Joe Montemurro unveiled as new Matildas coach by Football Australia | OneFootball

Football Australia has ended 10 months of uncertainty by appointing widely respected Melbourne-born women’s football specialist Joe Montemurro to lead the Matildas towards next year’s home Asian Cup.

The 55-year-old Montemurro has won trophies with Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon in a distinguished career in Europe, having broken through in the professional coaching ranks with stints at Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City in the W-League more than a decade ago.

Montemurro was the best-credentialed Australian candidate for the role vacated by Swede Tony Gustavasson last year, and FA finally secured him after Lyon won the league title in his first season with the French powerhouse.

The new coach was unveiled at a press conference in Sydney on Monday morning after signing a deal through to the 2028 Olympics, describing his appointment as “the honour of a lifetime”.

“This team means so much to so many Australians, and I’m humbled by the opportunity to help shape its next chapter,” he said. “I’ve followed their incredible journey closely and am energised by the passion, resilience, and identity they’ve built.

Montemurro had signed at Lyon for two years at the start of last season, and his early exit needed to be negotiated for him to take control of the Matildas. But he cautioned against those wanting an immediate improvement from the team.

“You’re not going to see it straight away, you’ll see little dribs and drabs coming through, but the most important thing is to have it ready and understanding for the big tournaments,” he said.

His Lyon side – featuring Matildas fullback Ellie Carpenter – won the league without losing a match, but his impressive campaign was tarnished by a semi-final loss in the Champions League to his former club Arsenal, including Australian Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross.

The French club were leading 2-1 from the first leg in London, but lost 4-1 at home in a result described by Montemurro as “a little bit unexplainable”.

The Australian coach worked with Catley and Foord during in his time at Arsenal.

The appointment of Montemurro ends almost a year of uncertainty following the departure of Gustavsson, whose final game in charge of the Matildas was a 2-1 defeat to the USA at the Paris Olympics that ended Australia’s disappointing campaign.

The Swede’s contract expired and both parties agreed to end the relationship. Under Gustavsson, Australia reached the semi-finals at the 2023 home World Cup in a tournament that energised women’s football in Australia and made the Matildas one of the country’s most-loved sporting teams.

But a downturn in form at the end of Gustavsson’s tenure has not been reversed, and mixed results under interim coach Tom Sermanni have left the Matildas ranked 16th in the world, their equal lowest.

FA interim chief executive Heather Garriock said Montemurro brings “a deep understanding of the Australian football landscape” and “a genuine connection to our national identity”.

“We undertook a considered and rigorous process to ensure we would secure the strongest candidate to lead one of the most beloved national teams,” she said. “It was about getting the right coach, not the first coach.”

The Asian Cup gets underway in March 2026, leaving Montemurro with only a short period to affect the side.

“There’s a generation of talent coming through and major tournaments on the horizon,” he said. “My job is to honour the legacy, harness the momentum, and help this team play football that inspires and unites the country.”

Injured captain Sam Kerr is yet to return for Chelsea, almost 18 months since she suffered an ACL injury, and playmaker Mary Fowler is in doubt for the Asian Cup with her own knee injury.

Montemurro said he expected Fowler to be fit in time for the tournament, around which interest he expected “to be huge”.

Header image: [Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP]