‘Spine-tingling’ - Westfield Matildas react to biggest ever home crowd

There were special moments all around Bankwest Stadium on Saturday, 9 November and those memories were made in front of record-smashing crowd.

History was forged as the Westfield Matildas raced to a 2-1 victory against Chile in their first ever match at Western Sydney Wanderers’ new home ground.

A new record attendance on Australian soil of 20,029 turned out in support of the Westfield Matildas as a stadium that is usually red and black turned green and gold for the day.

On a sun-drenched afternoon in the Harbour City, Sam Kerr recorded her 40th goal in 40 appearances in 2019 and Australia’s captain netted her 45th international strike, from 57 caps, in the process.

Jenna McCormick made an emotional international debut as the whole of Ante Milicic’s roster reunited for the first time since the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.

And the main take away from the victorious Westfield Matildas players was the support of the history-making crowd that packed into Bankwest Stadium.

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Hayley Raso

“These guys are awesome. They’ve got a few chants for everyone. It’s so great to see. 

“[The attendance record] is honestly so amazing.

“We as a team love playing at home and to come out in from of 20,000 fans, there’s nothing better.

“We’re really happy to turn out for the fans today.

“We excited to put on another show down in Adelaide.

Chloe Logarzo

“It was really nice to come and play in front of 20,000 people at home. 

“It’s been a while, the last time we played was at the World Cup so it was nice to just play on home soil.

“It’s incredible, the demand around us with the equal pay and everything has been incredible.

“For us to get that support, it’s just amazing to see where women’s football is going. Hopefully it just keeps growing from there.”

Ellie Carpenter

“I’m so honoured and proud to be a part of the Matildas.

“The crowd today were sensational so thank you to all of the fans that came out to this magnificent stadium, Bankwest.”

Clare Polkinghorne

“It’s nice to win in front of a home crowd.

“It’s really special and if we continue to grow the game here in Australia and get the fans continually coming out it’s really good.

“To play in a stadium like this in front of a record crowd is really special.”

Jenna McCormick

“The crowd was amazing.

“The noise that they made throughout the game was just spine-tingling. 

“It really made it a special day for me, a special day for the rest of the girls out here. 

“It was good to get a result for everyone as well so thank you very much to everyone for coming out. Let’s do it again in Adelaide!”