Was the Matildas effect just "piggybacking" instead of making real change for women's soccer?
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A bombshell report released on Wednesday has called for an urgent overhaul of the A-League Women, with salaries, competition structures, player welfare and soccer investment slammed.
Professional Footballers Australia - soccer's union body - conducted a survey that showed the women's competition is the "least preferred league among players" and offers the lowest minimum salaries in women's sport in the country, despite once setting the benchmark as the highest paid.
The 2024-25 report also showed a mental health audit conducted with FIFPRO recorded 67 per cent of A-League Women players had experienced "sport-related psychological distress".
Experiences of disordered eating (41 per cent), alcohol misuse (34 per cent) and disturbed sleep (28 per cent) were also prevalent.
The PFA is pushing for the A-League Women to move to a fully professional competition by next season (2026-27), which would involve increasing salaries and having longer player contracts.
The league's minimum salary of $26,000 is the lowest of Australia's top women's sporting leagues.
"Despite record total player payments of $8.7 million, 76 per cent of players reported their financial situation as 'not at all' or only 'slightly' secure," the PFA report claimed.
"62 per cent worked outside football during the 2024-25 season. The league's average salary is just over $30,000."
The PFA argued changes would result in the league benefiting from improved performance, an increased fanbase, and "significant revenue" from the growing global transfer fee market projected to be worth $200 million by 2027, injecting an estimated $10 million annually into clubs.
Club A-League licences could also become more valuable in the near future with the transfer fee boost, as well as prizemoney from lucrative Asian Football Confederation and FIFA club competitions.
To back up these claims, the PFA believes its research proves the A-League Women is a "potential goldmine" and that assertion is supported by "hard evidence" detailing the size of the opportunity.
"The ALW has reached a tipping point," PFA boss Beau Busch said.
"Without urgent investment and a plan to transition to full-time professionalism by next season, the league risks losing more talent, continuing the damaging cycle of part-time commitments on players, and compromising its connection with fans.
"The business case is clear - the smart money is on women's sport and especially football. With the Asian Cup in Australia kicking off in a little over 100 days, the game can take the necessary leap to full-time professionalisation and capitalise on the biggest opportunity in Australian sport."
Australian Professional Leagues chairman Stephen Conroy responded to the criticism in a statement to The Canberra Times.
"The A-League has established itself as the top ranked league in Asia and the proven pathway for our next generation of national team heroes," Conroy said.
"Last season, 22 A-League Women players were called up to Matildas' squads from nine clubs, and this season will see 47 senior-capped internationals playing across the league.
"This season provides another fantastic opportunity for players to break through and stake their claim as stars of the future.
"This A-League season will also see an extra increase to the salary cap, raising the salary cap floor and taking the maximum player payments 7 per cent above the amount initially agreed within the CBA - a sustainable increase as the league continues to grow."
The call for greater investment in women's soccer in Australia comes as A-League Women has seemingly fallen behind other competitions globally.
Back when it was known as the W-League, the domestic competition spawned many Matildas stars including Sam Kerr and Michelle Heyman, and while there are still international-calibre players that emerge from the A-League, many top prospects now go abroad rather than stay in Australia.
The report also stands in contrast to the impact of the "Matildas effect" following the Women's World Cup in July and August 2023.
The buzz and success of the tournament, even though the Matildas were knocked out in the semi-final, saw women's soccer reach dizzying new heights in Australia.
Momentum continued in the games that followed the event, with the Matildas going on a 16-game streak of sell-out home crowds that lasted until December last year.
Top Australian players also landed more lucrative contracts with renowned soccer clubs abroad, and individuals and the sport itself benefited from hefty sponsorship and endorsement deals with big-name companies eager to profit from the women's soccer boom.
Importantly, there was a major shift in how women's soccer was viewed by sports fans, especially in Australia. No longer was it considered a fringe or niche section of the vast sporting banquet offered in the country.
The Matildas were undoubtedly the most popular national team in men's or women's sport, and that title has not budged since.
PFA co-president Tameka Yallop, Matildas midfielder at the last World Cup, said the growth for women's soccer seen immediately after the tournament had not been effectively sustained.
"We had that massive opportunity with the World Cup and we did see a little bit of growth, but there wasn't any hard sort of platform laid down for it to continue to grow," Yallop said.
"It was just piggybacking rather than laying the foundations that we needed to lift this league and elevate it."
The PFA threatened a swift end to any progress made since the World Cup unless the A-League Women boosted investment drastically, and soon, especially ahead of next year's Asian Cup in Australia.
The union is expected to release a players' vision for the competition's future in the coming weeks.
"Professionalising the A-League would provide me the security to focus on football full-time," Canberra United defender Sasha Grove said.
"For many players, the part-time nature of the ALW creates a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the off-season.
"Many players are left in the dark when it comes to off-season training and whether or not they will be able to get a contract for the next season. This massively takes away from our ability to grow the women's game, increase its visibility, and promote domestic talent.
"The post-Asian Cup period provides an opportunity to meaningfully grow the women's game. Professionalising the ALW during this period is absolutely necessary to keep Australian football in the spotlight and make a strong statement on the support for women's football and the intention to lift it to greater heights."
- with AAP
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