On Sunday Perth Glory takes on Wellington Phoenix at Macedonia Park in what is shaping as a must-win game if Glory are to entertain any realistic hopes of making the top four.
As always, veteran defender Kim Carroll will be a key player for Glory. She is set to make her 150th A-League Women appearance, becoming just the fourth player in the league’s history to achieve this milestone.
Carroll is one of only nine A-League Women players who participated in the league’s inaugural season (2008-09). Apart from appearing in the colours of Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar, Carroll has also played for Danish club Fortuna Hjørring in the UEFA Champions League and made 55 appearances for the Matildas.
In those 55 games, she scored twice, played in the 2011 World Cup and was part of the Matildas side that beat DPR Korea on penalties to win the 2010 Asian Cup.
Carroll is also a life member of the Professional Footballers Association and served on the Executive Committee until stepping down in August. She was involved in the PFA negotiations that successfully secured the historic National Teams Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which delivered equal pay for the Matildas in 2017.
The CBA also provided:
- a minimum wage for A-League Women players
- larger roster sizes
- a significantly increased salary cap
- an agreed commercial framework to underpin the growth of the women’s game
- enhanced minimum medical standards
- key principles for the league’s first ever formal maternity policy
- the establishment of a formal partnership with the players through the Professional Women’s Football Committee to drive further employment, performance and competition reform
The improvements in conditions for players have led to an increase in standards across the league and Carroll had this to say about the changes.
“I think the quality in each team has definitely increased and across the board, a lot of teams have improved conditions for their players and made it more of a full-time career. There’s been a lot of work done by the league and the PFA in terms of where we train, the fields etc. and also the clubs are investing in more coaching staff and strength and conditioning to try and set the players up for injury-free seasons where possible.
“The PFA has been the spearhead of the players’ voice and they’re really working for the players to have better conditions on and off the field.”
The re-introduction of Central Coast Mariners to A-League Women next season will be another step on the road to a full-time league. Carroll gave her thoughts on what she thinks this will mean for players.
“For a young player now coming in and with next year being a full home and away (season) they can really start to see a future and a career in football as a full-time thing. I think the hope is that players won’t have to move between NPLW and A-League Women and what we really want is for players to be able to put all their focus into the season and allow them to have a full-time career, and I don’t think we’re too far off that.”
The move to a full-time A-League Women would have implications for the NPLW leagues around the country and Carroll spoke about the possibility of a second-tier national competition.
“I think a national cup would be a really good competition. I feel that some states are progressing or have progressed further than others and we see players going elsewhere because leagues are slightly better. There’s already money in some leagues and there’s more competition so I guess it’s now about pushing those states that are a little behind to get them up to the others.”
Carroll is well-regarded by her peers. Perth Glory coach Alex Epakis spoke about her qualities at a press conference ahead of the game against Wellington.
“150 games is a huge testament to her as a person and as a player. She’s been a fantastic servant for the competition and the national team … and we’ve been very fortunate to have her here. She’s someone who I value a lot and I know the team values her a lot. She’s got a lot of leadership capacity and she’s still very much doing the job on the field.”
With so many honours and awards to her name, she was asked to recall the one that stood out the most to her.
“Oh, that’s a tough one. Both the World Cup and Asian Cup are significant highlights in my career. The Asian Cup was awesome because we were the first Australian national team to win a gold medal at a tournament in the Asian Federation, and obviously the World Cup is a massive stage, and to have it in Germany was great. There was a great atmosphere and the stadiums were all football stadiums. I can’t really choose between those two as they were equally memorable.”
With the World Cup now just around the corner she spoke about what she thinks it will be like and how she feels the Matildas will fare.
“I’m excited by it and the games they’ve been having in the last year or so have seen the fans getting behind them and they’ve been getting good crowds, so I’m sure the Matildas will be getting sell-outs and let’s hope there are good crowds for the other teams that are coming and (we) really support the whole event.
“There’s been a lot of work in the last year or two by the coach, and they’ve just got to gel and leading into the World Cup that will happen naturally. Players will always want to do well at a World Cup and that drive will be there for sure, and I think we’ve got a good chance of progressing a long way and hopefully getting to the top.”
