Connect with us

Football

Does Mackenzie Arnold’s NWSL move signal a turning tide in women’s football?

Published

on

Does Mackenzie Arnold’s NWSL move signal a turning tide in women’s football?

Four years ago, as she sat on the bench watching her club Chicago Red Stars lose the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) championship final, Mackenzie Arnold couldn’t help but wonder whether bigger things were waiting for her someplace else, beyond a horizon that she couldn’t yet see.

Having signed for the club in July of 2019, Arnold was always second-in-line behind USA national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. She wouldn’t play a single minute for Chicago, either in the regular season or the play-offs, during her entire time with them.

Her time with the Matildas wasn’t much better. Having always sat behind Melissa Barbieri, Lydia Williams, or Teagan Micah in the pecking-order, Arnold rarely had a chance to develop form and confidence within the national team through the scattering of games she was given every year. 

Mackenzie Arnold had struggled for years to be Australia’s first-choice goalkeeper. But a move to England changed all that.(Getty Images: Brendon Thorne)

And when she was afforded a chance, there was no telling which way her performances would swing. In the 2019 Asian Cup semi-final against Thailand, for example, her own errors almost saw the Matildas knocked out of the tournament entirely, though she redeemed herself by saving three penalties in the shootout that followed.

So she was looking for a new challenge. A fresh start. Consistent game-time. And a competition that would let her grow into the player she knew she could be.

In fact, many of her Matildas team-mates were looking for the same, including her Chicago team-mate Sam Kerr. Having bounced between Australian and American leagues over the years, stitching together something resembling a full-time football career, they knew such a schedule was no longer sustainable.

Luckily, Europe was calling. And in particular: England. 

The Women’s Super League had just become fully-professional and full-time — one of the only women’s leagues in the world to do so — and its clubs were beginning to sign internationals. Kerr was snapped up by Chelsea, followed quickly by Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley to Arsenal. Hayley Raso went to Everton, Alanna Kennedy to Tottenham, Chloe Logarzo to Bristol.

So Mackenzie Arnold followed suit, signing for West Ham in 2020. And that’s where everything began to change.

Continue Reading