Euro women's football is sport's future and Matildas are at its heart

The Women's Super League kickstarts this weekend and Steph Catley says the huge influx of Matildas into the WSL is exactly where they should be.

“I can only really speak for the girls in Australia, but it's [the FA WSL] been on our radars for a while,” she told the Matildas website.

“It's just been more about waiting for the right time where the league has really started to take off and I think the last few years it has gone from strength to strength. The quality of the players that are here really is on par with America.”

"I think you could argue that right now, this is the place where you want to be playing football, because you're coming up against the best players in the world week in, week out.”

Only a year ago there was barely a Matilda in Europe, now nearly the entire squad is. It's a rush that's overtaken Australian football, but it's based on a seeming inevitability that women's football in Europe will be the next big thing in world sport.

While Catley and much of the Australian Matildas fanbase will be focused on the WSL kicking off this Saturday, Ellie Carpenter winning the Champions League with Lyon in France - a nation that also hosts top Aussie talent in the likes of Emma Checker, Mary Fowler and Laura Brock, show that Aussies are spreading their weight across the continent's best bets.

From record-shattering attendances to bumper broadcast negotiations, not even a global pandemic has managed to stifle the rapid acceleration of women's football in Europe.

Sam Kerr's Chelsea just broke their own global transfer record as the biggest European clubs begin to suck in the best US talent from the NSWL. When that happens, the US audiences will come with them.

Then - just like the World Cup is beginning to acknowledge now - women's European leagues can tap into a potentially even greater broadcast and advertising base than many of the men's leagues have now.

It's a scale of potential growth that's simply unparalleled by any other sport, male or female, worldwide. For Catley, who's partner A-League goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis gave up his Melbourne City position to join her in England, it's simply a personal decision to make the most of her career.

But the subtext is clear - the Matildas and FFA have been tracking Europe's progress for some time and when the opportunity came, they all jumped.

EUROPE'S RISE IN STATS (credit: ft.com)

The continent had 3,311 professional and semi-pro female players in 2018, more than double the total of 2012
The number of registered female players in Europe rose fivefold from 1985 through 2015, to 1.2m
In March, the Atlético Madrid-Barcelona league game drew 60,739 spectators, a world record for women’s club football.
The England-US semi-final drew a peak British TV audience of 11.7m, making it the country’s most watched programme of the year.

“For the Aussies playing over here, obviously they are some of my closest friends but when it comes to game day, then it's just all about the shirt that you're wearing.”

"You will do whatever it takes to make sure you win, and I think that's something that's inbred in all of us, as footballers; we are winners. When it comes down to it they're in an opposite colour so your enemy for the day.

“I think it’s basically down to us as individuals, going to clubs and performing on the biggest stages,” said Catley.

"I suppose [I feel] pride when you look at it. A lot of the girls have signed at really good clubs and I'm just looking forward to watching everyone.

“I think our team and the individuals in our team, in the Matildas, have gone to a new level recently, so hopefully they can show that in this league and they can all do really well.

“I'm proud of everyone and excited to watch them.”