Not seen this anywhere so some might find it an interesting read. http://www.shekicks.net/flog/blogs/post/919 Way back when, I seem to recall we dominated Womens football in this country (along with Aresenal) under Sue Lopez and it strikes me as a bit of a shame we had to break the link with the main football club during our dark years of financial constraint. But it strikes me that re-uniting with the womens team can only have benefits with profile, followers, etc.
Oh goodie, the derbies may be back. I've being hoping Pompey meet the Southampton Saints in the FA or Hampshire cups, but unfortunately that fixture has never materialised. You really don't have a physio or goalkeeper training?! If you get to the WSL before us, I'll be soooo, sooo pissed off.
I remember being a very young lad and going to The Dell in 1978 (guess) to watch England Women beat Belgium three nil. If I recall correctly, England had 5 Saints women playing for them. I was about 8 and I just remember wondering if it hurt their boobies when they controlled the ball on their chest. I probably have the program in the loft somewhere.
It's funny how the relationship between Southampton and Portsmouth is almost the exact opposite in women's football as it is in men's football. In men's football Portsmouth are the side with the illustrious history but currently find themselves waaaay down with Southampton riding comparatively high. In women's football Southampton are the side with the illustrious history but currently find themselves waaaaay down with Portsmouth riding comparatively high.
Bummer, glad the one I care about is in the right place. No offence ladies.......but its just not cricket.
Mmmm. It depends on your definition of illustrious I suppose. Is it 2 league wins and 2 cup wins? Better than ours I'll grant you, but "illustrious"... Mmmmm
Can't cost a club much to support a Ladies team, unless you get into the Arsenal & Man City level of cash support they give to their teams. I think SFC currently only provide the ladies teams with old kits & training gear. I expect one week of Osvaldo's wage fine would pay for support for an entire season, if not more. Throw-away comparison maybe, but certainly enough money floating around the club to spread the Southampton love a bit wider. But then I guess the club does sod all to help fans (no subsidised away coaches etc) so not surprising they do very little for Ladies football.
Why should you not care about them? They still represent the city of Southampton, just like Pompey Ladies represent the city of Portsmouth. They still play in the red and white of Southampton FC. I expect a lot of them are Southampton fans too. And what's more, they don't get paid one penny, in fact you pay to play, so they're playing purely for the love of the game. They deserve your support just as much as the men do, imo. Lots of cup finals though! It's been the same at Portsmouth in recent years, although with the PST taking over, there's been a bit more support for the Ladies, culminating in them playing at Fratton Park recently although financially they're still completely separate, which tbf is just as well for the Ladies in recent seasons. I think the majority of women's club receive the same sort of backing from the men's team (the name and the kit, and that's about it). Oh and to add to the mix, Notts County. They're being bankrolled as well.
Why should you not care about them? They still represent the city of Southampton, just like Pompey Ladies represent the city of Portsmouth. They still play in the red and white of Southampton FC. I expect a lot of them are Southampton fans too. And what's more, they don't get paid one penny, in fact you pay to play, so they're playing purely for the love of the game. They deserve your support just as much as the men do, imo. ____________________________________________ So I should follow every sport that represents Southampton......that sounds time consuming.
When watching women's football the main thing that I don't like about it is the keepers sometimes struggle to catch the ball. Is there not some sort of body shield they can wear, to stop the ball bouncing off their breasts?
Woah I thought that was going to say that they are in dire financial trouble and need outside help - quite the opposite. Everything seems to be going well so I don't think a unilateral hostile takeover will be on the cards. Worth noting that the women's team was only connected to the ("men's") club for four seasons. Most of the participation level football for women and girls (the important stuff) is run out of Hampshire FA, which seems like a highly sensible way of doing it.
I'm not saying that (although if you want to, be my guest!) but whether it's Southampton FC or Southampton Saints, it is still the same sport: football, whether it's played by men or women doesn't make any difference, yes the style of play is different, but so the style of play between La Liga and the Premier League. So seeing as they both represent the city of Southampton in the same sport if you support one, why not support the other? Clearly you've not seen Pompey's keeper, she's incredible! The problem with female goalkeepers, is that if you have someone, say Karen Bardsley, making a massive cock-up in the European Championship finals, people who rarely watch women's football will start harping on about how crap female goalkeepers are, forgetting all the calamitous errors made by James, Hart, Green, Carson, etc. Not saying that refers to you of course (but more idiots like Piers Morgan), and I guess breasts may get in the way but I guess sports bras help somewhat. I wouldn't know tbf.
In the last two seasons, I've seen far more quality at Portsmouth Ladies matches than at the men's matches. That's not saying much though, tbf. However, in all seriousness, the quality of women's football is far higher than people generally imagine. As long as you approach it with an open mind and don't try to compare it with men's football as the number of players, the strength in depth, the amount of professional players, the numbers of clubs, etc are vastly different between the two and bare in mind players only train twice a week in the evening.... I think you may be pleasantly surprised!
It really makes me laugh PL when you mention Pompey have a illustrious past. Pompey won a league title and FA Cup when many footballers were called up to fight for their country and Pompey had the pick of all the best players stationed in or around Portsmouth and all other clubs had to play players not long fresh out of nappies. No war, no trophies. Living on such proud memories is so very hollow.