By Kieran Yap 13/2/25
Above: Sam Kerr. Photo Kris Goman for Impetus.
The continued criticism of Sam Kerr by sections of the media resemble a choir of untrained vuvuzela’s. All in competition to be the loudest while sounding exactly the same.
Here is what Football Australia need to do in the wake of the Sam Kerr not guilty verdict:
-Focus on hiring the best permanent senior Matilda coach
-Find the right candidate for the U20 coach
-Prepare off-field and on-field for the 2026 Asian Cup
Somebody with only a passing interest ( if any) in Australian Football, might be under the impression that the biggest issue facing the game right now is the Matildas captaincy. Sam Kerr was found Not Guilty via a unanimous decision after only four hours of deliberation (minus lunch) but some say that her standing in the game is still under immediate threat.
It is not.
Firstly, because she is not able to play until she recovers from her injury. There is time, both to make a choice or for things to rightfully blow over.
Secondly, when and if a decision is to be made on her position as captain, it should be made internally, and with the best interests of the team in mind.
The last 11 months has seen misinformation leak out and spread about Sam Kerr’s trial. The meme that she called the Police officer a “Stupid White Bastard” escaped Soccer Twitter containment and was taken as fact. The story that she threw up in a cab, kicked in the window, and refused to pay all became folklore months before the trial was set to begin. As we learned, and as a jury decided, none of this is strictly accurate, especially when given the full context.
During this time, when falsehoods spread and agendas started to be set, as memes became fact and comments sections qualified as news, Kerr maintained a dignified silence to her eternal credit. Even for the media trained public figure, this was extraordinary discipline.
The think-pieces came out rapidly after the verdict was handed down. So quickly in fact that one could be forgiven for thinking that they had been drafted before the jury returned, and the calls for her to be stripped of the armband had been decided by sections of the media with no regard for what the outcome would be.
These articles and videos were numerous, but all said variations of the same thing. That as Matildas captain, she should be held to a higher standard. Kerr had stated under penalty of perjury that she had feared for both her and Kristie Mewis’s lives. This has seemed lost on many of the writers who contributed to the discourse seemingly with minimal knowledge of the events or the court transcripts.
There are better articles than this if you want dive into the flimsy legality of the trial by a former London judge, and of the very real threat that being locked in a taxi poses for two women at night. Please read them if you have not already.
The motivations of the many articles wanting to strip her of the captaincy can be best explained by the most obvious motives. Clicks.
One drew the longest bow imaginable that Kerr was somehow partially responsible for delays in the UK courts.
Another joked that the editor had pushed them into it.
Others were either plagued with inaccuracies betraying only a passing or last minute knowledge of the case, assumed some sponsor pressure when there is still not public evidence of any or incorrectly maintained that she still had a case to answer despite what the jury determined.
Almost all were behind a paywall or associated with monetized Twitter accounts. Only one of them was from a recognized football writer.
The rest were people chiming in about the sanctity of the Matildas captaincy and brand when they had never shown interest in the game or team before. Suddenly it was the most important thing in the country, and something they had strong feelings about.
Kerr’s name gets clicks, gains readers and shows up on Google searches. She is a shortcut for content to find an audience.
When Sky News says “there are calls” for her to be removed from leadership, who exactly are these calls coming from? It’s not any current players or any fans who snapped up tickets to the upcoming games against South Korea.
If you want to make people fork over the credit card to see behind a paywall, get fired up and say “Kerr”.
This in itself is not necessarily bad, or unusual. Nobody wants to avoid gaining readers and I am not writing this thinking “Gee I hope nobody notices.” But strong, uncompromising opinions on women’s football from people who otherwise ignore it must be taken with a heap of salt.
Based on the history of mainstream media coverage of the game, it is simply too hard to believe that they really care that much about this issue, the team, or their standing with sponsors.
Multiple Australian news agencies had reporters by the courtroom steps as she left. How many will be pitch side at the She Believes Cup, or even applied for accreditation,?
How many report on the A-League Women?
On the other side of things, the most respected, and hard-working voices in Australian football, the ones that are there every week talking to players, talking to coaches, communicating with fans and recording podcasts have been comparatively quiet.
Anybody insisting for a decision right now, before a national team camp is either being disingenuous or foolhardy in pushing an agenda. That’s probably not going to happen. They know this.
The governing body has also shown a commitment to listening to player feedback and if she is removed without their agreement, it could go from bad to worse.
In the end, success attracts more sponsors than care worried about controversy, and a reactionary decision could hamper one while increasing the spotlight on the latter.
Suggestions that Football Australian cannot fathom a future without Sam Kerr are silly. That is a massive disservice to the rest of the team who have sold out stadiums since her injury and the fans who know more than one players name.
That is not to say Kerr must 100% stay captain. It may be time for her to step down both for immediate and long term reasons, she may even want to. But it is not a decision best made by those outside the dressing room.
Football people also understand something that casual opinion columnists and radio jocks do not, that the captaincy is a ceremonial position.
Australia is almost unique in world football where we have a permanent skipper. Many countries rotate the armband based on availability and name a captain for major tournaments.
During a World Cup or Asian Cup, the captain takes on a role more similar to that at club level, where they represent the team by swapping pendants or talking to the media. Outside of those occasions it is an obviously proud honour but often swapped around the dressing room by many football nations. The USWNT only named their captains for the 2023 World Cup weeks out from the first game.
Crucially, IF a decision is to be made on Kerr’s leadership, it needs to be done from a football perspective.
On-field decisions cannot be taken to silence the loudest people on the internet, and The Matildas brand cannot (and has never) cowed to those looking to dictate who they should be.
Those saying what Football Australia “must do” are strangely silent on other urgent or important matters in the women’s game or the sport in general.
It is noise. A choir of vuvezelas all trying to be the loudest while sounding exactly the same.
But we all know that when Kerr steps back out onto the field, it will be drowned out by cheers.
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