Norwich City Women to play at Carrow Road

[king canary 8,749]

Announced today that the final home for the women's season will be played at Carrow Road.

Nice move by the club- I've been pleased to see them getting behind the women's team this season and this should give them some brilliant extra exposure.

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,460]

Important to start this principle. 

Just because thousands do not turn up at the nest to watch NCFCW, does not mean that many thousands - even tens of thousands - would not turn up at Carrow Road.

Parma 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,328]

5 minutes ago, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

Important to start this principle. 

Just because thousands do not turn up at the nest to watch NCFCW, does not mean that many thousands - even tens of thousands - would not turn up at Carrow Road.

Parma 

Are there any examples of womens teams ground sharing with their mens teams though? Suspect at the top level they'd be too wary of wear and tear to the pitch caused by playing games every week. 

Spurs women play at Leyton Orient, and Arsenal women play at Boreham Wood, Liverpool women play at Tranmere Rovers, providing a valuable income stream to those smaller clubs in the process.

Unfortunately the absence of a substantial nearby non-league or League Two side may be a hindrance to our sides prospects? King's Lynn too far, unless we perhaps accepted that a Norfolk F.C. Ladies might make more practical sense?

[KeiranShikari 1,524]

Pretty sure I remember Webber being against the women's team playing at CR because of wear and tear on the pitch. It'll be why it's planned for late in the season. 

[king canary 8,749]

19 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Are there any examples of womens teams ground sharing with their mens teams though? Suspect at the top level they'd be too wary of wear and tear to the pitch caused by playing games every week. 

Spurs women play at Leyton Orient, and Arsenal women play at Boreham Wood, Liverpool women play at Tranmere Rovers, providing a valuable income stream to those smaller clubs in the process.

Unfortunately the absence of a substantial nearby non-league or League Two side may be a hindrance to our sides prospects? King's Lynn too far, unless we perhaps accepted that a Norfolk F.C. Ladies might make more practical sense?

I don't think anyone is suggesting a full time ground share but lots of clubs have their women's team play at the same stadium for some of the bigger games. Arsenal v Spurs for example was played at the Emirates in front of 47k. Similarly the Merseyside derby was played at Anfield infront of 27,000 odd.

I think NCFC can follow suit- maybe 2 or 3 games a season played at Carrow Road, particularly if we end up playing Ipswich.

Edited February 27, 2023 by king canary

[canarydan23 4,758]

20 minutes ago, king canary said:

I don't think anyone is suggesting a full time ground share but lots of clubs have their women's team play at the same stadium for some of the bigger games. Arsenal v Spurs for example was played at the Emirates in front of 47k. Similarly the Merseyside derby was played at Anfield infront of 27,000 odd.

I think NCFC can follow suit- maybe 2 or 3 games a season played at Carrow Road, particularly if we end up playing Ipswich.

I went to watch Arsenal v Chelsea at the Emirates last month and there was 45,000+ at that game. It was a decent day out. The fac that it was a Sunday meant getting their was a doddle, drove to Walthamstow and parked a 2 minute walk from the station, then it was a few minutes on the tube followed by a short walk to the ground.

I'll be going to this one with my lot. I might see if there's interest in my boy's football team as well to make it a team day out. We did that for the Arnold Clark Cup last year for the England v Spain match.

[Captain Holt 580]

I hope they get at least 5,000. Can't see it, though. No interest whatsoever from me but I admit I'm very irrelevant 😂

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,460]

2 hours ago, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

Important to start this principle. 

Just because thousands do not turn up at the nest to watch NCFCW, does not mean that many thousands - even tens of thousands - would not turn up at Carrow Road.

Parma 

@TeemuVanBasten

My point was specifically worded for a reason. It has far more to do with grooved patterns of neural behaviour, validation, acceptance and perceived value than turf.

See @canarydan23‘s post. I do not think these actions occur at the Nest, a Brentford B groundshare et al. 

Hence my point. 

Parma 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Parma Ham's gone mouldy

[Branston Pickle 4,144]

It’s an interesting one - round my neck of the woods we have Chelsea’s women who play at Kingsmeadow, which they shared/took over from Wimbledon (who shared/took it from Kingstonian).  The capacity is around 4k and WSL games cost £10/£2; it usually seems big enough but they use Stamford Bridge as well for some games and get good gates - I do wonder if there’d be quite the interest level of it were for every game, making it a ‘special’ seems to work.

Hopefully the game at CR gets a decent turnout.

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,786]

Great  news . And so they should . NCFC have only recently started to support their ladies team adequately and have neglected them for years . Norwich didn’t even win the Norfolk Primary cup at least once which is a measure of the support they had . Players were buying their own kit and paying to travel to matches . 

 The Binner ladies by contrast have enjoyed better support and their league position shows this .

When you see teams like Lewes far higher up the ladies pyramid you can see the neglect of many teams  by professional clubs over the years . It all feels like NCFC have been dragged into supporting the ladies somewhat reluctantly . 

Anyway whinge over . I’ll be there to watch the ladies . 
 

 

[Capt. Pants 5,001]

With all due respect to the club I think there's scope for more than one game a season. Wear and tear on the pitch isn't really a valid excuse bearing in mind we could have had more cup games at home this season, not to mention the World Cup break when the pitch was 'recovering'.

[cambridgeshire canary 7,797]

4 hours ago, KeiranShikari said:

Pretty sure I remember Webber being against the women's team playing at CR because of wear and tear on the pitch. It'll be why it's planned for late in the season. 

If it were a Rugby team I would understand (Look at the state Wigans pitch was in when we played them..) but come on, what damage are the women going to do? Pull the other one Stuart

[repman 750]

4 hours ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Are there any examples of womens teams ground sharing with their mens teams though? Suspect at the top level they'd be too wary of wear and tear to the pitch caused by playing games every week. 

Spurs women play at Leyton Orient, and Arsenal women play at Boreham Wood, Liverpool women play at Tranmere Rovers, providing a valuable income stream to those smaller clubs in the process.

Unfortunately the absence of a substantial nearby non-league or League Two side may be a hindrance to our sides prospects? King's Lynn too far, unless we perhaps accepted that a Norfolk F.C. Ladies might make more practical sense?

I think there are quite a few rules in the women's game to ensure that each team is financially viable in and of itself. I think on a few occasions each season the big clubs use the main ground and have the tickets really cheap, but the rules limit how often you can do such a thing.

[canarydan23 4,758]

52 minutes ago, Graham Paddons Beard said:

Great  news . And so they should . NCFC have only recently started to support their ladies team adequately and have neglected them for years . Norwich didn’t even win the Norfolk Primary cup at least once which is a measure of the support they had . Players were buying their own kit and paying to travel to matches . 

 The Binner ladies by contrast have enjoyed better support and their league position shows this .

When you see teams like Lewes far higher up the ladies pyramid you can see the neglect of many teams  by professional clubs over the years . It all feels like NCFC have been dragged into supporting the ladies somewhat reluctantly . 

Anyway whinge over . I’ll be there to watch the ladies . 

Yeah, I meant to put in context how far there is for Norwich Ladies to go, they were set to be lining up with Wymondham Town this season, though the latter had to pull out just before the start of the season.

However, this is the only way they will improve. If the club start taking it more seriously and let them have a few games at Carrow Road, and if the fans turn out and get attendances of a few thousand, for the level they are at that is huge. They'll soon become an attractive prospect to rival teams' star players and can start poaching decent talent and making our way up the pyramid.

[king canary 8,749]

4 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Yeah, I meant to put in context how far there is for Norwich Ladies to go, they were set to be lining up with Wymondham Town this season, though the latter had to pull out just before the start of the season.

However, this is the only way they will improve. If the club start taking it more seriously and let them have a few games at Carrow Road, and if the fans turn out and get attendances of a few thousand, for the level they are at that is huge. They'll soon become an attractive prospect to rival teams' star players and can start poaching decent talent and making our way up the pyramid.

Yeah, I think the attendance will be hurt by the fact we don't have many marquee opponents in our division but a bit of support and they could easily make their way through the pyramid.

[canarydan23 4,758]

1 minute ago, king canary said:

Yeah, I think the attendance will be hurt by the fact we don't have many marquee opponents in our division but a bit of support and they could easily make their way through the pyramid.

You mean Hashtag United and London Seaward aren't major crowd-pullers?!

[The Raptor 1,572]

1 minute ago, canarydan23 said:

You mean Hashtag United and London Seaward aren't major crowd-pullers?!

They sound like someone's just pulled two random words out of a hat and said. That'll do for a name.

 

I see the ladies team as a bit like the reserves/u23s. I'm not really that interested in going to watch them play. I'll keep a vague eye out for results, maybe get excited if they're on a cup run but that's generally about it.

Good luck to them. With England doing so well and interest at a high I hope they get a decent crowd and give a good account of themselves. Perhaps an annual game at carrow road will be the start.

I'm slightly gutted I'm away but I think my sister is going to take her kids. Hopefully my nephew won't loudly announce he was glad the blue team scored as he likes blue like he did at the Blackburn game! He's only 4 so I'll let him off that for now.

[canarydan23 4,758]

4 minutes ago, The Raptor said:

They sound like someone's just pulled two random words out of a hat and said. That'll do for a name.

 

I see the ladies team as a bit like the reserves/u23s. I'm not really that interested in going to watch them play. I'll keep a vague eye out for results, maybe get excited if they're on a cup run but that's generally about it.

Good luck to them. With England doing so well and interest at a high I hope they get a decent crowd and give a good account of themselves. Perhaps an annual game at carrow road will be the start.

I'm slightly gutted I'm away but I think my sister is going to take her kids. Hopefully my nephew won't loudly announce he was glad the blue team scored as he likes blue like he did at the Blackburn game! He's only 4 so I'll let him off that for now.

Four is plenty old enough to be stamping out that sort of behaviour.

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,786]

26 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Yeah, I meant to put in context how far there is for Norwich Ladies to go, they were set to be lining up with Wymondham Town this season, though the latter had to pull out just before the start of the season.

However, this is the only way they will improve. If the club start taking it more seriously and let them have a few games at Carrow Road, and if the fans turn out and get attendances of a few thousand, for the level they are at that is huge. They'll soon become an attractive prospect to rival teams' star players and can start poaching decent talent and making our way up the pyramid.

Totally agree Dan. Norwich lost some players to the Binners in the same way. The financial amounts are really not that much to make a difference and make a team more attractive. 

[TIL 1010 5,246]

Things have moved on since the early days of ladies football hey @Kathy .

[canarydan23 4,758]

Is that Peter Mendham top left?!

[The Real Buh 3,765]

Really good news, more exposure is good.

[TIL 1010 5,246]

26 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Is that Peter Mendham top left?!

I'll leave @Kathy to answer that one.

[Kathy 823]

50 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

Things have moved on since the early days of ladies football hey @Kathy .

It would have been a dream come true for me to play at Carrow Road. I'm delighted for them.

[TIL 1010 5,246]

1 minute ago, Kathy said:

It would have been a dream come true for me to play at Carrow Road. I'm delighted for them.

Yeah but are you Peter Mendham ?

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

3 hours ago, canarydan23 said:

Yeah, I meant to put in context how far there is for Norwich Ladies to go, they were set to be lining up with Wymondham Town this season, though the latter had to pull out just before the start of the season.

However, this is the only way they will improve. If the club start taking it more seriously and let them have a few games at Carrow Road, and if the fans turn out and get attendances of a few thousand, for the level they are at that is huge. They'll soon become an attractive prospect to rival teams' star players and can start poaching decent talent and making our way up the pyramid.

With the right support, it shouldn't take that long; we're not far off promotion this season, and that would see us in the third tier. I would expect that a club of our size with our infrastructure and catchment area could cement themselves in the Championship, and possibly even push on to the WSL.

I do wonder, though, how difficult it might be to attract and retain talent from elsewhere... there isn't the money in the women's game for players to relocate so easily. Probably makes more sense to play the long game and look to improve our coaching, academy and infrastructure for the girls and develop the 'pathway' model?

[hogesar 10,750]

Not for me but fantastic to give Women's Football Fans (including young'uns who don't know they're fans yet) an opportunity to watch in the stadium proper.

Also sends the right message to the ladies in the team.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Love it but will there be a stream?

And will the harsh judgement on here follow...

[AJ 1,357]

5 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

Love it but will there be a stream?

And will the harsh judgement on here follow...

Hopefully they'll be on the red buttom 😅

[norfolkngood 1,174]

Brighton Ladies have played at the stadium and even use the men's 1st team players coach when they can for away games