FA WPL Match Called Off To Preserve The Playing Surface For A Non-League Men's Game.
With heavy rain, wind, and hail, I anticipated my local FA Women's Premier League team's match might have been postponed. I had checked their Facebook page and Twitter feed for a possible notice that the game had been called off. There was no such post so, I walked down to the ground to find club volunteers locking the gates. I was told that there was some standing water on the pitch caused by the previous night's weather so, the game had been called off. That was as I'd expected. Anyone would understand that reason. It's protecting the safety of the players. It was also thought that playing the match would damage the surface so much that it would not be in perfect condition for the men's game six days later on the Saturday. It's the equivalent of Southend Manor of the Essex Senior Football League telling Dagenham & Redbridge of Football League Two they can't play their league game on Sunday because they don't want the pitch being used before their own game the following Saturday. That would never happen.
The sheer idea that a men's team in the ninth tier of the men's football pyramid should take precedent over their own fourth tier women's team, especially in a different week, is disgracefully absurd to me. It demonstrates a massive lack in equality. Attitudes in sport need to change, and it needs to start at the clubs. The women's game is being deliberately held back.
Before being banned by The FA in 1921, the women's game was pulling crowds of 50,000 and more, when the men's games attracted average crowds of just 18,500 in 1920. The 53,000 crowd at Dick Kerr's Ladies' match against St. Helens Ladies at Everton's Goodison Park on Boxing Day 1920 could not be matched by the men at the time. No crowd as large was recorded for the men's game until Middlesbrough's home game at Ayresome Park against North East rivals Newcastle United in Division One, when they pulled in 53,802 in December 1949. Almost every women's team in England shares or rents their home ground with/from an established men's club. Many are affiliated with the men's club, many are not. The likes of FA Women's Super League 1 (top tier) side Notts County Ladies play their home games at their affiliated men's ground, Meadow Lane but, would be at a similar mercy if the Sky Bet League 2 (fourth Tier) men's team wanted to preserve the pitch for their own game as the men's match would rank a greater importance than the women's. Some people would argue 'commercial viability' as setting a men's game as having greater importance over a women's game but, that is ridiculous nonsense. By setting an FA WPL match as having a higher status than a ninth tier men's game, this would influence 'commercial viability'. It wouldn't happen immediately but, it would shift attitudes, and as it becomes more common, 'commercial viability' moves in favour of the higher placed team, be it a women's team or a men's team.
Stagnant and backward thinking because "that's how it's always been" is as stupid as continuing to drive the same route everyday, despite their being a quicker route with less traffic. A women's game shouldn't be held higher than a men's game simply because it's a women's team playing. The game that takes precedent should be the one with a higher standing, particularly in the case of club's with a men's and women's teams playing at the same venue. FA WSL ranks higher than League 2, FA WPL ranks higher than the Essex Senior Football League or the Northern League. The Barclay's Premier League ranks higher than the FA Women's Premier League.
Statistical information sourced from sports.vice.com, european-football-statistics.co.uk, Wikipedia, and TheFA.com
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With heavy rain, wind, and hail, I anticipated my local FA Women's Premier League team's match might have been postponed. I had checked their Facebook page and Twitter feed for a possible notice that the game had been called off. There was no such post so, I walked down to the ground to find club volunteers locking the gates. I was told that there was some standing water on the pitch caused by the previous night's weather so, the game had been called off. That was as I'd expected. Anyone would understand that reason. It's protecting the safety of the players. It was also thought that playing the match would damage the surface so much that it would not be in perfect condition for the men's game six days later on the Saturday. It's the equivalent of Southend Manor of the Essex Senior Football League telling Dagenham & Redbridge of Football League Two they can't play their league game on Sunday because they don't want the pitch being used before their own game the following Saturday. That would never happen.
The sheer idea that a men's team in the ninth tier of the men's football pyramid should take precedent over their own fourth tier women's team, especially in a different week, is disgracefully absurd to me. It demonstrates a massive lack in equality. Attitudes in sport need to change, and it needs to start at the clubs. The women's game is being deliberately held back.
Before being banned by The FA in 1921, the women's game was pulling crowds of 50,000 and more, when the men's games attracted average crowds of just 18,500 in 1920. The 53,000 crowd at Dick Kerr's Ladies' match against St. Helens Ladies at Everton's Goodison Park on Boxing Day 1920 could not be matched by the men at the time. No crowd as large was recorded for the men's game until Middlesbrough's home game at Ayresome Park against North East rivals Newcastle United in Division One, when they pulled in 53,802 in December 1949. Almost every women's team in England shares or rents their home ground with/from an established men's club. Many are affiliated with the men's club, many are not. The likes of FA Women's Super League 1 (top tier) side Notts County Ladies play their home games at their affiliated men's ground, Meadow Lane but, would be at a similar mercy if the Sky Bet League 2 (fourth Tier) men's team wanted to preserve the pitch for their own game as the men's match would rank a greater importance than the women's. Some people would argue 'commercial viability' as setting a men's game as having greater importance over a women's game but, that is ridiculous nonsense. By setting an FA WPL match as having a higher status than a ninth tier men's game, this would influence 'commercial viability'. It wouldn't happen immediately but, it would shift attitudes, and as it becomes more common, 'commercial viability' moves in favour of the higher placed team, be it a women's team or a men's team.
Stagnant and backward thinking because "that's how it's always been" is as stupid as continuing to drive the same route everyday, despite their being a quicker route with less traffic. A women's game shouldn't be held higher than a men's game simply because it's a women's team playing. The game that takes precedent should be the one with a higher standing, particularly in the case of club's with a men's and women's teams playing at the same venue. FA WSL ranks higher than League 2, FA WPL ranks higher than the Essex Senior Football League or the Northern League. The Barclay's Premier League ranks higher than the FA Women's Premier League.
Statistical information sourced from sports.vice.com, european-football-statistics.co.uk, Wikipedia, and TheFA.com
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