It’s Vine Time again! Matildas player Cortnee Vine pleasantly surprised the country when she made the call to stick around in Australia to play for Sydney FC in the Liberty A-League instead of kicking it in a Euro or US league.
Lucky for Sydney, the 2023 season kicked off last Saturday with a Sydney derby: Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers. And guess what! Sydney FC set a new record for a Liberty A-League attendance, with a huge 11,471 fans turning up to watch the clash at Allianz Stadium. It is indeed Vine Time!
In the lead up to the comp, our in-house women's sport advocate, Alice Ellis, chatted with Vine at the A-League season launch last week – about becoming world famous overnight (after that penalty goal in the World Cup), and the fact that kids under 16 get free entry to all women's games across the country this season.
You've suddenly become the face of elite women's soccer in Australia now – you’re at the front and centre of everything. What does that feel like?
It hasn't sunk in so I don't really know how I'm feeling! It’s pretty crazy, going from being a young one in this league and seeing the faces back then, like Sam [Kerr] and Kyah [Simon] – and now it's my turn. I think even being an inspiration to young girls is something that's going to take a while to sink in, and I'm not sure when that's going to hit. I really like doing the community stuff, and being with younger girls or boys and speaking to them and getting them really excited about the A-League. The media stuff, I don’t love as much, but I think it's important – to have a face that [kids] see on TV.
How has your life changed in the last two months? Do people stop you in the street now?
It's honestly been crazy. It went from zero to one hundred. I walk down the street and people are like, ‘Oh my god, are you Cortnee Vine?’ You see the numbers of how many people watched that [penalty shoot-out] moment and the Matildas in general, but you don't register that they are individual people that watch that moment. I didn’t realise how many people were watching until I came out of that [World Cup] bubble, and you hear the stories of where people were when they were watching it. It's amazing.
You play for Sydney FC – has the wider Sydney community really embraced you?
Sydney's been just amazing. Everyone’s been so lovely. I have had so many people come up to me, a lot of dads actually come up to me and shake my hand and say, ‘Thank you for what you've done for my daughter’.
What's been the weirdest or most memorable thing that's happened to you the last two months?
Last week, I flew to Brisbane to do a bit of an appearance at an [island nearby], then I was helicoptered back to Brisbane Airport and I flew back to training. And the morning before, I was playing cricket with the Prime Minister. So that was a crazy two days. It was pretty cool.
Off the back of it, did it sort of feel important to stay in a domestic competition? How important do you think it is to have Matildas in a domestic competition?
I think it's so important. I think it's one of the main things we should be focusing on, to bring more of the girls back. To do that, we need to make it full time and the pay better. It's getting there, but there’s more [to do]. That's why those girls have left and stayed away. Those leagues pay a lot more than this league. I think once we start fixing that, they will start to come back. I think it's so important to be a part of the domestic league and show girls that this is the [pathway]. [When I was younger], I didn't know there was a league. I was playing in the boys’ for so long, I guess I thought I was going to be an elite men's player [laughs], I don't know. I had no idea, there was no visibility of elite women.
Was staying an easy decision to make?
Yes. I love Australia. I love Sydney. I have a life here that's not just football. I think a lot of people think it's your whole life. But I have a partner. Do I want to leave? There are a lot of things to weigh up, but for me at the moment, I was progressing so well in this league, and my life is so great that I just don't see the point in leaving right now.
How has the pre-season this year been compared to every other year?
It's been great, especially with Sydney. We've just got our SkyPark facility, so that's made it even more professional this year. Giving us a home we can actually leave our stuff at and feel like we can go there whenever we want. We had the six weeks with everyone as well, had a proper pre-season leading into such a long league this year, with the home and away games. It's massive, it makes it feel way more professional.
The Perth game at the end of the month [the Olympic qualifiers] – is that something you're working towards?
Yeah, I'm hoping to be a part of that qualifiers coming up. I really want to go to the Olympics. So if I do get selected, I'll be doing everything possible to play and to qualify. I really want to be there, that was one of the goals on my goals board that I've been ticking away at.
What about the Liberty Pass initiative, giving kids under 16 free entry to all women's games across the country? How important are they and what difference would something like that have made to you?
Yeah, I wish I had that when I was younger. Nothing like that was advertised or I never knew about anything like that when I was that age. And I think it's so important for these young girls that did come to the World Cup and cheer us on to have free passes and come to watch us play in the A-League.
Find out more about the Liberty A-League 2023 season here. Or get tickets over here.