Still riding the Matildas wave, A-League Women’s football returns this week with ambitions to prove itself as the most compelling female sporting competition in Australia. But a talent drain to overseas leagues and uncertain economics for players and clubs mean this summer will prove crucial towards the goal of full-time professionalism. The phenomenal interest in the women’s national team and their 2023 World Cup performance pushed up average attendances last season by 72%, to 2,117. Matildas penalty shootout hero Cortnee Vine helped Sydney to the championship, in a season largely considered a success. But the World Cup afterglow isn’t everlasting. Vine now plays for North Carolina Courage, joining the majority of the Matildas squad in leagues overseas. And the conveyor belt continues to run. Recently capped 18-year-old playmaker Daniela Galic left Melbourne City – unlucky to be beaten in last year’s grand final – for FC Twente in the Netherlands. Emily Gielnik, the Melbourne Victory striker and long-time Matildas player with ambitions for a national team return, says local opportunities have improved in recent years but so too have overseas competitions. “There’s probably a reason why all the girls are going overseas, because of the pay gap and what they’re exposed to over there,” she says. “Overseas, it does feel like a full-time professional job, and here we were quite limited, especially in the past. I will say that there was a turning point since the World Cup, but these girls are still making sacrifices.” More ALW players would now prefer to play in the NWSL in the US than they would in the local league, according to a survey conducted by Professional Footballers Australia. And the same research found players’ self-reported satisfaction with their life balance was at a record low last season. The minimum wage is $25,750 for the 35-week season, or around $740 per week. Two thirds of players were either “not at all satisfied” (15%) or only “slightly satisfied” (48%) with their mix of football and other commitments. Sydney FC’s captain Nat Tobin suffered a knee injury that ended her season last year but has successfully returned during pre-season. “I was managing full-time work and ACL recovery, which is probably more demanding than normal team training,” she says. “It was a really tough juggle, I don’t think there’s any good way to put it, it was tough.” After going down injured in the very first game of last season and watching her side go all the way to the title, Tobin says she wants to be part of the competition’s upwards trajectory this season. “Other leagues around the world are only getting more and more professional and developing, so we’re really trying to keep up with that,” she says. “Women’s football and women’s sport in general in Australia is so big and there’s such a market for it and a thirst for it.” The players’ union, Professional Footballers Australia have called for full-time professionalism within two years, but there is competition for eyeballs and sponsors. The A-League Women’s first round competes with the AFLW, international women’s rugby league, the start of cricket’s WBBL and basketball’s WNBL, as well as non-sporting pursuits in the Australian spring. A-Leagues Commissioner, Nick Garcia, said this season there will be more than 30 capped internationals in the competition, and a deal with naming rights sponsor SharkNinja and Network 10 has increased the minimum number of games on free-to-air television to 10. “This league continues to be the proven pathway for the next generation of international stars,” Garcia says. Although some Australian internationals have flowed out of the league in recent years, the A-League Women remains vital for the fortunes of the national team. And with the Asian Cup to be held in Australia in 2026, the ALW will continue to benefit from links to the Matildas. Brisbane pair Sharn Freier and Tameka Yallop, and Canberra’s Michelle Heyman, all played for the Matildas against Germany on Tuesday, and Western United goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln was an unused substitute. Gielnik – who was recalled to the Matildas squad in April after outstanding ALW form – says competition is fierce but the best way to catch the attention of interim Matildas coach Tom Sermanni is to be playing well in the ALW. “Kyah [Simon] has gone to Sydney [from Central Coast], Michelle [Heyman] is in Canberra, there’s a few familiar faces there, you keep an eye out on where they’re going. But for me, I’ve been able to look past that,” the 32-year-old says. “I know at the end of the day, Tom’s a fair guy. If I am performing really well week in, week out, and dominating the league and deserve a call up then hopefully that happens, but I don’t want it to be my be-all-and-end-all this year, I want to play well for myself and I’m excited to be back out there.” Western United kick off the season on Friday night, with a match against Wellington at the new Ironbark Fields venue in Melbourne’s western suburbs.