Watterson to support Football Writers Festival ahead of World Cup
Sydney is set to play host to the latest edition of the Football Writers Festival in the lead up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, with communications partner Watterson providing support.
Sydney-based communications firm Watterson has come on board as the premium partner of the Football Writers Festival, which is set to take place in Sydney in the build up to the Women’s World Cup in July.
Taking place over three days from the 15th to 17th, the festival will welcome close to two dozen international guest writers, including former players and whistleblowers, who will appear alongside a stacked lineup of local talent.
Described as the only sports-specific event of its kind in the southern hemisphere, the Football Writers Festival is hosted by local round ball publisher Fair Play Publishing, which was founded in 2016 by renowned football administrator and journalist Bonita Mersiades. More than just a celebration of soccer’s onfield aspects and its players, the festival will also take a closer look at many of the social and political aspects that surround the world game.
Among the international guests on the bill are former German international Thomas Hitzlsperger, one of the first openly gay footballers, Clare Shine, who has written of the drug and alcohol struggles which undercut a promising international career, and Irish international Ciara McCormack, whose revelations of abuse and sexual misconduct rocked Canadian soccer. Mersiades herself is perhaps best known for blowing the whistle on FIFA corruption.
Founded almost three decades ago by ‘public relations doyen’ Hannah Watterson and since establishing itself as one of the leading independent communications firms in the country, Watterson will work together with Mersiades to drive a campaign amplifying the festival, its writers and personalities as well as sport’s importance in Australian arts & culture, while also highlighting its unique position as Australia’s only sports writers’ festival.
“Bonita is a legend in football and sports writing, and we’ve long admired what she’s done for the community,” said Nermin Bajric, Watterson’s chief of staff. “This partnership speaks to our focus as a consultancy to work on projects with meaning to our team and the communities around us, and the festival’s timing around the Women’s World Cup creates a major opportunity to highlight its important contribution to Australian sport and culture.”
In response, Mersiades stated that Watterson had the right experience in sports, innovation and literature to showcase the festival’s importance ahead of possibly most significant women’s sporting event to ever take place in the country. “Sport is part of our culture, not just in terms of how important it is to so many Australians, but because it’s shaped who we are as a nation,” she said. “We have a partner in Watterson that understands this.”
With the ‘face of Australian football’ Craig Foster to once again kick off proceedings with an opening address, other event highlights this year include the introduction of the Emerging Women’s Writers’ initiative to encourage aspiring female football writers the world-over – with an anthology of the 17 winning entries to be launched during the festival, accompanied by three of the authors who will appear in person from Kenya, Germany and Brazil.
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