For the most part, the women’s game is the strongest it’s ever been. From FC Barcelona Femení breaking attendance records for fun, to Chelsea and Arsenal battling it out in a nail-biting WSL title race that looks set to go down to the wire. Make no mistake, we’re seeing unprecedented levels being reached here. Levels that look set to continue to grow as the European Championships take over England for a second consecutive summer in July.
This is the equality that those involved in women’s football have long been canvassing for, and the level playing field the women themselves playing unquestionably deserve, right?
On the whole? Yes. But the point we find ourselves at now is very much a part of the journey rather than the destination. There are undoubtedly a few more stations to stop at before the train towards a truly equal game can think about coming to a halt.
Going on record
Those that know, will know that FC Barcelona Femení are serious players in this game we call football. They haven’t just been one of the best women’s teams in Europe this season – they’ve been one of the best teams, period.
The Spanish outfit have passed the eye test with some tiki-taka ball that has left fans in awe at times so far this campaign. When we refer to “prime Barça” – we’re going to have to start specifying whether we mean Pep’s side in 2009, or Jonatan Giráldez’s 2022 team of supreme jogadoras
What’s been more impressive though, is their impeccable domestic record. Played 27. Won 27. Only eight goals conceded. And a jaw-dropping 146 scored. They’ve broken records and opposing teams spirits for fun, whilst making sure the La Blaugrana faithful have always had a team to be proud of, especially when the men’s outfit were going through a sticky transition.
It’s all well and good dominating your domestic league, but delivering on a European stage is a different beast altogether. And although the most coveted prize in club football isn’t quite ready to have red and blue ribbons reattached just yet – Barça already have a foot and a half in the final and you wouldn’t bet against them conquering PSG or Lyon to retain their European crown trophy come 21st May in Turin.
The greatness we’ve witnessed on the pitch has only been matched by the greatness we’ve seen in the stands too. In the space of three weeks, the Spanish side has gone on to break the attendance record for a women’s football match – twice.
After a staggering 91,553 packed into the rafters for the El Classico in the UWCL quarter finals, the Nou Camp ensured their record was smashed once more for the recent semi-final first leg against Wolfsburg. 91,648 might be the magic number here but the subsequent impact this could have on women’s football is simply immeasurable.
The general discourse surrounding the two recent history-making games isn’t that this is a case of job done but rather a great, what’s next? Rightly so, too. These record-breaking attendances must act as a blueprint for success, not a footnote in the history books.
Granted, FC Barcelona Femení can stake a serious claim for being the best women’s team in the game right now, not to mention being able to boast having the most devastating player on the planet in taliswoman Alexia Putellas.
But the overall consensus is the same – how can we bottle the genuine sense of equality from these Nou Camp matches and extend it across the rest of the game?
Super by name, super by game
Naysayers will say that the English contingent have massively underperformed in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League. True as that might be, we have to pay homage to the levels of consistency both Chelsea and Arsenal have shown in the Women’s Super League (WSL) this season. These are the two powerhouses of the women’s game in England. Despite the Manchester clubs doing their best to keep up, the two London sides have dished out Capital Punishment on the league all year.
Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall must be applauded for the work he’s done in his first season in charge. Mounting a title charge is hard enough. Doing so against one of the most decorated figures in the game in Emma Hayes is a different beast altogether. Much like the Premier League, the top two just seem a cut above the rest of the competition in the WSL this year.
And as recent reports have shown too, women’s sport in the UK broke almost every viewing record imaginable in 2021, showing no signs of slowing down this year either. So while ultimately, fans will always be attracted to a product based on its quality and entertainment value – something the WSL has not been short of in the slightest. What we’re really seeing is the benefits of a better-packaged product.
Sky and the BBC have ramped up their live coverage as well as a much-improved marketing approach towards the game as a whole. So now we’ve seen what can be done when broadcasters show the women’s game a similar level of attention as the men’s – the conundrum now lies in how we can maintain this momentum.
Not everyone is playing fair
In the midst of women’s football being celebrated for the recent events in the UWCL, we were served with a timely reminder that there are still those with archaic opinions that are holding the game back. After his Northern Ireland team’s 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Lionesses’ a few weeks ago, head coach Kenny Shiels made the outrageous claim that ‘women are more emotional than men.’
Not only were the comments wildly off the mark – to put it mildly – they’re hugely problematic coming from a man in a position of power in a predominantly female environment. And the biggest irony of all is that Shiels’ comments on the back of a heavy defeat could definitely be taken from a place of hyper-emotion – not to mention being completely absurd.
The former is nothing to be ashamed of either – football is an incredibly emotive sport, that’s partly why we love it so much. What is embarrassing is to try and derogatorily attribute the emotion within football to something that’s exclusive to women. The timing couldn’t have been any more laughable either with the melee that broke out between Atletico Madrid and Manchester City’s men’s sides during their UEFA Champions League tie just a few days later. How was that for emotion, Kenny?
Unfortunately, in spite of representing a minority in that respect, Kenny Shiels’ post-match interview isn’t a totally isolated incident. Just a couple of months prior, The Sun sunk to new lows with a disgraceful headline in a brainless attempt to sexualise the names of Chelsea’s goal scorers Pernille Harder and Erin Cuthbert.
If the headline itself wasn’t shameful enough, the fact that it actually made its way to print might be just as concerning. It served as a timely reminder that although this season will go down as a hallmark moment in the women’s game – there’s still so much more work to be done.
As we mentioned in a recent piece– footballers are human beings first. They can walk away from the game just as easily as they can walk into it.
Feeling ‘22
Ridiculous opinions on women’s football might never be completely eradicated, that’s just the sad reality of the male dominant society we still live in. Hate doesn’t have to win though, and 2022 should be remembered for nothing other than the widespread love shown towards the game.
Thrilling domestic leagues, history-making in the UWCL, all culminating in this summer’s Africa Women Cup of Nations and UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 means that this year will forever go down in history as a landmark moment in women’s football. No amount of idiotic comments can sour that. And as a relatively recent consumer of the women’s game, there’s a real personal sense of excitement for the future landscape.
So while bigger doesn’t always mean better when it comes to a product, no one can argue that the continued growth of women’s football is anything other than great – and way, way overdue.
