Impetus’ Ben Gilby (BG) and Genevieve Henry (GH) have been writing about Australian women’s football for a number of years. Yet they are both based thousands of miles away from the country. So why are they so passionate about the Australian women’s game? In this discussion article, they reveal their motivations and fondest memories of countless middle-of-the-night viewings of big games which now extends to being able to cover and interview some of the biggest names in the Australian women’s game (9/4/24).
Above: The Matildas celebrate their sensational World Cup quarter-final penalty shoot-out win over France. Photo: Football Australia.
You are both a super fans and knowledgeable writers about Australian women’s football despite living thousands of miles away from Australia. Can you outline your connection to the Australian game and why it is there?
BG: It started in 2008 when I discovered that a young teenager who came from 20 minutes up the road from where my family live in Western Australia was going to be part of the inaugural Perth Glory W-League team. She went on to be a pretty handy player – Sam Kerr. To begin with, it was that personal link – being there to see the local kid from up the road play for Perth Glory and score against the then Queensland Roar in that first season of the league was where it began. Following the early days of Sam’s journey led me eventually to The Matildas.
GH: I was born in Australia, to one Australian parent and one American parent, and lived there for a bit of my childhood. I’ve always had a special love and longing for my home country. That love really manifested itself in football. I grew up playing football with my dad as my coach and always wanted to know more about women’s football.
When I was eight, my dad bought us tickets to see Australia face the US Women’s National Team. The game was ultimately cancelled, as the Aussies were on strike to get equal pay. This fascinated me as a raging little feminist, and eventually led me to do a school project on sexism in women’s football, specifically focusing on the Matildas’ fight for equal pay when I was eleven.
While I couldn’t actually watch them play, I learned about the Matildas from YouTube compilations and Wikipedia. I fell in love. Finally able to stream Matildas games, my dad and I watched the 2019 Women’s World Cup and we became pretty much obsessed. As soon as I heard the rumour that the next WWC might be played in Australia, I started saving up.
Being a close follower and writer on the Australian women’s game always means regularly getting up in the middle of the night to watch games. What are some of your fondest memories of doing so?
BG: The first big one was in 2010 at the Asian Cup where a teenage Sam Kerr was a creative ball of energy and the team made it through to the Final against North Korea in that infamous monsoon. The shouts from me in South-West London when she put Australia ahead early in the game would have been heard by half my street. Another magic game was not in the middle of the night – more late morning – the Tokyo Olympic Games showdown against Great Britain and that sensational late comeback to send the game to extra time and then win it. My neighbours actually asked me later that day what I was cheering so loudly about. I explained it was the Tillies beating Great Britain. They were not impressed…
GH: Waking up at 3am to watch the Matildas with my dad is just the best. We always get way too excited when they score and wake up my mum by accident. I think my fondest memory was during the Tokyo Olympics when we faced Team GB – we had to get up after the full 90 was played and drive to my football camp, so I watched on my phone and narrated it to my dad. The elation I felt was unmatched until this past summer (winter), of course.
What have been your most memorable moments writing about the game, or interviewing Australian women’s football players?
BG: Asking Sam Kerr two questions at a media conference ahead of The Matildas’ game with England in 2023 absolutely no doubt.
GH: Probably running into Emily Gielnik outside the stadium at Australia v Nigeria and working up the courage to ask her to give her score predictions for a TikTok.
Whilst for people in Australia it can be special getting to watch their team or the Matildas they get to do so far more often than us overseas fans do. Tell us a bit about the experience of those rare opportunities to watch the Matildas in the flesh.
Photo: Ben Gilby for Impetus.
BG: Three in particular stand out. One was the game against South Africa in London 2022 when I was able to do a Matildas media conference in person for the first time ever, after several years of doing them by Zoom. Then being able to see the team train and have a 1:1 chat with Tony Gustavsson. After the match getting to meet all of the team was mindblowing.
The following year, the game against Scotland at Wimbledon – even though it ended in a frustrating defeat, again getting to speak to so many of the team afterwards was magic.
Because of my job working in education in England, I’m generally restricted to only getting to Australia in August every year when the UK has its six-week school summer holidays – so I’ve only ever seen the Matildas play at home in person during last year’s World Cup. Being behind the goal in Stadium Australia in the Semi-Final as Sam Kerr made that astonishing run and then slammed the ball past Mary Earps will never leave me.
As she made that run, I shouted to the guy next to me “SHE’S GONNA SCORE! SHE’S GONNA SCORE!” Then sheer bedlam amidst the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in a football stadium in my life. The only thing I remember amidst that bedlam was tears streaming down my face and yelling “WA! WA!” (Western Australia)
GH: I first saw the Matildas live in 2019 against Chile. It was a record-breaking crowd of 20,000 people. I was living with my aunt on the Gold Coast at the time, and we had gone down to Sydney to see them. It was just incredible. But that memory pales in comparison to the World Cup.
My dad and I flew home and met up with my aunt to follow the Matildas around for a month, and every game was a dream. We went to every Tillies game, bar the third-place match. Each game was incredible and unique, but the game that stands out is, unsurprisingly, the quarterfinal against France.
There were so many unreal moments; meeting Daniëlle van de Donk, sitting in the friends and family section, and obviously celebrating the Vine penalty. We had fallen in love with Clare Hunt (as both my dad and I are defenders, we thought she deserved more recognition) and so I made a sign for her, not really expecting anything. At the end of the match, my dad and aunt encouraged me to go down to the sideline to show Clare my sign.
Earlier, they had dragged me (kindly) over to her family to show them. Her sister took a picture of it and sent it to her, and her family were so touched that someone had made a sign for Clare. Before I even got down the stairs, someone on the field was pointing at me, and the crowd around me started asking what was going on. Before I could register what was happening, Clare had given me her shirt and was hugging me. That was honestly the best moment of my life.
Fondest memories watching the team either in person or on TV?
BG: The win over Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympics and the penalty shoot-out drama against France in the World Cup. I watched the France game with friends and fellow Impetus writers Ben Carey and Ryan Miller-Woods on the big screen in Cathy Freeman Park along with about 50,000 others and the atmosphere was incredible all night. Then the winning penalty sparked scenes that were just nuts. Sheer craziness. Beer flying everywhere, total strangers hugging each other, jumping up and down, and noise. Pure unadulterated joy and noise.
Photo: Ben Gilby.
GH: Really every time I watch the Matildas is my fondest memory. They give me something to look forward to.
Ben, as well as the Matildas, you also support and write about Perth Glory, tell us about your connection to that club?
BG: It started with Sam Kerr in 2008 and became the permanent connection to my beloved Western Australia for the 11 months of the year I’m not there. I’ve supported the team since they started, and over the last four seasons have been able to regularly interview the head coach and players. This culminated with the chance to take on a dream role this season where I am writing articles on the women’s team for the official Perth Glory website. My friends and work colleagues have got used to me spending winter in a purple and orange Perth Glory beanie and the warmer months in a Perth Glory A-League Women shirt, a Western Australia state rep shirt or Matildas shirt.
Who are your favourite Perth Glory players down the years, and why?
BG: Again, the local family link to Sam Kerr makes her a massive favourite. Tash Rigby is just a club legend. If you’ve never watched her play in the flesh, she doesn’t stop talking (or yelling) to her teammates – it’s all positive encouragement – she is such a leader.
I still haven’t got over the loss of Deborah-Ann de la Harpe, Tijan McKenna, and Alana Jancevski. Our defence hadn’t quite been the same since Deb left. Tijan is another local kid who has so much to offer but never really got the game time which was such a massive shame.
And Alana Jancevski – one of my favourite players to watch period. The first time I interviewed her she said to me: “The pitch is my playground” – that’s all you need to know about her. The kid has a magic wand in her sock that she pulls out regularly to do something outrageous with and leaves you just saying “Wow!”
Although she has only had a handful of minutes this season, I’m absolutely thrilled that Tia Stonehill has a contract with her hometown pro club. She is a player I’ve admired for quite a while, and I’ve got to know both her and her amazing Mum personally. Tia has been plugging away in the State League and NPLW WA with a sensational goalscoring record and coming back from a crippling injury that left her having to learn to walk again.
She came back from that last season to score 24 goals in the NPLW WA for Balcatta Etna. Earning a contract with Perth Glory was justice to her efforts and her inspirational character. It is a real shame she didn’t get more minutes this season as she is a fantastic presence in any team.
Genevieve, for you, it’s Sydney FC – how did that start?
GH: Honestly, I was just watching the W-League on TV at my aunt’s house and they just became my team. I had more family and friends in Sydney than in any of the other Dub locations, so I just went with that. Now I wake up once a week in the middle of the night to watch them because I’ve fallen in love with the club and the players.
Who are your favourite Sydney FC players down the years, and why?
GH: The first Sydney FC player I loved was Caitlin Foord. The way she moved with the ball was just fun to watch. Later on, Cortnee Vine is the obvious one. Not only her speed on the pitch, but I just love her attitude and humour. Kirsty Fenton is my most recent favourite, I really think she has something special.
Do you also follow the women’s game at NPLW level? If so tell us a bit about your observations on that comp (which particular state do you follow) and any clubs you like?
BG: I do. I love the NPLW WA, it’s full of clubs and players with great stories to tell and it’s so thrilling when you see them break through to play A-League Women football. Western Australia has very much an “us and them” scenario with the eastern states, so I am fiercely proud of our state’s players and clubs and enjoy the opportunity to shine a light on them.
This season as I’m no longer tied to the editorial side of Impetus, I have time to cover the NPLW WA even further. As well as weekly reports, reviews, and interviews, I’m going to provide a weekly piece on the comp for the Impetus TikTok platform, and will be appearing on the Perth Football Podcast each week to talk about the NPLW WA. I’ve made some fantastic friends among the Perth women’s football community – it’s a small family but full of wonderful people. Seeing them all again every August and watching as many NPLW WA games in the flesh is always one of highlights of my annual trips to WA.
GH: I do not haha.
Who are your favourite Matildas players down the years and why?
BG: Sam Kerr obviously as the local kid. Michelle Heyman is just a legend in every way – she was always going to come back into the team with a fairytale bang. I love the creative magic of Kyra Cooney-Cross and there’s no better sight than Katrina Gorry or Alex Chidiac at the top of their game bamboozling opponents with their vision.
GH: Ellie Carpenter was always our favourite. My dad and I could tell she was something special. She has really inspired me over the years with her hard work, ambition, and bravery. Then, my latest favourite is Clare Hunt. As a defender, she’s the one I aspire to be like. I’m from a small town, like these two and they make me have hope that I can make a name for myself as well, albeit in a different manner.
Ben, if someone says to you “Why the hell does someone with an English accent love Aussie women’s football so much?” What would you say in response?
BG: It’s my connection to my favourite place on this planet. The place in the world where I feel truly happy and where I am ‘me’. Ever since I first went to Western Australia in 2000, I’ve always said that I leave a bit of me behind there and I have to go back every year to be a complete person again.
Genevieve, and for you with your American accent?
GH: Australia is my home. I’ve always known it. It’s my happy place. My love just manifests in the Matildas, as football has been my obsession for most of my life. It makes it extra special that it is something I can share with my Dad. The Matildas feel like home and happiness.
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