Women's football

[nutty nigel 7,536]

I don't have skysports. There's men and women in Corrie though. 

[shefcanary 2,409]

7 hours ago, Richard Richard said:

Just opened the Sky Sports app to see the top headline: "Liverpool held by Everton after confusion over disallowed goal".

"International break isn't it?" I thought to myself before reading a couple more lines and realising it wasn't men's football but the NEW men's football - WOMEN's football.

It's everywhere. Sky and BBC have clearly made policy decisions to report on games just like men's results, mentioning player's names like they're household names - "Yeah, you know Lisa McFootballer and Jess Van Soccer, they're lionesses, of course they are".

Well, if I want to watch a women's match or find out a score (I don't want to do either) I can look it up thanks very much.

Unfortunately, as is the way with modern media, it's front-loaded on every possible platform so there's no bleeding escape from it. How about WE (the media) tell YOU (the public) what you're supposed to like? We've gotten pretty good at it over the years. The current thing to push will be, erm, I know - women in football! Let's report on it, and get female commentators in and then make them celebrity's so they can go on to host games shows. Great idea! Aren't we so inclusive - high five!

My problem is not actually with women playing football - fine! Enjoy, be an inspiration for youngsters, make a career of it, a legend in women's football, whatever.

My problem is that the standard is utter dross. I've tried watching a few games and have had to turn it off after a few minutes. The goalkeeping is comical, watching them dive over the top of a shot from 20 yards dribbling over the line at 3mph. 

"But women are not as physically strong and fast as men!" I hear you cry. Correct. Which is why their game is so poor in comparison.

Point in case was the Australian Women's national team beaten 7:0 by a club team's 15 year olds in 2016. Highlights the HUGE difference in quality and the reason I just can't bare to watch it.

Touchy subject I know. I'll await the deluge of accusatory replies from those who manage girl's teams and who actually champion women's football for their own reasons.

Not for me though.

COYY

Set your own ****ing TV sports channel up and set your own agenda RR. Then you'll not look a **** ****.

Fair enough complaint when just BBC, but Sky follow the money, so means their editorial has decided money is to be made from such stories. 

[canarybubbles 1,915]

My personal gripe is that the media is now covering women's football at the expense of lower level football, offering them yet another excuse not to cover the likes of Port Vale or Rochdale, clubs which are being left to rot by the press, both offline and online, and also by the football authorities who are supposed to be their representatives. Even 'leftist' papers such as The Guardian which would once have supported a working-class sport are now abandoning it outside of the PL (and believe me clubs like Norwich will be next). It's no surprise nor coincidence that most of the women's teams are big clubs - Man U or Arsenal and the like. OK, I know at the grass roots this is not always the case - for example, Hastings United gives equal space to its women's team on their website - but it's a general trend towards the big name clubs and away from local sides based in a smallish community. This is all part of the discarding of the history of the game in this country for the big international clubs. I guess this is historical change and I'm probably pis*sing in the wind, but the game which many of us on here grew up with is close to collapse, and the powers that be - both in football and in the media - are helping to stab it in the heart in their relentless greed for money and power.

 

[king canary 7,606]

14 minutes ago, canarybubbles said:

My personal gripe is that the media is now covering women's football at the expense of lower level football, offering them yet another excuse not to cover the likes of Port Vale or Rochdale, clubs which are being left to rot by the press, both offline and online, and also by the football authorities who are supposed to be their representatives. Even 'leftist' papers such as The Guardian which would once have supported a working-class sport are now abandoning it outside of the PL (and believe me clubs like Norwich will be next). It's no surprise nor coincidence that most of the women's teams are big clubs - Man U or Arsenal and the like. OK, I know at the grass roots this is not always the case - for example, Hastings United gives equal space to its women's team on their website - but it's a general trend towards the big name clubs and away from local sides based in a smallish community. This is all part of the discarding of the history of the game in this country for the big international clubs. I guess this is historical change and I'm probably pis*sing in the wind, but the game which many of us on here grew up with is close to collapse, and the powers that be - both in football and in the media - are helping to stab it in the heart in their relentless greed for money and power.

 

Not sure that's a women's football issue to be honest.

Guardian lower league coverage has been a joke for years. Pre any real WSL interest they were far more interested in La Liga or Bundesliga than they were in the Championship. I remember a season where Newcastle were in the championship and you could guarantee the one march report you'd get in the paper was always Newcastle with zero interest in anyone else.

[wcorkcanary 4,334]

3 hours ago, The Bunny said:

Women's football soared in popularity after England won the euros. The fact that Sky are covering suggests people want to watch. They're not a charity. 

The proof of that would be if it had its own separate wall to wall coverage paid channel.....and people subscribed, at the moment  its piggy backing on more established sport.  

[NFN FC 1,123]

If this is the reaction to womans football, I am looking forward to the reaction trans-football that is coming soon to sky sports! 

The OP can always use a different app to sky sports. Bit of an outrageous suggestion I know. 

[king canary 7,606]

3 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

The proof of that would be if it had its own separate wall to wall coverage paid channel.....and people subscribed, at the moment  its piggy backing on more established sport.  

So...?

It would be a very weird strategy to not use the popularity of the mens game to help promote the women's game.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 hour ago, king canary said:

Just for some context on how much these woke snowflakes are ramming their agenda of WOMEN PLAYING FOOTBALL HOW DARE THEY down your throats.

In Sky next weekend you can ONLY watch a PITIFUL 12 games of mens football from a MEASLY 3 different countries.

In comparison it is wall to wall NON STOP WOMAN BALL as Sky show a positively decadent 2 WHOLE GAMES of women's football from one league.

Honestly it is a wonder a good honest man can avoid this constant coverage of ladies kicking balls around.

Wait until they get on the Internet and type in "ladies kicking balls around". I am not responsible for what anyone sees after that.

[A Load of Squit 5,164]

We owe them, if it wasn't for the ban of women's football in 1921 the male version would still be played in front of one man and a dog at the local recreation ground.

The current promotion of the women's game is the proper reparation.

The men were lucky to have been able to stand on the shoulders of the incredibly popular women's game, the FA panicked and banned women until 1970.

People complaining about women's football should know their history and be suitably grateful for the way they made the game great.

 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 hour ago, TheDarkKnight said:

I'm weary of anyone weaponzing the term "woke", like the Daily Mail does.

The definition of "woke" is being alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.

I thought that was a good thing. But my nation would never vote the Tories, so, different strokes...

They use the word "woke" as when you call it what it really is, namely "basic empathy", it shows instantly where the problem is.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,310]

To the OP -  yeah women's football is a load of pony quality wise, that's why I CHOOSE not to watch it. 

 

No need to get your knickers in a twist about being over the media though (see what I did there 😜) there's little girls out there who love to see these women and it's great that they have them to look up to. 

Just keep scrolling past it and you'll find it's easy to ignore. 

[Myra Hawtree 124]

Years ago I wanted more women to have a say in football because so many attended the men’s game and eventually there were women reporters.  Now, with the much higher profile and money in the women’s game, it’s gone completely the other way.  Why does there always seem to be a woman commentator at all men’s games?  I would prefer men to talk about men’s football and women about women’s.  Taking equality to the extreme.

I’ve noticed that on BBC list of results now the women’s league results are shown before the Championship and taking space on newspaper sports pages to the detriment of lower men’s leagues, as has been mentioned.

[canarydan23 4,060]

9 hours ago, Richard Richard said:

No pant-sh!tting or weeping here CD. 

Presumably your reaction to hearing a Six Nations result is one of "I don't care"?

Why can't I have the same reaction to women's football? Wouldn't you object if you suddenly had a deluge of rugby players flooding social media, on the news, being held up as new superstars? Not a great example to use but the same principle applies.

I wouldn't object, I wouldn't give a flying ****. When the Six Nations are on, there's a solid group of people who love it and want to watch it, and good on em, I don't expect everyone to like all the stuff I like and dislike all the stuff I dislike. If it pops up on my social media, I can, wait for it.......scroll past. And to be fair, it is rammed down your throat during the Six Nations with TV adverts and regular slots on 5 Live when the tournament is on. So what?

And remember, the Lionesses Euros Final attracted a UK audience of 17.4 million. The Rugby World Cup Final that England reached managed a peak of 12.8 million, so don't give me anything about how Rugby has more appeal.

The Emirates has hosted 40,000 plus fans several times this season for women's games, as has Stamford Bridge. 5,000 and counting and going to turn out at Carrow Road for a pretty meaningless league fixture in the 4th tier of women's football. The record ever attendance at Coventry City FC's football stadium is currently held by a Lionesses fixture in a friendly tournament. In less than a couple of weeks, Wembley will be sold out for a women's international friendly.

I'm a grassroots football coach and whilst I coach my son's U10s team, the last two Saturdays I have had to fill in for another coach to take a Wildcats sessions (girls aged 5-10). A couple of years ago, if you asked these girls who their favourite player is most would have said Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, etc. Now it's Hemp, Russo, Williamson. And that's brilliant. But lets forget about kids getting new role models (generally much better role models than male footballers) that they feel a closer affinity to because a few blokes don't like the headline on BBC Sport being about a women's match when it could be reporting on men.

Classic what about men. This really belongs on a creepy, incely reddit thread rather than the PinkUn.

[NFN FC 1,123]

Makes me chuckle how people say things like 'chucking at me on social media'. Social media is a machine design to do exactly that. Chuck sh1t at you all day long that you might not necessarily want to see. In fact, it is probably chucking it at you because you don't like it and it wants you to react. 

Switch off your social media people, it's scrambling your brain! 

[king canary 7,606]

I do wonder if some of the complainers realise quite how pathetic their issues sound.

'I clicked on the wrong match report online!'

'I have to scroll a bit further on bbc sport for the lower league results!'

[nutty nigel 7,536]

If you check results on an app you don't even have to look at the results you're not interested in.

In fact I find it restrictive but if you.only want what you like you can pretty much control your media to show just that 

[The Bunny 309]

4 hours ago, wcorkcanary said:

The proof of that would be if it had its own separate wall to wall coverage paid channel.....and people subscribed, at the moment  its piggy backing on more established sport.  

Women's football is a growing sport. Making people pay through the nose for it while the audience is still developing probably wouldn't be the smartest move if they want to grow their audience. 

Conversely, not pissing off grumpy old geezers on the internet probably doesn't feature highly on their priorities, as long as said grumpy old geezers continue to pay. 

[Richard Richard 186]

3 hours ago, canarydan23 said:

I wouldn't object, I wouldn't give a flying ****. When the Six Nations are on, there's a solid group of people who love it and want to watch it, and good on em, I don't expect everyone to like all the stuff I like and dislike all the stuff I dislike. If it pops up on my social media, I can, wait for it.......scroll past. And to be fair, it is rammed down your throat during the Six Nations with TV adverts and regular slots on 5 Live when the tournament is on. So what?

And remember, the Lionesses Euros Final attracted a UK audience of 17.4 million. The Rugby World Cup Final that England reached managed a peak of 12.8 million, so don't give me anything about how Rugby has more appeal.

The Emirates has hosted 40,000 plus fans several times this season for women's games, as has Stamford Bridge. 5,000 and counting and going to turn out at Carrow Road for a pretty meaningless league fixture in the 4th tier of women's football. The record ever attendance at Coventry City FC's football stadium is currently held by a Lionesses fixture in a friendly tournament. In less than a couple of weeks, Wembley will be sold out for a women's international friendly.

I'm a grassroots football coach and whilst I coach my son's U10s team, the last two Saturdays I have had to fill in for another coach to take a Wildcats sessions (girls aged 5-10). A couple of years ago, if you asked these girls who their favourite player is most would have said Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, etc. Now it's Hemp, Russo, Williamson. And that's brilliant. But lets forget about kids getting new role models (generally much better role models than male footballers) that they feel a closer affinity to because a few blokes don't like the headline on BBC Sport being about a women's match when it could be reporting on men.

Classic what about men. This really belongs on a creepy, incely reddit thread rather than the PinkUn.

Saying I don't think women's football is of a good standard and I don't want to have the game rammed down my throat every five minutes doesn't qualify me as an incel.

That's one hell of a stretch and a bit silly mate.

[canarydan23 4,060]

8 minutes ago, Richard Richard said:

Saying I don't think women's football is of a good standard and I don't want to have the game rammed down my throat every five minutes doesn't qualify me as an incel.

That's one hell of a stretch and a bit silly mate.

You started a thread ranting about having to see links on the Internet that you don't want to click on. You've absolved yourself of the right to call anyone "a bit silly".

[Richard Richard 186]

3 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

You started a thread ranting about having to see links on the Internet that you don't want to click on. You've absolved yourself of the right to call anyone "a bit silly".

That's a simplistic and incorrect summary of the (admittedly overly-ranty) original post. 

Equating it to incel-like is ludicrous.

Clearly a very divisive subject but some of the near-hysterical, furious-sounding replies have been quite the eye-opener.

[Cowboy 197]

2 minutes ago, Richard Richard said:

That's a simplistic and incorrect summary of the (admittedly overly-ranty) original post. 

Equating it to incel-like is ludicrous.

Clearly a very divisive subject but some of the near-hysterical, furious-sounding replies have been quite the eye-opener.

Strange innit? You see I read your long OP with its repeated use of CAPITALS and phrases like 'no bleeding escape from it', 'and have had to turn it off after a few minutes' and 'I just can't bare (sic) to watch it' as the most 'near-hysterical, furious-sounding' post in the whole thread. Perhaps I have that wrong, hard to tell with the written word.

[Richard Richard 186]

2 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

Strange innit? You see I read your long OP with its repeated use of CAPITALS and phrases like 'no bleeding escape from it', 'and have had to turn it off after a few minutes' and 'I just can't bare (sic) to watch it' as the most 'near-hysterical, furious-sounding' post in the whole thread. Perhaps I have that wrong, hard to tell with the written word.

Do you know what Cowboy? You're actually partially right. 

Whereas I stand by my views on the subject, I regret not presenting them in a less frenzied manner. As alluded to in an earlier reply, COVID + up at silly o'clock = bad time to post!

Oh well, done now.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,138]

I watch womens football and am going to the game at CR in April. I also appreciate the history of it, how it was the only football people could watch during WW2 and how the womens game was utterly shafted by the establishment in the proceeding decades. The quality is decent as well and as it's not as physically and athletically dominated as the mens game so it's quite a lot of fun to watch and more technical in a way. It's also much easier to support athletes who aren't earning 100k a week and are in it for the love of the game instead of just the lifestyle. 

Saying that, everyone knows the BBC is run by Tory women and Sky like every other media outlet will produce content geared towards broad social trends to appeal to as many as possible or to pi55 as many people off as possible so they do have an agenda to push. It's unhelpful though in general, when people are aware that something is being promoted through news outlets they will quite rightly be annoyed that they feel like they're being told what to think but on the other hand womens football does need a bit of a push to get more attention and has just as much legitimacy as the mens game or any other sport. 

[canarydan23 4,060]

32 minutes ago, Richard Richard said:

That's a simplistic and incorrect summary of the (admittedly overly-ranty) original post. 

Equating it to incel-like is ludicrous.

Clearly a very divisive subject but some of the near-hysterical, furious-sounding replies have been quite the eye-opener.

Weird comment, given this thread hit peak hysteria and fury with its OP, and nothing has yet matched it.

[Richard Richard 186]

14 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

Weird comment, given this thread hit peak hysteria and fury with its OP, and nothing has yet matched it.

...and another reply dodging your incel reference.

I'll leave it there. You and I have polar opposite views on this.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,138]

As an aside reading back through this thread the media and internet culture has really messed a lot of you up. Go outside, turn off your phone or PC for a bit. Talk to real people. You'll find that 'men' 'women' 'rich' 'poor' 'white' 'black' 'gay' 'straight' etc people are all just normal people with usual problems. I can't help but feel that the powers that be are benefiting greatly from people all getting wound up and conveniently distracted about all this inane, pointless culture war everyone is engaged in from one side or another. 

Whatever happened to just not giving a F***? That used to be cool. Now everyone cares so much about so many pointless and insignificant issues. 

[Newtopia 517]

I took my daughter to watch a couple of Euro games, the effect on her and the way it motivated her to watch football and love football was incredible, we have season tickets for the woman’s team, if you do not like it keep your opinion to yourself and watch something different.

[Duncan Edwards 2,236]

There are ways to say things. I don’t much care for watching women’s football but I have done. It’s ok; they’re technically very good and would likely embarrass every poster on here up Power League. 
I don’t give a monkey’s that it’s on the telly, why not? Just like the old biddy darts that’s on Channel 5(?), flashes of brilliance but not the intensity or consistency of the highest echelons of the sport. And that’s not me trying to be disrespectful to the women’s game, they are playing at the top end but it’s a simple and demonstrative fact that it’s a long way short of elite men’s football. 
That said, it’s a growing market and as the ticket sales for the game at Carrow Road show, there’s an appetite and demand for it. 
The acid test will be when a women’s team is clearly more successful than their men’s equivalence. Will the glory guys switch over? (Smiley face) 

[Branston Pickle 3,659]

8 hours ago, A Load of Squit said:

We owe them, if it wasn't for the ban of women's football in 1921 the male version would still be played in front of one man and a dog at the local recreation ground.

The current promotion of the women's game is the proper reparation.

The men were lucky to have been able to stand on the shoulders of the incredibly popular women's game, the FA panicked and banned women until 1970.

People complaining about women's football should know their history and be suitably grateful for the way they made the game great.

 

Whilst partially correct, that is one very cherry-picked version of history.   The idea that the men’s game became popular “on the shoulders” of the women’s is rather fanciful and somewhat forgets the league structure that existed since the late 1800s.  If anything, it was the other way round at that time (and largely due to the huge numbers of men away at war) and is also now.  Not that I’d have put it that way at all - and not is it a problem -it shows football is a popular game for all, and that people will go and watch whoever is playing.

Edit: I definitely welcome more coverage of the women’s game, but I do hope it isn’t to the detriment of coverage for other sports and certainly not just focusing on the top of the game…if anything the increased coverage of women’s football ought to be at the expense of the over the top coverage of the men’s game .  There’s plenty of sports played equally by men and women that get next to no coverage other than odd occasions - hockey being one.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Branston Pickle

[canarydan23 4,060]

9 hours ago, Richard Richard said:

...and another reply dodging your incel reference.

I'll leave it there. You and I have polar opposite views on this.

I'm not dodging anything; this post does have strong incely vibes.