The players came out and said they didn't want to be compared to the men's team, and yet all people have done for the past month is compare them to men. "The female Messi" "Up there with the 1966 team" etc. etc.
Yes, because women haven't been able to have a proper go at it. Growing up all the football teams at school were boys only, as were the summer camps etc. At high school we finally persuaded the PE teachers to teach us football for a term in the final year but that's the only opportunity we got and we had to fight for it. At the primary school I work at we have a big ball court where the children can play football at break times. For years it was only boys who would play and the girls wouldn't even enter there but last year a couple of girls braved it (although the boys wouldn't pass to them and moaned that they had to allow them on their teams). This year local schools in Bradford set up a girl's football tournament (the girls were allowed to join the normal one but none ever would) and our girls won 13 out of 14 matches and never conceded a single goal! As a result, more girls are now entering the ball court and although most of the boys still won't include them, they are getting stuck in anyway. A couple have even managed to gain respect from the boys who never suspected their ability to play as no-one had ever given them a chance before.
"Maybe it's the standard" we get champions league etc etc that wasn't a comparison against men's football, no of course it wasn't.
At my secondary school we used to play football at breaks and dinner and there were two girls in my year who played with us. One wasn't the best but the other was as good as any boy and they were both treated just the same as the boys but when it came to pe lessons we did football while they both had to go and do rounders or netball and weren't allowed to try out for the school team either
I have watched more of the Womens World cup than Ihave any other football on TV for years, refreshing to see players that dont roll around,crying after getting tackled.
Oh Dear! perhaps you should change your handle to 'Mr Angry from Fareham'...... If you read my OP again you will realise it was not trivialising their achievement but more about the media hype surrounding it (albeit mainly from the ridiculous comparisons emanating from their coach). Also my 'sexist' joke re stillettos further down the thread was written whilst sitting next to my wife and was just that! A joke! No indication of my real attitude towards women. If it was I would be a dead man That said, skill/technique level could become equivalent to the men's game but size, pace and physique of lady footballers (particularly goalkeepers) on a full size pitch and with full size goals, spoils the game for me. It is not a level playing field for men and women. Formula 1 is a similar situation. Women test drivers are one thing and there is no reason their skill levels could not match or exceed male drivers ( I believe there are female fighter pilots and test pilots) , but the physical strength and stamina required for a full season in F1 means they are unlikely to be able to compete at the highest level and challenge for podium places, particularly as F1 is considering making the cars more physically demanding to drive like they were several seasons ago. Obviously, we are not comparing women vs men but women (albeit super-fit athletes) against super fit male athletes. Men and women ARE equal AND different - both have their strengths and weaknesses. Evolution has seen to that. Anyone who thinks differently is delusional.
OK maybe I put that wrong, its a minority version of a popular sport, but then so is women's cricket but they don't get the same overreaction and hype, entertaining as their games are. As to why I don't think it will ever get very big is because ( and this is not a go at women) there is already a glut of football, even league 2 is more entertaining than women's international football (IMO) mainly because of the pace and physical constraints. Given that league 2 grounds aren't exactly overflowing, why would people pay in numbers to watch a slower less entertaining game? They might at first of course because of the novelty but I can't see it becoming a viable commercial commodity.
Well done to the women's team and there achievement but watching it is not for me, i don't watch Scottish football either I'm sure the Scottish supporters do and enjoy it but again not for me. Good on em all let them get on with it
Yeh Im sure that could work kiddo... League 2 teams struggling with finances as is being made to pay for some playground standard womens team that 49 people watch. Radio1 had about 7-8mins on their newsbeat thing the other day about how amazing an achievement it was, how this slag whos scored an own goal then broke down crying or whatever she did is the modern day gazza, the way theyve gone out their with the countries hopes and dreams on them blah blah blah... Pleeeeease, has anyone ever tried to watch that Womens cup final and made it past 5 mins? The standard of goalkeeping in womens football is Beyond awful. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I bet fans of premier league clubs say exactly the same about the football league. We wouldn't call that nonsense though. More people are interested in the premier league than are interested in the football league than are interested in women's football. Each is a step below the other. I find it a little hypocritical that after the criticism some give the premier league they can be so dismissive of the women's game.
The key difference there is that Premier League clubs benefit from smaller clubs by nicking their players. Some money the Premier League generates should go towards supporting player development at lower levels because it's simply common sense. However it would be nonsense to suggest that Premier League money should be sent to clubs just to keep them going. If women's football can find its own sponsors and advertisers and broadcasters then great. If it can't simply because people don't give a stuff then quite honestly nothing of value would be lost.
"how this slag whos scored an own goal then broke down crying or whatever she did " How do you refer to a pro footballer who scores an own goal? Just curious. I'd love to hear it, as you really do have a way with words.