Australia praise WSL for preparing players for the World Cup
- Austrlalia coach Tony Gustavsson commended the FA's resources
- Mackenzine Arnold praised the WSL for preparing players
- Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley & Mary Fowler also play in England
By Emily Keogh
Tony Gustavsson and Mackenzie Arnold have both praised the setups within English football's domestic league and the FA ahead of facing England in the Women's World Cup semi-final.
More than one third of the Matildas squad play for English clubs and five of their strongest XI play specifically in the top flight of English football.
West Ham goalkeeper Arnold praised the development of the WSL in preparing the Matildas for the World Cup: "All of us that play over in that league can say it’s a different world coming from the W-League. The amount of professionalisation and the talent that they have, the time they put into their clubs and players it really shows the progress both of them individually and the game as a whole."
Following England's historic victory at Euro 2022 on home soil last summer, women's football in the UK exploded, resulting in a 200% increase in attendances in the 2202/23 club season since on the previous campaign - a direct legacy from the Euros.
Hoping that a victory at the World Cup could do the same for Australian football, Arnold revealed her hopes for the game's future.
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"After seeing the Euros and them winning that and seeing how much it really took off and how much money was invested over there. It just really goes to show the progression they’ve had," she siad.
Gustavsson revealed that whilst scouting over in the UK, the report of the quality of the WSL, Champions League and FA Cup inspired what the Matildas head coach hopes the domestic league in Australia, the W-League, could also become.
"We’re at the beginning of that journey and I hope to sit here in 10 to 20 years from now and say this was a crossover moment when it comes to investment in women’s football and we can have the same resources and the same money as well," he explained.
Speaking on investment, the disparity between the funding in the two respective federations is stark.
"Someone told me that the women’s programme in the women’s FA has the same budget as all national teams in our FA, that says a lot about the resources and money that they have and that is also contributing to the development of the players. That means more full-time staff, it means better training facilities, more resources, more full-time players," he said.
WATCH THE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL EDITION OF 90MIN TALKS
Rachel & Sophie from Girls On The Ball are joined by Sophie Lawson to discuss the results from the World Cup quarter-finals, as well as preview the semi-finals as England prepare to face Australia.