For more than half her life, Sam Kerr has been a member of Australia’s most loved team, the Matildas, and for almost a quarter of her life Kerr has been its captain. Now, as she sits in the middle of a criminal trial in a London court fighting a charge of racially aggravated harassment, which carries possible jail time, it is not certain Kerr will ever captain the country again.
Sam Kerr, Australia’s best-known Matilda, is facing charges in a London court.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
It’s not easy to reconcile the carefully curated Matildas brand and its scoring-machine-skipper on one hand with images of her climbing drunk out of the smashed back window of a cab and repeatedly calling a police officer “f—ing stupid and white” on the other hand.
In her defence, she said, “I was terrified for my life” after the cab she was in started driving erratically and its doors had been locked as its driver took her and her partner, Kristie Mewis, to the closest police station following an argument over the fare. Mewis had smashed the back window of the cab while it was still moving so they could get out. Kerr told the court they were being held “against their will”.
Questioned by her lawyer in court on Wednesday, Kerr said she told the three officers at Twickenham on the night: “This is a racial f—ing thing” because “I believed they were treating me differently because of what they perceived to be the colour of my skin”.
She spoke of experiencing racism in Australia from a young age, being called a “troublemaker” at school, and of experiencing racism online.
Asked how she felt at the police station, Kerr said she was originally relieved, before feeling scared because “they were trying to tell us that we were the ones that had done something criminal here”. She said the constable questioning her at the time, PC Stephen Lovell, “had no idea about the power and privilege he had in that moment or in life”.
As a global icon in the world’s biggest sport, with a substantial bank balance – having earned about 30 times more than PC Lovell at Twickenham station in a single year – Kerr’s own privileged position is not insignificant.
Kerr is used to being talked about. She’s used to headlines, microphones and being the centre of attention. But not like this.
The details of her night out gone wrong which we are hearing about in 2025 occurred in 2023, six months before the FIFA Women’s World Cup where Kerr thrilled the masses, returning from injury, to score the goal of the tournament; momentarily keeping the Matildas dream alive in a semi-final against England. Every minute Kerr had spent with her teammates was another minute she managed to keep her arrest a secret from those who pay her, promote her and cash in on her global reputation.
The Matildas brand has been built on values. They are the family-friendly team, the inclusive team, the team that stands against racism. No matter what verdict the jury delivers this week, some of the pillars the Matildas legend has been built on have been shaken.
Imagine if news of Kerr’s arrest had broken during the World Cup? All the hype of hosting the world at home, the groundswell of support from coast to coast that celebrated every team while keeping the biggest cheers for “our Matildas” would have splintered into a million pieces; the myth would have been shattered.
When the news did break, in early 2024, it was only hours before Football Australia was due to hold consecutive press conferences in two cities announcing the Matildas’ next matches, capitalising on the national momentum the team had built, only to have the good news taken hostage by a thousand questions focused on Kerr’s charge. Football officials had no answers because they still had not heard from their star player.
Other sports would have almost certainly invoked their “no fault stand-down” policy to prevent any further reputational brand damage. Australian Cricket captains Steve Smith and Tim Paine each lost their captaincies – the former for his role in sandpaper-gate, the latter for his role in a sexting scandal; neither of them faced a criminal charge. Olympic hockey player Tom Craig was given a 12-month ban and kicked out of the Paris 2024 athletes’ village after being arrested trying to buy cocaine. He was released without charge.
Football Australia last year issued no-fault suspensions for three Macarthur FC players from the A-League, captain Ulises Dávila and his teammates Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus, following charges relating to an alleged betting scandal.
Football Australia now finds itself in an awkward position – unable to fathom a future without Kerr, when its whole reputation is built around her.
Without any separation between the player and the team, it’s not just Sam Kerr in the dock this week, it’s the entire Matildas brand.
Tracey Holmes is host of The Sports Ambassador podcast and professorial fellow in sport at the University of Canberra.
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sport at the University of Canberra.
