- Superstar’s fans are still waiting for her return to the field
Even Sam Kerr’s dad Roger was left a tad worried when the star striker’s injury absence stretched beyond a year, but he’s tipping his daughter to be fit and firing in time for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
Kerr hasn’t played since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear 20 months ago during a pre-season training camp with English powerhouse Chelsea.
The 32-year-old underwent a second procedure last year to have scar tissue cut away, but she is finally ready to return.
Kerr was an unused sub for Chelsea’s 2-1 Women’s Super League win over Manchester City last week and the Matildas captain is raring to go for this weekend’s clash with Aston Villa.
It’s been a long time coming for both Kerr and her parents.
‘To be truthful, you’d say a knee reconstruction is 12 months and when it starts to get a bit longer you start worrying,’ Roger Kerr said on Thursday.
Sam Kerr’s parents Roxanne and Roger (pictured in front of a mural featuring their daughter in Perth) feared for her future in football as her battle with a knee injury dragged on
Manchester City
Manchester United
*18+, excludes NI. Terms and conditions apply
Roger was front and centre during the Matildas star’s trial for alleged racial harassment of a police officer (pictured), which saw her found not guilty
‘But she got it sorted out and got a bit of scar tissue cut away and back to full strength now.’
Roger was there for Sam as she cleared her name in court after being accused of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer during a night out in London.
He and her mother Roxanne also dashed to Perth with their daughter when her grandmother Coral was seriously hurt after being hit by a ute in December last year.
In a tragic blow for the family, Coral was laid to rest on Tuesday after her death aged 90.
Kerr missed the Paris Olympics due to the knee injury, but she will be the face of the nation when the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is played in Australia next year.
The Matildas kick off the tournament with a game against the Philippines at Optus Stadium on March 1, and a 17-metre mural featuring Kerr and other female soccer stars was unveiled in Perth on Thursday.
It was created by local Aboriginal artist Jade Dolman in collaboration with fellow Perth artist Michael Betts and marks the official release of tickets for the Women’s Asian Cup.
Kerr has almost six months before the tournament begins and her dad feels the global superstar will be ready to fire by then.
‘It’s great because Sam will hopefully have played half the season by then,’ Roger Kerr said.
Kerr could be just days away from finally returning to the field with Chelsea, after being named on the subs bench for the club’s match last week
‘The Asian Cup’s come at the right time for her fitness, confidence, the whole lot. So confidence should be up and running to play for the Matildas.’
Pat O’Connor, who captained the Matildas at the first Women’s Asian Cup in 1975 in Hong Kong, was proud of how much the women’s game has grown.
‘I first kicked a ball for fun in 1966 and we got serious in 67,’ O’Connor said.
‘Then we were lucky enough to represent Australia and be the first Matildas in the Hong Kong Asian Cup in 1975.
‘We’d have 20 or 30 spectators at that time, most of them relatives, and when we ran into the Hong Kong stadium … we looked around and there were 5000 people cheering like crazy.
‘And the Matildas of today, to see all these young girls with their placards of their favourite players really barracking like crazy, you think to yourself, ‘well, all the hard work that we did and lots of other people did, it’s worth it’.
