<\/p>\n
Australia was rightfully swept up in Matildas mania over the last month as the Women\u2019s World Cup broke all kinds of records.<\/p>\n
The 2023 Women\u2019s World Cup, which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, had both nations turning out in force to support their teams.<\/p>\n
The ticket sales exceeded expectations <\/a>by almost 500,000 and the tournament generated more than $A888m to break even for the first time<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s not even talking about the record viewership, including 11.15m who tuned in to watch the semi-final between the Matildas and England<\/a>, the highest rating TV program since 2001 when OzTAM records started being kept.<\/p>\n Even the Matildas third-place playoff against Sweden and the final between Spain and England had more than two million viewers each across the country.<\/p>\n The tournament was an unmitigated success and many pundits said the game had been changed for the better.<\/p>\n But speaking on Fox Sports\u2019 The Back Page<\/i>, former Socceroo Robbie Slater said a lot more work is still to be done.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a marvellous event. The whole thing, everyone played their part, and the Matildas brought so much joy to so many young players and young people who had never really been involved in the game, so fair play to them,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not going to change the game in this country. <\/p>\n \u201cThe game needs a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n Candice Warner interjected and said she believed the Matildas\u2019 run at the World Cup had inspired young girls and boys to take up the game.<\/p>\n Slater said they had but he still felt the game had a long way to go in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve talked so much on radio and so much media where people have said \u2018this is going to change football in this country\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019ve been around as a player, I\u2019ve been in media for far too long, I\u2019ve heard it before,\u201d Slater continued.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it was Maradona in \u201893, whether it was us making the World Cup in 2006, John Aloisi\u2019s penalty \u2014 it was a party. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop in this nation having a party for football, because when the party\u2019s over, everybody goes home. All the politicians were there and all this and all that, and great, they\u2019ve given a grant for women\u2019s sport \u2014 I think that\u2019s brilliant.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019ll tell you what needs help, I would like some government money going to A-League Women\u2019s for example. That\u2019s where the Matildas were born. All those players came from A-League Women\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cgovernment money\u201d Slater was speaking about was the $200m government commitment to equipment and changing rooms, however, it appears it\u2019s for all women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n In announcing the fund, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese <\/a>said the Matildas, alongside the Diamonds and the Wallaroos had captured the nation\u2019s hearts and \u201cchanged Australian sport forever\u201d, and that momentum must \u201cripple through generations\u201d.<\/p>\n