This is Also Football

Representation isn’t politics - it’s part of the game.

The Women’s Euros began this week. I have fond memories of watching England lift the delayed 2022 edition of the competition while sat on a Megabus in a traffic jam just outside of Bristol. As someone who approaches unbridled patriotism with skepticism, I often struggle to get fully onboard the England football hype train, however I do feel some a connection with the womens’ team for a number of reasons.

The first is that I’ve seen them in person (see below), but the second is slightly more profound, and highlights why I feel so passionately about the importance of Women’s sport…

Two years ago the biennial family holiday happened to coincide with the Women’s World Cup. As a casual England fan I was excited to see the reigning European champions try to go back-to-back on the international stage, and I was joined in my excitement by my younger cousin. Sporting an England Women’s football jersey with her favourite players’ name branded across her back, we sat and watched the lionesses progress through the tournament over the course of the holiday.

Other family members watched the odd game, but we were the constants, supporting the lionesses through thick and thin. Mary Earps’ penalty save, Lauren James’ red card, Sam Kerr’s wonder strike, Chloe Kelly’s penalty, we watched it all.

Upon reflection, I think that watching younger family members experience moments like these is always special, but it was made all the more special as it was the first time I truly saw the power of Women’s sport. In that team she saw role models, idols, people who looked like her and had had similar life experiences. I know that she feels much more of a connection to the women’s team, because of these factors, than she does towards the men’s team.

And yet, in spite of the generation of girls and women that the sport has inspired - the game continues to come under fire…

Critics often call the women’s game “too slow” or “not physical enough” — but I rarely hear these same arguments used to dismiss blind football or wheelchair football. In those cases, we rightly prioritise representation and access, so why is that logic abandoned when it comes to women?

We pride ourselves in this country on the football pyramid, and fans of premier league teams are often scolded for not supporting their local team, while fans of lower league clubs are praised and held up in high regard for their support and commitment to football. Fans of lower league teams are just as happy, if not more happy, than premier league fans, and experience the ups and downs of fandom just as acutely.

Lower league football is slower. It’s less physical. Less tactical. Smaller crowds.
And yet, it’s branded ‘pure’. The hypocrisy is clear, and I don’t think it is controversial to suggest that many of the criticisms aimed at women’s football come from a place of misogyny and sexism.

Football is personal. It’s not about the revenue, the skill, the power. It’s about how it makes you feel, and who you get to feel it with.

Not all footballers play like prime Messi, but that doesn’t stop people from watching and enjoying men’s football on a regular basis. The level is not important, the connection is, and if the growth of the women’s game enables more connections to be made, then why do people complain?

Here is the final obstacle. “Well fine, but it doesn’t need to be forced upon us.” It’s as if the promotion of the women’s game after over 100 years of suppression and a 50 year blanket ban on the game being played by women, is somehow a personal attack. Nobody is being forced to watch women’s football, but the promotion of the sport is necessary due to it starting from such a position of weakness.

There are two types of ‘equality’, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome, with progressives often championing the latter and conservatives the former - women’s football currently has neither. It did not have an equal starting position compared to men’s football and is therefore currently generating far smaller viewership and revenue. Therefore, in order to make up for the mistakes of the past, the odd TV spot, and the odd front page story wouldn’t go amiss.

If you don’t want to watch it, that’s fine. But suggesting that it shouldn't be promoted to the same extent (or more) as men’s football is short sighted and frankly stupid.

Women’s football is developing in different ways, with new tactical trends emerging due to the physical and mental differences between men and women. I’m not denying that the games are different, but they are only different in the way that the Premier League and the National League are different, or the Championship and the Saudi Pro League are different. Environment influences how the game is played, but fundamentally it’s still the beautiful game.

I recently read a quote which stuck with me (apologies for the crudeness of it): “we are biologically programmed to get laid, eat good food, connect with other humans and enjoy yourself everything else is literally made up.” Football fulfills the third part of that quote. The last minute goals, the agony in loss, the trophy lifts, are all valuable only because we share them with a community, and with our closest friends and family. This is an idea I wrote in depth about in my recent article on protecting football.

When the lionesses lost the final in 2023 my cousin was upset. I vaguely remember the final, and attempts to console my young cousin after the defeat, but what I remember more are the moments of joy we shared across the tournament. Three generations of our family, celebrating together - that’s what I’ll remember.

Fans need to stop gate keeping football. We need to stop being so precious about what constitutes football and what doesn’t. More eyes on more variations of more games can only be a good thing, especially if it helps us to connect with friends and family who would have previously been alienated from such precious experiences and moments.

This piece is part of a series I have written on the value of football. Find links to the other articles in the series below…

Thanks for reading my Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.