The Perth Glory Women’s team will take part in the historic first match of the Westfield W-League when they tackle Sydney FC at Members Equity Stadium on Saturday 25 October.
The Perth Glory Women-s team will take part in the historic first match of the Westfield W-League when they tackle Sydney FC at Members Equity Stadium on Saturday 25 October.
The fixtures for the new national women’s football competition were released today by Football Federation Australia (FFA) with 10 round robin matches to be played before a two week finals series that will culminate in the Grand Final to be played on Saturday 17 January.
Perth-s five home matches will be played at Members Equity Stadium spread across Saturday and Sunday afternoons (two each), plus one Friday night fixture.
In a huge boost for the new competition, the FFA also announced today that Perth-s opening match will be televised live.
“The Westfield W-League gives talented women players the opportunity to improve their skills and gain valuable match practice in a high quality competition,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley.
“The Westfield W-League will also provide a clear development pathway to the three national women’s teams.”
Buckley said that women-s football has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 6.3% over the past five years and is the fastest growing team sport for girls and women in the country.
“There are 100,000 registered female football players involved in formal competition, and we estimate there are even more who play informally.”
He said that women’s football is in a growth phase internationally as well.
“In the past 12 months, the Westfield Matildas, Westfield Young Matildas and Westfield Under 17 Women played 30 international matches in countries as diverse as China, Brazil, New Zealand, Vietnam and the USA to name just a few.
“We expect the Westfield W-League to be a big contributor to improved performances on the world football stage for Australia’s women’s teams.”
Eight teams will compete in the Westfield W-League, one from each of the current Australian based Hyundai A-League teams, plus Canberra United rounding out the draw.
Buckley said that arrangements are in place for a host broadcaster for the Westfield W-League with the broadcaster set to make an announcement later in the month.
