Old blokes at the pub and teenage boys on the train – Matildas fans are now everywhere, and I couldn’t be happier

‘About five years ago or so, I would be lucky to be one of 5,000 people at a Matildas game. Now I can’t get a ticket for a game they are playing in front of 75 THOUSAND screaming fans’, writes Rebecca Shaw about the Australian women’s football team. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

If it seems to you like the Matildas are everywhere, it’s because they are.

This morning, during my short walk to get coffee, it felt like the city was buzzing with a shared excitement. It’s not even the day of the game and yet I saw two people wearing Matildas scarves, and my barista was sporting lovely, newly bleached hair – along with a Matildas jersey. I’m not sure if the hair was also in honour of the team, but I hope so because it’s either that or a breakup.