Sarah Langman is a goalkeeper for the Central Coast Mariners and has been playing for the A-League for nine seasons.
But the disparity in pay and the part-time nature of the women's league in Australia means she can't focus on football full time.
"In my first season in the A-League, I didn't get paid. In the second season, it was about $1,200," she told 7.30.
The 28-year-old will commute almost two hours from Sydney to the Central Coast for training, as well as travelling for games, while keeping up a part-time roster as a massage therapist in Maroubra.
Australia's A-League Women has fewer rounds than the men's league and shorter contracts – 35 weeks compared to all-year-round contracts for men.
The minimum wage for players will be $25,000 for the next season, which starts in October — an increase from $20,608 from the last season.
According to Professional Footballers Australia, 60 per cent of A-League Women players work outside of their football commitments, compared to 15 per cent of players in the A-League Men. Almost half of working players also study.
A-League Men has also struggled to compete with salaries from international leagues.
Langman says while the improvement in pay is fantastic, the path to becoming a full-time professional footballer in Australia is extremely limited for women.
"It’s a bit hard if you’re paying for rent and food and petrol as well," she said.
"A lot of my energy is going into driving and coming back for work. I could put 100 per cent commitment into the sport [on a full-time wage]."
Funding the grassroots
All of the Matildas had their start in Australia's domestic league.
Sam Kerr played for Perth Glory, Mackenzie Arnold played for teams including Brisbane Roar, and Mary Fowler for Adelaide United.
Most now play full time in leagues abroad, with much more lucrative pay packets. Penalty shootout star Cortnee Vine is still contracted to Sydney FC.
Moya Dodd, former Matilda's vice-captain and former member of the FIFA executive committee, says the growth of the domestic leagues is crucial to producing homegrown talent.
It's a sentiment that was echoed by Matildas captain Sam Kerr after Australia's 3-1 loss to England in the semifinals of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
"We need funding in our grassroots. We need funding everywhere. The comparison to other sports isn't really good enough," she said.
"Hopefully this tournament kind of changes that because that's the legacy you leave, not what you do on the pitch."
The Australian Professional Leagues, the governing body for the A-Leagues, acknowledges the uneven playing field and is pushing for more funding from the federal government to improve conditions for women, including by extending the season.
"We can't do it alone. It shouldn't sit with the responsibility of 12 individual [private] owners to fund the development pathway for women's football," Danny Townsend, CEO of the Australian Professional Leagues, said.
"Because at the moment there's a hell of a lot of euphoria around women's football, and the professional game here in Australia at the moment is not making a cent."
The other big pay gap
The prize money for the Women's World Cup is $US110 million ($171 million) compared to $US440 million for the men's Cup, a gap the Matildas and the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) called out at the beginning of the tournament.
"The women are going to earn a quarter of what the men earned for the Qatar World Cup. That's just straight-up gender discrimination," PFA chair Francis Awaritefe said.
There are also calls to increase the World Cup's "Club Benefits" — payments paid by FIFA to clubs used to develop stars.
Club Benefits have increased from $0 in the 2016 Women's World Cup to $US11.5 million for this year's tournament.
The Club Benefits paid to the 2022 Men's World Cup was $US209 million.
2023 Women's World Cup | 2022 Men's World Cup | |
|---|---|---|
Prize money | $US110 million ($171 million) | $US440 million ($687 million) |
Preparation funding | $US31 million ($48 million) | $US48 million ($75 million) |
Club Benefits | $US11.5 million ($17.9 million) | $US209 million ($326 million) |
Table data: Professional Footballers Australia
"We would love that Club Benefits scheme to increase," Mr Townsend said.
"That will allow us to continue to reinvest that back in getting ourselves closer to that 52-week contract for our talented athletes."
Moya Dodd says the systemic inequalities need to be addressed before the game can see real change.
"There are numerous data points we could see that show differences between what men and women get out of football," she said.
"My biggest concern is actually the systemic inequalities that lie within the system that would produce those kinds of unequal outputs."
While the Matildas and administrators push to keep the new fanbase for women's football, A-League players are preparing for the season which starts in October.
Sarah Langman is looking forward to her first season with the Mariners but is apprehensive about the juggle between work and football.
"It's a privilege to do what you love and kind of get paid for it. But I think if we got paid some more, even the same [as] the men … it would be a weight off my shoulders," she said.
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