Michelle Heyman is the joint-owner of the Liberty A-League’s all-time appearance record – and is showing no signs of slowing down. This week, the Canberra United legend revealed the secret to her longevity.
One month out from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Michelle Heyman announced her sudden retirement from football.
Repeat injuries stagnated her preparation for the tournament, and by May 2019, Heyman was mentally and physically spent.
“I really wanted to fight for (a spot in the squad),” Heyman told Fox Sports at the time. “But my body isn’t going to allow me to do that. My mind isn’t going to allow me to do that.”
Heyman retired a 61-cap Matilda, with 115 appearances in the Liberty A-League to her name.
In an alternate universe, that’s where the Canberra United legend’s footballing journey ends. But not on this particular timeline.
Michelle Heyman’s renaissance began in late 2020; she scored a hat-trick for Canberra in her return as a statement of intent. Now, she holds an equal share of the Liberty A-League all-time appearance record, has added 31 more goals to her domestic tally of 94 – another league record – earning her second Julie Dolan Medal in the process.
What a difference four years makes. That very same player who had nothing left to give on the eve of a major tournament is now the A-League Women’s current Golden Boot leader, and has forced her way into the Matildas conversation ahead of another World Cup.
“I’m just loving it,” Heyman told the media this week, reflecting on her mesmeric Canberra comeback and A-League Women appearance record of 158 games, shared with Perth Glory’s Kim Carroll.
“I’d like to be scoring more – I think I was used to scoring pretty much every game, but at the moment I’m still up there, I’m still assisting and trying to do what’s best for the team.
“I think deep down I feel better now. I recover faster. I’ve changed my entire life so I can be a footballer. I think that balance is making me who I am today.
“It’s making me a better athlete. I feel great, I feel happy. I’m loving it.”
Herein lies the key to Heyman’s longevity: “I cared about my body. When you’re younger, you don’t really think about it too much. But I spend a lot of time in the recovery centre, I spend a lot of time doing pilates, I stretch, I get a massage every week. I’ve never had that in my entire career.
“So now, to be doing that at the final end of my career, it’s allowing me to play the game for much longer.
“(My) advice to all the kids, I try to tell them: ‘Please stretch, please look after your body. This will make your career last another five to 10 years’.”
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Heyman admits taking the A-League Women’s appearance record off Sydney FC legend Teresa Polias last weekend did make her feel that little bit older. But to feel like an older player and to play like one are two separate things; the spritely Canberra spearhead is 34 years young, and is performing as if in her prime.
“It’s wild,” Heyman said. “I remember having a conversation with (former Canberra coach Vicki Linton). We were unsure whether I was a 90-minute player, 60-minute player, or am I coming off the bench.
“From Round 1 (of 2020-21) to now, a couple of years later, I’m still starting. I’m still doing what I can for the team and trying to be the best footballer that I can show. I don’t think anything is slowing me down yet. I just need to keep the body healthy and keep looking after myself.”
Heyman will captain Canberra into the final round of the A-League Women season with a one-goal advantage over Western United’s Hannah Keane on the Golden Boot charts, with her side locked in a three-team scrap for the fourth and final spot in the top four.
Only when the 2022-23 season is done and dusted will Heyman’s attention shift to what lies ahead: the behemoth on the horizon that is the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Speaking to Dub Zone after Canberra’s 3-0 drubbing of league-leaders Western United last weekend, Heyman sent a pointed message to Matildas selectors: “If they don’t want to take me then that’s up to them,” she said. “But I think if I can continue to keep pushing, scoring goals and making a statement in this league, surely they’ve got to give me a go.”
It’s a statement backed up by fellow Canberra legend and former Matildas teammate Ashleigh Sykes.
“You’d hope the coaches are at least considering it,” Sykes told KEEPUP. “It’s great to have competition for spots as a starting point, (Matildas boss) Tony Gustavsson must be pretty happy with having to make some tough decisions heading into the World Cup.
“But from my perspective, I think Michelle brings a lot of experience, a lot of big-game experience and she usually stands up in big games and performs…
“I don’t envy him (in making) that decision. But I can certainly see a role for her in the World Cup squad if that’s the direction they’re going.”
There’s not many people better placed to speak to Heyman’s contribution to Australian football than Sykes, whose first memories of her former partner in crime for both Canberra and the Matildas precede the earliest days of the then-W-League.
Heyman and Sykes were once rivals at NPL level; a ponytail-clad Heyman leading the line for Illawarra Stingrays, and Sykes doing the same for Western Panthers.
Since the 2015-16 A-League Women season, two players have contributed the equal-most assists for Heyman at Canberra: Grace Maher and Sykes.
When Sykes thinks of Heyman the player, one enduring memory lives in her mind.
It’s most likely burnt into the brains of opposing defenders, too.
“Most of the time you see her score, and she turns around with that giant smile on her face,” Sykes said. “My memories that involve Michelle are usually a ball going into the back of the net – usually when you expect it but also she’d pull a rabbit out of a hat and score from an impossible angle – and turns around with that giant grin on her face. I’ve seen it a lot of times, and that will probably stay with me for a while.”
It’s a grin which was missed in the A-League Women through Heyman’s one-season absence, and one that has almost become a staple of every Canberra game since as the 34-year-old enjoys a purple patch of form – which those living on that alternate timeline have been unfortunate not to witness.
In 2019, when calling time on her career, Heyman admitted one of the things she’d miss the most about football was her Matildas roommate, Katrina Gorry. “We were attached to the hip,” Heyman told Fox Sports. “My best mate.”
Gorry has recently made her own Matildas comeback – and a successful one at that.
Sykes hopes Heyman can do the same, to see the two old friends linking up in green and gold once more.
“Michelle was there when I was there,” Sykes said. “She’s played a lot of time with some of those players.
“Some of this squad has been there for a long, long time. She’s certainly extremely good friends with Katrina Gorry, so I think Mini would be super happy to have her in the squad, and to be playing balls through to her like the good old days for them.
“I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to see her back in the squad.”
