How the Sydney Swans give the Matildas a big helping hand as they chase England into the World Cup semi-finals

As the Matildas prepare for their do-it-all World Cup clash with England on Wednesday night, the whole country is showing support – including the Sydney Swans.

Australia reached the last four of the Women’s World Cup for the very first time on Saturday, winning 7-6 on penalties against France in Brisbane.

The European champions Lionesses now stand between the Matildas and a first-ever World Cup final, with Australia looking to become the second team after the US to win the tournament on home soil.

With just a four-day turnaround between France’s game and England’s game, recovery is key for the Matildas.

Fortunately, the Swans’ new headquarters at Moore Park is one of the best facilities in the country, and the club were more than happy to see the tired and bruised Matildas use it for a light Monday afternoon session.

Tony Gustavsson’s side enjoyed their time at the $70 million facility, taking advantage of the plunge pool, heated spa, and exercise bikes.

“It was really cool to have them in the facility today,” Sydney AFLW co-captain Lucy McEvoy told the Herald.

“The attention they’ve put on football and women’s sport as a whole is incredible and to think they’re here with us doing their own thing is really inspiring.”

The Matildas then took to social media to thank the Swans for their hospitality.

“Thank you for sharing your facilities today for our recovery session,” they tweeted alongside a group photo of players from both codes.

Fans loved seeing the collaboration between the different codes.

‘It’s nice to see sports organizations helping each other. Thanks Sydney Swans,” one Twitter user replied.

“This is how we want our sports codes to behave. Support each other and fans will feel comfortable supporting more than one code. Leaders of all codes should “learn lessons” from this,’ said another.

“That’s why football (soccer) needs more money. So that they can have their own facilities there to train. Shouldn’t share with other codes,” said a third.

Footy fans were happy to see the Swans help the Matildas prepare for their semi-final

Former Socceroo Craig Foster has criticized politicians for supporting football but not backing their words with funding for the sport

Earlier this week, former Socceroo Craig Foster called on politicians who support the Matildas in their World Cup campaign to back up their words with money for women’s football.

According to the Australian Sports Commission’s 2021-2022 annual report, football has fallen behind in terms of funding despite the recent success of both the Socceroos and the Matildas.

Rugby League may only get $800,000 in funding from the federal government, but in 2022 alone the NSW government has allocated $113 million to support the Bulldogs, Dragons and Eels as they develop new centers of excellence.

The federal government has spent approximately $1.7 billion since 2016 to create new stadiums and high-performance centers for NRL clubs.

In 2019, the then Morrison Federal Government allocated $60 million in funding to three AFL clubs (Brisbane, Carlton, Richmond) along with the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL for the development of their high-performance facilities.

Another $15 million was allocated for the Adelaide Crows.

The Federal Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council together tipped $17 million to enable the Dolphins expansion team in the NRL.

And Olympic sports such as swimming ($9.5 million), cycling ($14.5 million), rowing ($7.4 million), and track and field ($10.7 million) receive huge amounts of annual funding from the federal government.

In contrast, football only receives $7.9 million in funding to be split between men and women, which also includes grassroots level support.