The termination of Hesterine de Reus' contract on 17 April 2014 ended a tumultuous period not seen in Australian women's football since 2004.
The termination of Hesterine de Reus' contract on 17 April 2014 ended a tumultuous period not seen in Australian women's football since 2004.
What started as rumblings of an unhappy Matildas camp (players and some staff) towards the end of 2013 crescendoed to the point where Professional Footballers Australia were called in and ultimately the FFA.
De Reus' tenure lasted just on 15 months and along the way there were some strong results including a win over current World No. 3 and Women's World Cup favourites France in 2013 and a 2014 win over Brazil during the period of turmoil.
There were also indifferent performances and results particularly a poor Cyprus Cup, which in hindsight may have been an indicator of deeper rooted problems.
Once the dust had settled questions were posed from prominent members of the women's football about how the situation was handled; how did it get to that stage, could there have been mediation, were the problems sufficient to warrant a sacking?
In the end, as with any dispute, there are three truths; one side's, the other side's and, somewhere in the middle, the real truth.
We, the public, may just never be privy to all facets of these truths.
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