Dr Fiona Crawford | Unravelling the Power of Women’s Football

Summarise your expertise and current role. What are you working to achieve?

I work with the Homeless World Cup, a social enterprise that uses football to tackle homelessness. I’ve also written two books on women’s football: Never Say Die: The Hundred-Year Overnight Success of Australian Women’s Football (co-written with Lee McGowan) and the newly released The Matilda Effect. Both focus on the intersection of gender equality with football because, as we know, sport can be an incredible lens for examining social issues and a fantastic platform for enacting social change.

I’m an adjunct lecturer at the QUT Centre for Justice, and my research and work spans social and environmental issues and the arts, with particular focus on the (seemingly disparate but unexpectedly complementary) topics of football (soccer), homelessness, and climate change.

I’m currently completing some flood- and climate change-related research entitled ‘Beyond “tinny heroes” and “mud armies”: how caring communities tackle shared responsibility’ with the Centre for Justice team.

What inspired you to pursue your area of work/research?

Researching and writing is how I understand the world, and the work I do is practical and meaningful, so it’s pretty inspiring and self-sustaining. It’s definitely been a case of going towards things that I don’t understand and want to know more about, which by happy coincidence turn out to be of interest and value to others too. I’m also fascinated by multifaceted problems and innovative solutions—there’s a lot to unpack and understand with them, and the more you find out the more you’re invariably drawn in.

Why is your work important?

Climate change, homelessness, and gender inequality intersect with, and affect, all our lives (and are going to ramp up if we don’t tackle some of these issues, stat). If we can make improvements in these spaces—even incremental ones—it will benefit us all. That’s a pretty lofty goal, and I definitely don’t think my work is going to save the world, but it is incredibly motivating and it makes for practical, relevant, and meaningful work. And yes, it means I can legitimately bring together serious topics of, for example, gender equality and football.

What are some of your career highlights? What excites you most about your field/current work?

I think career highlights to date have been publishing two non-fiction books about women’s football—it might be difficult to imagine now given how successful the 2023 Women’s World Cup has proven to be, but at the time I was pitching these books, there wasn’t a lot of interest in publishing books about women’s sport and gender equality. I’ve also been involved with the Homeless World Cup for more than a decade, and it remains a life-changing annual touchstone for me.

What excites me most about my field of work, both in terms of women’s football and gender equality and also climate change, is its potential. There’s starting to be some real interest and momentum, and I’m genuinely excited about how this area of research is growing and how it will result in significant, life-altering outcomes.

What research challenge would you like most to overcome in the next 5 years?

I’m partway through completing a postgraduate Law degree through QUT to build complementary knowledge that I can incorporate into my existing practice. So, finishing my postgrad Law degree for starters, as it will help me take my existing research in new and deeper directions.

Unsurprisingly, I’d also love to see more funding and research opportunities relating to social and environmental issues. I think there are lots of as yet un-researched or under-researched topics in this space, including around innovative community-led disaster responses and climate change adaptation. Also, the power of football to enact social change, whether that be in relation to homelessness or gender equality or both.

Your recent book The Matilda Effect explores human rights and gender equality history in women’s football. What motivated you to write this? What are you hoping to achieve?

Women’s sport is never just about sport, but that’s also what makes it rich and fascinating. The more I learn, the more I realise how complex it is and how much more I have to learn. I’m also in awe of the extraordinary women who are working in this space—their contributions definitely warrant documenting and elevating.

In short, the issues women face in football transcend football, but the sport is a great lens through which to explore those wider challenges. So for that reason, I write books about football that are simultaneously not about football at all.

What are your hopes for the future?

As mentioned above, I hope we see research funding channelled into traditionally underfunded and undervalued but potentially life-changing research areas such as sport for social change (including football as a vehicle for tackling homelessness and for championing gender equality) and climate change. I think we’ve only just begun to understand them and their potential, so I’m keen to see them unfold. Obviously, I hope to get to be a part of this.

What is one skill you couldn’t live without and why?

If I could be cheeky and include two: tenacity and the willingness to pursue things I’m intrigued by, even if it’s not immediately obvious that they’ll contribute to a grown-up career.

The first is because I know I’m definitely not the smartest person in the room, but I’ve also found that hard work is actually much more useful—you truly appreciate the wins, however small, and the great feeling that comes from accomplishing something you’ve found difficult.

The second is because I’ve always pursued things that initially seem a little unusual to others and/or that don’t necessarily provide a clearly delineated career path (writing about women’s football, for example), but that actually turn out to facilitate an emerging, fascinating, and sustainable career.

What were some of the best parts of undertaking a PhD at QUT? And how did it help prepare you for your career?

The ability to focus on a substantial project and learn some deep-thinking, problem-solving, and researching and writing skills was a fantastic opportunity. I’m not going to lie, sometimes the draft feedback was a little difficult to take on (especially when I was tired and had put a lot of time and effort into something that probably wasn’t going to make it into the final document), but it all ultimately contributed to achieving a better product.

Also, it was a lesson in the importance of perseverance. I came away with both a solid piece of formative research but, perhaps more importantly, the knowledge that I could actually master something large and amorphous. That’s something I subsequently draw on when I need to remind myself I can tackle difficult problems and projects that come my way now.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

It might sound pretty simple and straightforward, but: Start somewhere, do something—even if it’s handwriting a few bullet points on a notepad. Small contributions add up—the starting is the hardest part.

I live by this advice every day—it helps me focus on what’s achievable and reduce the overwhelm. It also constantly surprises me how quickly small amounts of work build into something quite substantial.

What advice would you give Law/Justice, especially women alumni?

Perhaps to try to quell the imposter syndrome—Law is difficult and it can be intimidating and a little overwhelming, especially for people like me who don’t have any legal background. I’ve also definitely found it good to be completing the degree as a postgrad with some previous study, work, and general life experience, so I’d perhaps recommend coming to it as a postgrad.

But, whether undergrad or postgrad, I think I’d say chip away at it (even if it’s by completing one subject at a time) and draw on all the resources the university offers to help you succeed (there are some great workshops and the library staff are knowledgeable and supportive).

Do you have a question for Fiona? Connect on LinkedIn.