I'm angry.
Football can be ugly. Beyond the surface lies discrimination, racism, antisemitism, violence and more. With the women's World Cup kicking off this week, unfortunately, the deep rooted sexism has found it's way to the front of the queue and has slowly seeped into coverage wherever you look. And it continues to utterly piss me off to the point that I feel the urge to write out my (very messy) thoughts.
Here are but a few examples I've noticed:
Firstly, a few weeks ago we get the announcement of the first ever female first team head coach in the men's game, Hannah Dingley, at League Two side Forest Green Rovers. Jokes are immediately made, articles are written that draw unwanted attention to the topic. I see comments like "at least the changing rooms will be clean" get laughs and likes from fellow fans. Ugh.
Whilst she was only in charge in an interim role, and has since been replaced after only a few weeks by former Southhampton youth team coach David Horseman as of a few days ago, it was a massive step forward in terms of inclusivity and diversity in the sport, and it should by no means be quickly swept away. I hope we get more examples in the near future, and I also hope Hannah was not discouraged by the hate.
Then, EA's football game, FC 24 is revealed and it is announced that, for the first time, we will be able to use players from the women's game in their most popular mode, 'Ultimate Team'. This is met with backlash from the fanbase, claiming that this will ruin the gamemode and the game itself.
Many make the arguments that stats of the women should be placed as lower then the stats of those of the men. They forget the fact that, in Ultimate Team, you can choose the players you include in your team. It's by no means a requirement to include any players from the women's game if you don't want to. But the popular retort is simply just to complain and to argue that the inclusion is a bad one.
Finally, the news about several footballers' somewhat odd response to Benjamin Mendy's several not guilty verdicts of rape and sexual assault accusations, with arguments to be made that the former Man City footballer should not be immediately forgiven and that the support he has received from his peers is problematic, as a pair of cases are still undecided, on top of the fact that there are several harrowing stats which seem to suggest there may be more than meets the eye with cases of this nature.
There is a lot to say about this and I've most likely summarized it in a poor way; this statement by the social media account VERSUS shines a good view on the whole situation:
And now, with the commencement of the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, we are once again seeing casual sexism, the same old arguments, the comments in articles of the UK's most notorious shit toilet of a source, the Daily Mail:
Seeing all of this made me realize something crucially important that I think every football fan needs to know.
People do not watch the WSL, or the Women's Champions League, or any women's football game to analyse the skill level, or to compare it to the men's game, or because of the overall viewing figures.
They watch it for the diversity and for the representation.
Young girls who grow up interested in football can be given role models, players to aspire to. No doubt there will be young female fans watching this years World Cup to cheer on the women's team, just like they did a few years ago with the women's Euros. When England won the Euros in 2021 pundits and journalists rightfully stated that the achievement would do wonders for the development of the female game. I just think it's a real shame people continue to bash it.
Take away the women's game and you lose a chunk of football supporters, and that's a loss, in my opinion.
People's perceptions of football continue to be that the top level of the men's game is the peak, it's the shining pot of gold that people can't take their eyes off, enough to the point where if you show someone a Women's Super League game, they will make little complaints, like how the players aren't athletic enough, or how it doesn't look as impressive.
I have watched several sporting events with people before who feel the need to bring up the fact that "well, obviously the men will be more athletic and powerful than the women, that's just genetics". and I resist the urge to slap them.
Because, yes. But does that really matter? At the end of the day, it's a demonstration of sporting and athletic ability. But as mentioned before, a key factor is also the representation, the advertisement of diversity. If sport featured purely male competitors it would not be nearly as popular, or interesting.
I remember seeing a Sky Sports video interview with Emma Hayes, the manager of Chelsea Women, after winning WSL Manager of the Season. The comments of that video genuinely make my blood boil. There was a moment where she named her save of the season and they showed the clip. One person made enough time to comment saying that the save was pitiful and if the same save was made in the men's game nobody would bat an eyelid. Not to mention the casual sexism of 'she would be better in the kitchen" or "she should be working in a nice shop". It absolutely reeks of unprofessionalism and it's borderline rude, and petty.
There's no avoiding the fact that football has a majority male fanbase, but by picking on the successes of the women's game, you are harming and disregarding the portion of fans that actually care about the women's game. It may be small, but it's there.
I am genuinely of the belief that if you support any football club, you support that club top to bottom, inside out. That means if there is a women's team, you follow the women's team. Just like if there is a development squad, or an U21s squad. What many care not to pay attention to is that a football team goes further than the men's first team. Take me as an example, as a Chelsea fan. I feel so lucky to support a women's team that has seen so much success over the last few years, under Emma Hayes, who is not just a great coach, but also an expert pundit that has recieved praise for her style of match analysis. Sam Kerr plays for my club. To refer to FC 24 again, Sam Kerr has led the promotion for the inclusion of the women's teams into the game, and many trailers include shots of her. Many supporters may not even care to follow her career, some may even not recognize her at all.
I have so much respect for other coaches in the womens game too. I have so much respect for Sarina Wiegman, who has revolutionised the national team and has brought England success. I've been reading up on former coach Hope Powell, as well, who has done so much for the women's game.
At the end of the day, if you don't want to watch something, you don't have to watch it. But I think two things are very important: firstly, you shouldn't disregard something without trying it first. Don't judge a book by it's cover. And secondly, please understand that a reply to a tweet or a comment on an article which critiques the womens game, does a great deal of damage, a lot more than you may realise.
At the end of the day it just pains me to see so many people jump on the bandwagon of 'the women's game is bad' because it's the popular thing. I remember watching the Women's Euros final with my parents a few years ago (I think I wrote a post about it) and it was a really thrilling game. I still remember Chloe Kelly ditching an interview to go belt out Sweet Caroline, or Jill Scott shouting the infamous "fuck off you fucking prick" to a Germany player in the depths of extra time. I'll be watching as much of the Women's World Cup as I can to scratch my football itch until the new season rolls around.
All I'm saying is, I don't think you can call yourself a proper football fan if you don't watch football from as many places as possible, and that should include the women's game, in my personal opinion. And what better intro is there than the Women's World Cup, which should hopefully be a really enjoyable tournament to watch and reflect on.