July 17, 2023
The Latrobe Ladies Football Club in 1921. Players wore long socks, long‑sleeved football jerseys, baggy bloomer‑type shorts and football shoes with strips instead of studs.
Image credit: courtesy State Library of Queensland
Women’s soccer was banned in the 1920s. A century on, Australia co-hosts the Women’s World Cup.
When Sam Kerr leads the Matildas into Sydney’s Stadium Australia on 20 July to face the Republic of Ireland in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, there’ll be plenty among the 82,500‑strong crowd who’ll wager their hard‑earned cash that this national squad is Australia’s best prospect yet of winning a soccer world cup.
The Matildas’ current success can be traced back to the rise of feminism during the…