Anna Harrington
Matildas captain Sam Kerr has criticised the uncertainty facing Central Coast’s women’s team and a lack of investment in the A-League Women just three years after Australia hosted the Women’s World Cup.
Last month, Total Soccer Growth Holdings took control of the men’s side of the embattled Mariners, but not the women’s team.
The women’s team’s future – like that of Canberra United – remains up in the air, with the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) searching for a buyer.
“I’ve been reading this week about Central Coast Mariners and some of the stuff that’s happening in Australia at the moment, and it’s quite disappointing to be honest,” Kerr said on Thursday, at her signing press conference with National Women’s Soccer League club Gotham FC.
“Off the back of the 2023 World Cup you would think that there would be major investment in the A-League, and the girls deserve it out there – and I think you’re seeing now that more and more players are having to leave the A-League.
“In Australia we want to retain our national team players, we want to retain as many top-level athletes that we can, but without the investment, the players can’t stay.
“So of course I wish there was more investment – I don’t know the answer, I’m just an athlete, I’m just a player – but I know that the more you invest off the pitch for these girls in the facilities and the infrastructure and all of those things, you get the reward back on the pitch.
“So I’m really sad to hear what’s going on in the A-Leagues at the moment, but I think it’s the people at the top that probably have all the answers – or don’t have the answers – or need change. But something has to change – because off the back of the 2023 World Cup this shouldn’t be happening.”
The league’s two best players – Holly McNamara and Isabel Gomez– are leaving to further their careers.
But there has also been an exodus of players to the American second-tier USL Super League or Canada’s Northern Super League for better wages.
The low wages, with the minimum wage currently $27,000, offer little incentive for Matildas stars to finish their careers in Australia.
Former Perth Glory star Kerr won’t be back any time soon.
After six years at Chelsea, Kerr has returned to the US with New Jersey-based Gotham until 2030, a move she believes will give her stability.
That will take her through the 2027 Women’s World Cup and 2028 Olympics with the Matildas.
“With Chelsea, staying there so long I did see the rewards on the pitch,” Kerr said.
“So that’s my hope with this – is that I have a stable place where I call home and I can train to the best of my ability, play to the best of my ability and know what’s coming for the next two-three years of national team but also club football to allow myself to be in the best possible shape for not only Gotham but the Matildas too.”
The striker’s final two years at Chelsea were largely ruined by her ACL injury, but Kerr, 32, found form late last season and hopes to “hit the ground running” at Gotham.
“I’ve scored some of the best goals I’ve ever scored this year – some at the Asian Cup, some in my last game at Chelsea,” Kerr said.
“And I think that just shows that if I’m put on the park with the right people around me and the right coach to coach me I can still be at the best of my ability.
“… Hopefully, my club football translates into my national team football but they’re just as important as each other and I’ll be doing my best to score as many goals [as possible] for both teams.”
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