There was a strange absence at the 100-day countdown to the FIFA Women's World Cup in Sydney this past week: There were no Matildas alumni, aside from Football Australia's head of the women's game, Matilda number 125 Sarah Walsh, who was there in an official capacity.
It's not as though they did not want to be there.
Many didn't know the countdown celebration was on, until they saw it on the news that night.
The Matildas alumni — all 200-plus of them — are the living legacy that has helped deliver Australia the rights to co-host one of the world's biggest sporting events.
There are those who bought their own tracksuits before a tournament and remember sewing a coat of arms patch on their jackets at the airport.
They'd paid for the plane tickets themselves, hoping they still had jobs when they got home, so they could start saving for their next opportunity to represent their country.
There are others who joke about having to ask their boss if they could leave work early on a particular afternoon so they could get to the ground where — unbeknown to many — they were playing for their country.
And let's not make too big a deal of it, but who could forget 'that' calendar, where the players posed naked, using the profits to prepare for the Sydney Olympics?
Aside from the current Matildas squad — who this week ended England's 30-match winning streak — there have been just over 200 other women who have been capped for the national team since the first group travelled to Chinese Taipei in 1978 for an invitational tournament.
When several Matildas alumni were asked by The Ticket this week whether they were part of any plans in the countdown to July 20 when Australia will play Ireland in its opening World Cup match, all of them said no.
Most of them don't even have tickets to World Cup games.
Matilda number 26, Renaye Iserief, is a de-facto spokesperson for the group, known as the Matildas Alumni.
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," she said. "I turned to my partner and said, 'Oh'."
"I thought it was fantastic, but I quickly scoped the crowd to see if there was 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."
Millions spent on World Cup legacy
Legacy '23 is the official name of the program designed to give Australians a lasting benefit from the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Australian government has invested almost 18 million dollars specifically into the legacy program focused on opening up opportunities for more women, girls and marginalised communities to play the game.
Already, the flow-on benefits of engaging more young people in sport have been shown to improve community cohesion, educational outcomes and health benefits.
The current Matildas have two jobs to do this winter: unite the Australian population as they embark on their mission to win the World Cup and, as a sideline, inspire others to get active by joining their local club.
However, at the grass roots level, under governing body Football Australia, there is work to do.
Stella, 16, has played football for the past three years with a boys team in Hobart.
She was told last month by Football Tasmania that she can't play with boys anymore because a new state-based rule had been introduced, barring girls from playing with boys once they turned 16.
"At the start of the season, I wanted to play in the boys', team because there wasn't an under-18 girls team," Stella told the ABC's The Ticket.
It was then suggested she join a Women's Soccer League team instead.
"The WSL team has a lot of really good, high-quality players and I wasn't sure if I was actually going to get that much game time in it … I am only 16," she said.
"So, I sent a letter to Football Tasmania, requesting this rule to be either changed or for me to get an exemption from it.
"They declined my request, even though the coaches at South Hobart deemed me to have the ability to play with the boys.
"I've always played with the boys … I've got friends in that group."
The inspiration of Sam Kerr, Matilda #168
Stella is not giving up. Her inspiration is the Australian captain, Matilda number 168: Sam Kerr.
"I heard Sam say you try and play with the boys as long as you can, because a 14-year-old boy is always going to be stronger than a 14-year-old girl," Stella recalled.
"When I was younger, I didn't really have an option to play in a girls' team. There wasn't really a girls' team. So, I trained and played with the boys.
"That quote kind of stuck with me, because I thought Sam was just such an amazing athlete … I know that she grew up training with the boys.
"I am not necessarily saying I want to become a Matilda but, like, for me to become the best player I can be, I do believe that I try [to] play with the boys as long as I'm physically able."
It is the kind of inspiration that the government hopes is replicated many times over, right around the country, to keep teenage girls active.
One of the biggest drop-off rates for girls playing sport happens in teenage years.
Football Tasmania's new rule appears out of sync with modern thinking.
European nations have been relaxing rules like this, encouraging mixed-gender teams for as long as possible.
Stella's mum, Frances, has been corresponding with Football Tasmania for weeks to resolve the issue.
After some prevarication, Football Tasmania referred the issue to Football Australia, which referred it back to the state body.
With the season underway, and no headway being made, Frances felt she was getting the run-around.
Late this past week, FT informed Stella she would need to have a technical assessment this weekend to determine whether she can physically match it with the boys she's played with since 2019.
Stella's mum was told the assessment would be "independent" but has since learned it will be run by the Football Tasmania employee who wrote the new rule that is preventing her daughter from playing.
Football Tasmania declined to speak to The Ticket, nor did it send a response to written questions.
Instead, it referred to an interview the chief executive, Matt Bulkeley, did with ABC Local Radio in Hobart on March 27.
"We have lots of regulations that govern our competition … the lens we look at is we encourage mixed participation through under sixes to under 12s," Bulkeley told ABC Hobart.
"In terms of youth competition, we also allow girls playing boys and that's relatively common … but we did have a rule introduced at the end of last year and, like all rules, we look at that after its been implemented and evaluate it."
Football legacy — Matilda #1 Julie Dolan to Matilda #224 Clare Hunt
Grassroots football is where it all begins for those who graduate to the national Matildas and Socceroos teams.
Football is the global game, giving Australia unique access and diplomatic currency anywhere in the world.
To harness the long-term benefits the FIFA World Cup legacy can provide, every part of the game needs to pull in one direction, as the Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells told the ABC this week.
However, the future is not distinct from the past. A house without foundations is sure to crumble.
There are 224 Matildas who are the foundation from which Legacy '23 can flourish. If their experience is to be harnessed for maximum benefit, it needs to start now. There are less than 100 days remaining to get the strategy right.
Matilda number 26, Renaye Iserief, was asked what her involvement will be in the final build up to the World Cup.
"My involvement will be just going to watch the games. I've been lucky enough to get tickets with a group of alumni, great friends, to travel the east coast to watch the group stages … as a supporter, to be there and cheer on the Matildas with my friends," she said.
"That's pretty much what we'll be doing."
Iserief joined the mass of people online hoping to purchase tickets when they became available, many of those she played with missed out.
They had made queries to Football Australia to see whether they could purchase tickets as a block from the sport's governing body, but that option was not available to them.
FIFA controls tickets to FIFA tournaments, not Football Australia (FA).
The FA is still liaising with FIFA to determine how many tickets it will be allocated before decisions can be made about distribution among key stakeholder groups.
"We were happy to pay. We were never ever expecting free tickets," Iserief said.
"But we soon found out we weren't going to have any access as former players."
Former captain — Matildas number 75 Cheryl Salisbury — played for her country 151 times. Her record was only broken earlier this year by Matilda number 140 Clare Polkinghorne in a match against Czechia on the Central Coast.
Salisbury was at the historic match as a paying spectator.
"I was speaking to Chez Salisbury last night," Iserief said.
"We're good friends. We both played our football in Newcastle. We catch up quite a bit. She said, 'I got no tickets, mate, I tried.'
"The last [ticket release] was on the 11th of April, and she got a receptionist there to get online to try and access some tickets … she got right to the end and it said tickets unavailable.
"To which, Chez said, 'Are there any other tickets available to any other games?' And [the call-taker] said, 'Yep, you can see England play Denmark in Sydney'. And she said, 'Yeah, get me those'.
"That's our second-most-capped player in the country, who's not even going to watch a Matildas match because she can't get a ticket."
Matildas alumni feeling left out of their own story
It's not the first time the former Matildas have felt left out of their own story. Possibly it won't be the last.
While disappointed to not be included, they were not surprised or bitter, quite the opposite.
All who spoke to the ABC said they were thrilled to see Australia co-hosting the WWC, knowing it is part of the legacy they helped build.
Sadly, though, they say they've come to accept their absence from a remarkable Australian sports story that has turned the Matildas into one of the country's most loved teams.
Some of the Matildas alumni feel they've been forgotten and have become invisible to those who run the game, not appreciated or utilised in the same way other nations have done, such as the England Lionesses.
One Matilda, who did not wish to be identified, summed it up this way.
"I suppose it's about a level of respect that we think we've earned, but maybe they don't think we deserve. Or they do, but they don't know how to do it."
The Matildas alumni can play a crucial role in maximising the legacy of the FIFA Women's World Cup. They just need to be asked.
The countdown clock is ticking.
