She may be the youngest Matilda, but Charlie Rule is smart enough to do things differently. The 21-year-old is a star in many positions and rose through the Young Matildas Under-20 ranks to become a standout defender for A-League Women’s Sydney FC, where she played in three consecutive Premierships and was named Big Match Player of the Year Finale 2021.
She moved from her home in Sydney to England last year, signing as a midfielder with Women’s Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
But Rule doesn’t just rule football: along with her best friend, fitness influencer Bayley Norris, she also runs a popular TikTok – aptly titled “Bayley & Charlie” – which has 5.7 million likes and counting. “We had a little fun hoovering up,” he says of the duo’s internet fame.
This casual, carefree attitude can be seen in front of the camera as she poses on the set of “Stellar”.
“It was my first shoot,” Rule admits. “It was quite fashionable. I’ve never done this before. I can come in [football] I’m not nervous during the match because I know what I’m doing. Here I didn’t know what I was doing. But I love the fashion side of things. I’m not like a girly girl who dresses up and wears makeup. I’m pretty casual and I wear what I feel comfortable in.
Although Rule is currently recovering from a hip injury, Rule joined Stellar on a recent trip back to Australia, during which she cheered from the sidelines as she watched the Matildas squad, with whom she made her 2021 debut.
“I grew up surfing. I’m lucky to call this home,” says Rule, recalling her childhood in the Sydney seaside suburbs of Bronte and later North Bondi, where her family still lives. “When I come back from England I think, ‘Wow, this is home.'”
Rehabilitation means Rule has missed the opportunity to join Matilda’s team at next month’s Olympic Games in Paris. “I have been struggling with a hip injury for several years. I had to be polite
sorting it out and getting ready for the next one [Brighton & Hove Albion] season,” he says. “My goal was to go to the Olympics – to be in the national team. It didn’t work out and I have to prioritize my health.
“I had hip surgery about a month and a half ago. We decided to do it now. I could have postponed the recovery time, but I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t have much time to play,” she adds pragmatically. “Then there will be World Cups and other Olympic games. I’m doing everything I can to prepare for them.”
But the impact of the national team’s performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last year was not lost on Rule, who counts Matildas stars Cortnee Vine, Mary Fowler and Ellie Carpenter as role models.
“They are my age or a few years older,” he notes. “It’s crazy to see how well they’re doing. It’s really good to learn from these players.
Recalling the turning point in women’s sports that came after the World Cup was played on home soil, Rule says: “The stadiums were packed and the support was huge; it has always been about men and finally women enjoy more support than men. It’s really good that young girls look up to them.”
While the Olympics may not be on the cards for now, Rule has big ambitions – although he admits he’s “not looking too far into the future. I try to do the best I can and wherever I land, that’s where I’m supposed to be. I try to be happy off the pitch. The World Cup is in Brazil [in 2027]which would be really cool.
“I want to do my best and not put too much pressure on myself to get somewhere,” he adds.
“There are trophies I want to win, but the most important thing for me is to get off the pitch and make the most of every day.”
This positive attitude has served Rule well. As Sydney FC coach Ante Juric emphasizes, she has the makings of a 10-year-old Matilda. “She’s that kind of player, and she’s still very young,” Juric tells Stellar. “This will be her standard, similar to Matilda’s now [playing] for 10-12 years. Charlie is this level, this standard. That’s how good she is as a player.”
Juric, who was part of the team that convinced Rule to join Sydney FC in 2018, recalls meeting her when she was just 14 and taking part in the Football NSW Institute’s elite development program.
“Charlie was outstanding for her age. She trained with us [at Sydney FC] for a year before we signed her,” Juric recalled, adding that Rule was “technically exceptional.”
– When I saw her, she was a midfielder. We ended up playing it [at] defender, in which he performs excellently,” he adds. – And from there she went abroad.
Rule will now host England for at least six months. So what does the day mean
what is the life of an international superstar like?
“We’re going in [to the club] for breakfast around 8:30, we have a team meeting, then training, lunch break, then gym or another meeting,” he says simply. “It’s quite long days, but I love it. It’s like a full-time job.”
Being a professional athlete was always a dream for Rule, who grew up in a sports-loving home.
“My mom and dad were athletes, not football players,” he says. “My dad [Greg Rule] Is [former ironman] cyclist, my mother [Jacinta Jacobs] he was an athlete [in the heptathlon]. They gave me sports genes. My brother, Bailey [Rule]I started playing football and I followed in his footsteps – we played in the backyard in Bronte, then I joined the men’s team with my cousin.”
Speaking about Bailey, her 23-year-old sibling who plays football for semi-professional club Sydney United 58 in the NSW Men’s National Premier Leagues, she says: “He was my biggest influence. His dream was also to play in England – I’m doing it for both of us. In England you can make money from it [playing football].
“I’m living the dream. I think how lucky I am to be able to play the sport I love professionally and do it every day. It’s so good.”
Read the full interview and watch the session with Charlie Rule on Stellar. More information about Stellar can be found here.
Originally published as ‘She’ll be the 10-year-old Matilda’: Why rising star Charlie Rule is the next big thing in football