Courtney Nevin's six year journey from Matildas fan to player

Courtney Nevin has had a football at her feet since she was four years old.

She doesn't know how it got there, "it was just there" and she loved kicking it.

But the 21-year-old vividly remembers the moment she knew she wanted to be a Matilda.

It was mid-2015 and she was in Canada watching from the sidelines as Alen Stajcic's side took on the USA, Sweden and Nigeria.

Embedded in the Australian squad, at the time, were 13 of the 29 provisional squad members named this week in Tony Gustavsson's squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup next month.

"I remember going to the Canada World Cup in 2015 because I was a big fan of the Matildas and I followed them around. And that's really where I was like, 'I want to be a Matilda and I want to play in a World Cup'. I was 13 years old then," Nevin told Optus Sport.

"There was a little team going over and we all went over as a team. Clare Hunt was there too. We followed them around and saw the experience and it was incredible. That's really where my passion for wanting to become a Matilda really came from."

"After that, I had a poster of the Matildas hanging on my door."

Fast forward to 2023 and those idols are her teammates.

Now the Leicester City defender finds herself putting on her boots and shinpads alongside the very idols she watched eight years ago progress to the quarter-finals.

The full circle moment isn't lost on Nevin.

She laughs at the mention of the quote that insists you should 'never meet your idols'. Her reality in the green and gold camp couldn't be further from it since her debut in 2021.

"It's crazy to think that back then I was such a fan and now I get to be surrounded by those girls, yet they've been an inspiration to me at such a young age," she told Optus Sport.

"When you see them in camp working hard, it makes you realise that they are an amazing group of girls, and they're such an inspiration to everyone in the next generation."

A few things have changed since Nevin made the trip to North America to watch the Matildas.

Primarily the fact she has since gone on to debut for the senior national team and play in the A-League Women's competition, overseas in Sweden for Hammarby and most recently with the Foxes in the WSL.

A lesser-known change in her career is a positional one.

Nevin was originally a winger. Her father built her a goal in their backyard so she could practice her shooting at age 14, and it paid off in the junior national programs with her scoring 10 goals at one international tournament.

"I was a left winger back in the day," Nevin said.

"When I was 16, I was at (NSW) Institute and we didn't have any left-backs. So I got pushed back there and the rest is history.

"It was always fun to be a winger, but I love playing fullback now and I don't think I would change anything."

The rest is history.

The former Western Sydney Wanderer is part of Gustavsson's 29-player provisional World Cup squad, chasing a spot in the final 23 before kick-off against the Republic of Ireland on July 20.

Given how young she is, and that just three years ago she was playing in Sydney's second division, it's no surprise the chance to don a Matildas' jersey for a home World Cup "would mean everything" to her.

"It's every footballer's dream to be a part of a World Cup, but to be a part of a World Cup that's in your home nation is amazing," she said.

"And it's an opportunity that you can't take for granted."

Originally published for Optus Sport on June 20, 2023