Sam Kerr scored an FA Cup hat-trick – then allegedly harassed a ...
Hours after scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool in the FA Cup, Sam Kerr allegedly got into an argument over a taxi fare. The police became involved. Almost 12 months later, she was charged with a “racially aggravated offence” against a police officer, which she denies.
We don’t know much about what happened – and with her four-day criminal trial not due to begin until February 2025, it might be a while until we do – but we can piece together a few key facts about the very unexpected developments that Australia awoke to on Tuesday.
First was the shock that the Matildas captain – the official leader of the country’s favourite sporting team, among the most famous Australians on the planet, and one of the most high-profile players in women’s football – was allegedly involved in any sort of unsavoury incident at all.
Then came the shock about when it happened: January 30, 2023. Not a few weeks ago, when Kerr was still reeling from the ACL injury she suffered in a Chelsea training camp in Morocco, but a full year ago, before the Matildas and the World Cup took the nation by storm, before she kept everyone guessing about the injury she suffered on the eve of the tournament, and even before she carried the Australian flag at King Charles’ coronation.
The alleged incident occurred in Twickenham, in London’s south-west – a suburb over from Richmond, where Kerr lives, and a short drive from Kingsmeadow, the stadium where Chelsea’s FA Women’s Super League team plays most of its home games.
It was at Kingsmeadow where Kerr scored three times against Liverpool – in the 32nd, 52nd and 79th minutes – for the Blues in their 3-1 victory in the Women’s FA Cup fourth round proper on January 29, a Sunday afternoon. Chelsea went on to win the FA Cup that season, their third in a row.
Kerr celebrates one of her three goals against Liverpool in the FA Cup last January - the day before an alleged incident for which she will stand trial next year.Credit: Getty
“I wish I could do this every week but that’s a striker’s life, right – sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t,” Kerr said post-match. “But when my teammates are putting in balls like they did today, it’s pretty easy for me to score.”
Either she was out celebrating her hat-trick in the early hours of the next morning, when police say they were called, or it was sometime later that day; we don’t know for sure.
We also don’t know what she was alleged to have said, or how an apparent disagreement over a taxi fare escalated to the point that police were even needed.
Kerr was only charged on January 21 of this year, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said, so the issue sat dormant for almost a year.
The alleged incident took place a short drive from Kingsmeadow, where Chelsea play the majority of their home matches.Credit: Getty
We don’t know why that is, either, but it is possible Kerr had thought it had blown over until recently. Overnight, she appeared at Kingston Crown Court via video link and spoke only to confirm her identity and to enter a not-guilty plea to the charge.
Football Australia, the body responsible for organising the Matildas, says it is monitoring the situation and providing support to Kerr where appropriate, but says it can’t say anything further because it is before the courts.
Sources familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are unable to talk publicly, say FA only became aware of the incident on Tuesday morning, as it was preparing to confirm the Matildas’ Olympic farewell match against China at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on June 3. James Johnson, the FA chief executive, is due to speak in Adelaide on Tuesday afternoon, while Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson will speak in Sydney.
Kerr has been charged under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986, which carries a maximum penalty of 26 weeks’ custody. The offender has to have had intent to cause “harassment, alarm or distress to a specific victim”, which was conveyed through words, behaviour, writing, a sign or any other visual representation, and there needs to be evidence that actual harassment, alarm or distress was caused.
Sam Kerr in Perth late last year.Credit: Richard Wainwright
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, charges under that provision tend to involve sustained abuse, targeting a lone victim or significant effect on the victim. Two police officers are scheduled to give evidence in her case.
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 outlines a “racially aggravated offence” as one in which the offender demonstrates hostility against a victim based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a group defined by their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origins, religious belief or lack thereof.
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