Matildas defender Steph Catley is Victorian-born and bred and is approaching her third FIFA Women’s World Cup after featuring in 2015 and 2019.
Catley has represented the Matildas 109 times and scored three goals, since debuting against New Zealand in 2012.
Ahead of this week’s upcoming match Catley said the preparation feels ‘extremely different’ to her previous two World Cup campaigns.
“I have been to two world cups and it is still a buzz and the most amazing feeling in the world,” she said pre-tournament.
"Having it on home soil is something you don’t even dream about on home soil; you just don’t even think it is going to be possible.
“To be walking around the streets and see everyone so excited wearing green and gold is absolutely incredible.”
With so many great nations taking part in the tournament, Catley said she was looking forward to the competition.
“There are so many teams, I can’t even put my finger on one,” she said.
“Over the last couple of years, women’s football has gone through the roof and I think if you look at the European leagues and what’s happening over there, the teams, the players. It is just at a level it has never been at before.
“It is going to be the most competitive world cup I have ever been in and anyone ever played in so it will be fun to watch.”
The defender’s footballing journey started like many others, following in the footsteps of her older brother. She followed him down to his U9 football training at East Bentleigh SC, and after having the ball at her feet; the rest is history, joining the club’s U7 at six years old and was unphased by being the only girl on the team.
Catley later moved to Sandringham SC where she spent the next few seasons representing their Women’s Premier League team amongst other commitments.
Sandringham senior women’s head coach Shaun Parton explained Catley was a “dominant force” on his side whenever she took the field.
“By the time she was 14 or 15 she was involved at Melbourne Victory but during the winter she would occasionally play for our Sandringham senior women’s side, but over the three years she probably only played 12 games,” he recalled.
“She was an outstanding player she was that much better than anybody else.”
Despite only overseeing her development for a handful of games, Parton said he was not surprised how far she has come given her talent.
When she came back to play for us she was a left-back and I knew she was on the fringes of the Matildas then and I would play her upfront and she would regularly score goals,” he said.
“Not one of the other girls complained because they realised her superiority and how much better she made the team, we all saw her rise coming.”
Catley’s presence in the footballing world continued to grow as the then-teenage prodigy debuted for her hometown club, Melbourne Victory at just 15 years of age.
Her first venture to an overseas side saw her sign for Portland Thorns FC in America’s NWSL. She then signed for cross-town rivals, the newly formed Melbourne City on loan, who won the premiership in their inaugural, invincible season.
A move to Orlando Pride and Reign FC proceeded with loan stints at Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City which saw Catley captain the side to back-to-back championships in 2016-2017 and again in 2020.
In 2020, the Victorian made her biggest career move yet, signing with Arsenal FC, in the Women’s Super League; where she has made 21 appearances and scored two goals.
Catley has been a mainstay in the Matildas lineup since making her debut over a decade ago and will play a pivotal role in what the Matildas can achieve over the next four weeks.