The Women's National Soccer League (WNSL) was Australia's top women's soccer league. Originally known as the Ansett Australia Summer Series for sponsorship reasons, the WNSL began in 1996 consisting of six clubs and continued through until 2004, folding alongside the National Soccer League. It was not until 2008 that a women's top flight league was re-established in Australia, named the W-League, as of the 2021–22 season renamed A-League Women.
History
Women's soccer in Australia up until the 1974 FIFA World Cup where the Australia men's team qualified for the first time, was virtually non-existent in regards to any organised competition or formalized structure. However in August of 1974, the first National Women's Championships were held in Sydney between five teams of state representation (New South Wales, Northern New South Wales, Victoria, South Queensland and Western Australia). The matches were played at Granville, Centennial Park, and Bankstown in Sydney, with New South Wales winning the inaugural championship.
Following this initial tournament, representatives from the sides who had participated met and formed the Australian Womens Soccer Association (AWSA). National championships were held annually until 1993. In 1996, the AWSA established the Women's National Soccer League which gained national recognition when the competition was sponsored by Ansett Airlines. Clubs in the league were initially representatives of the various state-based institutes of sports. The league was initially split into two conferences (North & Southern), similar to that of the men's National Soccer League. The southern conference was represented by ACT Academy of Sports (later became Canberra Eclipse), ITC Victoria (later became Victoria Vision), SA Sports Institute (later became Adelaide Sensation). The northern conference was represented by NSW Institute of Sport (later became NSW Sapphires), Queensland Academy of Sport (later became Queensland Sting) and Northern NSW ITC (later became Northern NSW Pride). Western Australia would receive representation during the final season with the introduction of the Western Waves.
The WNSL disbanded in 2004 alongside the National Soccer League. Queensland Sting were the most successful side winning 4 championships.[1]
The medal is awarded annually to the player voted to be the best player in Women's soccer leagues in Australia, named after former Matildas Captain and football administrator Julie Dolan. The award was for the best player in the WNSL, and is currently maintained in the successor competition, the W-League (now known as the A-League Women. The following table contains only those winners of the medal who were awardedit during the WNSL era.
