Football Victoria is proud to announce the induction of five women into the Hall of Fame as the game celebrated 50 years of organised Women’s football at The Home of the Matildas.
HER LEGACY provided the perfect opportunity for the football community to gather and welcome Monika Beer, Maria Berry, Selin Kuralay, Louisa Bisby and the late Rosa Harrold as the latest inductees into the Football Victoria Hall of Fame.
Pioneers and trailblazers in their respective disciplines, all five individuals were nominated by the football community, who gathered along with peers, family and friends to celebrate their contribution in helping build and grow Women’s football, fittingly at The Home of the Matildas.
Football Victoria CEO, Chris Pehlivanis hailed the contribution each have made to football in Victoria: “The strength of Women’s football in Victoria owes so much to the efforts of these individuals, and each have played a pivotal role, whether it be in the birth of, or sustained growth of our game.”
The evening also featured a panel discussion with FV President Antonella Care, Matilda Shona Bass and Western United Head Coach Kat Smith, discussing the legacy of 50 years of Women’s football and what the future may bring.
With The Home of the Matildas a significant part of that future, Antonella Care paid tribute to the inductees honoured and the legacy they have helped create: “I have no doubt that The Home of the Matildas is built on the shoulders of these giants of our game, and they join illustrious company as pioneers and game-changers in their own right. It’s fitting that we honour them at Victoria’s home of football.”
Football Victoria 2024 Hall of Fame inductees
Rosa Harrold (née Vloedmans)
A pioneer in the most unheralded of disciplines, Rosa Vloedmans can rightly be considered one of the trailblazers of Women’s football in Victoria.
The daughter of Dutch migrants, Vloedmans was one of nine children that grew up in a football loving family, but she followed a different path to her brothers, becoming the first woman to pick up a whistle and referee matches in metropolitan Melbourne.
Largely at the helm of Junior Boys and Men’s District League fixtures, her proudest moment came in 1973, when in front of over 10,000 fans at Olympic Park, she officiated the match between Doveton and Bayswater, a key driver in the eventual formation of the Victorian Women’s Soccer Association later that year.
Visit Rosa Harrold's entry at FV’s Hall of Fame Microsite
Monika Beer (née Werner)
Monika Werner sits in a rare company of firsts.
She was one of the first players to assemble and compete when the Victorian Women’s Soccer Association kicked off league competition in 1974. As goalkeeper, she was also one of the first players to represent Victoria at a National Championships later that year.
But as far as firsts are concerned, what sets Monika Werner apart from her peers is becoming the first Victorian woman to wear the National Team Jersey. In 1978, Werner was selected to participate in the World’s Women’s Football Invitational Tournament in Taiwan, and while her two matches are classified as non-A internationals, her legacy as a pioneering national team player was finally recognised when Football Australia presented her with an unnumbered cap in 2023.
Visit Monika Beer's entry at FV’s Hall of Fame Microsite
Maria Berry
Few administrators have dared challenge the norms associated with football in the Boardroom than Maria Berry AM, whose involvement in the sport extends to over four decades from the grassroots to the state, national and international level. Berry has been an administrative powerhouse in the game.
As Director of the former Australian Women’s Soccer Association, Victorian Soccer Federation and Victorian Women’s Soccer Association, Berry was most recently the Chair of Football Victoria’s Women’s Standing Committee.
As Tour Leader for the Matildas and Young Matildas, Berry has coached Women’s and Girls’ teams for over twenty years and is a Life Member at Melbourne University Soccer Club, Victoria’s largest senior club for women.
In 2023, Berry was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the King's Birthday Honours List for significant service to football, women in sport, and business. Earlier this year, she was recognised for her outstanding meritorious service to Victorian football, with Life Membership.
Visit Maria Berry's entry at FV’s Hall of Fame Microsite
Selin Kuralay
In an era when Victorian-born players struggled to breakthrough on the international stage, Selin Kuralay is a shining light among her peers.
A supremely gifted junior, Kuralay remains the only female to represent Victoria in a Junior Boys National Championship and win the Weinstein Medal in its 43-year history. An integral member of state and national representative teams, she excelled in the Australian Under 19 team, participating in two World Cups, while winning the National Rising Star award with Victoria Vision.
Her debut for the Matildas followed in 2004, culminating in selection for and participation in the Athens Olympics - all before the age of 20.
What followed was a decorated career in the US College football system, where she remains the only Australian to make the All-America team, a feat she achieved twice as a freshman and sophomore. Few have been able to demonstrate the excellence on the pitch to such an impressive level at such a young age.
Visit Selin Kuralay's entry at FV’s Hall of Fame Microsite
Louisa Bisby
Louisa Bisby was a mainstay in Victoria’s representative teams from the moment she arrived in Melbourne as a talented teenager via Aston Villa.
An integral member of the squad which claimed the 1999 National Youth Championship and the final Senior Championship team under the AWSA banner in 1998, Bisby represented Victoria in every edition they were represented in the Women’s National Soccer League, her 58 appearances standing as a record for the state in the competition.
Bisby represented Australia at every age level, her two caps for the Matildas followed by four seasons in the inaugural Melbourne Victory W-League squad.
Having played for almost two decades in the VPL and NPLW, Bisby remains the only player to have won three Gold Medals as the League’s Best and Fairest.
A La Trobe University alumni, Bisby has excelled in her post-playing career, fulfilling Coach, Operations and Team Manager roles with Melbourne City and the Matildas.