The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is lambasted for his rambling speech at the Matildas Awards ceremony as he annoys the crowd with a bizarre Bend It Like Beckham anecdote: ‘So cringe-inducing and embarrassing!’
- Adrian Schrinner addressed the crowd on Sunday morning
- Matildas received the key to the city of Brisbane
- WATCH: “Everything starts” – Episode 1 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner has come under fire from Matildas fans for delivering a rambling and at times bizarre speech as the team were honored at an awards ceremony on Sunday.
Skipper Sam Kerr and his teammates received the keys to the city in front of a screaming crowd at the City Botanic Gardens, with fans also hearing from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Football Australia CEO James Johnson.
But it was Schrinner’s nearly 10-minute speech that stood out – for all the wrong reasons.
After starting by congratulating fans on their handmade Matildas signs, the civic leader praised the team for inspiring Australia and breaking down barriers – as members of the public interrupted him with loud interjections from the start.
Schrinner started by congratulating fans of Matildas on their handmade signs (pictured) – then things quickly went downhill
As the Matildas seated behind him looked puzzled and annoyed, Schrinner told the crowd: “My dad is from Germany so there’s only one football in our household and that’s the ball. round.”
“But to hear Australians call football football, I never thought I would see that day.”
He then said it was difficult to measure the ‘unifying effect’ the team had during the World Cup – only to have a fan shout over him: ‘You can’t measure it, c ‘is too big’ not once, but twice, forcing him to pause mid-speech.
Schrinner praised the team for inspiring Australian boys and girls to get into football before launching into a bizarre anecdote about one of the sport’s best-known movies.
“There has been a hunger in our household and (wife) Nina and our four children are here…the other night I decided to look for a movie to watch as a family,” he said before. yet another arrest from the crowd.
The Lord Mayor handed the team the key to the city after a long rambling speech that was often interrupted by interjections from the crowd.
“I watched Bend It Like Beckham. I went there, let’s watch this movie.
“And do you know that right now, Bend It Like Beckham – despite being 21 – is the second most-watched sports movie in the world right now.
“And the third most-watched sports movie is She’s The Man.
“It’s fascinating because if you think about what these movies are about, it’s about a young girl in England inspired by Beckham, and then another movie is about a young girl who had to dress as a man to play soccer.
“Everything changed, and this team changed it.”
Matildas fans criticized the mayor’s rambling performance online.
‘Oh man. It’s clumsy as hell. The Matildas don’t seem to want to be there. Mayor of Brisbane, wrap it up man,’ one tweeted.
The reaction of Matildas fans was well summed up in this social media post
Pop star Nikki Webster got much better reception performing her 2001 hit Strawberry Kisses, which became the team’s unofficial song during the World Cup.
‘The Mayor of Brisbane’s speech to @TheMatildas right now is so embarrassing and embarrassing!!!!!’ another wrote.
“How about stop talking about men and start talking about tillies wtf accomplishments,” added a third.
“Brisbane mayor is dragging his speech a bit lol,” wrote another.
Fans had a very different reaction when Nikki Webster joined the Matildas on stage to perform her 2001 hit Strawberry Kisses, which became the team’s unofficial song during the World Cup.
Several players, including Alanna Kennedy, Sam Kerr and Steph Catley, jumped right into the song, dancing and singing along with Webster.
Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold previously said of the air: “I don’t know where it came from. I think it was actually Steph Catley’s favorite song and now we’ve all jumped on the bandwagon.
