‘Gorgeous goal getters’: 1970s media coverage of ‘soccerettes’ was filled with patronising sleaze

• Media coverage is important.
• But not all media coverage has treated sportswomen with respect.

The first Australia/New Zealand match

• The first recognised international soccer game between Australian and New Zealand women was played in October 1979 on a Saturday afternoon in southern Sydney.
• The day before the match, a small advertisement appeared on page 68 in the Sydney Sun.
• The crowd that attended the match numbered about 200.
• Even Heather, who had driven from Canberra to watch the match, could not recall specific details.

Collecting the clippings

• The leading men’s soccer player and Australian captain in the 1970s, Johnny Warren, amassed numerous scrapbooks filled with clippings, photographs, programs and fan letters.
• We believed there had been little press coverage of women playing soccer in this era, and thought: how could women fill even one scrapbook?
• These scrapbooks contained newspaper clippings that belittled, trivialised and sexualised these women and the sport they played.

The sexist, underestimating press

• The press coverage had recurring themes around appearance, fashion, body parts (especially eyes, legs and hair), sexual attractiveness, implied sexuality and general unwelcome sleaze.
• Even a neutral match report would attract a sub-editor’s headline such as “Gorgeous goal getters” or “Fashion on parade at Australian titles”.
• Press photographs were selected to reinforce this view: “Booted ballet”; “Shall we dance – cha, cha, cha”; “Remove the boots and these ladies could be doing the hustle, the bump or any of the other dance crazes sweeping the nation”.
• Their opinions mattered most to the press.

Being in the zone

• They remind us just how difficult it was for women and girls to navigate a safe space for themselves in soccer in the eyes of the public.
• Good football players say they block out noise and play in a bubble – the “zone”.
• When we spoke to the players about their scrapbooks, they recalled often feeling uncomfortable in their interactions with the press.