Joe Montemurro is leaving the door open to the possibility of taking on the vacant Matildas coaching position at the end of the season, confirming he has had “positive discussions” on two separate occasions with Football Australia.
Currently in charge of Olympique Lyonnais, widely regarded as the world’s top club in women’s football, Montemurro has long been regarded as FA’s prime candidate amid the search for a permanent successor to Tony Gustavsson, which has now stretched into a ninth month.
“There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge before that happens,” he said about the chances of coming home to coach the national team.
“I’ve had two discussions with FA, positive discussions – they’ve been very, very good and been fantastic to be honest, very professional – but the reality is that I’m in contract. I have another year of my contract, and we’re looking towards obviously doing the job here now, and then starting next season – so at the moment there’s still a lot to do here. That’s the current status, and the truth.”
When this masthead put to him that he was neither ruling it in or out, he said: “Never rule out anything in football, mate. You know football, it changes. It’s still a long way away. I’m under contract and I need to respect that, and I am happy continuing this program at a great club.”
One of Australia’s leading coaching exports in football, Montemurro would be a huge coup for the Matildas, and would explain why FA has been prepared to wait so long to make an appointment.
Joe Montemurro is almost halfway through a two-year contract in France.Credit: Getty Images
The 55-year-old has worked previously with key players Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord at Arsenal and now coaches Ellie Carpenter at Lyon. Last year, he took charge of an A-League Women’s All Stars team featuring national team regulars Michelle Heyman, Tameka Yallop, Cortnee Vine and Alex Chidiac in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Arsenal. Many considered it a pre-emptive audition for the Matildas job, but less than a month later, he signed a two-year contract with Lyon – just six weeks before Gustavsson’s contract expired.
If he were to take on the job at the end of the European season, it would leave Montemurro with just eight months to prepare for the Women’s Asian Cup, to be played on home soil in March 2026 – a tournament he admitted would be a lure for any coach, especially an Australian.
“But I don’t think it’s about whether Joe Montemurro’s going to be the coach or not, it’s about what the tournament can bring to the game and how important it is that we go deep in the tournament and have success for the game generally,” he said.
“It’s really fundamental that the team does well in that tournament to keep the momentum of the growth of the game – more specifically the growth of the women’s game.”
Joe Montemurro coached the A-League All Stars last year against Arsenal, one of his former teams.Credit: Getty Images
For now, Montemurro’s focus is firmly – and rightly – on the remainder of his first season in France and adding another major honour to the ones he has won in Australia with Melbourne City, England with Arsenal and Italy with Juventus.
The only other Australian coaches to have claimed titles in three different countries, albeit in men’s football, are Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat.
Last weekend, Lyon clinched top spot in the Premiere Ligue, but that does not yet guarantee a trophy; the top French women’s competition, formerly known as the Division 1 Feminine, introduced an Aussie-style play-off system last season, partly in response to Lyon’s unparalleled dominance, having won 17 of the past 18 leagues.
Such are the expectations associated with the club – whose star-studded squad includes some of the biggest names in the sport, including Wendie Renard, Ada Hegerberg and Lindsay Heaps (nee Horan), the captains of France, Norway and the United States respectively – dropping points in any match, let alone losing, is almost a crisis for Lyon.
Joe Montemurro with the 2018–19 Women’s Super League trophy.Credit: Getty Images
Montemurro’s task is to not only maintain those impeccable standards and win trophies, but to introduce a more attractive style of play, while evolving the playing group and bringing through younger players who can help set them up to keep them at the top for the next five to 10 years.
“I must admit, I thrive on these pressure situations; I thrive on these expectations,” Montemurro said.
“Purely because it’s a privilege that you’ve been given the opportunity to be part of that. It obviously tells you a lot about why they’ve got you there and why they believe you’re important for the group.
Sam Kerr, left, and her Matildas teammates at Leichhardt Oval on Tuesday.Credit: Wolter Peeters
“Pressure in our game is now part of what we do. It’s there every day, whether it’s pressure to make sure that the training’s done well, that you’re prepared for the game and you’ve covered all the bases … Lyon is special; it’s synonymous with being one of the best women’s football brands in the world, and I’m only one part of the cog in the machine of the last 20 years. I think it’s so important that they continue to meet the expectations of being a high-performance team and being a leader in the game.”
On the other side of the international break is a two-leg semi-final against Catley, Foord and Arsenal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League – which, aside from international football, is one of the few gaps on his glittering resume.
“It’ll be lovely to go back to the Emirates and see a lot of people, a lot of the players that we had some great occasions, and we still sort of stay in touch with,” Montemurro said.
“We’ve won a few leagues and a few cups, which has been nice … but the Champions League is the one that always sticks in my mind. It’s just a beautiful tournament to be involved in, it’s got something about it. It’s a privilege to sort of be in this position and in a semi-final and playing against not a bad team in Arsenal.”
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