It was a movement. Each city in Australia filled with yellow as the Women’s World Cup came to town. It was all the news talked about. A monumental win against Olympic Champions Canada. Cortnee Vine’s winning penalty. Sam Kerr’s screamer.
Despite losing in the semi-finals to England, it was the furthest any Australian team had made it in a FIFA tournament. The Matildas were national heroes.
And the tournament itself was a whirlwind for Australian football. Change Our Game found that “31% of sports news was focused on women's sport, compared to 15% in 2022-23, and almost 1 in 3 sports news stories was on the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023”
And Football Australia found that, in 2024, total participation in women’s and girl’s soccer was up 16%, while overall participation was up 11%, likely due to the impact that the Matildas had in giving women’s football in Australia more visibility.
All of this slow but steady progress was being made. That was until some misogynistic radio host decided it would be worth a bit of validation and a few laughs on his afternoon show.
“There’s something wrong with the Matildas,” Marty Sheargold said. “They had that wonderful tournament out here [2023 Women’s World Cup] where we all fell in love with them, even though they didn’t make the quarters” They made the semi-final.
“You know what they remind me of? Year 10 girls,” he added, to laughter in the background. “All the infighting and all the friendship issues, ‘the coach hates me and I hate bloody training and Michelle’s being a b****’”
“Now I’m sorry to undermine the whole sport, but that’s what I think of it so you can stick it up your a***.”
Co-hosts Troy Ellis and Will Ralston attempted to continue discussing the Matildas’ participation in the SheBelieves Cup when Sheargold interrupted, “Oh, SheBelieves in what? It better be men.”
The conversation continued, where reference was made to Australia hosting the AFC Women's Asian Cup next year, and he said “oh god - the Asian Cup”, before criticising the event by saying that he “would rather hammer a nail through the head of [his] p****” than watch the Matildas’ participation. He then asked his co-host: "Got any men's sport?"
These comments have sparked outrage amongst the women’s sports community for obvious reasons, with Australia’s Minister of Sport calling the comments “boorish, boring and wrong.”
“Australia's most watched television event ever was the Matildas World Cup semi-final; the Tillies' quarterfinal is the second-most-watched event in Australian history,” She said.
Australian Olympian Ambrosia Malone, also reacted to Sheargold’s comments “All I could think about was the young girls sitting in the car with their parents, maybe on the way to or from their own training sessions hearing this," she wrote on her Instagram story.
“I'm sure many of them would have been hurt and confused… I was in disbelief.”
“This is apparently acceptable on mainstream afternoon radio??? HOW??”
Football Australia also responded, saying it was “deeply disappointed by the unacceptable comments” which “fail to recognise the profound impact they have had on Australian sport and society”.
“This incident is a stark reminder of the responsibility media outlets and personalities have in fostering respectful and constructive discussions about women's sport and its participants,”
While Sheargold and the radio station Triple M have since parted ways, the impact has been made. The most striking, but perhaps not surprising, reaction to these comments has come from the male audience. It is important to note that Sheargold’s hosts didn’t correct him or hold him accountable while they were on air, they instead laughed and thus validated what he was saying. And what this tells other men is that it is still socially acceptable to belittle women’s sports.
This discussion was held on the radio, during primetime, for all of the public to access. These voices have some of the biggest influence on what others think is acceptable. This had led others, presumably men, to respond to Sheargold’s comments with support on social media.
“Nothing wrong with what’s been said”
“Best comment ever. It only burns Because it’s true”
“So true Marty. The fact is most year 10 rep school boys would beat them.”
“I’m sick of the anti men agenda”
“What’s wrong with that.The truth hurts doesn’t it Good on Marty Sheargold for making a joke of woman’s sport because most men are thinking the same thing.Womans sport is good but come on laugh.”
No. I will not laugh. There’s a difference between comedy which “misses the mark” (according to Sheargold’s weak apology) and statements that directly undermine the effort that thousands of women put into making the world of women’s sports accessible to everyone and here to stay.
Libby Trickett, an Australian Olympic swimmer, sums this up perfectly on ABC News, saying that “This kind of rhetoric contributes to the barriers that women are facing to continue playing sport.”
These kinds of comments, meant as a joke or not, make it harder for women’s sports to grow and legitimise themselves. It doesn’t matter that the Matildas are losing at the moment. They can be criticised like any other professional sports team, without you having to dig at the integrity of the sport and women in general.
I hope you’ve learnt your lesson Marty, but most of all, I hope that you come through with your promise, because women’s sports are here to stay, whether you like it or not.
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