To love football but have no interest whatsover in women's football league

[Eastie77Returns]

I've been a football fan since childhood and have attended matches for years. Both DS and DD play and I'm really glad they've both taken to the sport. DD's best friend also plays and her mum sent me a message the other day suggesting we take the girls to watch a WSL game. I support a Premier League team so not always easy to get tickets whereas their women's team (one of the teams in the game the mum suggested we watch) always has availability.

I feel bad for admiting this but I have zero interest in Women's football. I have been to a few games but it's just not the same. I simply can't get as engaged as I do watching the men's game and I really don't care if the women playing for the team I support win or lose.

I admitted this to the mum and she was shocked! I got the feeling she feels I am literally letting the side (our side) down.😭

I’m proud DD plays for the local girls team.

But I’m not going to pretend I feel the same watching both sexes (adults).

I’ve concealed my feelings from my DC

So you do pretend, to the children? I think that as long as your DD never gets the impression that her playing is somehow less than her brother's then fine. No one can force themselves to actually like something.
In general this makes no sense to me as I find all football to be unbelievably dull. But plenty of people would say the same about the sports I like.

I think many are comparing apples and oranges. You have grown up with one game and know the teams, seen players come and go and know how they play because you've invested. You haven't done that with the women's game.

Do any of you watch other women's sports like netball? Or have you been conditioned to always rate men's sports as "better"? Because once you get to know and follow the careers of some women it's great.

I go out of my way to watch women's sports because for so long it's not been available, except football which I hate.

It's natural to focus on the sport area you are interested in OP.

I have zero interest in football, but several family members have assumed that I would be interested/invested in women's football. Presumably the thinking is "you're female have a vagina and they are female have vaginas so naturally this should be an interest for you"? In theory I think the fact women's football has come on leaps and bounds is great as long as I don't have to watch it!

@Thepeopleversuswork does the fact I’m heterosexual also point to ‘internalised misogyny’?

I have no interest in sleeping with women. But since I’ve apparently been ‘conditioned’ into preferring mens football (heaven forbid that after watching football for 35 years I actually know a thing or two about the game, know what I like to watch and have made a decision after watching many WSL games) perhaps I’ve also been brainwashed into preferring a penis rather than a vagina when I have sex.

Obviously the above is ridiculous. I’m making the point that it’s incredibly patronising to tell a woman that her choice is one made because… ‘misogyny’ and her inability to understand how sexism works.

Other posters have suggested I’m not a good mother because good mums just suck it up and do stuff they find boring with their kids. DD has two parents but no one has suggested her dad should do this. Only women should sacrifice their time on the alter of motherhood🙄

I think it’s a shame that you’re not supportive of the women’s game but 100% your choice, obviously. Isn’t this invitation really about supporting your DD’s interest in football and encouraging her dreams and aspirations though? The messaging you’re sending out to both of your children just feels a bit off tbh. Although presumably their dad could take them too, to be fair.

Slightly off topic, but hilarious how many people don't watch lower league football "because of the quality."

You've been brainwashed by Sky Sports into believing Premier League football is anything more than a TV drama these days. How miserable to not be able to celebrate any goal properly because VAR may drag it back and analyse it for 5 minutes because a players toenail may or may not have been offside. The same 2 or 3 teams winning everything all the time, teams celebrating finishing fucking fourth because it means they'll get to compete in the Champions League, which is even duller than the Premier League.

Get yourselves down to a Championship, League One or League Two match, that's where the proper football is, where the passion is. Watching PL football on TV isn't experiencing football.

I support a league one team, season ticket, a life long fan. I get a buzz everytime I sit down in my seat, the buzz of anticipation and excitement. Even footy at this level is more skilful than the women’s game, the club have just launched a ladies side and it’s free of for season ticket holders but we have zero interest in going.
The banter and the ridiculous chants are part of the fun and this is also missing from the women’s game.

@NellyTimes couldn’t agree more!

Yes I agree as a championship season ticket holder.

I'd rather watch a conference game in person than watch PL on sky, there is no comparison with actually being in the ground.

I’ve taken DC with their cousin to watch Leyton Orient, really enjoyed the game so I know lower league does not = sub standard.

I’m also aware the Premiere League games can be sterile, dull affairs and a lot of the joy has been sucked out the game. But I can’t just switch allegiance after 30+ years and stop supporting my PL team.

Should Luton Town supporters turn their back on their team now they’ve been promoted so as to avoid the Sky Sports brainwashing? It doesn’t really work like that, most people follow a team rather than a football ideology.

If they were relegated I’d obviously continue to follow my team and watch them in the Championship.

Women's football and Men's football almost seem like different sports.

Not saying one is better than the other, but they certainly seem to work for different audiences.

Do you tell your DD that she will never be as good as her brother at football?

Also you remember fondly going to watch football as a child, maybe it would be nice for your DC to have that nostalgic feeling when they are older for watching WSL

I obviously don't mean teams like Luton who were in the conference 12 years ago and been through the ringer over the years and will probably yo-yo through the leagues again, but the "big 6". I don't understand what enjoyment you get supporting a team that is always expected to win. How can you ever be anything more than just satisfied?

Back to women's football, I kind of agree, I don't watch our women's team, because it's not my team if that makes sense? They are part of the club but so are the under 16s and I don't watch them either. I do feel very guilty about this though and keep promising I will watch them too. It's more trying to fit it in with everything else we do at the weekend than anything.

Those same 'blood money' despots and billionaires own the women's teams as well though.

I think the women's Premier League should have their own clubs and not just be the women's teams of Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool/Man City etc.

The team I support isn’t always guaranteed to win, far from it. With the exception of Man City, I don’t think there are guaranteed wins for any PL team week in, week out.

The quality of mid tier teams in the PL has improved a lot and personally I’ve found it exciting to see teams like Aston Villa, Brighton and Brentford compete on equal terms with the bigger teams in recent years. The injection of money has distorted things but for me the game is still fascinating. For all their wealth, Newcastle have struggled against teams built on a fraction of their budget so there are still intriguing games where a manager’s tactical skills can outwit a team owned by a billionaire.

I appreciate everyone has different views but the feeling I get on match day when I’m going to watch my PL team is just not the same when going to watch a WSL game.

@Eastie77Returns but is that not just because it's your team playing? If you go and see two other PL teams playing would you feel the same as when it's your team

Yep, I regularly tell her that. Must be why she loves playing for her local team (that I signed her up to and take her to training every week). I ensure her brother thinks women are inferior too which has obviously worked because as mentioned upthread he loves WSL.

Or maybe I haven’t said anything to her about my views on WSL because she has a mind of her own and will make her own decision.

She might think WSL is better and choose to avoid watching men’s football.

She might prefer men’s football.

She might watch both.

My revolutionary thought is that she should be allowed a preference without being told her choice is wrong and the patriarchy has done a number on her if she doesn’t choose to follow WSL.

I support a national league north team and enjoy both the men's and women's matches. I think if you're a supporter of an EPL team it's very much the whole picture that you get wrapped up in, the spectacle. In non league we don't have commentary or replays etc, it's far more of a community/family feeling.

I am entirely the opposite. Never been interested in football. Unusual for a man, and I got (and still get) a lot of stick for it. The women's world Cup was phenomenal though.

No falling over when an opposing player came within 2 feet, carried on playing after injury, Great offence and defence. IMHO they put the men's team to shame.

But surely you talk football with your DC @Eastie77Returns , as you seem a footballing family. There are three of us in our household, all support different teams, so can result in interesting discussions. So your thoughts about WSL must come up?

I meant, Northern Premier League North team

Yes..as mentioned, the progression of other teams interests me too. I travel around the U.K. for work and have had the opportunity to watch other PL teams. I find the game itself and the history of the clubs fascinating. The buzz and atmosphere even when it’s not my team.

WSL games feel like a family day out watching a pleasant show. Opposition fans sit together and it’s great that I don’t have to worry about my DC. It’s a nice, family experience. I just don’t feel as invested in the result.

This is true. There's a big difference in men's football between the Premier League and the lower leagues. The women's games have more of a lower league feel, but I can't help feel that if you're watching Man City women against Man United women (or whatever the game may be) then it's just a half arsed version of the men's game.

Lower league men's clubs are distinctive clubs in those cities or towns with often well over 100 years of history. That wouldn't be the case if you're watching a Premier League's B team in League Two for example.

I'm the same. And both my girls played to a fairly high standard. I just can't get interested in it. Plus the woman who does the main wsl commentary on 5 live is so incredibly annoying I can't listen to it.