Euros women's final

[chilling19]

Half way through the game which has been nail biting. From a feminist perspective, all the women - players, commentators, ref - are not sexualised. It feels so weird to see this in football. And brilliant.

Oh, completely agree. Men's Football. And Women's Football 🙂

So emotional about yesterday's win. What a game and what an achievement.
I do hope the spotlight on what an all women's team can do will help curb the infiltration of inadequate males into the sport but the FA really need to prioritise fairness and sportsmanship over hurty feels.
Actually fuck Starmer. Seriously, hypocritical slimeball.

But don't you raise an eyebrow at the Linacres and Beckhams jumping on the bandwagon.

Ian Wright has long been a supporter of women in football, but have either of the other two ever reached out in support during the dark times when women struggled for support. I also would not trust Linacre to know what a woman was, if there were a clash between speaking out for single sex sport or preserving his "liberal" credentials. He is sort of TVs version of Keir Stamer.

Chelsea women, despite being one of Europe's very top clubs, still play at a tiny ground near Kingston with a capacity of less than 5,000. Season tickets sold out within about half and hour and it is very difficult for supporters to get to see the team play. I would feel more comfortable if Linacre and Beckham were talking about the issues the game faces, than they simply issuing patronising tweets now the England team have done well.

Sorry had to share this, it did make me laugh.

😆

"As a woman who has been supporting England Women for 20 years – I was in Helsinki for the last final when the Germans beat us 6-2 (I have my closure now 😍) – I'm not a big fan of "It's football". I think it opens the door for transgender women (men, in my opinion) to infiltrate women's teams.

So ..... its "Women's Football": keep it exclusively female!"

I think you've missed the point. The point is that football is by default considered male and that the prefix of woman's football marks it out as some football subcategory, which it is not, it's football. Just like we says the Euros and the womens Euros - suggests male default. The point is about removing this assumption that football is by default male.

Eh ?

I haven't missed the point.

You don't have to agree with me: that's fine. But my point was perfectly, er ... on point!

Wow. So, they've allowed us fifty years of football before throwing women under the bus again.

I hope they will call it the Mens euro whenever that’s on again.

There were advertising banners up saying "it's not women's football, it's football".

The point is that football is by default considered male and that the prefix of woman's football marks it out as some football subcategory, which it is not, it's football. Just like we says the Euros and the womens Euros - suggests male default.

I Disagree. 'Football' and 'women's football' works for me. We've been arguing on here for ages that the women's sport needs protection, while the men's should be changed to 'open'. This should be the case here as well, so women's football is exclusively for women, 'football' is inclusive and should include men, transwomen, and and transmen if they want to risk it and aren't taking any banned drugs.

DD is getting very frustrated by the new males fans

Let's be fair here, nearly all the fans are 'new', both male and female. I regularly watch my local PL women's side, and the crowds are pathetic - a couple of thousand if it's famous opposition, lower if it's a 'lowly' team. The crowd has at least as many men as women. Many adult men attend with their daughters.

I recommend women to give it a go. The prices are low, the crowd are friendlier than the men's crowd (although I enjoy the rowdiness of the men's game too), it's easy to get in and out, and you aren't treated like an inconvenience.

Wow. So, they've allowed us fifty years of football before throwing women under the bus again.

Well they are trying to/thinking of it. We need to make sure they don't even if that results in legislation to force the position. Hopefully, Nadine Dorries' shot across the bows and veiled threat of bringing in legislation if the sporting bodies don't see sense plus this incredible win and the support for it will make the FA realise they would look like complete and utter fools if they pressed ahead with including men in women's sport.

Single sex spaces, services and sports are high on the agenda at the moment only a complete numpty without a brain cell could fail to see the direction of travel and the pitfalls of including men in anything for or about women.

It is so refreshing to hear the words "women and girls" spoken naturally, with no caveats or tantrums, on all TV channels, radio and in the the MSM.

I fucking loved this.

I'm still buzzing too much to write anything more competent!

100 years after DKL, 50 years since the ban was lifted and about 10 years of professionalism still dwarfed by the sums of money in the men's game.

Just awesome - well done England!

The FA has invested a lot in women's football and that is the main reason England won. Starting at the top, the Super League has minimum wages and pays a lot more than pretty much every other European league, down to youth work.

I am not sure I agree. Lyon were the first Club to really invest in women's football and dominated the game for a long time. Barcelona, PSG, Duisberg and others have followed. The skill level of Spanish players is very high, and the game against Spain was perhaps the toughest. Many, including DD, felt that (luckily) the better team lost. Scandinavian countries, Iceland being an interesting example, have really invested in grass roots football for girls which has paid off as all five Nordic countries qualified.

The UK is lucky in that it has a strong club structure. That is where the scouting training and development happen. But using Chelsea as an example, as they are current champions and arguably our dominant team. Where the hell is Kings Meadow? (Their ground - yes I know but unless you live in Kingston it is a pain to get to with a capacity of less than 5K.) Several big clubs have only just added women's teams others still don't have them. And despite the huge media reach that the big clubs have, publicity is often absent. Newcastle has recently been a positive exception, but Howe has a track record of promoting women's, wheelchair and other football from his time building community support at Bournemouth.

And look at which clubs offered their grounds for the recent UEFA tournament. All, or certainly almost all, the England matches were sold out. A missed opportunity for the people running the men's game to really support the women.

Looking ahead at Chelsea fixtures. They have their first match in two years at Stamford Bridge on 18 September. but keen supporters will be on a tour of less accessible Britain: Borehamwood, Crawley, Birkenhead. That is if you can get tickets in small capacity grounds.

@Needmoresleep
Excellent points. The stadiums issue will continue to limit fan involvement and I don't know the answer. With the price of land so high, I don't see how new grounds can be built more centrally or closer to the parent club's location, either.

I see that the conversation has become much more, appropriately, political but I just wanted to say I was off for a walk this morning and recalled the women celebrating their win and I just could not stop smiling. It is only one thing, and not the event that makes it all better, not the one thing that changes everything, but it is such a great "one thing".

@dudsville I know what you mean. I watched the press conference where you could hear the women singing 'it's coming home' before they got into the room, they came in singing and dancing and getting on top of the table and then danced out again, still singing. It was just pure unbridled fun and joy and was so lovely to see and keeps giving me a wee smile when I think about it.

@dudsville and @Waitwhat23
Ditto. I suddenly feel happy for no reason....and then I remember why.

The Guardian has a piece on "How women’s football can capitalise on England triumph – in six steps", although none of those steps includes getting the FA to properly protect the sport for women only. www.theguardian.com/football/2022/aug/02/how-womens-football-can-capitalise-on-england-triumph-euro-2022

What exactly do you disagree with? Mentioning that specific clubs and other countries support women's football doesn't negate what I said. Especially Scandinavia, who have long been strong in women's football. Norway used to be right at the top, but now that other, bigger countries also invest in women's football, they are not at the very top anymore.

The rest, again, doesn't really negate what I said other than giving more credit to the clubs than the FA, which is debatable. Yes, clubs are pushing it, UK clubs have the most money from their investors, but you need the footballing association to push it at a high level, and at a national level. If they don't care, the players wouldn't get excited to play for their country.

Most stadiums are used only every other week. If the women can fill them the club will be happy to get the gate receipts for their games as well.
The problem is that so far attendances have not justified using the main stadium. When Brighton did it a year or so ago the ground was about 80% empty (and ticket prices were a lot lower). There’s no way a club is going to use a huge stadium if they cannot recoup costs.

I hope that some of the enthusiasm seen on this thread turns to action. If women start going to matches every week the clubs will soon have the games in the main stadium - they never turn down the chance of a profit. If the current excitement dies away and women’s game continue to get crowds of a couple of thousand at giveaway ticket prices then the games will stay in smaller, cheaper venues.

I can't help thinking stadiums and the way they make profit just don't fit the lives of women. No matter how much I like a sport, I'm not going to watch it for kicks. There's always a secondary reason.

Creating a network of smaller stadiums/fields/sports centers would work much better for infrequent punters or make it a big thing like the races where you go to meet friends. But it's the venues which need to change not the women...

When a pipe is leaking, we fix the pipe, not the water. Can't remember where I read that.

But it's the venues which need to change not the women...

If women don't get out and support women's teams then all this will fade away. Football as we've been celebrating is a commercial enterprise, not a charity.

That's fine, nobody had to watch or support women's football, but if we don't then we cannot complain when it doesn't get the same attention or backing as men's football.

This seems positive:

www.theguardian.com/football/2022/aug/03/wsl-clubs-see-ticket-demand-surge-after-lionesses-euro-22-win

I hope it sticks