The latest PFA Post reveals match minutes played by female professional footballers aged between 18-24 rose by 38% during the 2020/21 W-League season.
Driven by a range of external factors – including the COVID-19 pandemic and the exodus of national team players to European club football – the increase halts the previous decline in match minutes available to the 18-24 cohort evidenced over the last three W-League seasons.
The data has been compiled from the PFA’s annual W-League Report, which explores and analyses industry trends, independent research and player feedback to assess the working conditions within the W-League. The full report will be released later this month.
The data highlights a strong and sudden demographic shift in the W-League where young players in the 18-24 age group have overtaken the 25-29 age group in terms of match minutes played – reversing a five year trend of declining match minutes in the 18-24 age bracket as the league matured.
⤵️ Key Takeaways
- Minutes played in the 25-29 age bracket dropped 44% this season
- Minutes played in the 18-24 age bracket rose 38% this season
- Minutes played in the 30+ bracket rose 11%
- The average age in the league was 23.7 (23.1 last year)
- Players had an average of 4.3 season in W-League experience this season (4.2 last year)
- A reduction in foreign players led to more opportunities for young Australian players, with 38% fewer foreign players in the league this year (23 down from 37).
⏰ Focus on Youth Match Minutes
To personify the data and gauge how big a role the youth demographic played, the PFA narrowed the dataset to players aged 22 and under who played at least 900 match minutes for the season and compared this figure over the league’s history.
This season had 26 players meet this threshold, the second highest ever after the 2012/13 season, which had 31 players. In the 2012/13 season, a host of teenage Matildas emerged through the W-League competition, including 17-year-olds Caitlin Foord, Alanna Kennedy, 18-year-old Steph Catley 19-year-old Sam Kerr.
2020/21 W-League Season
| Player | Team | Age* | Minutes Played | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ally Green | Sydney FC | 22 | 1,272 | 14 |
| Elizabeth Anton | Perth Glory | 22 | 1,080 | 12 |
| Matilda McNamara | Adelaide United | 22 | 1,080 | 12 |
| Clare Wheeler | Sydney FC | 22 | 1,023 | 12 |
| Emily Condon | Adelaide United | 22 | 1,027 | 12 |
| Claudia Bunge | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 1,290 | 14 |
| Nickoletta Flannery | Canberra United | 21 | 1,123 | 13 |
| Melina Ayres | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 1,235 | 14 |
| Grace Maher | Canberra United | 21 | 1,108 | 13 |
| Remy Siemsen | Sydney FC | 21 | 1,121 | 14 |
| Danika Matos | Western Sydney Wanderers | 21 | 924 | 11 |
| Jada Whyman | Sydney FC | 21 | 1,290 | 14 |
| Deborah-Anne de la Harpe | Perth Glory | 20 | 1,028 | 12 |
| Princess Ibini-Isei | Sydney FC | 20 | 1,155 | 14 |
| Charlotte Mclean | Sydney FC | 20 | 1,228 | 14 |
| Winonah Heatley | Brisbane Roar | 19 | 1,151 | 13 |
| Tori Tumeth | Melbourne City | 19 | 985 | 12 |
| Tessa Tamplin | Newcastle Jets | 19 | 1,018 | 12 |
| Leah Davidson | Melbourne City | 19 | 1,076 | 12 |
| Laura Hughes | Canberra United | 19 | 1,084 | 13 |
| Polly Doran | Melbourne Victory | 19 | 1,172 | 14 |
| Kyra Cooney-Cross | Melbourne Victory | 18 | 1,260 | 14 |
| Hana Lowry | Perth Glory | 17 | 1,006 | 12 |
| Emma Ilijoski | Canberra United | 17 | 900 | 10 |
| Jamilla Rankin | Brisbane Roar | 17 | 1,121 | 13 |
| Jessika Nash | Canberra United | 16 | 1,168 | 13 |
Of these 26 players, four players played the maximum number of regular season minutes, with Matilda McNamara, Elizabeth Anton, Claudia Bunge and Jada Whyman playing 1,080 minutes across the 12 rounds. Bunge and Whyman also played every minute of the finals series, totalling 1,290 minutes across the season.
Canberra United’s 16-year-old Jessika Nash was the youngest player, playing 1,168 minutes, followed by a trio of 17-year-olds which included Brisbane Roar’s Jamilla Rankin (1,121), Perth Glory’s Hana Lowry (1,006), and Canberra United’s Emma Illijoski.
Of those in this age group, Princess Ibini (6) and Emily Condon (1) have received Matildas caps.
🗓️ The emergence of the ‘Golden Generation’ of Matildas (2012/13)
Compared to the most recent season, the 2012/13 season produced the highest (31) number of players within the 22 and under cohort to reach the 900 minutes threshold.
15 players from that group played for the Matildas and between them have earned 602 caps for the National Team. Six of them – Alanna Kennedy (90), Caitlin Foord (86), Katrina Gorry (79), Kyah Simon (93), Sam Kerr (90), and Steph Catley (83) have over 75 caps.
After the 2012/13 season, several players moved to the newly established National Women’s Soccer League, which emerged after the ‘Women’s Professional Soccer’ league folded. This was the first time that many of these players – who went on to represent the Matildas, had the opportunity to build a full-time calendar of football, complementing their W-League season with contracts in the NWSL.
| Player | Team | Age* | Minutes Played | Appearances | Matildas Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teresa Polias | Sydney FC | 22 | 1,260 | 14 | 12 |
| Gulcan Koca | Melbourne Victory | 22 | 1,100 | 13 | |
| Gema Simon | Newcastle Jets | 22 | 1,080 | 12 | 11 |
| Abby Erceg | Adelaide United | 22 | 1,080 | 12 | |
| Samantha Spackman | Western Sydney Wanderers | 21 | 919 | 11 | |
| Liz Milne | Perth Glory | 21 | 1,094 | 12 | |
| Kyah Simon | Sydney FC | 21 | 990 | 11 | 93 |
| Sarah McLaughlin | Adelaide United | 21 | 900 | 10 | |
| Enza Barilla | Melbourne Victory | 21 | 1,226 | 14 | |
| Alesha Clifford | Western Sydney Wanderers | 21 | 957 | 11 | |
| Bronwyn Studman | Perth Glory | 20 | 1,077 | 12 | |
| Nicole Begg Sykes | Canberra United | 20 | 1,080 | 12 | |
| Marianna Tabain | Perth Glory | 20 | 1,144 | 13 | |
| Vedrana Popovic | Brisbane Roar | 20 | 1,120 | 13 | 2 |
| Jennifer Bisset | Canberra United | 20 | 1,000 | 12 | |
| Katrina Gorry | Brisbane Roar | 20 | 973 | 11 | 79 |
| Erika Elze | Brisbane Roar | 19 | 1,170 | 13 | |
| Samantha Kerr | Sydney FC | 19 | 986 | 12 | 90 |
| Rebekah Stott | Melbourne Victory | 19 | 1,290 | 14 | |
| Hannah Brewer | Newcastle Jets | 19 | 1,080 | 12 | 3 |
| Alexandra Huynh | Western Sydney Wanderers | 18 | 924 | 12 | 1 |
| Stephanie Catley | Melbourne Victory | 18 | 1,110 | 12 | 83 |
| Mackenzie Arnold | Canberra United | 18 | 900 | 10 | 25 |
| Ann Mayo | Adelaide United | 18 | 1,080 | 12 | |
| Eliza Campbell | Newcastle Jets | 17 | 1,080 | 12 | 2 |
| Alanna Kennedy | Sydney FC | 17 | 989 | 12 | 90 |
| Brianna Davey | Melbourne Victory | 17 | 1,110 | 12 | 18 |
| Caitlin Foord | Sydney FC | 17 | 962 | 12 | 86 |
| Emma Checker | Adelaide United | 16 | 900 | 10 | 7 |
| Jessica Waterhouse | Adelaide United | 15 | 900 | 10 | |
| Elizabeth Ralston | Sydney FC | 15 | 1,123 | 14 |
📝 Summary
While the average age in the W-League did not skew younger or older, there was a redistribution of match time gifting young players a lions’ share of match minutes, helping them gain vital first-team experience.
As the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup approaches, the focus has intensified on Australian football’s legacy both for the game and the players, with a particular spotlight on the opportunity for younger players to springboard from the W-League into the national team.
With the number of minutes played by young footballers a key factor in their development, the more opportunity afforded to young players, the more talent within the league is provided with valuable first-team exposure and opportunities to progress along the talent pathway.
Given the emergence of young talent during the 2020/21 season, the simple solution could be to ensure all nine W-League clubs promote and play young players more regularly.
However, that is not a strategy in and of itself, particularly given the emergence of players in the under 22 cohort increasing can be explained by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and exodus of Matildas to Europe.
It is evident that we can’t simply rely on opportunism. Instead, we must find a strategic solution that allows for a genuine 12-month proposition to increase the match minutes available to our elite and youth players. This must sit alongside the immediate expansion of the W-League competition to include more matches and more teams.
Following the release of the W-League 2020/21 Report, the PFA will also socialise Project 2023, a football legacy paper centred on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which explores the opportunities for the W-League to use the opportunity of 2023 to advance women’s domestic football.
