Forget a public holiday, Matildas fervour should be harnessed for a revolution

. Every single story on my Instagram feed was of people watching, and celebrating, Cortnee Vine’s game-winning penalty. Every group chat I’m in, normally home to idle gossip and memes of dubious quality, was taken over by World Cup commentary. More than 3 million people watched it live on free-to-air, millions more on streaming and in live sites and pubs across the country. Planeloads of passengers tuned in during international flights.

The prime minister has been an early advocate for a national public holiday if the Matildas win the Cup. It’s an appealing idea, a no-brainer really, but it should be the bare minimum. There is an opportunity here, as former captain Melissa Barbieri, for this to be a truly transformative moment for women’s sport, and our entire sporting culture more generally.

Stadiums should be built or repurposed so cities like Melbourne, the self-declared sporting capital of the world, can fit more than 20,000 people into the ground to watch the national team. A more egalitarian sporting culture can be created out of this moment.

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