From Aboriginal woman to Matildas goalkeeper

At 11 years old, when the little girl Lydia He arrived with his parents in Canberra, accidentally using an Aboriginal dialect to communicate with other children. They looked at him strangely as if he was from another planet. It was there that he began to discover that the world he was living in was not what he was about to see.

A childhood on the road

Through the roots of Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams (5/13/1988 – equal) runs mixed blood’Noongar‘ from his father and American on his mother’s side. The ‘Noongar‘They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia and come from the south-west of the state of Western Australia. He spent a happy childhood on the road: his parents dedicated themselves to traveling as missionaries to remote towns in the desert of Gibsonhelping Aboriginal communities rise from poverty, managing their needs and their relationships with the authorities while he devoted himself to playing with all the boys and girls and caring for the orphaned koalas and kangaroos until his mother found a job in Canberra and they decided to move.

Now, at age 36, Williams has decided to leave the Matildas. Thus, he will finish more than 100 games with the Australian soccer team, having defended the goal in several World Cups. When the Olympic Games were over. of Paris 2024. An international sports career that his father, who died when he was 15, never saw.

A globetrotter

Lydia He had to adapt to schoolwork and joined football almost by chance. Since he had never trained before, they taught him to Tuggeranong Rosellasfrom the football academy Tuggeranong United Football Club, where this sport is taught regardless of level. And since no boy or girl her age wanted to be a goal, she took it.

Selected for the lower category of the Australian national team, where he played for four years, he honed and improved his technique. At the age of 18 he made his debut in the senior team of Matildas.

As if he were in his childhood, Lydia He based his sports career on constantly changing clubs, always looking for a new setting and new teammates. His professional career began in 2008 at Canberra United with 20 years. In 2009 he went through the American League in Chicago Red Stars and return to Canberra where he played a total of 46 games through 2012 (11 starts per season). Starting in 2012, his sporting life will be a constant journey from city to city and from club to club.

Between one-year signings and loans, he will defend (in this order) the team’s shirt. Pitea IF of Sweden, Canberra United, Western New York Flash, Canberra United again, Houston Dash, Melbourne City, Reign FC To finish, in 2017 loaned two years to City of Melbourne again. The 2019-2020 season is signing a contract with City of Melbourne and that was when he lifted the league title, but at the end of the course, he signed a two-year contract with Arsenal English where he plays 11 games.

In the 2022-2023 season, at the age of 34, he became the substitute goalkeeper in PSG. From this moment, his role in the teams is secondary, they want him as a goalkeeper who can give guarantees at any time but not to be a starter. He plays two games and in January 2023 he leaves the team to sign for Brighton & Hove Albion until June 2023, having played 4 games. In September 2023, he signed a two-year contract with Success in Melbourne which, for now, remains in force.

Respect for the community

Honored in his last match on Australian soil with ‘Mouth‘, a kind of leather cloak with aboriginal symbols imposed on him Evonne Goolagong Cawleya prominent member of the community, as a symbol of respect and gratitude for all the years he proudly exported his origins, could not hold back his tears at that special moment.

I hope in Games in Paris can say goodbye as he deserves after an extensive sports career.