The words of members of the Women’s team at the POTY last night, who resented having to spend time with them. Given that the heavily subsidised and largely ignored Women’s team still struggles to get attendances much above 200, I’d suggest they reach out to our “old and boring fans”, and show a bit of respect. If those subsidies end, you won’t see the Women’s team for dust, because they certainly don’t generate the sort of revenue that justifies their current full time existence.
You've just made their case for them Women's football is a young sport that will attract young fans. CAFC can ignore that, and save enough money to buy two more crap male players to add to the dozens we already have. Or it can embrace the future. I'm surprised the Charlton Athletic men's team has any young fans, aside from the kids and grandkids of us old and boring fans. The Club certainly isn't attracting any new young fans who aren't already from 3rd or 4th generation Addicks supporting families. Our women missed out on the WSL by a gnat's whisker this season. A rather better showing than 16th in the 3rd tier.
Let’s have a men’s first team v women’s first team game then. The men might just get more than the usual draw I suspect.
What would be learned from that? Men have (on average) more physical strength and stamina than women. Does that mean that all women's sports which require an element of strength and stamina are inferior to the male versions of those sports? More strength and stamina isn't the be-all and end-all of sport. There are tactics, understanding, teamwork, cleverness, pure technical skill. women are just as capable of those things as men. The CAFC Women's team is doing its bit to help encourage sports among women and girls everywhere. Playing sports helps with a healthy lifestyle and combats laziness, obesity and the lifestyle illnesses that follow from them. The money CAFC invests in women's football seems a small price for so many positive possibilities.
I would say women's football is different, and admittedly less popular at this time. But for me that doesn't make it inferior. It's a pity many of us look down on it. When the FA banned women's football in the 1920's - a ban which lasted 50 years - they acted out of fear, because women's football was growing exponentially in popularity, with match attendances beginning to rival those of mens' league games. And they (The FA old school tie brigade) did not control it. Our society has come a long way in he last Century, but some old habits die very hard.
I just feel that the quality of the women’s game is just very, very inferior and I can’t see that ever changing. I don’t know what it is, but I actually don’t think it’s all about “physical strength and stamina” at all.
I see the Women’s Manager has been inducted into the #cafc Hall of Fame I must admit, I’ve never heard of her. Lee Bowyer should surely have come before her - an outstanding home grown player and promotion winning manager for the club.
Millwall fans once again exposed as the most hypocritical in football. A fanbase that declared a fatwa against Neil Harris in his first disastrous spell as manager - threatening to put arsenic in his pie & mash, or getting Bob Pearson to crush him alive in his own bed. Now, after a very lucky survival, “Bomber” is the biggest thing at Milwall since Mick McCarthy’s nose.
