The original Football Ferns are set to be sponsored after feeling “sidelined” by New Zealand Football and Fifa ahead of next month’s Women’s World Cup.
The ‘forgotten footballers’ who were originally their own association – were the first women to play the code for New Zealand, winning the Asia Cup in 1975, and doing so with a lack of support and recognition.
Players were forced to run car washes and cake stalls and use car headlights to illuminate evening training sessions as they made their own way to their first international tournament.
Today, as New Zealand’s national side gets set to host the Fifa Women’s World Cup, the trailblazers are left feeling “disappointed”, due to the lack of inclusion at Fifa and NZF ahead of the biggest female sporting event on the planet.
Barbara Cox, the first New Zealand women’s captain, told the Herald: “New Zealand Football and the Fifa organising committee didn’t take this opportunity to involve the people that had basically set up football in New Zealand.
“There’s nothing [from them]. There was no attempt to invite the 1975 team, to the opening game at Eden Park and to the draw,” she said. “I just think they’ve missed the boat.”
Cox referenced in comparison the All Whites World Cup qualifier in Wellington against Bahrain in 2009, where she understood the 1982 men’s team were paraded around the stadium before the game started.
Cox said the ex-players had been offered general admission double passes to the Football Ferns fixtures in Wellington and Dunedin and other group stage games, but “no opening game, no quarter-finals, no semifinals”.
”I just don’t understand why they [NZF and Fifa] have been so reluctant [to include us].
“Everywhere I go, I come up against, older players, older administrators and I actually get asked: ‘What the hell is going on? Why, why are none of us involved?’,” Cox said.
Almost 50 years after her first appearance, the team’s historic contribution to football in New Zealand has resulted in little acknowledgement and fanfare, but they have finally found their own sponsor.
Puma has announced a partnership with the older generation to recognise what they did for the game and help engage and inspire the next generation of women football players through their unique Accelerator Program.
It comes after Australian alumni felt similar about how the sport’s governing bodies celebrated the 100-day countdown to the tournament.
ABC News reported not one former Matilda was present at the event.
“Matilda number 26, Renaye Iserief, is a de facto spokesperson for the group, known as the Matilda’s Alumni,” ABC reported. “She was one who got home from work on Tuesday to see coverage of the 100-day countdown on television.”
“That was the first time I was aware of it,” Iserief told ABC News. “I turned to my partner and said, ‘Oh’.
“I thought it was fantastic, but I quickly scoped the crowd to see if there were any alumni or former Matildas there to be part of such a big, big celebration as part of the legacy of Women’s World Cup 2023 in our country.”
In the 1970s, at club level in Auckland, Cox explained female players were “the go-to body for everything to do with women’s football”.
“We organised our own fixtures, liaised with the council, and set up secondary schools.
“We were a separate body [from the men]. Totally autonomous.”
“Clubs didn’t particularly want a women’s team – and when they reluctantly allowed them to join, they gave them no help in terms of the football gear.”
The 33-capped New Zealand footballer wasn’t paid once in her career – laughing when asked – “no, I actually paid”.
When asking the 76-year-old Cox what it meant to be sponsored by Puma today after a lack of support from NZF, she got emotional.
“Honestly, you’ve got no idea.
“It’s not about what Puma is giving us in terms of, physical things like clothing or, whatever. It’s the fact that somebody has brought joy into the players’ lives by recognizing that that was an achievement.”
Cox said the players were emotional because, for some of them at the campaign launch, it was the first time they’d seen their teammates in almost 50 years.
“There was a real connection... and when you think about it, you know, nothing’s really an achievement unless it’s recognised,” said Cox.
“Suddenly they’ve been made to feel important.
“New Zealand football can offer caps, but in all honesty, caps just catch the dust,” said Cox.
New Zealand Football – currently sponsored by Nike – told the Herald, “The delivery model for this FIFA tournament is different from previous events where there is no local organising committee.
“For the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, the event is being run by a wholly owned FIFA subsidiary, and so as the national body we don’t have the usual oversight and controls that we might have had otherwise on things such as some of the build-up events and ticketing.
“We have managed to negotiate some NZ-based game tickets to the WWC 2023 event itself and have prioritised those for past Football Ferns with free tickets to more than 20 NZ-based games, including Football Ferns matches.
“We have some other events being planned in the build-up to the WWC 2023 with the NZPFA (New Zealand Professional Footballers’ Association) and are planning for a capping ceremony, for all past Ferns that have not received caps, following the WWC 2023.
“Regardless we have had some great engagement with our past Football Ferns on what we do have access to and control and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“In the last week for example we had one opportunity for a New Zealand Football trophy tour event and we chose to celebrate that with our current Football Ferns and all past Football Ferns.
“Nurturing the network of our past players is not something New Zealand Football used to do very well, but it is an area we made great strides with recently,” NZF said.
Cox said after reading the letter from Puma, she thought: “Oh my god, I did do something special in my life.”
Cox is pleased to see how far the game has come and recognised the opportunity for New Zealand as hosts of this year’s World Cup.
“I’m just so happy that, that we have got something here as big as this. I think that some of the teams coming will, actually blow people’s minds that they can play football with such, elegance, with such technical ability.
“And can actually play the game – as it’s called the beautiful game.”