So many Matildas, and there’s nary a jumbuck in sight
THE Matildas received a warm Geelong welcome from 28 girls of the same name when they arrived in town yesterday.
The Australian women’s soccer team was met by enough girls to fill almost three more soccer teams, should some back-up Matildas be needed for Sunday’s match against China.
Girls named Matilda aged between two and 15 from across the region took part in a special group photo shoot organised by the Geelong Advertiser.
Players Elise Kellond-Knight, Lydia Williams and Laura Alleway, who is based part-time in Torquay, delighted Geelong’s Matildas by taking photos, signing autographs and sharing a kick of the ball.
A challenge has been issued to Geelong sports fans to set an attendance record for a national female sports representative match in Australia.
The Matildas hold the attendance record after 16,829 spectators attended the recent friendly against Brazil in Newcastle in September.
A crowd of 10,904 saw the Sam Kerr-inspired Matildas defeat the visiting Chinese national team 3-0 at AAMI Park on Wednesday night.
Geelong Region Football Committee chairwoman Jo Plummer urged local fans to try to outdo that on Sunday.
“It would be amazing to get close to 17,000 fans pile through the turnstiles on Sunday and really show the country that Geelong is the next big thing in Australian football,” she said. “Simply going by the growth of participation figures, football in Geelong has grown at a faster rate than both the state and national average each year for the past three consecutive years.”
The match at GMHBA Stadium kicks off at 4.30pm.
Tickets are available at ticket master.com.au.