Fan-Girling Over Football...

I KNEW it would be big.

There's a giddy thrill in discovering a thing before the rest of the world does. Like, for example, when an early 2000s post-pub channel-surf, led me to a random docudrama that I couldn't quite believe. It took a few weeks of tipsily catching half episodes, before I decided it was funny and told my family. Fast-forward a couple more years and we're all dragging dining chairs into the lounge to watch the The Office Christmas special together. Rooting for Dawn and Tim along with the rest of the nation. Obviously I'm not saying Ricky Gervais owes his career to me. Well, maybe a little bit. But it was interesting to be aware of The Office before the buzz gathered momentum and the world learnt of David Brent.

I was thinking about that when I was at the football last weekend. I've said it before, but I have little interest in men's football. I grew up in an Evertonian household so was aware of specifics like Howard Kendall, Frannie Jeffers, and Barry Horne's goal of 1994. But apart from the odd World Cup or Euros tournament, it left me a bit cold. There was no hook to drag me in, and no one mithered me to try. I went through high school doing my absolute utmost at wagging as many PE lessons* as I could get away with (Sorry Miss, I have a cello lesson) and being utterly turned off to the concept of jigging about in the cold. Yet, just thirty-seven years after my birth, and alongside the BBC's decision to televise the 2015 Women's World Cup, I became a sports' fan. More specifically, a women's football fan. Now, I'm on my 4th season ticket for Liverpool Women FC and spend every other Sunday cheering them on in Prenton Park.

Unlike Ricky Gervais, (who would be absolutely nowhere if I hadn't told my family about his little show) women's football is not in its infancy. Clare Balding's Channel Four documentary When Football Banned Women, showed how popular the game was after the First World War. Women worked together in factories and mills. Work-based teams were established, games were played, and the crowds flocked in. But in 1921 women were banned from playing by the FA because... sexism? The patriarchy? Jealousy? Who knows. The ban was reversed in 1969, although it took another twenty-four years for the FA to set up the Women's Football Committee to run the game in England. So it's not early days for women to play football at all. It can just feel like it sometimes. Especially when compared to what the mens are doing.

Merseyside Derby at Haig Avenue on
2nd December 2018. Everton won 2-1.
I had the worst hangover and had to buy
paracetamol in Aintree on the way home.

I try not to compare really. It's a different world, and one I'm not interested in. I get frustrated when the women's game is seen as not as good as the men's. When people think the men set a standard that the women don't reach; that they compete at a lower level. Nah. That's bollocks.** It's two separate entities. By all means find the women's game less enjoyable if you prefer the men's leagues, but don't assume your experience is universal. Like heterosexual people who think everyone is straight until they're told otherwise, fans of the men's game are always surprised when I extol the virtues of women's football but have no clue what's happening in the Premier League. They think they're mainstream and the rest of us are other. It's annoying. 

Whilst I was musing about this blog,
assistant manager and goal keeping
coach, Chris Kirkland, was trying
to score against Anke Preuß 

So, during half-time on Sunday, I came up with my list of reasons why women's football is fab. Many are to do with off-pitch organisation as much as the game itself, but it all adds up to making it a satisfying way to spend a Sunday afternoon. So grab your rattles, wave your scarves, and let's go.

Women's Football is Fab Because...

...it's cheap!
It costs £6 for an adult ticket to watch Liverpool Women. A pound less if you book online and children cost £2.50 when pre-booked. Whilst some clubs' prices may differ slightly, no one takes the piss. It's possible for a family of five to watch a game together without taking out a second mortgage or selling an organ. 

...the crowd is nice!
Possibly because of the large proportion of children present, there's very little bad language. I think I heard one fan mutter 'shit' under their breath once. But standing up and yelling abuse at players, managers and refs isn't the norm. It rarely happens. There's cheering, shouts of encouragement, and collective groans at near misses but that's about it in my experience. On top of that, the away fans sit alongside the home fans. Whilst this can sometimes be annoying (one Birmingham fan stands out in my mind - I had to stop myself shushing him!) it results in good-natured banter at most. 

...there are less cards, sendings off, or extra time!
I've no empirical evidence for this, just my own gut instinct, but I've watched many games where there're no cards given. I've also watched matches where there's no extra/injury time added on. I would hazard a guess that this is the opposite of the norm in men's matches. If I had more time/inclination I'd do statistical analysis over the course of a season. Or Google it. The players get on with the game and don't tend to time-waste. Not obviously, anyway. Dramatic dives and desperate appeals to the ref aren't often a thing. It's refreshing.

A paused, zoomed in TV screen
  does not give the best quality
photo. But here I am, enjoying
my personal space on 26th
November 2018 watching
Liverpool play Birmingham City.

...it's not too popular!
This feels like an own goal to be honest. I want more people to attend games, I want more money coming into the clubs, and I want more coverage on the TV because broadcasters see it's a popular sporting event. However, there's something lovely about being able to choose where to sit, not have my outer thighs pressed up against creepy guys either side of me, and not have to apologise to twenty people in the row as I make them stand so I can nip to the loo at half time. I like the personal space. I know it's not ideal for the clubs who want as many people there as possible, but I still like it. Sorry.

...equality is more obvious!
All the players are women just as all the players in the men's game are men. But in terms of other football professionals, there's a real mix. Amongst the managers, coaches, referees and linespeople, there's no obvious bias. When I catch five minutes of a men's match on TV, it's rare to see anyone female besides the crowd. I don't know why this is the case. Likewise, I don't know why there are many out-gay female players but hardly any out-gay male ones, but that's the way it is. It makes for a nicer, more inclusive environment in which to spend a couple of hours, regardless.

An old pic now but I proper fan-girled
 over Tash Dowie. We have a mutual friend
so it wasn't the weirdest thing for me to
say hi. Not my usual style at all
but SEE HOW HAPPY I LOOK.

...the players meet their fans!
I think this is the biggie for me. At the end of every match, the home team walk over to the stand and sign programmes, pose for selfies, and chat to their fans. They walk along until everyone who has waited to see them, has been seen. It's the loveliest thing ever. I stayed once to see what happened. Dozens and dozens of kids, teenagers, and parents got to chat with their favourite players. It sounds really simple, but had a visible impact on the kids who got to see their idols close up. Later, on Twitter, I saw those same photos being proudly posted. Parents tweeted their thanks to the players who made their kid's day. It's such a positive thing to do. How wonderful it would be if it happened in the men's game. 

I could go on about this all day but I won't. The truth is, I'm a big fan but I'm no expert. I still need a slowed-down replay to see if a player is offside, I don't know the names of all Liverpool squad yet (to be fair it changed completely a few months ago) and I'm getting fed up of sitting in the freezing Tranmere weather and watching teams score against us. But that's it, isn't it. That's the thrill. The highs, the lows. I'm becoming a real football fan after all. I just need to shout 'back of the net' and 'pick THAT out' several times a match, and it's like I'm Des Lynam. Or something.

Have a lovely week, folks.


*My PE lessons consisted of netball and hockey in the Winter and tennis, rounders, and athletics in the Summer. In 4th and 5th Year (That's Year 10 and 11 for millennials) we had tasters of loads of stuff like archery, badminton, step aerobics, and self-defence. All good stuff, but not a sniff of football over the five years. 

**It's all subjective. Men's speeds are faster but that doesn't mean men's football is better. It's not a running race, after all. Having a slower speed means that the women's game can showcase passing, tackling, and quality footwork with much more clarity for the fans in the stands. This might not be your thing, and you might prioritise speed and pace over that. Fair play, the men's game is for you. But just because the pace is faster, it doesn't mean it's better. Just different.