Robbie
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Posts: 24,842
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Post by Robbie on Sept 24, 2018 19:31:58 GMT 1
This isn't a criticism of womens football as I quite like to watch it but does anyone think that its popularity is over-hyped? I'm watching a re-run of Brighton Women take on Liverpool Women on BT Sport and the crowd is so sparse. There can't be more than a hundred, perhaps two hundred, people there.
I remember abot a decade ago when Sunderland Ladies played at my home town's ground at the end of my estate one season while their own ground was being rebuilt. I went to one game when they played Chelsea Ladies and there wasn't even 100 people there. That was about 2008 or 2009 and while the popularity of the sport has increased since then surely none of the clubs can be anywhere near breaking even. When Sunderland Ladies went back to their own ground at the start of the following season the crowds were so small that to cut costs the club had to up sticks and even played in Newcastle at one point before becoming like nomads playing in and around South Tyneside and Wearside. And to show how the WPL is uncompetitive Sunderland were demoted to the third tier despite finishing 7th last season. The reason: the Womens Premier League was reorganised and some clubs had to apply to remain in the WPL and Sunderland lost out.
The BBC like to promote the popularity of womens football but from what I can see it seems to attract little interest from the paying public.
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Post by o on Sept 24, 2018 19:54:27 GMT 1
Yes, I do feel it is foisted upon us, I hate that their scores are above other league scores at the weekend. I wonder how much it is costing the clubs to run these teams in the leagues, because like you say, on the whole the crowds are very poor. They have increased for the FA Cup final, now it is at Wembley, but they have had Arsenal v Chelsea there twice, so that is bound to help, I remember watching Arsenal play Bristol Academy at Coventry's ground, think there were only 10000 of us there, and yet it cost £5 per adult and kids were free. And yes teams are being demoted because they dont fit the plan of having a women's league full of teams that everyone recognises, ie Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton. I remember when Doncaster Belles were at the forefront of the sport, and where have they been kicked down to now?
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 24, 2018 20:51:46 GMT 1
Attendances are about the same as level 8 or 9 on he football pyramid in the men's game and surely the amount of people willing to pay to watch a game is the gauge of its success. They have massivly promoted it for a decade now and still nobody is interested. The truth is it's not really very good to watch but gets a disproportionate amount of tv coverage, England games in this new league of nations and champions league highlights are no longer on terrestrial tv and the BBC are spending millions and millions on promoting women's football. Let it stand on it's own two feet and the people who enjoy it can enjoy it
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Tom
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Posts: 15,419
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Post by Tom on Sept 25, 2018 19:01:58 GMT 1
As women's football seems to be getting a bit of a bashing on here i'm going to stick up for it. Whilst i'm surprised how much coverage the BBC give it i'm glad they do cover it as I watch the womens football show from time to time and I wouldn't be able to keep up with how Reading Women are doing otherwise. (I do look at their results from time to time but sometimes the show reminds me). If I was living in the area i'd probably go and watch the occasional Reading game, they really are a club on the rise, with several England internationals, and last season were one of the top teams.
I could be wrong but I think the reorganisation was down to the clubs that were full-time? Man Utd finally have a womens team and they get put straight into the second tier?
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Post by suedehead on Sept 30, 2018 13:36:23 GMT 1
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 30, 2018 13:39:12 GMT 1
As women's football seems to be getting a bit of a bashing on here i'm going to stick up for it. Whilst i'm surprised how much coverage the BBC give it i'm glad they do cover it as I watch the womens football show from time to time and I wouldn't be able to keep up with how Reading Women are doing otherwise. (I do look at their results from time to time but sometimes the show reminds me). If I was living in the area i'd probably go and watch the occasional Reading game, they really are a club on the rise, with several England internationals, and last season were one of the top teams.
I could be wrong but I think the reorganisation was down to the clubs that were full-time? Man Utd finally have a womens team and they get put straight into the second tier? Your in the unique position though, the Reading womens team are better than the mens team
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Post by o on Sept 30, 2018 13:39:50 GMT 1
Yeah, there are a few goalie howlers quite regularly.
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Post by o on Sept 30, 2018 13:40:41 GMT 1
Although I would say is that the goalie's fault when she cant use her hands? Think you are supposed to put back passes towards the touchline, so at worst it's a corner?
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Post by suedehead on Sept 30, 2018 13:56:40 GMT 1
Although I would say is that the goalie's fault when she cant use her hands? Think you are supposed to put back passes towards the touchline, so at worst it's a corner? If she had handled it she would have conceded an indirect free-kick. Surely that's better than conceding a goal. Yes, the pass should have been directed away from the goal, but the 'keeper should still have kept it out.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Sept 30, 2018 14:13:12 GMT 1
is the freekick given from where the backpass was played or from where the keeper would've handled it?
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Post by suedehead on Sept 30, 2018 14:39:05 GMT 1
is the freekick given from where the backpass was played or from where the keeper would've handled it? The latter.
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Post by o on Sept 30, 2018 15:38:43 GMT 1
She didn't handle it, because they're more honest in the women's sport, she probably thought she'd be sent off?
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frag
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Post by frag on Oct 12, 2018 9:11:46 GMT 1
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frag
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I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
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Post by frag on Oct 12, 2018 9:13:13 GMT 1
As women's football seems to be getting a bit of a bashing on here i'm going to stick up for it. Whilst i'm surprised how much coverage the BBC give it i'm glad they do cover it as I watch the womens football show from time to time and I wouldn't be able to keep up with how Reading Women are doing otherwise. (I do look at their results from time to time but sometimes the show reminds me). If I was living in the area i'd probably go and watch the occasional Reading game, they really are a club on the rise, with several England internationals, and last season were one of the top teams.
I could be wrong but I think the reorganisation was down to the clubs that were full-time? Man Utd finally have a womens team and they get put straight into the second tier? Yeah, I noticed Reading doing decently in the top tier. As I live locally, I might go to the Reading-Arsenal ladies game in January. I think it's on FA Cup 4th round weekend.
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Post by Panda on Dec 9, 2018 0:10:35 GMT 1
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Post by Panda on Dec 9, 2018 0:19:33 GMT 1
Knockout stage line-up based on world rankings:
2nd round: Norway v Brazil England v New Zealand France v Italy Spain v USA Australia v China Canada v Japan Germany v South Korea Sweden v Netherlands
Quarter-finals: Brazil v England France v USA Australia v Canada Germany v Netherlands
Semi-finals: England v USA Canada v Germany
1st: USA 2nd: Germany 3rd: England 4th: Canada
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