s place in the global landscape. When ranking leagues in order of where they would most prefer to play, England’s Women’s Super League came out on top while the NWSL dropped to second. Alarmingly, the W-League was ranked fourth behind an option simply titled, “Other European Leagues”. In fact, the W-League hadn’t improved on last season’s score of 2.7/5 – underlining the league’s stagnation relative to other competitions.
The unflinching and determined language Gill uses in the foreword to the W-League Report is therefore warranted: Australia’s top women’s league is at risk of being left behind if its leaders are not decisive about and committed to its purpose and identity. “We cannot allow opportunism to condemn the progress of the W-League and women’s football more generally,” she writes.
“If our belief in women’s football is legitimate then there is incredible capacity to use this crisis as an opportunity to build a better business. Coupled with the transformational opportunity co-hosting the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup presents, there is a responsibility to reform the game for the better.
“If we choose this path, we will need creativity, resilience, a long-term commitment to the role of women in football but more importantly we will need to continue to challenge the notion that women’s football cannot stand equally alongside men’s football.
“As players, we need to ensure that our voice remains front and centre and that the momentum that players have built through the W-League doesn’t regress. We need to ensure that the long fight to build dignified and valued careers continues.”
