Doug Taylor

England is a country where soccer is their national sport. Millions play it, and they inject hundreds of millions of dollars into funding it. They’re obsessed with it. Australia puts most sports funding into other games and although lots of kids play soccer, the game has nowhere near the attention, numbers of players or relentless support here it gets in Europe. Our #Matildas were regularly playing to just a couple of hundred people until very recently. Their pay and conditions were close to pitiful until just a few short years ago. Many of them played for boy’s teams growing up, or had to move states or even continents just to get the game time they needed to excel. They did it HARD. And as we’ve said a few days ago, they’ve also faced extraordinary misogyny, ridicule and barriers to success, just for being female. Yet this women’s team have made history by getting to the final four in a tournament fought by nations where soccer is the reason a lot of them get up in the morning. The Matildas haven’t failed: they’ve won. They’ve won our hearts and minds and changed sport - especially women’s sport - in this country forever. They should all be so proud, and we should all be so proud of them. Now it’s our collective responsibility to force our media to value women’s sport and our governments to fund it properly. We must hold their feet to the fire on behalf of all the little girls who deserve their chance to shine. Thank you, Tillies. You’re the fucking best, and you did us all proud. It’s been so much fun watching you play. Good luck in your final #FIFAWomensWorldCup match. #TilitsDone