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The Mackay zone is situated on the Country of the Yuwibara, Birri, Jangga, Juru, Gia, and Ngaro peoples. It includes Mackay and the surrounding area including Bowen.
Women started showing interest in football during the 1930s in Mackay.
By the 1960s they were playing.
In 1932, there appeared to be no opportunities for women to play football in Mackay. But that did not stop women being passionate about the game. The Mackay Daily Mercury reported at the time that women supported the local teams and participated in “good-natured barracking heard on all sides.”
The earliest evidence of women’s football we can find in Mackay is school girl’s soccer during the 60s. In an interview Molly Nicholas (local player and referee) explained, “I started with school girl’s soccer in 1967 which was really the start of the Ladies Soccer.”
Women’s football appears to have taken off in Mackay during the 1970s. The Daily Mercury reported that the local Women’s Season started in April of 1976 and that there were 8 teams participating (Comets, Wanderers, Panthers Pink, Panthers Black, Leos, Country United, D.M.P and Pacifics).
In 1981, Mackay took out the State title, and in the early 1990s the Mackay representative team made it to the grand final of the State titles again.
Current clubs which field women’s teams are: Country United, Mackay Rangers FC, City Brothers FC, Mackay Lions, Bowen Blast, Mackay Wanderers, Sarina Saints, West United Sharks and Whitsunday United.
Read a more in depth history of the region below.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the events presented in this digital history occurred and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their continuing connection to land and waterways as well as their rich history of sports and significant continuing contribution to football.
