Having been to a number of matches at other clubs I am always surprised that compared to Saints most of the clubs have a much smaller proportion of women fans than we do. Where I sit at St Mary's I am surrounded by women all of whom are really enthusiastic about the Saints and know their football. The composition of the start of the row in which I sit is: m m f f f m m f f m etc At a match we saw at Swansea recently the lovely Mrs Godders was astonished to find herself the only woman in the ladies before the game. At St Mary's she said she has to queue. Are we unusual in having a high proportion of women fans or are their other clubs with a similar female fan base?
Saints has always been a family club and completely safe for women and children. Whilst I don't think I would be subjected to personal violence at some clubs, most women don't like even unpleasantness and jostling. This is also true for the disabled and the elderly. I'm sure someone somewhere has stats on this matter. The Swansea game may be due to a localized social difference between the English and Welsh.
Just found figures for 2006/7, 85% fans at matches are male, but did vary widely from team to team with only 5% of Aston Villa fans female compared with 23% of Reading fans.
it's surprising the amount of women in the northam, there are 3 sat around me in block 41 all up for a sing and shout
we are a proper family club. women and children everywhere, all good i reckon. we are the ones who will carry little saints around for 9 months inside of us i always reckon you're more likely to follow a team if your mum is a supporter, my dad doesnt even like football!
My son supports Saints because of me. We had season tickets and came to most games. If I hadn't felt completely happy going he wouldn't have been able to go.
........ and we're the ones who put the 3 minutes of real effort in before that! Sometimes after several pints of ale.
There's very few women around me. But I think only one of them is an actual fan, I get the feeling the others just go to keep their men company!! We used to have two girls behind us that looked like fans, they had the latest shirts, Saints phone covers etc but would spend the whole game talking about shopping or tv shows. It's girls like that who give the rest of us a bad name at football!!! Didn't really know anything about football either!
Explaining the offside rule to girls: You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have. The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses. It would be rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes. The shop assistant remains at the till waiting. Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma. She prepares to throw her purse to you. If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes! At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and "whilst it is in flight" you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes! BUT, you must always remember that until the purse has "actually been thrown", it would be plain wrong for you to be in front of the other shopper and you would be OFFSIDE!
That is brilliant.....when I started supporting the Saints which I think was c 1953 it was almost an exclusive male domain...it was great. But I also love it now with good female representation. I just love Saints fans...as I approach St Mary's I get a lump in my throat (and it isn't one of those disgusting jumbo hot-dogs)
I think you would find that if its a throw in if you stood infront of the other woman at the till if the purse is thrown to you you still wouldn't be off side and it would be ok to buy the shoes!
This all depends on how good the cashier's eye sight is for (s)he may refuse to sell the shoes to you on the basis that (s)he incorrectly assumes you have jumped the queue. Sometimes it is just too bloody difficult to be gender neutral. I was pleased to read today that Andy gray and his sexist chum had organised a national tour which has had to be cancelled due to lack of interest. Ever since they joined talksport I have stopped listening and as a form of penetence on their behalf I sit agonisingly through Woman's Hour each day while they are on air. I have been doing this for several months now and I am still waiting for Jenny Murrey to find something positive to say about men rather than blaming them for everything.
So, I wonder if there is a higher proportion of Women or Radio 4 listeners at St Marys on any given Saturday?
The lovely Mrs Godders only listens to Radio 4 or as she tends to call it "The Home Service". Incidently with regards to an earlier post there are two women in my row who go to the match unaccompanied, the chap who sits next to me gets dragged along to matches by his wife and often dozes off during the game while the lovely Mrs Godders is more enthusiastic about the Saints than I am and that is saying something.
