by Alyce Collett (26/11/25)
Above: Mary Stanic-Floody (green uniform) in action for Canberra against the Wellington Phoenix. Photo: Ryan Imray
Mary Stanic-Floody may be at the younger end of the A-League Women’s playing cohort, but has certainly experienced a lot already in her short career.
From debuting in the A-League Women’s as a teenager to now being on the cusp of a senior international debut for a country thousands of kilometres from home, Stanic-Floody sure has packed a lot into the last four years.
The young midfielder initially debuted in the national competition as a 15 year old for childhood club Sydney FC, spending a few seasons at the Sky Blues before moving to current club Canberra United at 17 years old.
Stanic-Floody looks back on her time at Sydney FC with fondness, noting how “grateful I was to be there” – especially considering she grew up barracking for the Sky Blues – but ultimately the desire for more consistent minutes is what saw Stanic-Floody move down to Canberra.
“[Now former Canberra United coach Njegosh Popovich] saw potential in me to be a first team starter and the depth of Sydney FC, they’ve got a good reputation for a reason.” Stanic-Floody explained.
“So moving to Canberra and having the opportunity to work with Michelle Heyman of course is a big one, but I think the opportunity of consistent minutes really pushed me to move to Canberra.
“I did my HSC in Canberra, so it was a big move but it was well worth it.”
Making her A-League Women’s debut so young meant that the now 19 year old Stanic-Floody has spent much of her young career to date juggling the demands of both schooling and being an elite footballer.
Although Stanic-Floody said juggling both was “very, very difficult”, she was also “very fortunate that I had the support of my teachers and they made sure I was always up to date. They would do extra lessons if I needed it, so I was very lucky.”
Her involvement with the Australian national team pathway system began even before her A League Women’s career did though, called up to the Junior Matildas in March 2021 before debuting for Sydney in December that year. She was also a member of the Junior Matildas squad that won the AFF U18 Women’s Championship the following year.
Stanic-Floody called her call up to the Junior Matildas as “a big honour, very big honour.”
“As a kid you dream to play international football and to be selected to go to the ASEAN Championship and to win it, you just want to walk away with silverware – it’s a dream of course.
“It definitely highlighted that there’s other talents out there and where you have to be, but it was a huge honour.”
But with the allure of playing in the top flight of European international football, Stanic-Floody made the tough decision to swap her international allegiance from Australia to Serbia – the ancestral homeland of her mother – with official confirmation coming through earlier this year.
“It’s very tough, but in the end, I did what was best for my career” Stanic-Floody explained as the reason for swapping her international allegiance.
Stanic-Floody also noted that “any first team football is what I want to be doing and the environment that Serbia has and just the whole built-in structure is just something I can’t say no to.”
Stanic-Floody may have only been called up to the Serbian national team for the first time last month, but it was the culmination of a journey that had actually started two years prior.
Stanic-Floody explained that she had been contacted by the Serbian Football Association two years ago back when she had first joined Canberra United, but “I was ineligible to go because I had an ankle injury.”
“It was just a huge honour, … but to finally get there, I felt so honoured to be there and represent my heritage” Stanic-Floody said.
Although Stanic-Floody ultimately did not take to the field for Serbia in the October international window, she was still heavily involved in camp, and did have a familiar face amongst her new team mates in former Canberra team mate Vesna Milivojevic.
“Oh she made it very easy for me, a smooth transition” Stanic-Floody confirmed.
“My Serbian is not the greatest. I know bits and pieces, but I can’t roll my Rs like they do in the Serbian language. But she made it so smooth. I can’t thank her enough.”
Stanic-Floody also noted that her Serbian is improving, saying that “I plan to finish learning it by the end of this year. But all my family speak it, so I do know a lot. It’s just I can’t communicate back.”
Although international football is far from ever guaranteed, Stanic-Floody’s approach to the worry about whether she will get any future call ups is one that is both calm and very mature.
Stanic-Floody’s approach has always been “club football comes first, international football is a bonus.”
“I’m very lucky that I got to go to Slovenia, but that came from my performance at Canberra. So I think it’s more individually I have to push myself rather than Serbia guaranteeing something.
“When you play well, you’ll get called up, and that’s what I hope for this season. Just continuing my goals, my assists, and how I perform, and then let the rest come.”
Although she has not been called up for the final international window of 2025, it is a big year for Serbia in 2026 so time will tell how much their newest recruit will get to be a part of what might be a historic year for the White Eagles.
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