Maitland City Council has announced it will host open air broadcasts of every Matildas game during this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Council will host a series of events at Maitland Regional Sportsground, which kick off when the Matildas face Republic of Ireland at 8pm AEST on Thursday 20 July – the tournament’s opening night.
Broadcasts of subsequent games against Nigeria and Canada will follow on Thursday 27 July and Monday 31 July, respectively.
Maitland Mayor, Philip Penfold says “with Australia co-hosting and the Matildas ranked 10th heading into the tournament, there’s no time like the present to get involved and back the girls in green and gold.
‘We were really encouraged by how popular our live site at Cooks Square Park was during the men’s tournament last year, with hundreds coming out to watch the big game against Argentina.
“With the women’s game soaring in popularity right now, we’re hoping to see big crowds for each of the group stage games later this month.
“And if the girls go the distance and run deep into the tournament, you can be sure that we’ll be there every kick of the way, with plans already in place to keep these live sites going into the knockout rounds,” he said.
Mayor Penfold said the live sites were an opportunity for “families and football fans to soak up the atmosphere and be involved in the tournament, especially if they weren’t able to bag tickets to one of the games in Sydney or around the country”.
“So grab your scarf, and we hope to see you at Maitland Regional Sportsground on 20 July for kick off.”
To further celebrate women in sport, Maitland City Council will also be honouring the start of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a new Walls That Talk exhibition at Maitland Library.
The exhibition will feature a series of images of Maitland’s successful sportswomen from various sporting codes, past and present.
