Retiring CommBank Matildas goalkeeper Lydia Williams spoke to the press in Sydney on Sunday ahead of her final national team home game against China, match two of the ‘Til It’s Done Farewell Series.
Williams has participated in five FIFA Women’s World Cups, six AFC Women’s Asian Cup (including a gold and two silvers), two Olympic Games in her 19-year career with the CommBank Matildas.
“Probably the most exciting thing [is] I get to share my final game at home with the team and coaches, obviously all the fans, and in front of family and friends,” she began.
“It’s important that we focus on our preparation leading into the Olympics, but to be able to do both at the same time – I think it’s pretty special.”
“It’s a closing of the circle.”
Her legacy has been tremendous. Young goalkeepers, and footballers around the country, look up to her and what she has achieved.
Williams was keen to credit the team, and the environment, for the special environment in the team.
“The one thing that I really wanted was that this team fights for what they believe in, and we’ve seen that throughout the years that it’s okay to fight for things and to have that support,” she recalled.
“I want that culture and environment to continue, and I think it will. The girls have fire in them. We’ve brought in people to lead the team in a positive way to really kind of make sure that it is about results and the team and the culture.”
“The Matildas as a whole – it’s not just one player, it’s not just one staff member, it’s not just one organisation. It’s everything. The Matildas are the fans, a family and everyone in between. I think we’ve seen that grow throughout this last year.”
That growth is something that Williams witnessed first-hand as a player.
“The Matildas have been around for even longer than I’ve been here,” she pointed out.
“The trajectory in the last year, in how we’ve grown the game. We were reminiscing back here – Tony [Gustavsson’s] first time [as Head Coach] playing here was against USA and it was [a crowd of] 35,000, and we were stoked about that – and that’s only literally two years ago.”
“It’s really crazy just to see the drive and support of the women’s game. It’s a credit to everyone involved doing that, but from that, it’s our performance on the pitch, it’s how we prepare, it’s how we get the most important supplies and things that we need for us. We really couldn’t do it without the support from everyone supporting the players.”
Despite the rising fame, the 36-year-old stressed that the team, as people, were the same as they had ever been.
“We’re all the same as when we first started,” she recalled. “No one’s really changed.”
“We’ve known each other since we were 16. We were those kids trying to look up for a role model and all of a sudden, we’ve become that role model. So it’s a little bit of a pinch me moment, I think, for all of us – but throughout it all, we’ve all remained true to who we are and what we believe in.”
Retiring from the national team was not a decision that came easily to Williams. She gave an insight as to how she came to the realisation that Paris 2024™ would be her final tournament with the CommBank Matildas.
She credited Head Coach Tony Gustavsson with helping her move into more of a mentoring role as the naturally evolved into the latter stages of her career.
“The demands on sport today and female football is incredibly huge,” she explained. I’ve been playing for a good 15 years, and my body definitely was finding it a bit hard to back up. Credit to Mac [Mackenzie Arnold] obviously, she’s been in great form, Teagan [Micah] too. And, you know, realising that and knowing that you had to kind of change your mindset into what your role was turning into.”
“Throughout that process, it was a lot of internal dialogue. I never felt any disrespect, and only support from Tony [Gustavsson] into being around the team and now being able to be sent off on home soil, that was really important for him to make that decision. It could have been completely different.”
“It was a long process, but one that I felt support throughout the last couple of years and really taking up a new role in the team.”
She concluded by expanding on the power of evolving throughout her career, and reflected on the way that her teammates have done the same to continue growing as players as time went on.
“My biggest takeaway is the ability to evolve,” she mused. “You need to evolve in the sport and you need to find a way to still make it your passion, even if performance changes.”
“The sport gets faster, someone younger comes in, you need to be able to evolve with the times to make sure that it’s still your passion. Because at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing. You started playing because you love the game and you have to continue to love it, even if your role might change.”
“We do have quite an experienced [squad] and longevity in the team. It’s just a credit to what we’ve been through, the support we’ve had throughout our whole careers to where we are now to finally, everything feeling their peak and really kind of embracing the hard work that we’ve done in so many previous years.”
“We have such an amazing support staff, medical team, coaching staff… I think that has been the main thing that’s helped our team create that longevity.”
You can watch Lydia Williams in her final CommBank Matildas game on home soil on Monday evening.
Match Two
CommBank Matildas v China PR
Date: Monday, 3 June 2024
Kick-off: 7:40pm AEST
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales
Broadcast: 10, 10 Bold (PER), 10 Play and Paramount+