Ben Gilby spoke to Australian international and Bristol City midfielder Ella Mastrantonio about her move to England, life at Bristol City Women, her experiences playing for the Matildas and the future of the Australian women’s game.
Ella Mastrantonio is from Fremantle, Western Australia. She has six caps for the ‘Matildas’, Australia’s national women’s team after making her international debut in 2008 at the age of 16 against Japan. As well as playing over fifty games for her home state side Perth Glory in the W League, she also had three spells with Melbourne Victory and spent last season with Western Sydney Wanderers who clinched a maiden finals appearance in the W League with Ella an integral part of their side. She moved to Bristol City for the 2020/21 Barclays FA Women’s Super League season.
We began our chat by discussing Ella’s move to Bristol City, and what made her choose the South-West of England for the next stage of her career: “With the FAWSL growing and currently being one of the only full time professional leagues in the world, it was a no brainer for me. At my age and with my experience, the timing for the move was just right to really challenge myself overseas and in the toughest league in the world!”
The timing of Mastrantonio’s move to the other side of the world could not have been more unfortunate as it coincided with the coronavirus pandemic and associated travel restrictions which left her in lockdown in an unfamiliar country. “It has been tough,” Ella explains, “Yeah to be honest I try not to think about it too much. I try to just think of it as I’m here to play football and improve myself everyday. I’m lucky in a way that I’m here in England and everyone speaks English so it doesn’t feel that different (except for the weather!). It’s only when I stop and think how actually far away my family and friends are is when I tend to get a little sad and with all the travel restrictions, so I try to just focus on why I’m here and the bigger picture and my goals!”
Bristol City have had a tough start to the season and I asked Ella what she thought were the keys to ensuring that 2021 would herald better times for the club: “I think just getting consistency within ourselves and building on the good performances and wins we’ve had in the Conti Cup,” she said.
“We’ve obviously played most of the bigger teams so far and we’ve had some really good moments so just being confident going forward into these important run of games.”
One of the positives of the season has been the continued outstanding form of talented youngsters Sophie Baggaley and Ebony Salmon, for Ella the pair are: “great players with bags of potential. If they keep working hard and really focus they can do great things in their career.”
The conversation then moved to the Australian women’s football scene and Ella’s experiences growing up in Western Australia.
“Growing up I used to love watching the likes of Del Piero and Ronaldo. Every Sunday, my Dad would tape ‘SBS Goals of the Week’ from all the European leagues so I’d watch that before I’d play and always watched football when I could. Also the Aussies in the Premier League Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell! As I’ve gotten older and understood football more my idol in my position is Andrea Pirlo.”
Mastrantonio’s early footballing experiences can be summed up as: “Always playing against the boys!”
“Thinking back I’m very fortunate to have the coaches I did in my formative years and the most important periods of developing as a footballer. I was always encouraged to be creative and be yourself and try things. Very technical with the ball. Also curling balls around pot plants in the backyard with my Dad and Uncle!”
As well as playing several seasons locally in the W League for Perth Glory, Ella also represented Melbourne Victory and most recently Western Sydney Wanderers. She told us about her time at those clubs: “I really enjoyed myself at Melbourne and Sydney. I think when I took myself out of my comfort zone it helped me grow as a person and a player. I first went to Melbourne when I was 17-18 and it was just the best thing for me, and every season I was at Melbourne Victory we’ve always managed to create some sort of history for the club – playing finals football in 2010/11 and winning the Premiership in 2018/19. Last season at Western Sydney Wanderers was first class with having our brand new facilities built just for the club and football, you could finally feel like an equal player like in the men’s Premier League and that translated to the whole staff and into the culture we built both on and off the field in making the finals for the first time in the club’s history.”
We then moved on to discuss The Matildas – starting with Ella’s experience coming into the squad for the first time as a sixteen year-old: “It was a dream come true. Especially being so young, training and playing with the pioneering 2007 generation of Matildas. Obviously to get back into the squad is my dream and goal and one of the motivating factors of coming to England and push myself in this league!”
The recent appointment of Tony Gustavsson as the Matildas new head coach certainly meets with Ella’s approval: “I think like everyone else, I was excited by the news of his appointment. Obviously he has bags of experience at the highest level with one of the best teams in history with an incredible winning mentality. With the talent our squad has already coupled with his experience it will be fantastic.”
I have always thought that here in England it is not completely understood how big the Matildas are and what they mean to the Australian nation. So I was particularly keen to find out from Ella what it is like to be a Matilda: “To represent your country is the highest honour you can achieve as a footballer. The Matildas were voted the most loved National Team out of all of the Australian sporting sides last year so it’s just credit to how far women’s football and women’s sport in general has come in the Australian sporting landscape. Football is currently the number one participated sport in the country so in the present day it is massive. Interest and investment into women’s football has never been higher and with the 2023 World Cup coming to Australia and New Zealand it is such a special time.”
The next three years are huge for the Matildas – with the Olympic Games, AFC Asian Women’s Cup and then a home World Cup. I asked Ella what she believes the team need to focus on in order to be challenging for trophies and gold medals.
“I think we already a very solid foundation of having world class talent, we just need an extra 1% to hopefully take us to the next level. I think if we can really start to build a winning ruthless culture I think we can see us really going far into the big tournaments.”
With the W League just having got underway for 2020/21, I questioned Ella on how it compares with the FAWSL. “The W-League is a fantastic league and has given pretty much all of us in Australia a great place to make and progress our careers. It’s just a shame that it’s still so short and not a full home and away league (yet). The FAWSL has been quite different, so many teams play so many different formations, tactics and styles of play. Where compared to the W-League every team bar maybe one or two play the same or similar formations. The FAWSL is also very fast and physical with so many world class players in the league, so it makes for a great challenge!”
With Ella joining the vast majority of the Matildas in leaving the W League to play in Europe, the W League will have a different look to it this coming season. I asked Ella how she sees the future of the league in the short to medium term: “It will now give the young players coming through obviously much more opportunities to get some valuable game time at the highest level in Australia which is crucial for their development and finding the next generation of Matildas. Also it gives some girls from the state leagues to make the leap and give them a chance in the league which will be invaluable experience. I think it’ll be great for the development and future of Australian football.”
We ended the conversation on a less serious note – but one which anyone who has been to Australia will appreciate. Ella comes from Fremantle – a part of the world where I myself have family and know very well. She and I recently had a discussion on social media about how much we both love Chicken Salt – the famous Aussie staple and how it is hard to get it in England. People here have long thought I’m crazy for going on about loving Chicken Salt with Fish and Chips. There is now one company – (chickensalt.co.uk) offering it to buy in the UK. As my friends won’t take any notice of my urgings to find proper Aussie Chicken Salt for their fish and chips, I suggested that Ella, as a prominent international women’s footballer may be more persuasive.
Everyone – listen to Ella Mastrantonio: “Hey! Just get some proper Aussie Chicken Salt, put it on a chip and your face will just light up!”
impetusfootball.org 