The Wellington Phoenix want to put a women’s team in the Aussie W-League. Not saying they’re going to or that they’re any closer to making it happen but they still want to and they made that clear with a little statement on their website (and beyond) this week. Which, like, yeah. Sweet as. So they should and it would be a pretty big deal for kiwi football if it were to happen. But kinda odd that they’d make a song and dance about a good intention, right?

Sort of. The impetus here is that the shared Aussie and NZ FIFA Women’s World Cup hosting bid for 2023 seems to be gathering some steam with Brazil backing out of their own bid and the Aus/NZ one getting the highest marks on FIFA’s technical evaluation of the three remaining options. Colombia and Japan have the other two bids still active. It’s looking decent for the chances of bringing the World Cup Down Under, just gotta stump up the bribe money for FIFA and there we have it.

By the way, isn’t it weird that the 2023 Women’s World Cup still doesn’t have a host even after the previous edition took place a full year ago while the 2022 Men’s World Cup was awarded to Qatar all the way back in 2010? Pretty weird, yeah, although even weirder is that of the 22-man executive committee that voted on the hosts for both that and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, 10 of them have since been banned for corruption, several more have been convicted for financial dodginess, and all of them have at least had accusations fly in their direction. Don’t assume that FIFA have made the improvements under Gianni Infantino that they claim to have either.

In that spirit of Trans-Tasman harmony, a Wellington Phoenix Women’s team would be a pleasant bit of leveraging which is presumably the point of the Welly Nix putting the idea back into the public all of a sudden. And if that’s what it takes then that’s what it takes because that kinda pathway for kiwi women is long overdue. Right now you’ve got the Future Ferns Development Programme which is trying to hoard up the best domestic talent with an aim to propel them into professional gigs overseas but there’s nothing else substantial between the 12-game (plus final) National Women’s League in Aotearoa and the national team. It’s only in the last couple years that the NWL has expanded to both home and away fixtures – as recently as 2017 it was a six-game season for all but the top three teams. That’s not a lot of football.

These days we’re closer than ever to having a fully professional Football Ferns squad. More players are doing their thing around the world as women’s footy leagues grow and expand and become more commercially viable (thanks to better investment, funny how those things work aye?) and we’re now getting to the point where playing professionally isn’t something you do after you’ve played at World Cups and Olympics for the national team, it’s something you can do on the way up which can only improve the playing depth out there.

But that’s still only dealing with the elite players and the lucky few who can get themselves in the right place at the right time... or make the right sacrifices at the right time. It’s a ruthless environment and with a tendency towards short term contracts it’s always a perilous one. A Welly Nix squad in the W-League, that’d not only provide full-time opportunities for the best local talent (at least for the duration of the season) but it’d also be a safety net for pros who have been overseas but either ran out of options or weren’t about that life no more.

Anna Green is an example. Played for a few years in the top flights of England, Germany, and Sweden then when she decided she wanted to come back to NZ... she’s gotta drop to amateur club stuff and a bit of NWL whilst still trying to hold a place in the Ferns for the last World Cup. A Welly Nix team would be ideal for players in her position. Not to mention that the timing of the W-League, unless they change it, means that players based in America or Scandinavia (at current count: Abby Erceg, Ali Riley, Katie Bowen, Rosie White, CJ Bott, Hannah Wilkinson, Rebekah Stott, Victoria Esson) could, if fit and keen, pop down for a stint with the Nix as well. No pressure though. (It’s also likely that they’d be based in Sydney for cost-cutting reasons, at least at first, although the odd double-header in Wellywood ain’t out of the question).

A HISTORY OF KIWIS IN THE W-LEAGUE

That’s all no-brainer stuff. It’s the other side of the debate where it’s an actual, well, debate. Would the W-League want a kiwi team in there or would us humble folk only cramp their style? That’s the thing, you see. The W-League is a pretty domestic affair with the exception of its cozy relationship with the American NWSL. There were two kiwis (Rebekah Stott and Annalie Longo) who played in the last edition and that made us the third equal most represented nation. 23 Americans took part besides 145 Australians.

But there’s a bit of a crossroads here for the W-League to traverse because the power dynamic of women’s footy is shifting hard towards Europe (where the money from the men’s game is spilling out of pockets and some of it is even being spent on their women’s teams – only some, for shame). It’s not a coincidence that the eight quarter-finalists at the last World Cup were seven European teams and America. That’s seen a big boost in Aussie players signing contracts in Europe and thus leaving the W-League. Sam Kerr is the obvious one, signing with Chelsea. Then there’s also Caitlyn Foord at Arsenal. Hayley Raso at Everton. Chloe Logarzo at Bristol City. Emily Gielnik at Bayern Munich.

So you’ve got the general trend of a growing sport boosting the competition but at the same time the W-League can’t necessarily count on its best Australian players to be a part of it because of that. There is a marquee player thingamajig to try combat that but then it becomes a money-slinging contest and that’s a tough one to win if Manchester City or Chelsea are involved.

Which means they’ve gotta build a league that can stand on its own two feet thus also part of the long term plan: expansion. There’s an independent A-League and W-League now and integrating so that each men’s side has a corresponding women’s team is suddenly a lot more feasible. Currently only the Phoenix, Western United, and Central Coast Mariners don’t have a W-League side, nor obviously does incoming Macarthur FC either (while Canberra Utd doesn’t have a men’s team). Getting that done could well see the W-League evolve into a full home and away competition which might alter its place on the calendar but they do hope to keep (and even formalise) that partnership with the NWSL.

Those are some hefty plans (mostly taken from a Guardian piece from last October). How long it takes to get towards that version of the league is anyone’s guess but if the World Cup comes to Aussie then that’ll surely amp everything up. Suddenly there’ll be money floating around, investments that need to be made, a boost in infrastructure, huge publicity and prominence for the sport. And there’ll be pressure on Aussie football to make sure their team is as strong as possible too. Those things are crucial for the Phoenix because, let’s be honest, they lose money on the men’s team so adding an even less commercially viable women’s team would be tough. Adding it at a time when sponsors are suddenly hovering around women’s footy though... there’s you best case scenario. And they’re keen enough that they’re already lobbying out in public, as you can see. Have been for a while in fact.

Hopefully New Zealand Football will be nice and compliant in helping the Nix to get there. Mate, we’ve got more at stake than Australia on the competitive side. They’re already really bloody good. They haven’t quite made the most of that in major tournaments but they’re already at that level. We’ve never even won a game at a World Cup and are at the risk of falling further behind if we can’t provide adequate pathways to the top for emerging players, and to keep more of those fringe Footy Ferns in the game for longer. This seems like one of those ones where with a bit of coordination, a whole bunch of different interests can achieve something greater together. Fingers crossed anyway.

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