Everton midfielder Clare Wheeler takes a moment to contemplate what it would mean to play in the upcoming Women’s World Cup. “It’s definitely what dreams are made of,” she says. “It’s everything you want as a kid, to go to a World Cup and represent your country.”
Even better, for Wheeler, having recently broken into the Australian women’s national team, this year’s tournament offers the opportunity to make her World Cup debut on home turf.
“To add to that it’s going to be on home soil, in front of your family and friends, that’s not something every player gets in their lifetime,” the 25-year-old says. “It’s a real privilege. I’ve watched World Cups at 2am, 3am because they’re being played in Europe – to be able to play and showcase that down under will be amazing for the region. I think it’s going to be huge for coverage of the game.”
Wheeler, a combative, deep-lying midfielder best in the traditional No 6 role, made her Matildas debut in 2021 in a friendly against Ireland. She has since notched up more than a dozen caps, largely deployed off the bench. As a newer arrival into a settled Matildas group, Wheeler’s inclusion in the final squad is likely but not assured.
“I need to put my best foot forward in every training session, I know that,” she says. “I want to make that squad and it is going to be very competitive to make the 23 that get selected. I am happy to play whatever role I need to play.
“At the end of the day, for me, it’s getting selected but it’s also about the badge and doing what is best for the team. Whether I get one minute, or no minutes, the most important thing for me is making that squad and then doing the best to help the team prepare for the World Cup.”
If selected, Wheeler will be part of a squad expected to make history on 20 July at Stadium Australia, with the opening clash against Ireland likely to draw a record-breaking crowd. What will be going through her mind?
“I think after the game, I’ll probably cry, to be honest with you,” she says. “In the moment I think it will just be pure gratitude.”
Watching from the stands will be Wheeler’s father. “To have my dad in the crowd who sacrificed a lot of time and so much for me – to see me play, I’m starting to tear up now,” she says. “To have this – everything you’ve wanted to work towards as a player, to be able to achieve that. How else can you describe that? It’s everything.”
Her father’s support has been particularly significant after her mother died when Wheeler was 19. “He was everything – he was so supportive of me and my football, and always has been,” she says. “To have him being able to watch me play at a home World Cup will be huge.”
Wheeler was born in Coffs Harbour and grew up in Newcastle. She joined the Newcastle Jets at 15 and quickly made her W-League debut with caps for the Young Matildas following. She also pursued a career in finance and in 2020 was playing for Sydney FC while working at Macquarie Bank.
“I was 23, and I decided to have a conversation with myself,” Wheeler says. “There was a World Cup coming up, and I wanted to put everything towards making it. That conversation made me really seriously consider going overseas. And when the right offer came, I did not think twice.”
She moved to Danish side Fortuna Hjørring in mid-2021 – travelling to the other side of the world to turn professional, in the middle of a pandemic which had kept Australia’s borders closed. “Especially during Covid, the permanency of it meant when you left, you couldn’t really come back – and your family couldn’t come visit you,” she says. “There was a little bit of apprehension. Where I was with work and Sydney [FC], I was very comfortable with my life, I had everything sorted. To leave that and go overseas – the other side of the world seems so far. I was very nervous.”
But Wheeler has not looked back. Her time with Fortuna led to a loan then a permanent contract with Everton; the Australian is now a regular in the Women’s Super League side, who finished sixth this season.
“I just can’t believe that I’m here,” Wheeler says, “playing against people on a daily basis in the WSL, seeing people that I watched on TV and now playing alongside them – it’s crazy. I used to idolise [Arsenal captain] Kim Little and now I’m playing against her. It is definitely a pinch myself moment.”
One unexpected challenge for Wheeler has been the transition to full-time football. So accustomed she has become to a juggling act, the professional contract has come as a shock. “I’ve always worked and played football and studied, since I was like 15,” she says. “So it’s been challenging for me just to focus on football.”
At Macquarie Bank, Wheeler worked on financial assistance – helping people struggling with the economic impact of Covid-19.
“My prior job was about helping people,” she says. “And I missed that … it helps take my mind off football. I think sometimes you can get so focused on the game, a bad pass, a missed opportunity. But in the larger scheme of things, there’s a lot of things affecting a lot of people in the community.”
Citing the housing and cost-of-living crises affecting many in England Wheeler says volunteering with a food bank is her way of helping. “And it’s helped me learn to better manage being a professional footballer – I feel like I’ve struck a balance in recent month,” she says.
A Matildas call-up for the World Cup would be just recognition for Wheeler’s remarkable rise – and her community-focused ethos.
“It’s been quite a transition,” she says. “But I remember I said to myself – by the age of 25 it was either I’d made the Matildas or I would focus on my career as a professional. I think that forced me to go all in – and now I’m here.”
