Hannah Wilkinson called time on her amazing football career this off-season, but the former Melbourne City star has been busy putting together her latest work of art.
Wilkinson has immortalised a number of key moments in Australian football history, by designing and painting a mural inside the PFA’s Melbourne headquarters.
“I’ve had an amazing opportunity from the PFA to create an amazing mural in the PFA offices,” she told the PFA.
“I love being an artist. I’ve been painting and drawing and being creative since before I started playing football, so I jumped at the opportunity.
“I really enjoy capturing amazing, big, high energy moments on an athletics scene, particularly football.”
The highlights captured on the wall vary from significant national team, and club moments, along with important off-field causes such as the Matildas strike in 2015 and the save Hakeem Al-Araibi case, and a portrait of former PFA President Alex Tobin.
“I got a lot of requests from people at the PFA, and the kind of values, certain moments and things like that they wanted displayed. We’ve got a lot of champion teams up there,” she said.
“Having been a Melbourne City player, that was a little bit painful putting Sydney FC (winning the A-League Women Championship) up there. But nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed painting those moments, and obviously some big Matildas and Socceroos moments up there as well from World Cups… So that’s really special as well.”
This isn’t the first time the former New Zealand international has crafted a mural of significance in the Australian football landscape.
Wilkinson sketched a mural of all-time A-Leagues top goalscorer and City counterpart Jamie Maclaren on Swan St in Richmond, shortly after he achieved the feat in April 2023.
Her artistic prowess caught the attention of the PFA, who then comissioned her for the latest work of art which sits in the foyer of the Walsh Street office.
Putting together the mural, however, didn’t come without its challenges.
“It was a little bit tricky, navigating the composition of the piece, because there were a lot of images to try and squeeze in, because it’s a relatively small wall. But in the end, we came down with a lot of really powerful images, and hopefully it doesn’t look too crowded,” she said.
“The biggest challenge was not being able to spray paint in here because it was very enclosed space, and I was going to poison everybody in the office!
“I did it with only spray paint. So I just had one day to really get the majority down. Thankfully I did have that, because it covered off the bigger figures in there. So I had to kind of resort, ultimately, to just airbrush and hand painting. And hand painting needed to happen with the smaller figures.
“So it was kind of like painting several different canvas paintings over a course of time. So I appreciate the patience. But I love projects like this.”
With her amazing football career now in the rearview mirror, Wilkinson is ready to fully tap into her creative side and embrace the next chapter of her life.
“I think I’ve had an amazing career. I’ve loved every second of it and I’ve appreciated every opportunity that I’ve had,” she said.
“But what’s special in that is football has granted me a lot of opportunities in the creative space as well.
“I hope to really grab a hold of those opportunities. Now that I’m retired, opportunities just like this help me focus solely on being a creator and an artist. I’m just so excited.”
Wilkinson detailed the inspiration behind some of the other paintings and their significance on the mural.
Sam Kerr’s celebration after scoring against England at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and Socceroo Mathew Leckie’s reaction to scoring a stunning solo goal to beat Denmark at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“A big theme with this mural was sort of superhero and comic [theme].
“So with (Mathew) Leckie, I put a big cape on him, he looks like a superhero the way he is celebrating.
“Then with Sam Kerr… it was actually an idea from someone at the PFA, which I thought was really cool. Rip open her shirt to show the pride flag, and just show the importance of inclusivity and recognising everybody.
“I think that’s always something that is very important and obviously something that I really appreciate as well, being an openly gay player.
“I love any chance I can to show my pride and I had a lot of fun painting that as well.”
Socceroos’ players celebrating after John Aloisi’s penalty to send Australia to the 2006 FIFA World Cup
“I think it’s so fun to capture moments of elation, because everyone’s faces has something very special about it… so getting the Socceroos qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 32 years, that was really cool to capture, especially their baggy uniforms, the huge numbers on the front!”
Matildas progressing to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final after Cortnee Vine’s matchwinning penalty
“It’s iconic. Longest penalty shootout in the World Cup. That was really cool to capture. Everyones faces that I’ve played against as well is interesting to do. Everyone remembers Cortnee Vine’s penalty kick that got them through against France. So that was cool to capture.”
Western Sydney Wanderers winning the 2014 Asian Champions League, South Melbourne being crowned National Soccer League champions and Sydney FC winning the A-League Women’s Championship
“Playing in the A-League myself, and knowing what it’s like to win a premiership, I know what those photos are like, and the energy and the happiness and the just pure elation of them. To be able to capture it up on a wall was really fun.
“Western Sydney Wanderers, obviously winning the Asian Champions League. That’s amazing, incredible and obviously you can see how much it meant to them up there. So that was really cool to capture.
“South Melbourne back in time. Really cool to capture all the different, massive track suits and things like that. Oceania Team of the Century, pretty massive. It’s a little bit of a shame that one that’s a little bit smaller (the photo) because it had so many people in it. But thankfully and hopefully, I’ve managed to capture that as best as I can with space I had.”
“Sydney FC, obviously playing for Melbourne City, like I said… got some personal feelings there. But regardless, I respect those players so much. I played with some of them at the A-League All Stars game, and I got to know them really well, and I really, really respect them, and made some really cool friendships there.
“I actually found it to be quite a joy to capture that moment for them. Feelings aside of course, but yeah, so it’s really, really special to see, especially Jada Whyman, up front and centre as a proud Indigenous player lifting that trophy as well. I thought that was really special… She’s an amazing player and an amazing person.”
Lydia Williams speaking after the Matildas’ strike in 2015 and the #SaveHakeem campaign
“I think one of the key responsibilities as athletes at the elite level is what you do with your platform. So getting the Matildas strike and Lydia Williams kind of leading that charge is really cool to capture. That was particularly powerful for me. In particular, I respect the Matildas so much for that kind of work that they did and to get themselves the rights and everything that they deserve. So that image is very powerful to me. So I really appreciated being able to do that and on a bigger sort of space as well.
“The Save Hakeem piece, again, really powerful. You can see what struck me the most about that image is the team’s sort of intertwined. They’re not standing separate. They’re all together. And it just shows the unity of that sort of activism that you have off the field.”
