So as you may or may not know, Portsmouth Ladies defeated Crystal Palace the other weekend to get to the 5th round fo the FA Cup which is a pretty good achievement. The bleus were handed a home tie against Super League side Durham. Of course, where this would take place wasn't certain but I was hopefull common sense would previal and the match would be played at Fratton Park but fat chance of that, instead the match is being taken at Gosport Borough which is a reasonable stadium for a Conference South side but it's not Fratton Park and it's quite outstanding for such a huge game, the Ladies are being relegated a Conference South stadium (although could be worse, could be Hayling Island). Considering how many people attended the 1 and only game to have taken place at Fratton Park so far, which was just an ordinary league game, imagine how many more people would have attended a game at Fratton Park. But it's like, it's one of the biggest games in the club's history, their first ever competitvie game against Super League opponents and yet that's not considered worthy enough to get the game played at Fratton Park? If that isn't considered worthy, wtf would be? So what, if we get to the semi-final and get Arsenal at home, will that be played at Gosport as well? Why should the Ladies be forced to play in some obscure ground, why not give the men an opportunity to experience Conference South facilities. It's just another example of causal sexism, which pisses me off. It's like on the news yesterday they announced that England women cricketers are through to the final of the World 20/20 yet all they said was "England women are through to the semi final after a win against Sri Lanka". That's it. No clips, no mention of who scored runs or who took wickets, just the kind of causal sexist bull**** that's ingrained in sport. Meanwhile the men, to continue their pathetic run, get hammered by the freakin' Netherladns. And this is just another example of that causal pervasive sexist culture in sport and the media. I reckon the whole thing about the Fratton Park game before was just a publicity stunt and now that it's happened once, then the club have no interest in furthering that line, otherwise they would have taken this opportunity. Community club, my arse. Disclaimer: My views are fully and completely my own and do not represent Portsmouth Ladies or any of the club's officials or players.
Lapras - I think you should, as a fan of the Portsmouth Ladies Team, write to Iain McInnes the Chair of PCFC, Mark Catlin the CEO, and Ashley Brown Chair of the PST and a Director of PCFC, asking them why, as part of the PCFC the Ladies team are not being accommodated at Fratton Park for such a prestigious match. It is after all, an FA Cup match. As a community club you are somewhat surprised that the Ladies Team has to be hosted by a club to which they actually have no affiliation. This is not what you signed up to as a supporter of PCFC. Embracing the "Portsmouth" Ladies Team is what you would expect of a community club, a community asset and you are rather disappointed that this has not happened. Then see what their response is. A tip - don't get sidetracked and put in other points because you don't want them addressing anything other than the real point which is - why hasn't Fratton Park been made available to the Ladies Team to host the FA Cup match. All their email addresses are available on the PCFC and PST websites.
According to twitter, the club didn't want it at Fratton Park.... I know the captain's a Gosport fan, but even still I find that surprising and would imagine most of the players would love the opportunity to play/score at Fratton Park. I know I would! The only thing I can think of is that the managers don't want it at Fratton Park as they don't want the occasion getting to the players like it did when they played Tottenham at Fratton Park (where they started quiet slowly, seemingly overawed) in order to maximise their chances of getting through. Still think it's a wasted opportunity though and it'd be great to get another decent crowd. I can't imagine THAT many people will come to Gosport but I'll try to plug it via Twitter and Facebook.
Couldn't see anything on twitter saying the club don't want it at FP. May be worth asking someone from the ladies team if it was their choice to go to Gosport or whether they just didn't have a choice. I do remember Iain McInnes saying that FP would be made available to the ladies team several times a season.
Lee Roberts ‏@leerobertsmedia 40m @hjfranklin we never wanted it as a club being truthful. I'm not sure if he's just being diplomatic (more so than me at least ) and they didn't have a choice but are pretending that they did..... I remember Ian McInnes saying that too.
