Celebrated each March, Women’s History Month recognises the meaningful and diverse impact women have made throughout history.
This year for Women’s History month, we reflect on some of the historic moments in women’s football in Australia.
1921: First public women’s football match in Australia between North Brisbane and South Brisbane. Over 10,000 people attended the match at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (now The Gabba).
1974: The Australian Women’s Soccer Association (AWSA) was established, becoming the first governing body for women’s football in the country.
1979: The Australian Women's National Team competed in their first ever 'A' football international, facing New Zealand.
1994: The Australian women's national football team qualified for Australia’s first ever FIFA World Cup by overcoming New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in The Oceania Cup.
1995: The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup was the first tournament at which the team was referred to as the 'Matildas'. The AWSA and SBS combined to run a TV vote to determine the new name for the Women's National Team.
1996: A national women’s league was established, the Women’s National Soccer League (WNSL).
2000: Matildas appeared for the first time at the Olympic Games.
2007: Matildas made the knockout round for the first time at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
2008: In the wake of the WNSL's 2004 demise, a new national women's domestic league emerged – the W League (now called the A-League Women). Its establishment led by Matilda’s coach Tom Sermanni, who pushed for a professional domestic league to help develop homegrown players.
2010: Matildas won their first international tournament at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in China, where they defeated North Korea in a penalty shootout.
2021: Matildas finished in fourth place at Tokyo 2020, their best performance at an Olympic Games. Sam Kerr made history for Australia, becoming the Matildas all-time leading goal scorer.
2023: Matildas were the first Australian football team to ever make it to the semi-final of a World Cup. Their semi-final match against England attracted an audience of more than 11 million people – the highest television Australian viewing audience in the history of free-to-air ratings.
There is less than one year to go until Australia hosts the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026. We can’t wait to see what other historical football moments will be made at this event.