Women's Football in the Gold Coast

The Gold Coast zone is situated on Yugambeh land. It stretches from Jambreen (Tamborine Mountain) and Bimbimbah (Pimpama) down to Majeribah (Mudgeeraba).

Women started playing football in the Gold Coast during the 1970s.

The first evidence we can find of women’s football in the Gold Coast region are teams that formed in mid 1970s. 

In 1974, both the Nerang Eagles and Musgrave Hill Soccer Club were forming women’s teams. By the 1980s, Musgrave Hill was home to the Women’s Soccer Gold Coast Carnival. Women’s Soccer QLD reported that it was a relaxed event which attracted as many as 32 teams including teams hailing from Sydney, Newcastle, Bundaberg and Pt. Curtis.

In 1989, Kerrie Rowe was selected to play for Australia at the Oceania international tournament held in Brisbane. Kerrie played for Nerang her entire career. She is credited with 528 matches for the club.

In 1992, Gold Coast hosted the State Championships and in 1993, Gold Coast teams won both the Youth Title and the Junior Title. 

More recently the Gold Coast has produced both star players and referees. Elise Kellond-Knight grew up on the Gold Coast playing for the Runaway Bay Hawks. 2019 marked her third World Cup appearance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup (having also played in 2011 and 2015).

In 2019, Kate Jacewicz (who grew up playing football on the Gold Coast) was named the Westfield W-League Referee of the Year for the 8th time. She also refereed two matches at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

Read more about the region below.

Explore Gold Coast through the decades:​