When Steph Catley first started representing Australia in soccer, she played in front of "family and friends and a couple of interested onlookers" – last night, she played in front of a home audience of more than 75,000 (plus a billion-plus TV viewers globally), for the first Australian game of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 at Stadium Australia in Sydney. And she scored the one and only goal of the match, to secure the win for the Matildas. If she wasn't already, today Steph Catley is well and truly a household name.
Our Sydney Editor Alice Ellis, a women's sport advocate and huge Matildas fan, caught up with her just before the World Cup kicked off, to see how she was feeling in the lead-up to what is the biggest women's sporting event the world has seen yet... And – because we're Time Out – to find out about her favourite Sydney spots.
What are you looking forward to most about playing a World Cup in front of a home audience?
Playing in front of family and friends. I've played in two World Cups, and they've been special in their own way, but to do it on home soil feels incredible. As a footballer, you don't even dream about playing at a home World Cup because it's something you would never expect to happen in your lifetime. The World Cup is the ultimate dream for any footballer, and to do that on home soil in front of an adoring crowd and family and friends, it’s the most incredible thing ever. We've got a game in Melbourne where I grew up. The little girl who started playing football when I was seven could never imagine being in that situation. Representing my country on the biggest stage at home. It's really a dream come true.
How did the Matildas prepare?
I play in the UK and [I recently] finished up my season there. I had a couple of weeks off before the hustle and bustle started and we went into camp. I spent a bit of time in Melbourne, a little bit in Sydney just trying to enjoy Australia for a while before going into full-on football mode.
Do you feel like support for women's football and particularly for the Matildas has grown a lot in recent years?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I've been in the game a long time and I'm very appreciative of where it is right now. I remember fondly many games that I've played in where it's just been family and friends and a couple of interested onlookers, and now when we play for the national team, we're often selling out stadiums and have thousands and thousands of people wanting to come watch us. And I think it's not only happening for our team here in Australia, it's happening all around the world – women's football is like this giant that's sort of been awoken, and it's going from strength to strength. And I think, obviously, having the World Cup here in Australia will just add to that, and hopefully introduce our team and the women's game in general to so many different types of people that might not be aware of it.
Surveys say the Matildas are the fourth most popular sporting team in Australia, which is big considering we're such a huge sport-loving nation, and soccer hasn't always been one of our key spectator sports. That’s pretty amazing…
Yeah, I feel like the Australian public have really fallen in love with our team. I think we're kind of accessible in a way that sometimes, you know, men's athletes or men's teams aren't. I think that comes from the fact that we haven't always had the support that they have had. So we really like to connect with our fans and the Australian public in general – I think that makes people appreciate us. And I think every single one of us is really different, and people connect with our different personalities and different ways of playing and who we are.
How are you feeling about the Matildas’ chances at the moment?
It’s difficult to say because we obviously have so much belief in our team and what we're capable of doing. The competition in women's football is insane right now. There are so many good players, so many countries in top form. So I suppose we’re just trying not to think too far ahead. We play Ireland in the first game, and it's really hard to think too far past that. Because if we don't win those games, we don't get any further.
What would you say to someone who's never watched a game of women's soccer, or soccer in general, to encourage them to tune in to the Women’s World Cup?
My biggest thing is, when people try to make a comparison between men's and women's football – there's no comparison. They're two completely different entities, in a sense. Women's football is gracious, skilful and athletic. It’s so entertaining. It’s very different from the men's game, but that's what I think is so great about it. When people give it that opportunity and watch it for what it is and and have an open mind, they often end up falling in love with it and supporting a team and coming to all their games.
And let's get a bit of background on you – how did you end up playing for the Matildas?
So basically, growing up, I was a little tomboy. I followed my brother around everywhere. And then he made his way into a soccer team, so I followed him down there, and when he would train, I'd run up and down the sidelines and show off in front of the parents. I think they got a little bit annoyed and were like, just throw her into the team. It was like this moment for me where I felt like it was exactly where I was supposed to be – I felt a big sense of belonging, and a realisation that this was absolutely what I wanted to do. I just fell in love with it. From that moment on, I became obsessed with getting better at it and wanted to play all the time. I found my way into a state representative team, and then that tumbled on and I got recognised by the youth national teams, and then eventually my Matilda's debut from there.
Who will be the Matildas to watch, would you say?
The obvious one is Sam Kerr, who, at the moment, is probably the world's best player, the world's best striker. She is the definition of exciting to watch. She's always a chance to score goals. She's always causing defences absolute chaos. I'm lucky enough to play on the same team as her. And an up-and-coming one: I would say Mary Fowler. She's just got so much talent. She's so young, but she’s got a really good head on her shoulders and can do some incredible things on the football field. She has scored so many goals. Left foot, right foot. Yeah, she's definitely one to watch.
What's something most people wouldn't know about you?
I'm studying to be a teacher. I've been doing that for many, many years online and do it really slowly, alongside my football career.
Have you enjoyed spending time here in Sydney?
I love it. My partner’s family lives in Cronulla and he grew up there, so I’ve spent a little bit of time there. I love being back in Australia. There's just nothing like it. Cronulla is a beautiful part of Sydney. I live in London, so when I come home to Australia, I always want to be around the water, by the beach, and Cronulla is perfect for that. It's a very relaxed environment. There's tonnes of cafes, tonnes of restaurants, and that's pretty much all we do when I'm on holiday back in Sydney – just by the beach, eating, and drinking coffee.
What are your favourite cafés?
When we're with the national team, we stay in Double Bay, so I’ve got a couple of favourite cafés there – there's White Rabbit and Indigo, which are very close to the hotel we stay at. We're at one of those every morning, every afternoon. Just getting as much coffee in as we possibly can. I also love when I'm in Sydney, the Grounds of Alexandria. That's a must. We don’t go out for dinner much, though, because when I'm with the national team, the nutrition is strict. So we get fed at the hotel.
What else do you enjoy around there? There are some nice walks down there by the harbour…
Yeah, we always do this walk by Red Leaf Beach. It's a little secluded beach, there are cliffs, when you’re up the top where you come in, you have to go down a heap of stairs, and you've just got the best view of Sydney. There are crystal blue waters. And there are little cafés along there too. So you can have a coffee, something to eat, then go down to this beautiful, secluded beach. We do that all the time when we're staying in Double Bay.