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Shea Connors: "We’re seeing improvements with the AFC Women’s Champions League – but teething issues remain"

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Sydney FC forward Shea Connors reflects on the positive strides made with the AFC Women’s Champions League, but highlights how Asia’s premier women’s club tournament still has some way to go.

By Shea Connors

Last year I represented Sydney FC at the AFC Women’s Club Championship, an invitational tournament which has now become the AFC Women’s Champions League.

To begin with, we were all a bit apprehensive as the tournament was in the middle of our A-League season. Our games with Sydney FC were in Uzbekistan, which meant a 37-hour journey, including a nine-hour layover in Dubai, all in economy.

We were in Uzbekistan for two weeks which, as a new signing for the team, allowed me to bond with my new team-mates. Our hotel became a second home and, while the food become a bit repetitive – how long can you eat the same pasta for? – the conditions we experienced there were good. Pitches were high quality, and we had no issues with the training centres either.

We played a group phase in Uzbekistan against a team from the host country, as well as Iran and Korea Republic. It makes sense to have the matches all together in one place, but they felt strange at times, because something was missing: the fans.

There are many reasons why that could be the case, but advertising would have helped. Not too long after our games in Uzbekistan, Australia and the Young Matildas (Australia’s youth team) had fixtures over there, and there were crowds for those matches. For our games, there didn’t seem to be any promotion of it all.

There are young girls playing football in Uzbekistan, so it was surprising to not even see youth players in attendance to watch the best women’s teams in Asian club football compete in a tournament. It would have made for a better experience for us as players, and a better product for fans at home watching on TV.

The biggest impact of playing at the tournament to the players and the team was not felt in Uzbekistan, however, but when we got back to Australia. On return, our form took a massive slump.

We travelled back to Australia (another two-day journey) and we were exhausted. Five days later we had a game in Adelaide, which is one of the longer journeys of the season and the match was played in tough heat. We won that game – although I’m not sure how! – and there were residual effects that impacted our results and performances throughout the season. 

We didn’t really get into our form again until later in the campaign. We lost the premiership to Melbourne City by a small margin which, ironically, means that they qualified for the Asian Women’s Champions League this season ahead of us. Although we won the Grand Final, it felt like we did it despite playing in the AWCC, not because of it.

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Shea Connors celebrates scoring in the 2024 A-League Women Grand Final

As players, we want these tournaments to get better and better, which is why it is so important that our voices are heard, and why it was important for us to share our experiences in FIFPRO Asia/Oceania’s report on last season’s invitational tournament

Things weren’t perfect, but it was an early edition of the competition. We’re already seeing things being done differently with the new Women’s Champions League which are improvements on last year.

The timing of the group stage has worked better with the A-League schedule for Melbourne City, for example, which I think is great. City and the other teams are playing for prize money which wasn’t available to us during the invitational tournament.

“Would I take part in the Asian club competitions again if I had the chance? Absolutely. All we want is for all aspects to be taken into account to make sure the product is as good as it can be.”

A few teething issues still seem to remain, though. In Thailand, during the centralised group matches, there have only been a couple hundred fans in the stadiums, when the region’s top-tier competition should really be attracting thousands.

The more that can be done to advertise these tournaments that we're playing at, the better – the more the game will grow and the more fans that will come.

Would I take part in the Asian club competitions again if I had the chance? Absolutely. All we want is for all aspects to be taken into account to make sure the product is as good as it can be.