Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask everyone to watch the World Cup Final at 11 on Sunday?

342 replies

YetiTeri · 17/08/2023 07:21

It doesn't matter if you don't like football, or if you don't like sport this tournament and this game is about so much more than that.

  • it's about showing women's sport is worthy of investment.
  • it's about giving different role models to young and particularly teenage girls.
  • it's about showing rivalry in performance but not through violence.
  • it's about showing our daughters they matter as much as our sons.
  • it's about showing women they can be coaches and compete with men on an equal footing.
  • it's about highlighting the battles women from many countries have undergone to get to this tournament.
  • it's about showing homophobia has no place in team sports.

And it's about giving women a voice in their sport.

The Spanish team are there in spite of their coach and have some really disturbing stories about how players have been treated. Without any eyes on women's sport these sorts of issues are allowed to take root.

OP posts:
VeterinaryCareAssistant · 17/08/2023 16:12

I'm at work so hopefully it will pass me by. I honestly couldn't care less.

DoesNotPlayWellWithIdiots · 17/08/2023 16:16

Nope. I absolutely will not watch or record something I'm not remotely interested in.

Dramatic · 17/08/2023 18:46

LostAtTheCrossRoad · 17/08/2023 09:19

After seeing one of our players stamp on an opposing player ("stumbling" my arse), no I won't watch it. She belied and betrayed all those critically important points in your post with one stupid petulant action.

Oh so the entire sport and everyone who has worked towards this tournament across the world now doesn't matter because of one young woman's heat of the moment action? Don't be so dramatic

1dayatatime · 17/08/2023 20:23

It saddens me reading these posts that whilst many will complain of the unfair pay gap compared to men, no one is doing anything about it by simply watching the gap.

amp.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/15/matildas-gender-pay-gap-womens-world-cup-2023-final-australia-prize-money

Longagonow96 · 17/08/2023 20:26

Yanbu to ask. Doesn't mean I will, I've gardening to do.

MasterBeth · 17/08/2023 20:35

willWillSmithsmith · 17/08/2023 09:13

You could just put it on and do other things. I can’t stand football either but I do believe in supporting women trying to succeed in their own right in male dominated sports.

I personally would put it on but I don’t have a tv licence anymore so can’t support (even though I definitely would).

Show quote history

What's the point of putting it on and not watching??!

MasterBeth · 17/08/2023 20:39

Redglitter · 17/08/2023 15:57

No on their smart TV.... Live iPlayer/ITVX

Watching on Smart TVs/iplayer etc still only counts if you're on the viewing panel.
I am & all my viewing is counted, phone, tablet, TV, catch up - everything.

The only figures the industry uses are BARB ones. So unless you can persuade folk like me to watch the football - and you can't - the rest don't count officially

The BBC count all of their iPlayer streams and publish the results.

LittleMissDarkness · 17/08/2023 21:02

Dotjones · 17/08/2023 07:57

No I won't be watching. I have barely any interest in proper football these days, let alone this. Whether you want to accept this or not, the fact is that women's football is of a significantly lower standard than men's football. I watched the "highlights" of yesterday and the skill level is so low. What really grates on me is the way the commentators fawn over "skill" and "brilliance" and so on, when if the same things happened in a men's game the commentators would be talking about "gaffes" and things would be "sloppy".

Growing the women's game is fair enough but it cannot be treated as being equal to the men's game until it actually is.

Jesus are you for real? Thank god there are millions who disagree with you and value what these women have achieved.

Standingchair1 · 17/08/2023 21:47

But you could be open-minded and ask you’re friends if they’d like to watch the final.

Standingchair1 · 17/08/2023 21:54

It’s ok , the TV-detector van drivers will be at home watching the final so you can watch it on BBC with zero risk of being caught. Go on, be a bit naughty - your secret’s safe with all of us on Mumsnet.

Standingchair1 · 17/08/2023 22:00

you sound like a fun person

hockeysticks89 · 17/08/2023 22:06

So excited to be watching this, with the girls' football team my DH coaches.

cardibach · 17/08/2023 22:11

I find football totally boring and pointless.
I do agree the players are better role models than many, but whether I watch or nit doesn’t affect that.
So no. I won’t be watching the snooze fest.

Astronutter · 17/08/2023 22:17

YetiTeri · 17/08/2023 10:40

Football and tennis are the sports that I'm passionate about. I'll watch anything I can in both of them. Male and female.

In other sports, I like the atmosphere of big moments. I'd watch the final of any sport British women were in. I try and watch as varied sports as I can during the Olympics.

Show quote history

So you paid (as none of the freely available channels show much Equestrian any more) for an H&C subscription to watch the European eventing championship? A sport, as with other equestrian sports, that is arguably an even better demonstration of equality given that women compete against men on equal footing?

The championship that GB came away with team gold in (achieved by the all female team) AND individual gold AND individual silver?^

A sport, which at grassroots is overwhelmingly enjoyed by female participants? A sport which we as a nation are historically phenomenal at? And yet totally ignored by mainstream media?

^the most outrageous thing about this performance is it’s actually technically a drop from the last European Eventing championship where we got team gold and all the individual medals. We’re really good at eventing.

Spanne · 17/08/2023 22:35

Miserable sods.

Biker47 · 18/08/2023 00:15

1dayatatime · 17/08/2023 20:23

It saddens me reading these posts that whilst many will complain of the unfair pay gap compared to men, no one is doing anything about it by simply watching the gap.

amp.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/15/matildas-gender-pay-gap-womens-world-cup-2023-final-australia-prize-money

There's no such thing as a pay gap, especially in professional football or pretty much any sport. The fact that that article makes no mention of what revenue the men's world cup brings in, just shows how disingenuous it is. Women's winners get more as a percentage of revenue than the men do, but obviously the men get a higher payout because the revenue of the men's tournament is a hell of a lot larger. Long and short of it, in semi-professional and professional sport you largely get paid based on what you bring in or are perceived to bring in. To put some numbers in there, this woman's world cup is estimated to bring in maybe $500 million, I believe the last men's world cup brought in around $6 billion, there's the only gap worth mentioning.

QueenBitch666 · 18/08/2023 00:49

Football is opium for the masses be it male or female. I'd rather have my teeth pulled

sashh · 18/08/2023 01:50

YetiTeri · 17/08/2023 10:12

I have zero interest in rugby. Don't understand it, don't watch it, don't care.

But I passionately support women's rugby so that any girl who wants to play gets the opportunity. This is about using football as a snowball to start an avalanche of interest in women's sport overall and not restrict girls to just netball.

Nothing wrong with netbal, and boys should have an opportunity to play too.

maratara · 18/08/2023 05:36

As an Aussie , well done to your team ( crying about the 3 missed goals from us but moving on) . I will be watching the final. Going for England just because my son had such a lovely 6 months at Liverpool Uni on an exchange this year.
Expect the return in the Aus vs Sweden match for 3rd.
Also I will be kind and not mention the Ashes or the netball world champs. Ooops!
😎

Northernparent68 · 18/08/2023 06:27

It’s interesting the suggestion is to watch it is a moral duty or political act rather than for enjoyment’s sake, and it’s precisely this defensiveness that puts people off women’s football.

Burnamer · 18/08/2023 06:31

I don’t like football so I won’t be watching. I support women’s right to play but I also support those people who find organised sport a bit pointless to ignore the whole thing.

also, the spacing in your OP came off as a bit patronising. Each sentence did not become more important because there were gaps.

mondaytosunday · 18/08/2023 07:01

I'll be watching. My 20 year old son has excitedly been keeping us updated about the progress of all teams. Heard a couple blokes talking about it on the ferry the other day. Definitely more interest in the women's game now.

Sceptre86 · 18/08/2023 07:17

In our house any football will do. I've been following the England side (mancunian born and raised), my dh and kids are Scottish. Dd2 is only 1 but when we were watching the semis went and pulled a ball out from her brother's bedroom and was kicking it about. I'm looking forward to it. We are out at a pick your own farm later in the day.

Zebedee55 · 18/08/2023 07:22

I wish them well, but women's football is not for me.🙂

ohfook · 18/08/2023 07:35

I fucking hate football - I find it tedious mainly because for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, I married a total football bore. However the thought that when I was at school, the girls weren't allowed to play football in PE (only netball) and now my daughter could potentially see the lionesses win the World Cup, does make me feel quite emotional.

Swipe left for the next trending thread