1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Women's game.

Discussion in 'General British Football' started by Chris P. Bacon, Oct 15, 2024.

  1. Chris P. Bacon

    Chris P. Bacon Registered User

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2023
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    South Wales
    Supports:
    Cardiff City
    We have the media push push pushing women's football at us on every site, BBC, Mirror etc. Women's fixtures and news is inter mingled on all the sports pages. So I've been wondering, does anyone on here take any notice of women's football? I think they should have their own pages, their own programmes and keep to their own reporters and leave the men's game to men. Sick of this woke sh!t now.
     
  2. SkyBlueMatt

    SkyBlueMatt The failed escape attempt

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2008
    Messages:
    3,375
    Likes Received:
    1,214
    Supports:
    Coventry City
  3. Tomohawk

    Tomohawk Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2019
    Messages:
    17,172
    Likes Received:
    11,879
    Location:
    In a Forest
    Supports:
    Nottm Forest
    With this sort of wisdom, you should definitely post more regularly.......
     
    Super_horns and SkyBlueMatt like this.
  4. EricThe Ox

    EricThe Ox Registered User

    Joined:
    May 26, 2024
    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    49
    Location:
    Oxfordshire
    Supports:
    Oxford United
    Whilst I wouldn't use the same words as the original poster, I do agree with some of what he says.

    I find women's football very boring to watch. As a game it just doesn't have the cut and thrust of even lower league football, and as a spectacle it is far removed from the mens' game. The partisan nature of the mens' game gives every match an edge, and this seems to be missing in the women's game, and is replaced by face painted girls and women all having a happy family day out. Each to their own, and it clearly has a place for certain sectors of society, but it's not for me. It's as exciting as watching golf.

    I also feel that it's being pushed hard by the media, as a politically correct move, and has a disproportionate amount of air time. If it was left to find its natural level I suspect it would feature far less.

    I dare say some will view this as being chauvinistic or misogynistic, but that is not my aim. My opinion, which I'm as entitled to as the next person, is that it is a poor spectacle that is being pushed upon us. I'm not against it, I just don't think it warrants the attention it gets. I also think some men are afraid to express their honest opinions about it as they're afraid of a backlash.
     
    McKenna's Wand and Mowgli like this.
  5. Jason

    Jason Spurs optimist

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2008
    Messages:
    41,526
    Likes Received:
    7,151
    Location:
    Peterborough
    Supports:
    Tottenham
    I always find the being pushed / forced on us argument odd. Moreso when people want to compare it to men's football which is shown across several different platforms every day of the week.

    Following the international break, these are what I assume to be the main televised game in that time-slot each day for the next week :laugh:

    Friday: Leeds v Sheffield United (8pm)
    Saturday: Tottenham v West Ham United (12:30pm)
    Saturday: Bournemouth v Arsenal (5:30pm)
    Sunday: Kilmarnock v Rangers (12pm)
    Sunday: Wolves v Manchester City (2pm)
    Sunday: Liverpool v Chelsea (4:30pm)
    Monday: Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace: 8pm)
    Tuesday: AC Milan v Club Brugge (5:45pm)
    Tuesday: Arsenal v Shakhtar Donetsk (8pm)
    Wednesday: Atlanta v Celtic (5:45pm)
    Wednesday: Leipzig v Liverpool (8pm)
    Thursday: Panathinaikos v Chelsea (5:45pm)
    Thursday: Tottenham v Alkmaar (8pm)
    Friday: Leicester v Nottingham Forest (8pm)

    "Women's football coverage is too much!!!"

    You'll be pleased to know that this forum has its own dedicated sub-forum for women's football where those interested in it can talk about it and the rest of the forum can ignore it as they please. The forum gurus haven't yet made it mandatory to post there.

    Unfortunately in your rage against women's football being forced upon you, you managed to scroll right past it and ironically clutter another sub-forum with talk about women's football.

    I'll treat this post with a bit more respect as you've offered some more context on why but nevertheless:

    - It's OK that it's not for you. In all likeliness, you are not the target audience for women's football. There are plenty of people that it does cater to that don't feel so welcome within the culture around men's football. You don't have to like both, you don't have to like everything. It's OK to like football but not like golf, it's okay to enjoy men's football but not enjoy women's football. Nobody cares that you're missing the latter.

    - As for the disproportionate amount of airtime, what do you think would be proportionate? I'm genuinely curious.

    I don't personally feel like the coverage is over the top and it is growing naturally in line with growing attendances and growing TV audiences. It's reported that viewing figures for the WSL have grown this year in line with games being made available to watch on Youtube. Attendances are slowly rising year-on-year which is why the coverage has increased in the last few years.

    There are plenty of things that are "pushed on us" that are easily avoided. I've never watched an episode of Love Island or Dancing on Ice or whatever other nonsense preoccupies our TV's because I have zero interest in those shows or that "celebrity" culture.

    For how little coverage there is of women's football I'm a little amazed at how easily its critics find it. The vast majority of the women's coverage that I see is by purposefully watching games on TV and following specific social media channels.
     
  6. SkyBlueMatt

    SkyBlueMatt The failed escape attempt

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2008
    Messages:
    3,375
    Likes Received:
    1,214
    Supports:
    Coventry City
    I hear this often whenever there is a discussion about the Womens game and I don't really see the problem. If we're talking about Women in the Mens game, I find 90% of male commentators & pundits are absolutely dire. Apart from Women talking in a different octave, it seems they are all programmed to talk about the most, generic, cliche bullsh*t.

    As for the amount of adverts or games. There surely enough mens football and channels to watch and avoid.

    I don't think the push of the Womens game is purely about equality. The lyric goes "And the public wants what the public gets", I believe that the moneymen think there is money to be made. It would be interesting to find out what the growth has been in the game since the increased exposure over the last few years?

    Talking of pushed hard by the media, it makes me think of this.



    I'll admit that I don't watch the Womens game but then I don't really watch any other football than the Championship. The issue you have with the 'spectacle', the 'edge' & 'partisan nature', I have with the PL. It's so bland, clinical and predictable, not to mention the circus of SM that goes along with it.

    I couldn't agree with you more regarding "having a happy family day out", being a Coventry fan, I've only ever known disappointment at football :laugh:. Seeing people happy at football, especially this season, it shouldn't be allowed, makes me sick! :laugh:

    Womens and Mens football is not the same though. The mens game is bigger, has a bigger audience and brings in far more money.

    There was a great documentary on Netflix 'Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer' (which is part of the brilliant 'Untold' series). Whether it was sexism, American greed (like College sports) or both but the way the US Womens Soccer team was treated (especially around the turn of the century). The amount of money the women brought in dwarfed the men, yet they were still treat inferior to the men.
     
  7. Chrysalis

    Chrysalis deleted

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2008
    Messages:
    11,512
    Likes Received:
    1,041
    Location:
    Earth
    Supports:
    Leicester City
    I take notice of it, but I dont like that there is no mens only news section on football news pages, I find some article about arsenal e.g. and I dont know from headline if its the mens team or womens, as they also wont differentiate on the name/headline either, I think this is a problem, but sadly I think its deliberate, I think its done so people reading the articles by accident might generate interest.
     
    McKenna's Wand likes this.
  8. McKenna's Wand

    McKenna's Wand Registered User

    Joined:
    May 21, 2015
    Messages:
    4,091
    Likes Received:
    842
    Supports:
    Preston
    I couldn't give a shit about it, I don't watch National League North football because the standard is crap, so I won't watch women's football for the same reason. But crack on I guess, if people are interested in it then it's not a big deal if the media latch on to it in this day and age.

    It does bug me when they merge women's transfers in with men's though, and do little to differentiate. Same with upcoming fixtures.

    "Did you see Chelsea have signed some Belgian lad called Mandy? Bet it's on one of those 8-year deals. Dodgy bastards".
     
    Mowgli likes this.
  9. Philip The Frog

    Philip The Frog Registered User

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2019
    Messages:
    1,665
    Likes Received:
    541
    Location:
    France
    Supports:
    Groundhopping
    I use it mainly to do grounds. Had a blast at the last World Cup in Australia (the England semi was one of the best football games I ever attended and I've been to 500-odd) and I'm sure I'll have a good time next summer in Switzerland and then in Brazil. Clubwise I go to mainly Paris FC games. It's not riveting to watch but then again men's football is getting less and less enthralling as time goes by so I don't see much difference nowadays.

    But yeah, if you don't like it or think it's shite, don't watch it and don't post about it.
     
  10. Chris P. Bacon

    Chris P. Bacon Registered User

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2023
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    6
    Location:
    South Wales
    Supports:
    Cardiff City
    I've just seen that the women's league cup game between Spurs and Villa had an attendance of 820 yesterday, and they want equal pay lol.
     
  11. StretfordEnd

    StretfordEnd Fools can be kings
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2002
    Messages:
    115,397
    Likes Received:
    22,259
    Location:
    Manchester
    Supports:
    20 Times Champions
    It's definitely deliberate, it's them telling us that the two games are the same, equal and of equal interest to people who are football fans. I've watched a fair bit of women's football over the last couple of years and it's definitely improved (apart from the goalies) but it's still light years behind the mens game in terms of fitness, pace, stamina and (crucially) entertainment. The women are definitely better at on pitch behaviour though, with hardly any Garnacho type rolling around and trolling of the officials.
     
    TLC likes this.
  12. zippy

    zippy The friendly Fascist

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2006
    Messages:
    46,200
    Likes Received:
    3,854
    Location:
    Hildesheim
    Supports:
    Sheffield United,FC Bayern
    Surely they have to make her captain :laugh: [​IMG]
     
  13. SamB_SCFC

    SamB_SCFC FF Old Skool

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2002
    Messages:
    12,367
    Likes Received:
    5,239
    Supports:
    Stoke City
    For me I watch it within its own sphere and try not to compare it to the men's game. It's the same way that I'll enjoy watching the women's competition in the Olympics and tennis etc, despite the fact that it's obviously a lower quality than the men's competition and the woman who wins Olympic gold in her event wouldn't even qualify for the first round of heats in the men's event etc.

    I think if you approach it with an open mind and judge it within its own sphere it's much more enjoyable. It's more difficult with football because it's so traditionally male dominated and so that makes it much harder to separate it and avoid the easy negative comparisons with the standards we're used to in the men's game. It's a different game played at a different pace with different tactics. But I don't judge anyone who isn't able to enjoy it. It's definitely a very different experience and I can understand why many people aren't able to separate it. Especially when there isn't a long history of women's football with legendary former players and teams to compare the modern players with. As there is in more traditional women's sports like athletics and tennis where there is a long history of legendary female champions to provide context to the athletes performing today and mean that the current stars are compared against them instead of their male counterparts.

    That's probably something that will change as time goes on. Today's players will become tomorrow's legends and there will start to become a history and story to the women's game and gradually over time it will start to develop it's own identity and the players will be compared to the women's players of the past rather than how shit they are compared to the men.
     
    McKenna's Wand likes this.
  14. McKenna's Wand

    McKenna's Wand Registered User

    Joined:
    May 21, 2015
    Messages:
    4,091
    Likes Received:
    842
    Supports:
    Preston
    I'll admit, I haven't watched much women's football but when I have it's the lack of pace and tempo that makes me lose interest. I've no doubt there are technically gifted players but as an English football fan, I'm used to high stamina games. It's the same reason I find La Liga dull at times.

    It's viewership will certainly grow but it will obviously always be capped. Tennis and golf doesn't have that issue because they play in the same tournaments/ events.

    It will be interesting to see where the women's game is in 5/10 years. In the US I think the women's games get similar crowds to men's? Or has that changed recently?
     
  15. SamB_SCFC

    SamB_SCFC FF Old Skool

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2002
    Messages:
    12,367
    Likes Received:
    5,239
    Supports:
    Stoke City
    Yeah the lack of pace is certainly noticeable. The pitches are possibly slightly too big because they're designed for the athletic capabilities of men which I don't think helps things and makes things appear slower because there's always so much space and less squeezing of the game. There used to also be a problem with the goals being too big because again they're designed for the 6ft plus frames of male goalkeepers not 5ft something female keepers but that's lessened in recent years as the standard of goalkeeping has improved at the higher end of the game at least. But there's nothing much you can do about it because if you reduce the pitch size or the size of the goals you just give people another stick to bash the women's game with and further the narrative that it's fundamentally inferior to men's football. But I suspect like the goalkeeping issue the tactics will just evolve over the time and develop ways to make better use of the dimensions of the pitch and close the space down.

    I think there's just going to be a gradual boost in profile over time. The women's game is genuinely really popular with youngsters and the best England women's players are household names amongst kids and teenagers. That generation will obviously become adults and it's likely that the interest will follow on into adulthood too with the corresponding commercial boosts now that they're working and earning money from things like attending the games, buying merchandise, buying subscriptions etc. It'll always be a distant second overall to men's football in the established markets like Europe but I think it'll definitely reach a level where it can hold its own, start to pay reasonable salaries at the higher levels and the star players will gradually become real household names.

    The USA is different because it doesn't have an established culture of men's football over there so women's football genuinely starts on an equal footing which is why they get similar crowds and similar profiles over there. Where football is traditionally seen as a 'man's' sport over here, over there it's actually seen as a girl's sport in many parts of America and the traditional men's sports over there are things like American football. So the misogynistic attitudes that hold women's football back in Europe don't really affect the women's game in America because the types of people who hold those sorts of views aren't interested in 'soccer' anyway and follow the traditional American sports. Which makes it far easier for women's 'soccer' to grow free from negative comparisons with the men's game from people who want to undermine it.
     
    McKenna's Wand likes this.
  16. Super_horns

    Super_horns WATFORD Till I Die
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    60,560
    Likes Received:
    7,428
    Supports:
    Watford
    Scotland fail to qualify for the Euros after a 2-0 defeat in Finland .
     
  17. Riverside

    Riverside Registered User

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2013
    Messages:
    5,412
    Likes Received:
    2,076
    Supports:
    Cardiff City
    Cracking win for Cymru. Gritty performance as underdogs and under the kosh at times. But created chances throughout and looked the better side 2nd half until the inevitable Alamo towards the end when they were hanging on.

     
    Super_horns likes this.
  18. Super_horns

    Super_horns WATFORD Till I Die
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2002
    Messages:
    60,560
    Likes Received:
    7,428
    Supports:
    Watford
    Congratulations.

    First ever major tournament.
     
  19. stephen jenkins

    stephen jenkins Registered User

    Joined:
    May 5, 2022
    Messages:
    1,567
    Likes Received:
    618
    Location:
    leicester
    Supports:
    leicester city

Share This Page