By Kieran Yap. Photography by Ryan Miller-Woods
Above: Michelle Heyman with Canberra United. Photo Ryan Miller-Woods for Impetus71
Michelle Heyman’s hundredth A-League Women’s goal was a moment fans across the league could celebrate.
Neither Canberra United or Adelaide United have been in flying form this season. Based on recent results, this was not a blockbuster game, but there was a real buzz around Leichhardt Oval on Saturday. Of all the games packed into Unite Round, this was the one to see, and much of that was down to one player, Michelle Heyman.
Heyman entered the round with 99 goals to her name in the A-League Women. She was already the leagues record goalscorer having beaten Sam Kerr’s 70. Records are made to be broken, but being the first to achieve something is eternal.
There was no logical or statistical reason to expect that Saturday would be the day. It could just as easily been in the weeks before when she selflessly teed up Nikki Flannery for a tap in, and the storybook finish would have been the following week in front of an adoring home crowd. Yet it felt like everyone in attendance knew it would happen.
It would probably have been more fitting for this game to have landed on a McKellar Park fixture for Canberra United, but Unite Round for all its teething problems offered fans from around the league to show up in support of a league legend and witness history being made.
Sometimes there’s just a feeling about a football match, a vibe before a ball is even kicked. Sometimes people know that something special is in the air, and fans from across the league sat in expectation.
Things were not looking good for Heyman or Canberra in the opening half. Adelaide had the majority of possession and created more scoring chances. But when they went ahead early in the second half, it seemed to only make Heyman’s 100th feel more inevitable. Now she HAD to score, not for herself, but because her team needed her to. There would surely be no stopping her.
When the goal came, it had all of her trademarks, the predatory instinct to take advantage of a defenders poor touch, the street-ball like way that she flicked it past them, and the acceleration that can take her beyond players 10 years her junior.
By the time that she broke clear, the finish was a formality, and she tucked it beyond Annalee Grove with confidence. The crowd erupted, streamers and Heyman face masks launched into the air. We had just seen history.
For a moment, Heyman celebrated the goal by herself, but once Flannery reached her the jubilation was kicked up another notch. Ever the team player, she took this moment to soak up what she had achieved, and took time to run to the bench for more high-fives.
There had been some confusion in the previous weeks. What looked at first like an Alana Cerne own goal against Western United had been official credited to Heyman, she removed any doubt by scoring almost immediately after. The crowd quickly changed their chants demanding “101” to “102.”
That third goal never came for Heyman, but Canberra went on to win 3-1 and give their captain a day to remember. This was simply one of the best occasions in the history of “The Dub.” It was one where fans from across the league could celebrate a player that few could directly cheer every week, but admired all the same.
Heyman’s level of adulation feels rare in the A-League Women community. Other players have been loved beyond team allegiances, but that has usually been the result of Matildas performances, like Cortnee Vine, or Sam Kerr.
Heyman is an accomplished international footballer, but revered across the country for what she has done for the local game.
She has been here almost since the very beginning and delighted opposition fans despite the unavoidable inclination to fear what she will do to their team’s ladder position.
It is like showing up to watch your team play against Michael Jordan back in his era. You obviously want your side to win, but you also want her to do something that you can brag about seeing. Michelle Heyman is an “I was there when…” athlete.
When Australia plays Brazil, the ideal outcome for a spectator is to win 3-1 but for Marta to score a wonder goal. The same goes for A-League Women’s fans when Heyman’s Canberra United come to town.
But lets put that 100 goal achievement in glorious perspective. The entire W-League season was only 12 weeks long for much of her career. In her first season it was only 10 weeks long. 2023/24 is the first time there has been a full home and away season.
Since 2009, due mostly to the minimal season length she has only hit double figures four times. Two of those seasons occurred since her comeback in 2020/21. Heyman has only won the Golden Boot twice, both times more than 10 years ago, yet has always remained in contention.
Simply put, she has consistent to an unparalleled level in the A-League Women. There were only two seasons (2018/19, and 2012/13) where her scoring ratio dropped below one for every two games. this hundred goal tally has not been reached by a few outstanding seasons, but from year upon year of being among the best players in the competition.
Since her return from a 12 month sabbatical away from the game, she has scored 10 goals in 12 games, nine in 14, and 12 in 18. This season, despite Canberra’s form and her deeper position on the pitch, she still has seven goals in 11 games. Heyman has always been elite, she won two Julie Dolan medals ten years apart, and she does not seem to be slowing down in any observable way.
It is not just the numbers, it is the way that she plays. She is inventive, explosive and often uncontainable. Her first game back from retirement, she scored a three against Adelaide United, including a ridiculous close-range chip.
This is a player that is always watchable, and consistently produces the goods. In front of goal it often looks like the world slows down around her. We are all on Michelle Heyman time when she is preparing to shoot.
She now stands alone as the greatest striker that the domestic women’s league has ever seen.
Where she sits in the list of all time great Australian footballers is a discussion for the sad day when she eventually hangs up the boots for good. But her name is guaranteed to be on the shortlist.
If you were at Leichhardt Oval you witnessed greatness achieve history. Michelle Heyman is the benchmark, she has earned this latest record by producing 14 years of consistent unrivalled excellence. It is a privilege to watch her play and it was an amazing feeling to see her hundredth goal amongst an army of adoring fans.
Even in a team game, sometimes you just have to sit back and applaud a remarkable individual.
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