Blog: With most of our Matildas heading oversees, what is left for the W-League?

With all of our best female football players in Australia heading overseas it leaves a huge hole in our own national competition, the W-League.

Sam Kerr, Australia’s most acclaimed female footballer, was the first to announce the move over to Europe to better her career both in performance quality and finically. Many of her Matilda teammates have now followed, heading to national leagues all over the world.

By travelling overseas, these players will be able to gain a lot more experience, be able to train in state-of-the-art facilities and play alongside the best player in the world. Unfortunately, players are unable to get these things playing in the W-League. It is expected that with so many of our national team players heading to bigger and better clubs overseas, that it will heighten the teams overall performance and hopefully mean that they will be better than ever in the next major events they face. These are the Olympic Games, which has been rescheduled for 2021, and the Women’s World Cup, which Australia and New Zealand will host in 2023.

Although this is something that is fantastic news, it does pose some challenges for the W-League competition and the way that they move forward. With what is already looking like a difficult season ahead due to the ramifications of COVID-19, majority of their A-list stars leaving might just the cherry on the cake.

It is predicted that there will not be as much television coverage or sponsors for the competition, as even the A-League struggled to get a one-year deal with Fox Sports. This is due to financial cutbacks from COVID-19. This means players and clubs will not receive as much money. This is a huge setback for what was becoming a growingly popular sporting competition for the Australian sporting community.

Many fans would flock out to see their favourite Matildas playing, but with majority of the stars playing overseas now, will that affect crowds and overall interest in the W-League? It will give many players the chance to join and shine in the W-League, but it is hard to know if that still attract the same coverage and overall interest.

It will be very interesting to watch and see how things unfold next year for both our Matildas abroad and the W-League. Will it affect the overall interest in the W-League competition? Will the Matildas be more successful due to their new career paths? These are things that won’t be known until next year’s seasons are underway.