Hello, Squiz Kids legends!
It's shaping up to be a massive month of soccer, with the Women's Asian Cup now underway and the Matildas already on the scoreboard with a 1-0 win over the Philippines.
Whenever women's football hits the headlines, it's a great reminder that this sport has an amazing history, full of determination, setbacks and spectacular comebacks.
So today we're bringing back our Squiz Kids shortcut to women's football.
Just a quick note that this episode was recorded before the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, when Australia was getting ready to host the world.
So you might hear a few references to that tournament coming up.
But everything you're about to hear still helps explain how the game became what it is today.
Enjoy.
This is a Squiz Kids podcast.
Your fresh take on what's happening in the world around you.
They've been playing since at least the 1500s.
One match in 1920 drew a crowd of 53000 spectators, and we're about to see the world's best players take the pitch for a prize pool of 165 million dollars.
This is your Swiss Kids Shortcut to Women's Football, which in Australia we know as soccer.
The podcast where we dive into the who, what, when, where, why and how of the big news stories.
I'm Christy Kidgerina.
And I'm Bryce Corbett.
Lately on Swiss Kids, we've heard a lot about the FIFA Women's World Cup.
But did you know that women's football has a really long history and more than a century ago huge crowds were coming to watch the games?
That's right.
And today we'll take you through where women's football got started, what was happening with soccer in Australia, and why the FIFA Women's World Cup is such a big deal.
Listen carefully.
There's a squiz at the end.
Where?
Bryce, in a previous Squiz Kids Shortcut we learned that the English reckon they invented football and that the rules were written down in 1863.
But the game was actually being played well before that.
And it wasn't just the men having all the fun.
The world's oldest football, dating back to the 1540s, is thought to have been owned by the then Queen of Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots.
What?
Imagine that.
The Queen playing football.
Yep.
We also know that a poem written way back in the 1580s by poet Philip Sidney refers to women playing the game.
I'll give you a little taste of that poem.
A time there is for all, my mother often says, when she with skirts tucked very high with girlies at football plays.
Wow, Bryce, that was really good.
Thank you very much.
You're welcome.
And on 7 May in the year 1881, the first officially recorded women's football match took place.
Ah.
A team of Scottish women played against a team of English women in front of 2000 people in Edinburgh, Scotland.
That's right.
They actually went on to play a few more games, but the fans were so rowdy that in Glasgow the match had to be called off.
Pitch invaders were running onto the field and the players fled the ground in a horse-drawn bus.
No way.
Crazy times.
Crazy times.
As things got more organised, the British Ladies Football Club, or BLFC, was formed in London in 1895.
The club president was a lady named Lady Florence Dixie.
Ooh.
Lady Florence was a writer, adventurer, war correspondent and a feminist.
Whoa, she sounds cool.
She made sure that players wore practical clothes, including bloomers.
Ah.
Yep, if you didn't know, they were long undergarments usually worn under a dress.
They had shin pads and proper boots, because before then they'd been playing in skirts, hats and high heels.
No way.
High heels on a football paddock.
That is crazy days.
Uh-huh.
Now, that would definitely have been a sight to see.
But Christy.
In 1895 the BLFC put on a big match in London with one team from the north and the other from the south of the Thames, which is the big river that divides the city of London.
Oh, yep.
The northern team won the match seven goals to one.
But with more than 10000 fans attending, the game was also a win for the women's movement that was pushing for more rights for women and girls, including the right to vote.
Oh, great.
Yep.
Go girls.
That's right.
And a boost to women's independence came in the most unexpected way.
Oh yeah.
In 1914, the First World War broke out.
So many men went off to fight in the war that the Men's Football League had to suspend all of its matches due to lack of players.
Uh-huh.
Women though, supported the war effort by working in factories and other jobs that had previously been performed by men.
So during their break times, games of kickabout were a popular pastime.
And eventually a number of munitions factories.
They're just the factories where the women made weapons for war, formed their own football teams and started a formal competition.
That is very cool.
And, of course, the games were so popular that by 1920...
A match on Boxing Day drew a capacity crowd of get this 53000 people, with 14000 more locked outside the ground desperate to get in.
Whoa.
So what happened?
Why don't we all know about this?
Well, very good question.
But by now, the war was over.
Men were returning to work and women were expected to return to their old roles in the home.
Oh, no.
You betcha.
One esteemed doctor wrote that football was a most unsuitable game.
Too much for a woman's physical frame.
And finally, in 1921, women were banned from playing on football association grounds.
Altogether, if you can believe it.
And the so-called golden age of women's football was over.
Or was it?
Or was it?
So, what was happening with soccer in Australia?
What?
Just like it had done in England in the early 1900s, women's football had become popular in Australia.
But the Football Association's decision to ban women playing on grounds in England actually had a flow-on effect.
And in 1921, an Australian committee reported that football was also medically inappropriate...
For women to play.
That's crazy.
They actually encouraged females to participate in more suitable sports like swimming rowing, cycling and horse riding.
Anyway, it was a whole 50 years later, in 1971, when the FA's ban was lifted in England and that UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, started to support a revival of the women's game.
And about time too.
Yes, most definitely.
And the Australian Women's Soccer Association was formed.
But with such a tiny budget that players had to pay for their own transport and uniforms.
Boo!
They raised money with raffles and lamington bake sales.
Good on them.
And there was no media coverage.
So women would line up at public payphones after the game to report their results back to their families.
But this didn't deter them.
The first Australian women to play overseas travelled to the 1975 Asian Women's Championship in Hong Kong.
But this competition was not recognised by FIFA and the team wasn't recognised as an Australian international team, if you can believe it.
So the first ever Australian women's international game was against New Zealand.
It was part of a three-match series played in Sydney in 1979. and it resulted in a draw.
That was such a long time coming, Bryce.
As the popularity of the game continued to grow, FIFA invited 12 nations to participate in a women's competition to be held in China in 1988.
And guess what?
What?
Australia was one of the nations.
The Australian women won their first two games against Brazil and Thailand to make the quarterfinals, but were unfortunately then beaten by the host nation China.
But, Christy, that's not the end of the story.
Finally, in 1991, the inaugural or first ever FIFA Women's World Cup was held.
But unfortunately, Australia didn't qualify.
Boo!
Uh-huh.
But then in 1995, the Australian women won their way to the second FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden.
This was also the first time that the team were known as the Matildas.
I know.
Can you believe it?
For the first 16 years, the team had been known only as Australia.
Right.
Right.
The men's team, the Socceroos.
They'd had their names since 1972, but the women had up until now remained nameless.
I know.
Over the years, many cringey names had been suggested, including the Soccerettes, the Soccerbells and even the Soccer2s.
But with the World Cup fast approaching, it was decided that the Australian women's national team needed their own name.
So, in the best Aussie spirit, way before WhatsApp or Facebook, a phone poll was held by a sports show on SBS television called On The Ball.
Would you believe it?
People had to pay 25 cents to ring in and vote for a name.
The phone lines were inundated and the resounding winner was... The Matildas!
Now, we all know that name.
Since 1995, the Matildas have qualified for every single Women's World Cup, and this year Australia will be co-hosting the ninth one of these mega events with our friends in New Zealand.
So why is the FIFA Women's World Cup such a big deal?
Why?
I don't know about you Christy, but I can actually feel From the 20th of July to the 20th of August, the biggest names in the round ball game will be visiting our shores.
Marta, the Queen of Football from Brazil.
Alexia Patelis from Spain.
Asiat Osheola from Nigeria.
Nice.
And Australia's own champion, Sam Kerr.
The best.
To name just a few.
Now look, don't worry if you don't know these names yet, because we're pretty sure that in a month's time you most definitely will.
That's right, Bryce.
The best in the business are about to battle it out.
32 teams.
In 64 matches over 32 days.
I cannot wait.
And, of course, there's $165 million in prize money that is up for grabs.
And this is 10 times, Christy, 10 times more than was offered in 2015.
But it's still less than half of what the men's teams were playing for last year.
So there's still some way to go until women are rewarded equally.
There is.
The tournament slogan this year is beyond greatness.
And these women truly are.
Oh, yeah.
As are those that came before them without the pay and recognition that they get now.
So, Christy, who were Australia playing first?
Well, Bryce.
The teams are divided into eight groups, from A to H, And Australia is in Group B along with the Republic of Ireland, Nigeria and Canada.
Australia will play all those teams and the top two teams in the group advance to the next round.
After that, it's a knockout.
If you lose, you're out.
Oh, and the first games will be New Zealand versus Norway and Australia versus Ireland on July 20th.
Is that right?
Yep, that's it.
So rest up your cheering voice because it's going to be getting a workout.
For sure.
Time for the squiz.
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you've been listening.
Question number one.
Which royal is thought to have owned the world's oldest football?
MUSIC Yep, that's right.
It was Mary, Queen of Scots.
Question number two.
How did the Matildas get their name?
MUSIC
If you said it was a popular vote through a phone poll, you would be correct.
Question number three, bit of a toughie.
Which three countries are in Group B with Australia in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup?
And you can have one point for each one that you get correct.
Well done to you if you said either or all of the Republic of Ireland, Nigeria or Canada.
That's all we have time for today.
Thanks for joining us as we explored the where, what and why of women's football.
And as we say every single day, now get out there and have a most excellent day.
Over and out.
