With Female Football Week continuing to focus a spotlight upon the women’s game, we thought it was the perfect time to pay tribute to five players who have made a massive contribution to Glory’s Westfield W-League side over the years.
There were plenty of high-calibre candidates in the frame which made it a far from easy task, but after careful consideration, we came up with, in no particular order, the following quintet:
Sam Kerr
Where else to start than with ‘Super Sam’?
Barely a week seems to go by without our W-League skipper collecting a prestigious award or setting a new record and it’s no exaggeration to say that she has well and truly established herself as the face of women’s football in this country.
Putting her Young Australian of the Year, Asian Women’s Footballer of the Year, National Women’s Soccer League MVP and Golden Boot and W-League Golden Boot awards aside for a moment, Kerr has now made 58 appearances for Glory, scoring 40 goals along the way.
The 24-year-old has also established herself as the Matildas’ go-to striker, recently setting a new record by scoring in seven consecutive internationals.
Remarkably, she still seems to be improving every year and you get the feeling that the best is yet to come from the prodigiously-talented Freo local.
Kate Gill
Like Kerr, Gill was a prolific goalscorer at both domestic and international level and was a similarly problematic proposition for opposition defences.
Capable of scoring every kind of goal, from headers and close-range efforts to long-distance strikes, the rangy centre-forward served Glory with distinction between 2009 and 2014.
In total, she notched a remarkable 36 goals from 47 appearances in purple to go with 41 from 86 games for the Matildas.
And she has continued to work tirelessly to help develop the women’s game since hanging up her boots through her role with the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Elisa D’Ovidio
A former teammate of both Kerr’s and Gill’s, D’Ovidio was a key figure in Glory’s midfield for six seasons from 2009 to 2014.
An elegant, creative presence on the pitch, she claimed 12 crucial goals during her 76 games for Glory, a record which currently sees her occupying fifth spot in the club’s all-time record goalscorers list.
She was a part of the side that reached the 2014 Grand Final, scoring the opener in the semi-final victory over Sydney FC.
Now 29, she continues to play at an amateur level and skippered the WA State Team against Glory in a pre-season friendly last year.
Like Gill, D’Ovidio has made a major contribution to promoting the women’s game through via her work with Football West’s football development team.
Marianna Tabain
The player immediately above D’Ovidio on that all-time top scorers’ list is Tabain who is also second only to Shannon May when it comes to all-time appearances for the club.
Still just 25, the versatile attacker is in her second spell with the club having enjoyed an interlude at Melbourne City during which time she helped the Victorian side clinch back-to-back titles.
Tabain, who took out the 2009 Goal of the Year award for a memorable effort against Adelaide United, looks set to be a key figure in Glory’s line up again next season.
Shannon May
Every team needs a Shannon May, but very few are fortunate enough to have one.
The industrious, no-nonsense midfielder is a foundation player whose place in Glory folklore is assured by the fact that she scored the club’s first ever goal back in 2008.
The 26-year-old remains the club’s record appearances holder and is poised to add to her tally next year in what will be her tenth season in purple.
Don’t forget that registered female players can gain free admission to Glory’s Hyundai A-League game against Central Coast Mariners at nib Stadium on Saturday (kick off at 7pm).
Click HERE for more details.
#CREATEDESTINY
