At 68 years old, Stratford will be the oldest female football player in the Canterbury District this year.
The Balmain local was understandably taken aback when she was notified by CDSFA about this standout statistic.
Born in England, Stratford has been engulfed in a football environment from a young age and has always prioritised fitness since her love affair with the round ball began over 50 years ago.
She has countless stories to divulge to CDSFA about her extended career but there is one in particular that involves her daughter which grabs our attention.
“We had a mother-daughter combo, so we were quite well known throughout the Canterbury District,” Stratford said.
“It was the old lady and her daughter, and she’d swear at me and shout at me on the pitch. Refs would look and then she would say: ‘It’s alright, she’s my mum.’
In the early stages of her career, she was part of a championship-winning side in Peakhurst United who were formerly part of the CDSFA.
Image: Jacquie Stratford with her Peakhurst United jacket from 1979
She won the Canterbury District Division 2 title with Peakhurst in 1979 – a feat she almost managed to repeat almost thirty years later when her Balmain team fell short in the 2006 edition.
The Balmain side she played with in that 2006 grand final were affectionately known as the ‘Shezzas’, in reference to their Bangladeshi coach who left a lasting impression on the 68-year-old.
“He was just the most inspiring coach. You could have had the worst football game in the world, but he would remember the one good thing you did, so as you came off, he’d say something like, ‘That was a terrific header Jacquie.’
So, when you came off, if you felt totally rubbish and then he would boost you up and then of course after that he would critique you.
“He just had that way of really connecting with people and inspiring you by motivation. So that was a great lesson for me in many things that I’ve done. Praise works a lot better than criticism.
“Unfortunately, he soon went overseas, and we called ourselves the ‘Shezzas’ in the hope that he’d come back, but he never did.”
Fast forward three years to 2009 and Stratford spearheaded a Balmain side that competed at the O/50 Australian World Masters in Sydney.
The then 57-year-old assembled a side with women from across Australia in an incredibly short time period.
“I thought we have to have a Balmain team; we have to try get an over 50’s team together. I sent something around to the club [Balmain]. I think I got one take up and then we went to Canterbury, but we just didn’t get anywhere.
“So then on the website for the World Masters, I just started putting emails out saying: ‘Anyone looking to play football, let’s get an Australian O/50’s team together’,” she said.
We finally got these women mainly from the north shore and one from Townsville. So, this group of women came together. We did do some fairly serious coaching about a month before the Masters.”
It was six games of football in four days, it was pretty full on. I played them all.”
Since taking part at the Masters, she has gone on to win the AA/4 Premiership in 2013 before a couple of nasty knocks forced her out of action.
“It’s [football] been a big part of my life. I have not had many accidents in my life, but I have had three surgeries and they’ve all been because of football.”
In 2014, she tore her ACL but that did not stop her from returning to the pitch but then as late as last year she had extensive spinal surgery which kept her sidelined for almost a year.
Image 2: Jacquie Stratford kitted up in Balmain colours
She’s now back playing the sport she loves and is part of a new team comprised of many women who are new to the sport.
“I think this year will be for the social side of things. It’s been interesting because I haven’t run for a year. Not that I was a great runner but because of the spinal surgery I’ve had to do very slow rehab recovery and I’m now back at the gym. I go walking all the time, but I don’t run.”
“It’ll just be a matter of me seeing how far I can go.”
When quizzed about when she would hang up her boots, she simply replied: ‘My dream is still do an overhead kick like Timmy Cahill. If I do that, then I will happily retire.”
By CDSFA Communications Officer – Samuel Greco Schwartz
