At the centre of the inaugural Kappa Women’s Super Cup final is a mother-daughter rivalry between Western Pride Head Coach Pye Augustine and Lions FC centre-back Holly McQueen.
Augustine, who recently took over as Head Coach of Pride, said her family will be split down the middle for 90 minutes on Friday night.
“Holly’s dad will support her and Lions, but the rest of the family will be supporting me and Western Pride,” said Augustine.
After seven months of competition featuring 55 teams from across the state, it is perhaps fitting for the first Cup final to bring together Western Pride and Lions FC.
Western Pride’s women’s side, which entered the NPL in 2015, is searching for its first piece of silverware.
Lions FC, on the other hand, have won the NPL Women’s Championship two years running to earn a reputation as Queensland’s powerhouse club.
In many ways, Pride coach Augustine and Lions defender McQueen symbolise the past, present and future of women’s football in Queensland.
Augustine, a 51-year-old former Queensland representative player, is the only female Head Coach in the NPL and FQPL Women’s competitions.
McQueen, 19, is a rising star of the game, taking out the Sue Monteath Award for QAS Player of the Year last season before signing on with Lions in the NPL and Brisbane Roar in the W-League.
“I know from the stories my mum told me that women’s football was very different when she was my age,” said McQueen.
“Mum was my first coach and has always been my mentor, so it’s going to be a bit weird coming up against her in the Cup final.”
Augustine has been central to McQueen’s development as she progressed from Coolum FC to Lions FC via Springfield United, Olympic FC, Western Pride and the QAS.
From the moment McQueen started kicking a football, Augustine could tell that her daughter possessed special qualities that would take her to the top.
Since the age of five, McQueen has talked about her desire to one day play for Australia.
“My goal is to play for the Matildas at the World Cup and the Olympics,” said McQueen.
Junior Matildas Head Coach Rae Dower, who played alongside Augustine for Queensland and has coached McQueen at junior national team camps, said McQueen was like a “mini-me” of her mother.
“Back in the day, Pye was known as a tenacious and speedy defender and Holly is showing many of the same attributes,” said Dower.
Although mother and daughter will sleep at different residences on Thursday night and travel to the final separately on Friday, they will embrace as family after full-time no matter the result.
“Of course I’d love Holly to be at Western Pride, but I understand where her journey is at and Lions is where she needs to be,” said Augustine.
“Because we’re so close in personality and looks, it used to be that she was known as ‘Pye Augustine’s daughter’.
“But I’m pleased to say that now she is tipping the scales so that I’m becoming known as ‘Holly McQueen’s mum’.
“I feel so proud watching her forge her own identity as a footballer and as a young woman.”
Match Details
Lions FC v Western Pride
Friday 24 September, 7:30pm
CTM Stadium, Newmarket
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the Kappa Women’s Super Cup final.
