bluekipper.com Women & Football

Women & Football By Jenny Thomas

Women and football tend to not mix. If you picked a random woman off the street and asked her politely, to explain the off side rule. She would almost certainly have no idea, as that is the common misconception. The majority of women would much rather go and get a manicure than go to the game on a Saturday afternoon have a bevvy with the lads and sit through 90 minutes of Football.

Now, we have all seen the Yorkie adverts on TV, and I am sure we have all laughed at them even I have and this is because they play on the typical view that “women are airheads when it comes to football”. But that is not always the case...

For as long as I can remember I have been an Evertonian, my Dad took me to my first game when I was six. We had beaten Leeds 2-0 at home, we sat in the family enclosure. I was ecstatic and since then I have been a fanatical Evertonian . I have had a season ticket now for about six years, and as I grow older I become even more aware of certain aspects of the game.

I have a limited number of female friends who are as enthusiastic about football as I am. Most of them are just bothered about who’s sexier Thierry Henry or David Beckham! But the first thing I want to talk about come Monday morning is the weekends footy results- not who slept with who in last nights Corrie!

In college, I was the first girl that that lads had come across who could tell them what the offside rule was or who could sympathise with them over referee's being ...idiots... shall we say? Now, I have become accepted and most importantly respected. My views are not pushed aside, we share banter and have a laugh. Women's football is becoming more and more popular through out England and in particular America. Organised women's football has taken off under the F.A. It is now the fastest growing sport in the country. Teams have increased from 500 to 4,500 in the last eight years alone. It is amazing to think that for nearly 50 years women's football was banned by...you guessed it the F.A.

As I was researching women's football I read that a team called the “Dick Kerr ladies” played “St. Helens” at our very own Goodison Park and attracted crowds of over 53,000, this was on boxing day 1920. I am actually quite proud to think that we staged such a game and had a helping hand in the future of women’s football. I was quite shocked to read this statement given by the F.A’s council in December 1921 only a year later; “Complaints having been made as to football being played by women, the council feel impelled to express their strong opinions that the game of football is quite unsuitable for women and ought not to be encouraged...” The rest as you can imagine is utter dribble. That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read. In my eyes they were obviously scared that the male dominated sport was starting to become overshadowed by the uptake in female interest. But thank god society has changed. Films like ‘Bend it like Beckham’ have made light of a subject that used to be a serious issue for women across the globe. It cleverly works in the stereotypical “David Beckham is fit role” but there is an underlying sense that the film wanted to show that women can play football and we do know our stuff! It shows that we are not just passive members of society any more.

I am starting to learn of more and more women who are as interested in football as I am, and I am glad that I can have a conversation about football with a female and know that she is coming from where I am mentally. With the ever increasing awareness in football from both sexes it can only mean big things. The England women's football team have set a target to win the women’s world cup in 2007. If they were to pull that type of achievement off, then it could set alight the awareness of female football in this country even more, as women's football in England is still an unpaid sport. So Women in this country can only play it as a pastime instead of a full time job. They still need to earn a living, and as much as I love the beautiful game I think it is ridiculous the amount the footballers get paid, that's is what frustrates me about it. It is taking away the sheer joy of wanting to play football in some respects. That is why I admire women footballers they are doing it for the enjoyment and pleasure they get out of it, not the £40,00 grand a week!

There is nothing better than going to the match on a Saturday afternoon, having the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at the first few notes of Z-cars, and I just hope that as beneath the surface women's football in a few years time we could be experiencing similar feelings- whilst watching a female team. Who knows perhaps in a few years time if women keep pushing the subject of football we could be standing there in crowds of 40,000 cheering on a female side! It is still a possibility.

With the likes of Karen Brady at Birmingham and Lorraine Rogers at Tranmere -women are creeping more and more into the men's side of football which can only be a good thing. Any men reading this will probably laugh at the thought of having mixed professional football teams, and I agree it does seem an absurd idea-but you can not rule it out. I am sure questions would need to be asked though. Would it ruin the face of English football? Would women be able to keep up having not played under such professional conditions? As a woman I do not think it is a good idea, women will always have the hassle of competing with men, and we know what men are like for competition. Things should certainly stay as they are for now- but it is certainly something worth thinking about. As women start to push for more and more equal rights it wont be long before some one suggests it!

When I was younger I decided that I wanted to become a Premiership manager, I dreamed of managing Everton, as I am sure every Evertonian does but I never ruled it out as an unrealistic dream. I began to co-coach a small boys team, I did a lot of research into the subject and I even wrote to the Echo, Karen Brady and Lorraine Rodgers. I got no reply off the two women but I did get a reply off the Echo, who printed it as an article, and a hot topic for debate. I received answers off both Howard Kendall and Tommy Smith. I started to realise that it was a stupid idea. I knew the amount of hassle that I would get going into such a male dominated business. So I decided to give up on that dream, and stick to the journalistic side of football, after I was told by a teacher that I had a talent in writing . That way I was still getting involved in my passion for the game, and I was still getting my views across, which is very important to me because I am a very opinionated person. One day I saw an advert in the Echo for a competition to become a columnist on their new ’Jury’ commenting on Everton. So I decided to give it a go and thought nothing of it, a few weeks later I got a phone call from the Echo saying that they had liked my piece, I was over the moon, and I have been doing this now for two seasons. It is something I thoroughly enjoy and has led into several other fantastic opportunities. This is one dream I won't give up on so easily, and hopefully it proves there is a way for Women to get into the game after all!

Call y’self an Evertonian? (15/04/04)